From: Michael Straight <straight@email.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: (urth) Comparative Religion
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 11:10:12 

On Fri, 8 Oct 1999 David_Lebling@avid.com wrote:

> In any case, the religions of the Whorl appear to all be parodies of Urth (or
> rather, Earth) religions, sometimes with a sting or joke attached.
> Triviguante's religion and culture are parodies of Arab culture and religion
> with the sexes swapped, for example.  The religion of Gaon (in _On Blue's
> Waters_) appears to be more-or-less a parody of Hinduism.

This touches on the difference I was trying to express between these two
series.  Does one get the feeling, reading the New Sun series, that even
in Typhon's time anyone would remember enough of Arab culture to get the
joke of switching the sexes?

The world the Whorl came from seems more closely connected to our time
than Severian's world.

-Rostrum


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