Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 21:42:14 -0700
From: maa32 
Subject: (urth) For Jerry- a response

Jerry, The quote you bring up keeps emphasizing how old and ancient the world 
around the red star is.  The distance is one of time.  The present tense 
refers to the transtemporal nature of Silk's gift (and Severian's - a thousand 
ages in his sight are like an evening gone).  God is outside of time.  The 
distance for him is no more real than one of space.  The ancient and old 
images imply that it is from a long, long time ago.  The distance is real 
because the universe has moved so much since then.  It was a long way away in 
space and time, but Silk can travel there because he moves through time, like 
the song of the mother is a song of time, as he claims that the only way to go 
back in time is through dreams, as he claims that his travels are dreams, etc.
 That's the best I can do.
Marc Aramini



--