From: Charles Dye <raster@highfiber.com>
Subject: (urth) Re: Dyslexic Severian
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 11:12:54

Peter Westlake <peter@harlequin.co.uk> writes:
>
>Still, I can still say that he gets lost as often as not,
>and suggest that he just can't tell left from right, rather
>than having them consistently backwards.

I've noticed this myself, and wondered if Severian might not be
spacially dyslexic -- not a terribly uncommon disorder.  I have
a couple of questions.

First, do we ever learn *which* of Severian's legs is injured
in the cavalry battle at Orithiya?  I haven't been able to spot
it, if we are.  It seems to me almost as if Sev uses the wound
as a convenient way to tell his feet apart:  good leg, bad leg.

Second, does anybody understand how Severian can look out
through the left eye of west-facing Mount Typhon and see a
battle to the northeast?  Something very strange going on here.
(Yes, the mountain does indeed face west, else the statues would
not be able to salute the sunset.  And it's Typhon, not Sev, who
identifies the eyes.)

(Say:  giants mistaken for towers, the boat which descends to
ascend....  I do believe there's a little Dante mixed in with the
Matthew 4 in the Typhon sequence.  Hadn't noticed that before.
It might help explain why Typhon needs more than one face, too.)

raster@highfiber.com



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