Wind God

Andrew Mason · 06 Nov 2010, 21:55 · from 2010-November.txt.gz

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From: andrew.mason53 at googlemail.com (Andrew Mason)
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2010 21:55:45 +0000
Subject: (urth) Wind God
Message-ID: <AANLkTikPCt0yb+d1+nLs2cvOYGTi2=NySvcdcXQORanY at mail.gmail.com>

Sonofwitz wrote:
>
> On Nov 5, 2010, at 11:32 AM, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Additionally, sometimes Wolfe has his unreliable narrator offer an explanation that is probably untrue. Or is only true in a very narrow sense, when the Author is pointing to much more.
>
>
> I think this is the rule rather than the exception with Severian.
> I think that his musings on his altered course in time are spectacularly "wrong," but they are right in pointing out that his life HAS been shaped by forces aware or of the future.
>

I sympathise with this. Severian, when he comes up with his 'first
Severian' theory, believes that the first Severian became Apu-Punchau,
as well as the person buried in the mausoleum; but we know that in
fact it is the very Severian we know (though not in the same body) who
became Apu-Punchau, which must cast doubt on whether he is right about
the rest.

I also think people are often too ready to accept Severian's
Jonas-Miles theory. His main evidence for this is Miles' use of the
'as the X said' locution; and he works out an elaborate theory to
explain this in terms of early robots' need to reassure people. But it
later turns out that this manner of speaking is common among sailors.
Perhaps Miles' parents were sailors, and that's all the explanation it
needs.
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