Tuesday 26 September 2017

Adzel And Technic Civilization

"'A word to the right men - that does appear to be how your Technic civilization operates, no? Zothkh.'"
(The Van Rijn Method, p. 191)

This remark is made by Adzel. "Zothkh" is an untranslated Wodenite syllable like the Eriau "Kraich." Here a Wodenite comments perceptively on a human-dominated society. How do Wodenite and other societies operate? Merely by putting these words into the mouth of an extraterrestrial, Anderson offers us an external slant on humanity. Adzel's knowledge is practical: on Jim's behalf, he contacts a League Master Merchant who needs an apprentice...

Telephones have screens but there are no mobile phones so Betty has had to leave with her father numbers where she might be contactable, like Adzel's. Later in the Technic History, Flandry does have a pocket phone (here).

Simon Snyder has both "...computers..." and "...information retrievers." (p. 194) See discussion of infotrieves.

Why is "Gotterdammerung" rendered as "G...tterdammerung..."? (p. 193)

(Notes taken while sitting in a cafe.)

6 comments:

S.M. Stirling said...

Who's saying "G...erdamerung"?

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Mr Stirling,
Freeman Riefenstahl on p. 193. Probably just a misprint?
Paul.

David Birr said...

Paul:
My copy of "How to Be Ethnic..." in *The Earth Book of Stormgate* gives it as "Götterdämmerung," so yes, I'd say it's a misprint in *The Van Rijn Method*. DOUBLE misprint, since it left out the umlaut over the "a" as well.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

David,
I should have checked my copy of the EARTH BOOK.
Paul.

S.M. Stirling said...

It's either a mistake, or a devout Jewish character (who'd leave out the vowel).

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I don't think non-human societies on other worlds will be that different from the human in the "putting in a friendly word" aspect. That is, I would not be surprised if influential persons would recommend friends to beings who could make appointments. Such a procedure is not always done for bad reasons or for illicitly obtained personal gain.

Sean