(urth) Hut in the Jungle

Son of Witz sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org
Sat Apr 4 10:08:21 PDT 2009


On Apr 3, 2009, at 6:35 AM, b sharp wrote:

>
> Jeff Wilson writes:
>
>> What's the example for Ultan? IIRC, during his sighted days he was  
>> fond
>> of reading by a window on the 49th floor of the library,  
>> overlooking the
>> Upholsterer's Garden.
>
> Thanks for bringing up that scene, I had forgotten it. I'm not sure  
> if it
> is negative or positive evidence for the library extending back (and  
> forward)
> into time. We are told it extends in space as far as the House  
> Absolute;
> too far to be  a "natural" extension I'll guess.
>
> I re-read the passage and I'll note that the Upholsterer's Garden  
> serves the purpose
> of drying rosemary to stuff into pillows (reminds me a bit of the  
> cushions from
> Severian's tryst with Jolenta).  If the Library extends down to the  
> past but
> also rises up 49 floors, perhaps it extends far enough into the  
> future to
> reach Earth, as does the Jungle Hut.
>
> With regards to Gene Wolfe's Earth, I think it is safe to say that  
> Rosemary
> (Wolfe's wife) is an important part of it. Also, wolfe was 49 years  
> old when
> Shadow of the Torturer was published.
>
> I'll also note that Ultan (and Cyby) tell the story of his reading  
> and looking
> out the window of the 49th floor to mark when Ultan first started to  
> realize he
> was going blind. I'll further note that Jorge Luis Borges became  
> fully blind in
> his 50's (he was 81 when SotT was published).
>
> FWIW
>
>
> -bsharp
> _________________________________________________________________


nice parsing. I love that 49 bit.

in the realm of Sci-Fi, has anyone else done this sort of embedded  
casual time travel structure before?
I've always considered our timelines to be wrapped up in a spiral, so  
a vertical structure would have the opportunity to exist in the  
different layers.
reminds one of a archeological documentary where the narrator says, as  
you descend into the canyon, "And now we walk further back in time  
with each strata in the crust"




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