Key to the Universe

Jeff Wilson · 18 Dec 2010, 22:50 · from 2010-December.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 16:50:26 -0600
Subject: (urth) Key to the Universe
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W487905A3BB7A5E9C2584CACF170 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W487905A3BB7A5E9C2584CACF170 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <4D0D3AB2.5050109 at io.com>

On 12/18/2010 10:16 AM, Lee Berman wrote:
>
>
>> Also, Master Ultan says that the library houses "books cased in perfumed
>> woods shipped across the inconceivable gulf between creations
>
> This sounds so much like description of manvantaras by Malrubius I feel one has
> to perform contortions to avoid the connection.

Even bonafide Yesodis casually use "creations" to refer to galaxies when 
thy are speaking to be understood by Urthlings.

>> there's much less interchange between
>> manvantaras than is otherwise suggested between Urth and Earth by G.W.
>
>
> I could accept this better if I thought Wolfe wrote BotNS primarily to create a
> strange, alien planet so different from our own. Instead this is a planet tightly
> allusionally bound to our own so there must be significant connections between the
> two planets. It could be that is a result of Urth being future Earth and has nothing
> to do with alternate manvantaras. But if that were true, why would WOlfe dwell on the
> multiple universe theme so strongly?

Because it's a time travel story, and a religious story, and deals with 
the beginning and end of the world as well.

>> I don't see any way for Ultan to know about Yesodi-level goings on and yet feel free
>> to share it so casually with someone he can't positively identify.
>
>
> I do. But this is because I am not willing to default to the assumption that Ultan is just a
> throw-away character: show up, reference Borges, then disappear forever in the story.
> Weird things are going on with him. Gnostic symbolism, as has recently been discussed. The
> woman from the coffin is seen in his face. His hunger for the knowledge of the dead, etc.

So he's Cyriaca's uncle, and fits in with the general macbre, gothic 
mode of the citadel.

> We have the example of Cyriaca's "uncle" casually sharing the secrets of the universe with
> her (then Cyriaca casually sharing them with Severian and us).

The story of the citadel library and the ancient machine companions, et 
al, isn't a secret of the universe, just forgotten history. Ultan can be 
free with that sort of general ancient lore because it's all in the 
library somewhere and it's his job to facilitate access to it. The 
Yesodi plot is for-sure current state secret of the Commonwealth that is 
actively concealed by the "cacogen" masquerade, and the Yesodis keep 
some of it from even the Autarchs until they get a certified 
sun-bringer,  to whom they have to eventually reveal their master plan 
in order to secure his participation, or we'd never learn of it at all.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
Computational Intelligence Laboratory - Texas A&M Texarkana
< http://www.tamut.edu/CIL >

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