Time Structures on Urth

Ryan Dunn · 11 Aug 2010, 16:11 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: ryan at liftingfaces.com (Ryan Dunn)
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 12:11:40 -0400
Subject: (urth) Time Structures on Urth
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W452FF867818776C2814B07CF960 at phx.gbl>
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Message-ID: <49FAC426-67D3-465D-83C2-ABD4BFF53133 at liftingfaces.com>


On Aug 11, 2010, at 8:27 AM, Lee Berman wrote:

> I posted this theory a few years in the past but, at Dan'l's request I'm 
> trotting it out again now. It seems like an appropriate time. We get a very 
> nice tour of the Last House and how it works. I think there are other, similar, 
> structures to be found in BotNS. 
> 
> At the end of CotA, Severian is flying around the Citadel but unable to find 
> Valeria's tower. He is only able to find it by retracing his steps through the
> catacombs to the Atrium of Time. This seems a parallel to when Severian tries
> to take a shortcut to Last House but can't find it until he follows the correct 
> path. 
> 
> So I assume that the top of Valeria's tower, like the top of Last House,
> exists in Severian's future which is why he cannot find either. Valeria is said
> to be old fashioned and antiquely dressed. She lives in the lower levels of her
> tower. I deduce that her tower (and perhaps other towers around the Atrium of Time)
> is a time structure with lower levels in the past. From Severian's perspective,
> the Last House does not have any lower levels.
> 
> From the comparison of these two structures I think we can find others which share
> the features of a labyrinthine entrance path to a vertical structure which transports
> people to a different time. I think the clearest example is the Jungle Hut. I think
> Robert, Marie and Isangoma are meant to be shown as on Earth and not Urth. Since 
> Severian and Agia have to ascend to get there I think it shows that Earth, in some way, 
> is the future of Urth.

What happens if you jump out of the window of a tower in the Atrium of Time or the Last House?

In the Botanic Gardens, the sand garden has a similar effect, but there is no structure.

Finally, what did you make of Valeria's remark that they put the broken clock portal in the courtyard as a sort of "sign" for the Atrium of Time, where Severian assumed that the locale was named after the clock but had it wrong?

...ryan

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