Theories

Lee Berman · 24 Oct 2011, 02:54 · from 2011-October.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 22:54:45 -0400
Subject: (urth) Theories
Message-ID: <SNT123-W174DCA1820D848871602BECFEF0 at phx.gbl>



>Ryan Dunn: I don't think anybody disputes the substance to the visible story, 

>but on its own, Severian's hero quest is not "best sci fi series of all time" 

>material, sorry to say. It is the subverted meanings, the parables within the 

>text, the actual "style" of the novel also (unreliable narrator) that make the 

>story truly special.

 

>As far as Severian as a puppet. No if that were the visible story, it would not 

>be interesting at all. But as a potential hidden story unbeknownst to the narrator 

>telling it to us, it certainly is a crafty, interesting, and potentially genius 

>revelation, no?

 

I was about to disagree with you about how good the visible story of Severian's

quest is. But then you qualified and explained it so nicely. It is the parables

and stories within the story which really make it special. They are fantastic and 

even if a first time reader can only grasp them as the tips of the iceberg, I think 

most (most) here get the sense that there is immense depth beneath these tips. 

 

Very nice post.

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