Three senses in only part of a sentence!
"...of damp earth and the not-too-distant sea; the grass was green, starred with some winter flowers." (ibid.)
Even better:
two contrasting smells, earth and sea;
at least two colors, green grass and unspecified flowers.
The point, however, is to contrast this natural beauty with human activity:
"It would have been a beautiful country, if war had not come by; plumes of smoke scarred the sky..." (ibid.)
Also there is "...an acrid smell of ash..." (ibid.)
Elsewhere, Poul Anderson's Manse Everard remarks:
"'Earth was a planet fit for gods, unbelievable, before civilization mucked it up.'"
-Poul Anderson, The Shield Of Time (New York, 1991), p. 100.
It can be fit again and our descendants can be the gods.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And the only good, long term means of fixing up the planet is for us to get OFF this in a real and major way! At the very least, we need to start developing the resources and potentialities of the Solar System. But I'm preaching to the amen corner here!
And I hope the humans who become like "gods" are not Stirling's Draka! Remember the quote from the eery and chilling philosophy of Elvira Naldorssen quoted in one of the Draka books about her people becoming like gods.
Sean
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
— George Orwell, *1984*
Sorry; I couldn't resist the comparison. Again, three senses.
Kaor, DAVID!
Please do make such comparisons whenever you wish! And, strictly, it's not so odd to see mention of a clock striking thirteen. As a former Army officer you must be used to telling time military style: using a 24 hours clock.
Sean
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