This is the chapter with the perfect haiku.
"Throughout a late afternoon, Serdar and Naia sat mute, sipped wine, and practiced the art of shadow-watching." (p. 91)
Seated on a terrace where a trellis casts changing patterns on a white wall, they contemplate the patterns, appreciate the beauty and lose themselves "...in the silent harmony." (ibid.) Serdar composes the haiku.
Another member of Lancaster Serene Reflection Meditation (Soto Zen) Group claimed that he could see the light changing on the wall during evening meditation. I cannot.
Naia is realizing the pointlessness of their lives and the author presents an appropriate Pathetic Fallacy. White light flashes in the twilit sky as a satellite wards off cosmic rays. The flash is too brief for the two observers to notice patterns or appreciate subtleties. When it has ended, the sky seems "...much darker than before." (p. 93) And the wind becomes cold.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Despite the perfect haiku written by Poul Anderson here, this part of Chapter VIII of Part One of GENESIS is a grim part of the book. Serdar and Naia seem so apathetic and spiritually listless. I simply cannot Nicholas van Rijm, Dominic Flandry, or Anson Gutrie accepting so meekly the smothering benevolence of the AI making all the real decisions. I think the characters I listed would have schemed and dared everything to break loose of Gaia!
Sean
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