the atmosphere on the bridge

Ryan Dunn · 17 May 2011, 17:47 · from 2011-May.txt.gz

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From: ryan at liftingfaces.com (Ryan Dunn)
Date: Tue, 17 May 2011 13:47:36 -0400
Subject: (urth) the atmosphere on the bridge
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W2266086C3E29E815342772CF8C0 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W2266086C3E29E815342772CF8C0 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <16A384AF-3682-4114-A88E-2B11EB05A0EA at liftingfaces.com>

On May 17, 2011, at 1:39 PM, Lee Berman wrote:

>> Jason H:  But when he steps on the bridge, the scene is suddenly crowded: there are
>> carriages, there are vendors crying out, and people "thronging" the walkway.
>> When he stops to talk to the guard, he is suddenly surrounded by a hundred
>> people. All of this in the dead of the night.
> 
> An interesting observation! My first response is that it seems like something that 
> would happen if Severian was (unknowingly) an actor in a play. Same could be said
> for many other parts of BotNS (like Rudesind forgetting his lines). 	

Don't get me going on the puppet metaphor here, I have strong suspicions there are marionette strings all throughout this story, some hidden better than others.

It justifies the chance encounters, and explains the small and large stage play metaphors that permeate the pages, whether it be Dr. Talos's plays or Severian's dreams of the wooden puppets.

And it's what might happen if you had a master time traveler who had a vested interest in saving the world, and a subject in Severian who was the perfect (literally) vessel.

...ryan

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