(urth) Thecla's fourth book
b sharp
bsharporflat at hotmail.com
Mon Oct 2 04:27:11 PDT 2006
Josh Young writes:
>I don't think there is a paradox here. I seem to remember Sev setting a
>copy of his >memoirs "Adrift on the sea of time." in UotNS. I always
>assumed that it wound up, either by >coincidence or providence in Urth of
>the pastand was found and subsequently read.
The paradox is in causality, as Roy outlined. We have Severian's spoken
words inspiring Canog's Book of the New Sun which inspires Talos'
outrageous and distorted play which inspires Severian's spoken word. A
closed loop, which would be okay in the science fiction world except for the
glitch of Flood Day information which is included in Talos' play. Where does
it come from? Severian doesn't know about Flood Day when he speaks and
Canog hears.
Now, there is Urth of the New Sun which is also a journal, written by
Severian. Somehow it exists somewhere/when for Gene Wolfe to find and
translate. It has the details of Flood Day in it, including minor details
(major in regard to Severian's family tree I think) like the woman on the
Path Of Air. Somehow this information was inserted into the closed loop.
Did Canog find Urth of the New Sun and insert its information into his book?
(if so, he also found himself in that book).
It seems more likely that Dr. Talos found Urth of the New Sun and inserted
that stuff into his play. If Dr. Talos had read Book of the New Sun he
would have found himself there and would know exactly what would happen to
Baldanders and him (in Urth he appears only as an eidolon on Yesod). It
seems more likely that Talos has read only Urth of the New Sun not Book of
the New Sun.
I still have trouble seeing how Canog could write such a detailed book, in
first person, based only on Severian's spoken words. Perhaps he found
Severian's version of Book Of the New Sun and re-wrote it? I also have
trouble seeing how Thecla could have chosen that book. If she had read it
before, she would have known her own fate. If she was only requesting it
because someone recommended it...who would that person be? And why would
that person want Thecla to read about her own fate? Or chance Severian
finding his own book or...etc. etc.
All in all I feel forced to the conclusion that Wolfe was playing fast and
loose when he dealt out this particular deck of cards.
-bsharp
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