Ramri, the avian alien, commends:
US constitutional law (he thinks that there can never "'...have been a nobler concept...'" (CHAPTER NINE, p. 94));
chess;
Beethoven's last quartets;
"Justice Holmes" (CHAPTER TEN, p. 102);
the Terrestrial socio-economic system based on physics, not on biology -
- and sings Mozart themes.
He sounds like another avian alien (see Know Yourself - And Your Enemy) or Ferune of Mistwood (not avian but he flies!) (see Quotations).
Is this not somewhat extravagant praise of Terrestrial culture by aliens? It ought to be balanced by a human character with a similar in-depth knowledge of some extraterrestrial culture. In Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, a Klingon repeatedly quotes Shakespeare. Can Kirk quote Klingon classics?
11 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
JUSTICE Holmes? Are we supposed to think of Sherlock Holmes?
I think we do get a deeper look at a non-human culture and race in A CIRCUS OF HELLS. Recall how Djuanda became more and more attracted to Merseian culture in that story.
Sean
Sean,
Clearly Sherlock.
Paul.
Paul and Sean:
Ramri might have been impressed by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., for 29 years an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
From Wikipedia:
"Noted for his long service, concise and pithy opinions, and deference to the decisions of elected legislatures, he is one of the most widely cited United States Supreme Court justices in history ... and is one of the most influential American common law judges, honored during his lifetime in Great Britain as well as the United States."
"...Holmes helped move American legal thinking towards legal realism, as summed up in his maxim: 'The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience.' Holmes espoused a form of moral skepticism and opposed the doctrine of natural law, marking a significant shift in American jurisprudence. In one of his most famous opinions, his dissent in Abrams v. United States (1919), he regarded the United States Constitution as 'an experiment, as all life is an experiment' and believed that as a consequence 'we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death.'"
Oh, and Paul, you can't truly understand Shakespeare until you've read him in the original Klingon.
Kaor, DAVID!
You seem to have some admiration and respect for Justice Oliver Holmes. Unfortunately, I can't entirely go along with that. I emphatically disagree with seems to have been a "positivist" view of the law taken by Justice Holmes. Such as his rejection of "natural law." That is, the deduction of universal principles, such as the view that deliberate murder, is always and everywhere wrong. Because no one has the right to unjustly and unlawfully take another's life. If Justice Holmes rejected such principles, then anything goes!
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
I would rather it was Sherlock Holmes which Ramri had in mind, not Justice Holmes!
Sean
Both,
I never heard of the other guy. Blogging is educational.
Paul.
I find it implausible that Ramri, given what's shown of his intellect and his careful study of Earth culture, would make such an error as to consistently call Sherlock Holmes, if it were the detective he regarded as a hero, "Justice" Holmes. I'm also dubious that Donnan would let such a mistake slide without either gentle correction or at least, if he remained silent, putting quote marks around the "Justice" title in his thoughts.
Kaor, DAVID!
I agree, Sherock Holmes was and is simply too well known in the Anglosphere for him to be plausibly called "Justice," as tho he had become a judge. The simplest explanation is that here Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes was meant. And, from what I know of the political views of Anderson, I can't help but think PA would have come to agree with the grave reservations I have about Justice Holmes.
Sean
Both,
I took "Justice Holmes" to be a Monwaingi expression, like saying, e.g., "Detective Holmes" or "Investigator Holmes."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Possibly! But once I noticed it, it did seem odd, using "Justice" with "Holmes." I think an intelligent alien would take care to avoid being needlessly unclear, when conversing with humans.
Sean
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