Tuesday 30 April 2019

Like Hell

"Hiding Place," see here.

Inside the zoo ship:

"Torrance and Van Rijn walked through shadows, among monsters; the simulated light of a dozen different suns streamed around them: red, orange, yellow, greenish, and harsh electric blue.
"A thing like a giant shark... tiny flying reptiles, their scales aglitter in prismatic hues..." (p. 577)

Anderson must have known that this description would evoke Hell to his readers:

shadows
monsters
red light
other unpleasant colors
giant shark
flying glittering-scaled reptiles

As I have remarked before, van Rijn, Falkayn and, later, Flandry are accustomed to doing regular business with beings that many of us would find frightening or repulsive. Van Rijn will go anywhere for a profit:

"...bargaining in strange cities or beneath unblue skies and in poisonous winds, for treasures Earth had not yet imagined."
-"Margin of Profit," p. 147.

5 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I have sometimes wondered how * I * would react to meeting non-human rational beings from other worlds! With horror and panic? Or, as I hope I would do, as calmly and reasonably as Old Nick, Falkayn, and Flandry?

I would actually like to see a real UFO, but I don't expect to! I don't really expect anything like "Peek! I See You!" to happen to me. Pity.

Sean

Anonymous said...

No green stars: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/29/why-are-there-no-green-stars/#.XMiK8-hKhaQ

As a recruiter of mainly technical people (especially software engineers), I am exposed to non-human rational beings on a daily basis. At least I THINK they're rational....

-kh

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Keith!

NO green stars? Shucks!!! (Smiles)

Ha, ha!!! I think I can see why some might regard geeks like software engineers as barely rational and probably NON-HUMAN.

Sean

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Sean.
"...see why..." Sometimes SMELL why!
;)

Also, who would better like to read and talk about nonhumans than other nonhumans? (With disrespect, I include myself in this group, with perhaps slightly better hygiene.)

-kh

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Keith!

I think I am at least notionally human! And I do take showers and use deodorant!

Sean