(urth) Pike's Ghost

[Larry Miller]

I dont know about Rigoglio but Mamelta says nothing about Typhon. IIRC
the only memory of Urth she relates is being on a patio with her
brothers throwing a ball through a water fountain.  And I did say
"supposedly"  that a Neighbor possessed Horn.  Ill also agree with you
that permanence is a problem when regarding possession.  One thing
that I think should be stressed is that Typhons grafting was a last
ditch effort to extend his life.  His possession of the blond haired
man could have worn out that body but Typhon wanted to keep his head
because it bore the face that the people of Urth knew as Monarch so
thats why he undertook such a desperate measure.

On 11/27/11, Gerry Quinn <gerry at bindweed.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Larry Miller
>
>> Didnt all the sleepers have thier minds wiped before boarding the
>> Whorl?  That would seem to solve the problem of recognition of Silk, and
>> don;t
> Something was done to them, but they seem to remember their time on Urth
> reasonably well.  Both Mamelta and Rigoglio have plenty to say about Typhon,
> and there is no suggestion of lacunae in their memory.
>
>
>> Maybe the cloned bodies wouldnt be fully grown in time for Typhon to
>> transfer into.
>
> If he read the Evil Overlord’s Handbook, he would have prepared them in
> advance.  But really, when he talks to Severian, it’s hard to believe we are
> not intended to believe that the head is his own.
>
>> As far as being a "mind slave to a monstrous alien",
>> this doesnt seem to be too far from what the gods of the Whorl do or
>> what the Neighbor supposedly does to Horn in the pit.  What would make
>> that type of possession any different?
>
> Permanence?  The gods’ possession of humans tends to be short-lived.  Humans
> are too small to hold them.
>
> As for Horn being possessed by a Neighbour in the pit, there’s not IMO the
> slightest evidence for it.  I could accept for the sake of argument that
> Horn might have died in the pit and been reconstituted by the Neighbours,
> but there’s then about two books of him being Horn with a bit of Silk, and
> the Neighbours clearly regard him as a representative of the human race.
>
> - Gerry Quinn
>
>