the prime calcula/his citadel and other quotes

Lee Berman · 18 Jan 2011, 14:18 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:18:09 -0500
Subject: (urth) the prime calcula/his citadel and other quotes
Message-ID: <SNT123-W52541277AED86217757096CFF70 at phx.gbl>

>James Wynn:  I realize it is easy to forget, but these books weren't written by Silk. 
>They were written by Horn. While we can assume Horn is honestly writing about what he 
>was told and saw, we cannot make assumptions about things being so based on NEGATIVE 
>evidence..

I agree. A good point to remember.

>Roy C. Lackey: Typhon's head was the one with yellowish hair, Piaton's the one with
>black hair. Silk's hair is often described in LS as yellowish. It is impossible that Silk 
>looked like Piaton.

I shy away from such strong language in regard to interpreting science fiction but I tend to agree.

>But Mint also saw the face of Pas and saw no resemblance to the face of the
>augur she had seen daily since Silk had come to the Sun Street manteion.

As far as we know, from Horn's account of things. But how much did he know of Mint's true inner 
thoughts? If the Silk-Typhon connection was supposed to be a mystery to solved, would Wolfe be
required to put such an obvious clue in the text?

James' negative evidence concern applies here. Some find do find evidence in the text of a Silk/Typhon 
resemblance. We cannot demand of an author like Wolfe that he puts evidence in all the spots WE think 
it should go, then cite the absence as proof of the contrary. Even Roy agrees that both Silk and Typhon 
have blond hair, allowing the possibility of a connection. The probability of a connection is a 
conclusion for which each person must weigh the sum total of evidence and decide on for themselves.

>In the cases of the only known examples of clones we see in all of the Sun
>books, the khaibits, they look very like the original people they were
>supposedly cloned from. That is how they could pose as the originals in the
>House Azure.

We have the examples of identical twins in the real world to draw upon also. Sometimes they are almost
identical-looking and sometimes they are significantly different. It might be that khaibits and exultant
women are nurtured and raised in very similiar circumstances, enhancing the possibility that they will
look alike.

We can be pretty sure that Typhon and Silk were raised under very different conditions allowing for a
significant difference in appearance despite genetic similarity.

(Though if James' theory about Typhon as Spring Wind is correct, it may be that they were raised more
similarly than we might first guess- both sensitive, intellectual Mama's boys. Other similarities between
Spring Wind/Typhon and Silk- both somewhat unexpectedly rise to become effective military leaders, both
die in the prime of life. Both have a downfall associated with a passionate obsession for a woman. Both
become deified. Alexander's life follows a similar arc, though his passionate love tended to be homosexual 
in nature)

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