I just finished reading this, and I feel like so much passed

Anyone?

>>9907212

I don't have the novel in front of me, but there is a scene at the beggining of the series where he makes a point to note that someone fights with a certain weapon and then later on he revisits the scene and claims that a character was there when they clearly weren't according to his early account. the urth.net mailing list did a whole compilation of Severian's lies/memory lapses. I'l l try and dig it up for you.

>>9906815
ey I just finished the first one a moment ago (literally) and wanted to see if there was any relatable thread. I really liked it, the next 3 are in the mail

what are your questions? I don't recall any outright acts of lying, but it seems that Severian seems to exaggerate quite a bit, especially with regards to women. And while his imposing presence seems true, I don't think he is quite as grandiose as he supposes. One part that sticks out to me is when he is relaying the story of Father Inire and the mirrors to Agia and the narrative breaks back to the present and she says something like 'I could hear you muttering back there'. So while that's fairly inconsequential, that's all I have compared to some sort of egregious lying

>>9907244
>the story of Father Inire and the mirrors to Agia

If you're reading through it the first time, this is really fucking important to what's really going on in the narrative. Also pay attention to fish.

>>9906815
>>9907244
Severian IS an unreliable narrator but that DOESN'T mean he lies outright. He's unreliable because he tends to omit information sometimes, or get his memories mixed up (he can remember events perfectly and still get confused about when/how they happened).

>>9907262
It creeped me out desu
I think I got the gist of it but I'm sure I'll reread it at some point

He don't lie about anything but his perfect memory.

>>9907272
>>9907283
That's the thing, does he lie about having a perfect memory or does he tell lies about the memories themselves?

There is something that has been bothering me for years
Do they have pringles on urth? Or in Tzadkielship?

>>9907296

The most common theory is that he thinks he has eidetic memory when in fact he doesn't, but he is unaware of this fact and assumes he has eidetic memory. You also have to consider that Severian is carrying around the memories of all Autaurch's before him as well as Thecla, so a lot of the memories bleed togther, and/or contradict each other. This ties into the 'multiple Severian's' theory. What one Severian may remember from his past may not be exactly the same as another Severian. It's basically the memory equivalent of the old chilren's game, telephone, where one person whispers something to one person who then whispers it to another person and so on. What you end up with may only resemble the original 'secret' in form but not in context.

>>9907305

Le Pringles Man received the book from someone else, so probably not. But maybe he gave his bookgiving friend from the future a couple cans of original and BBQ to take back to Urth.

>>9907296

> I think an important passage to examine when trying to figure out
> what is going on with Sev's memory is this one from _The Claw of the
> Conciliator_, Chapter 8:
>
> "The truth is that I am one of those who are cursed with what is
> called perfect recollection. We cannot, as I have sometimes heard
> foolishly alleged, remember everything. I cannot recall the ordering
> of the books on the shelves in the library of Master Ultan, for
> example. But I can remember more than many would credit: the
> position of each object on a table I walked past when I was a child,
> and even that I have recalled some scene to mind previously, and how
> that remembered incident differed from the memory of it I have now."
> (II, VIII)
>
> So, even he knows and admits that he can recall the same event
> differently. I don't think that he's lying about having perfect
> recall. Maybe he's trying to reassure himself that his memory is
> working properly when he mentions it so many times. We know that he
> fears that he's insane. I'll continue quoting:
>
> "It was my power of recollection that made me the favorite pupil of
> Master Palaemon, and so I suppose it can be blamed for the existence
> of this narrative, for if he had not favored me, I would not have
> been sent to Thrax bearing his sword."
>
> Maybe Palaemon, when he was trying to give advice, knew Severian
> would just disregard it or misunderstand it, which seems to fit with
> his naivete and gullibility.
>
> "Some say this power is linked to weak judgment--of that I am no
> judge. But it has another danger, one I have encountered many times.
> When I cast my mind back into the past, as I am doing now and as I
> did then when I sought to recall my dream, I remember it so well that
> I seem to move again in the bygone day, a day old-new, and unchanged
> each time I draw it to the surface of my mind, its eidolons as real
> as I. I can even now close my eyes and walk into Thecla's cell as I
> did one winter evening; and soon my fingers will feel the heat of her
> garment while the perfume of her person fills my nostrils like the
> perfume of lillies warmed before a fire. I lift her gown from her
> and embrace that ivory body, feeling her nipples pressed to my
> face..."
>
> I wonder if Severian remembers the things he fantasizes or imagines
> and thinks they are real? Is it possible that he doesn't know the
> difference between reality and fantasy?
>
> He goes on, remembering the dream from when he slept in the bed with
> Baldanders.
>
> "Again I bestride the mitred, leather-winged steed. Pelicans fly
> below us with stiffly formal strokes, and gulls wheel and keen."
>
> Here again, the recollection recounted here differs from the original
> description. No pelicans or gulls were mentioned before. Another
> data point for the theory that he mentions his perfect memory almost
> every time he describes something differently than he did before.