(urth) Introduction and Breath

[soloviev at irit.fr]

Greetings -

well, I am sure that it is my first posting to the list
(glad that I am here).

I think an important example of withholding certain information
(if not lie) can be found in the end of the "Book of the Short
Sun" where Horn-Silk is visiting Urth with Jahlee and others,
and Severian as a boy is helping him to return Scylla (Cilinia) to her
coffin. There were several meetings with Severian, meeting
with Gurloes, Triskele etc. It gives some idea what information
Severian may withhold in the "Book of the New Sun".

All the best

Sergei Soloviev


> Greetings Urth people,
>
> I have been lurking here for a while, somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer
> volume.
>
> Actually I don't care for the term lurking. I don't like what it connotes.
> I
> don't feel like I've been hiding in the shadows. I feel like I've been
> submerged, swimming through the endless flow of your words. Now that we
> seem
> to have hit a relatively calm spell, I thought I should be polite and
> introduce myself, even though I have nothing in particular to say. I feel
> like now I am coming up to the surface to take a breath of air.
>
> Even as I write this I'm having a sense of *déjà vu*. Have I introduced
> myself before? I don't think so, but I did some lurking (I mean swimming)
> here almost ten years ago, or so I recall. I've searched the archives but
> I
> can't see any evidence that I ever made my presence known. Then again, I
> can't be certain, I've used so many different aliases on the net. I do
> remember that I was turned on to *Little, Big* when it was mentioned here,
> so thank you for that, whoever you are.
>
> I'm writing now because at this time I'm making my way through *The Book
> of
> the New Sun* yet again. I've lost track of how many times I've read it.
> This
> might be my 15th time or my 20th. I've read it aloud (three or four times)
> and I've read the books in reverse order and even read it
> chapter-by-chapter
> in reverse order or in randomized fashion according to a scheme I devised
> and have long since forgotten. I find new insights are revealed by
> contriving such juxtapositions.
>
> Finally, I thought I'd ask something that has perplexed me for many years.
> I
> often read about Severian's supposed unreliability as a narrator. This
> notion greatly intrigued me at first as I think *Pale Fire* is one of the
> greatest books ever written, and each time I have revisited the story I
> have
> looked for clues, but I'm unable to figure this one out. What exactly is
> the
> nature of his unreliability? Every cited instance I've seen seems to be
> fairly trivial. What is the big lie? What am I missing?
>
> Editor B
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