In many works by Poul Anderson and SM Stirling, there is a fine literary tradition of appealing to at least three senses in descriptive passages. On a farm after the Change:
Smells
"...turned earth wet with the morning..." (p. 24);
smoke;
manure;
baking bread.
(A mixture!)
Sounds
the rising and falling moan of a spinning wheel;
the rhythmic thumping of a loom;
a whirling metal wind pump.
Color
"...apples glowing red among the leaves." (p. 25)
Beyond the farm is wilderness:
a hawthorn and bramble hedge twenty or more feet high covering a lane and a field;
chest high dock and nettle;
thorns;
tough wood;
dense leaves;
loud birds;
insects;
small game;
rabbits;
most of lowland Britain covered with vegetation and a new forest growing.
A post-apocalypse scenario descibed in minute detail.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
While most of us could easily do without the smell of manure, I do realize that odor will be found on any practical, working farm having animals like cows, pigs, horses, etc.
Sean
Post a Comment