From: "Chris" 
Subject: Re: (urth) Baldanders, Acies Castle & the Citadel
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 05:24:41 +0000

Baldanders was the Typhon That Could Have Been, this I think is explicitly 
intended.

All in all, the allegorical element is so strong with Baldanders, Talos, and 
Jolenta that my first inclination was to treat Severian as I would a "real" 
historical author: that is, to say that he invented them to make a point.

All in all I think we pay too little attention to the fact that Severian is, 
among other things, an author. And despite his disavowals he knows all about 
literary devices and how to use them properly. And consider this: if Wolfe 
inventing Borges in a novel is inventive, consider how much more so it is to 
have Severian (a character invented by Wolfe) invent Borges, or Delaney (who 
I have not read and can add nothing to the discussion of his influence).

So I think it bears some examination. Is the story of Baldanders an allegory 
of Wolfe's, or of Severian's? It would be easy to say that it made no 
difference, but I suspect that it does.

Civet

>I think this kind of progression was probably explicit in GW's thinking 
>about Urth. Baldanders could have become the new Typhon, with better luck.
>
>
>--

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