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

[Ryan Dunn]

Allow me to defend myself here.

I am finding puzzle pieces and asking someone to help me solve it. I do deem them to be puzzle pieces, though, before I serve them to this group. Meaning, I don't just look for random patterns and decide to throw the noodle on the wall to see if it sticks.

The monkey descriptions are clear as day to me, and warrant investigation. I am aware this has been discussed in the past, but I feel like the second part has not been considered.

The only think I've drawn from this discourse, and my own deduction, is that Inire is watching over Severian throughout his journey. Is he shaping it? Is Severian nothing more than the puppet controlled by Inire? There is certainly text to suggest that ("When I first came to court I was told, as a great secret, that it was Father Inire who really determined the policy of the Commonwealth. When I had been there two years, a man very highly placed - I can't even tell you his name - said it was the Autarch who ruled, though to those in the House Absolute it might seem that it was Father Inire.").

And if that is the case, doesn't it turn the entire "hero quest" on its head? To me, that is reason enough to look for evidence that supports this notion of Inire being a watcher throughout this journey, and the more 'under our nose' he is, the better.

I don't know where that puts me in your silo structure, but I believe that anything a book *does* to a person cannot be quarantined as invalid or inappropriate. I am sure Wolfe appreciates all and any pondering over his canon.

...ryan


On Jul 7, 2010, at 5:33 PM, António Pedro Marques wrote:

> Maybe I should point out in more detail how the two things you are confusing are quite distinct.
> 
> - One is the author having a purpose for including something in the story. The thing is there because it serves some end. That is its narrative advantage.
> 
> - The other is the reader having a purpose for making assumptions about what happens in the story, i.e., speculation. Speculation is justified because it enables a novel or in some way extended reading.
> 
> In fact, the reason you've provided yourself for justifying speculation is that it serves to find a narrative advantage to things which otherwise you think don't have any.
> 
> Now, I'm not a fan of the idea that everything must provide narrative advantage. In fact I think a decent lengthy book should have detail in it that is there only for its own sake. Maybe it could provide narrative advantage in a parallel story. Maybe the fact that the character forded 3 instead of 2 brooks could be significant in some untold story about that place. Maybe the story can even be written one of these days.
> 
> In short, I don't think everything in a book should serve some purpose within that book. But reader speculation must, because with all the stuff that Wolfe left lying there to toy with, if you don't set some standard, then you can go on indefinitely at random.
> 
> Whereas you've done the reverse: you think everything in the stpry must serve some purpose, yet speculation is free to roam.