"...a detestable old oaf..."
-Poul Anderson, "Territory" IN Anderson, David Falkayn: Star Trader (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 1-76 AT p. 13 -
- but also:
"...really...a very interesting person..."
-op. cit., p. 76.
Between p. 13 and p. 76, Joyce Davisson has got past her first impressions of van Rijn.
Raj, an Asian student at Lancaster University, said that some Asian students, conscious of being visible foreigners, went around being exaggeratedly polite to everyone but he did not. A first impression of the polite Asians might be "Obsequious bastards," whereas a first impression of Raj might have been "Arrogant bastard," but, within five minutes of speaking to someone, we should get well past our first impressions and, if we don't, then the problem is with us, not with them.
Van Rijn is conscious both of how he appears to others and of how he should deal with them longer term. More than most, he cannot be judged just by appearances.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, I remember the amusing way Joyce's view of Old Nick changed from disdain to admiration in "Territory." Yes, Old Nick used how he appeared to others to make it easy for them to underestimate him.
I agree, foreigners who try too hard not to cause offense might very well end up irritating locals as obsequious. Unfortunately, the bad impressions we get of some persons won't always be unfounded. I'm reminded of this bit from the beginning of the second part of George Long's translation of the MEDITATIONS of Marcus Aurelius: "Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, the arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsociable."
Sean
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