From: "Chris" 
Subject: Re: (urth) Sev's not-so-perfect memory
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 00:09:06 +0000

To throw more into the fire:
Perhaps, given the "many worlds" cosmology of the NS books, Severian has 
actually picked up memories from Severians in several different branches of 
the possible event tree which all had similar enough outcomes that they 
succeeded and were able to return, become Autarch, and pass their memories 
on. If the differences were small enough he might not notice that he was 
remembering it differently from one time to the next. Even larger 
differences might pass unnoticed if there were enough time between the first 
remembrance and whenever he revisits the same subject. It may not be the 
only or even the best solution, but it's consistent enough and hangs 
together with the Ash episode.

On a side note, I am not very comfortable attaching the same powers Silk has 
(seeming to be able to change stories, including his own) to Severian. The 
two may be connected, but are not the same. Were there hints in the NS 
novels that Severian was able to do this? I can't recall any.

Civet

>Crush responds:
>
>>Since they are trivial, they can only be errors in memory (assuming
>>they aren't typos).
>
>They might also be errors in interpretation.  Perhaps Drotte and Roche both 
>said it, but at
>one point it was more significant that one said it, and at another time the 
>other.  Maybe
>Vodalus handed the pistol to Thea with his helper as an intermediary. After 
>a while it starts
>to sound like Biblical exegesis.  Which may be the point.
>
>Tom
>
>
>
>
>--

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