(urth) The mystery of the image of an astronaut cleaned by Rudesind

[James Wynn]

On 7/7/2010 4:18 PM, António Pedro Marques wrote:
>
>>
>>> But *if* Wolfe had written Superman and the etxt didn't show 
>>> Superman and
>>> Clark were the same guy, our speculation that they might be *would*
>>> lead to
>>> a richer reading. We would postulate they were the same guy because 
>>> that
>>> would take the story to a whole new level, not because of some esoteric
>>> motivation for weaving the alter ego theme into it.
>>>
>>> Whereas no one has yet explained just what the
>>> considering-that-some-characters-in-the-BNS-are-Inire brings to the
>>> table.
>>> Lee points to it enlightening Inire's nature and motivations, but I 
>>> find
>>> that sketchy. Could your camp do some more sketching, perhaps?
>>
>> What's the narrative advantage of Dorcas being Severian's grandmother?
>
> I'm not talking about narrative advantage. I'm talking about 
> speculative advantage.
>
> And as a side note I'm against the idea of narrative advantage. I 
> don't see that real life employs it, why should fiction?

Okay. What's the speculative advantage to Dorcas being Severian's 
grandmother?

I remember when the grandmother theory was posed. There was no more 
textual evidence for it than this Hairy Inire theory. The only reason 
it's not sitting on the "Half-baked Theory" pile today is because Wolfe 
uncharacteristically confirmed it to a questioner.

I think the real test is: "Do the accumulated facts form a real pattern 
or only a perceived pattern?" Almost anything you say about Wolfe's 
fiction *could* be shunted with "who cares? This won't change my opinion 
on the story." If you feel that way, fine. Go on to the next post. You 
have nothing to add. People post these theories because they see what 
looks like a deliberate pattern. They want someone to say "It couldn't 
work because..." or "Here's something else that fits that pattern...."

u+16b9