(urth) theories

Gerry Quinn gerry at bindweed.com
Mon Oct 24 05:05:35 PDT 2011



From: Lee Berman 

> > Gerry Quinn: As for Inire as the old boatman, I really don’t understand why 
> > people take such ideas seriously.

> What's wrong with taking it seriously because an intelligent reader who is
> highly familiar with BotNS sees it? Perhaps you consider me stupid?

That’s why I’m asking the question.  I can’t understand why such a person finds this and similar ideas sufficiently attractive to persist with it, for the reasons I gave.  That is to say, it seems to me that ‘Fr. Inire as boatman’ offers little in the way of explaining anything, it poses a lot of very obvious questions that are very hard to answer, and it seems to obliterate the character and storyline of a major character, Dorcas, as we have understood them.  Hence my question:

 
> >So tell me.  Where’s all this ‘Inire is the boatman stuff’ getting us?
> >Can somebody explain how they understand Dorcas’ character and story in this 
> >picture?
 
> Who exactly is "us"? Why not say "me"? Is trying to herd everyone here into
> one gelatinous, like-thinking, single minded clusterfuck really your idea of 
> "getting somewhere"?

I asked merely asked for *somebody* to explain it.  Ryan, I think, came up with the example.

 
> Gerry, if you don't find any merit in my posts, I don't think you should read them 
> or respond to them. Instead you incessantly, relentlessly respond to them and are 
> now seem to be calling for a vote to have them banned from discussion.

Noting their consequences and asking a question about them is hardly calling for them to be banned from discussion.


> Anyway, if you read the text with care you will find much about the character Dorcas
> which is mysterious and unexplained.  Likewise with Severian. For me, idenfifying
> Father Inire as inhabiting key places in the story solves these mysteries and 
> explains the unexplained. 

Excellent!  So what is the new understanding of Dorcas’ character and storyline that the theory of Father Inire as boatman gives us?

 
> If this doesn't work for you then don't read my posts. Or come up with your own theories.
> Or just be quiet for a while. Why try to nudge this forum away from a particular topic? 
> If you don't like it simply don't participate.

I’m merely asking a question about the topic.  Is that against your rules?

- Gerry Quinn

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