Botanical Gardens

Joshuafalchion · 15 Apr 2003, 04:43 · from urth-v0304.mbox · original

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From: Joshuafalchion at aol.com
Subject: Re: (urth) Botanical Gardens
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 00:43:40 EDT
Message-ID: <urth-v0304-3177 at digest.urth.net>
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The connection between Severian and the Sand Garden would seem, to me, no=20
more (or less!) complicated than the connection between the Conciliator and=20
the claw, for it is there that he encounters for the first, unconscious, ti=
me=20
the thorny bush that he later encounters on the beach in CITADEL.  Of=20
somewhat more interest to me is the curious fact that the two people=20
listening to the naked man in the hut have names that are clearly from "our=20
time":  Robert and Marie.  They also reference Paris, where Robert "used to=20
be a student"; there is also the winged mail plane to tantalize us.  What I=20
wonder is, are these two people based on real people (a pair of artists or=20
writers, perhaps)?

Also, on an unrelated subject, those readers disinterested in symmetry will=20
probably not care, but it may prove a small detail to add to the endless=20
arguments about the ties between Severian, Typhon, and Silk:  the event whe=
re=20
Severian encounters the corpse of Typhon on the mountain, the boy Severian =
is=20
killed, and Severian speaks with and assassinates the revived Typhon takes=20
place in the exact middle of the cycle of five books that make up the whole=20
New Sun series.  Since I have a writer's interest in symmetry, this interes=
ts=20
me; but I understand if it seems less than relevant to the rest of you. =20
Still, such a connective between the New Sun and the Long and Short Sun=20
books, in such a central position, seems relevant to me.

But who can say?

Joshua the Falchion

--=20

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