This week in Google Alerts

Lee Berman · 02 Nov 2011, 13:37 · from 2011-November.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 09:37:57 -0400
Subject: (urth) This week in Google Alerts
Message-ID: <SNT123-W463EDFE151E88D4BBC1D61CFD40 at phx.gbl>

>David Stockhoff: It would be clever of Wolfe to have invented a world that is totally 
>free of Orientalism.

Well, the Xanthic lands are mentioned. But I don't think we know where they are.

>David Stockhoff: Does anyone know offhand the textual proof that the Andes are 
>actually in the east?

Good question. It was something I'd rested on precedent for a while. Severian
does move north and east from Nessus to get to the mountains so Andes in the 
east was the assumption.

But this map (originating with Mantis, I believe) explains it with the reverse
idea: Nessus (Buenos Aires) is on the west coast of S. America. I had thought
the updated LU put the Andes in the east but now I have to go check.
(I like the sea monsters. I guess the dragon/eel is Abaia. Perhaps the whirlpool 
is Scylla's counterpoint, Charybdis. But who is the crab?)
http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/gifbin/p4/sunmaplg.jpg

>James Wynn: I think there is little to be gained in understanding Urth as anything 
>but is the future of our Earth. Perhaps there is some geekish appeal positing that 
>it is the future of an Earth in some parallel-dimension/universe. But for 
>understanding the story and backdrop, there is little value one way or the other.
>I think the interest in this debate in founded in ret-conning Briah to 
>be theologically orthodox Christian. But with all the appeals to a 
>gnostic framework in the story, why bother?

I see the logic. Parallel or series universes are super-nifty cool Star Trekky fare.  
But for this story, I don't think the understanding to be gained by viewing Urth as a 
past iteration ofEarth is very geeky in nature at all. It think it is almost purely 
religious. I don't think there is an attempt to make Briah Orthodox Christian.

As previously mentioned, I think the crux of the disagreement is whether there is a
Christ at all in Briah. If there is, Urth is the future of Earth. If there is no
Christ, Urth is some previous version. It all boils down to that.(and it makes sense
that some here would be more open to the idea of a universe without Christ than others.)

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