Commissioner Svoboda's office has a "...full-wall transparency..." (6, p. 34) which enables him to view the city towers. See references to "viewalls" here.
Having mentioned Alice, Svoboda again shows his erudition by mentioning Dante's seventh circle. (ibid.)
The extra-solar colonists debating their predicament include "A very young man..." (2, p. 50) The Time Traveler's dinner guests debating time travel include "...the Very Young Man." (The Time Machine, I, Introduction, p. 11)
The very young man is told that his girl on Earth "'...will be an old carline...'" (2, p. 52)
Going EVA, Joshua Coffin sees:
"...the bright cataract of the Milky Way..." (3, p. 53)
See, specifically, the cataract of the Milky Way on Aeneas here.
14 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
That interested me, Anderson referring to Dante's THE DIVINE COMEDY. I think Dante is also mentioned in OPERATION CHAOS. I loves that poem and even have three different translations of the COMEDY.
I can't recall PA alluding to or mentioning John Milton's PARADISE LOST, however. Alas, I found PL a hard slog to read, altho I thought some parts admirable. But the poem simply didn't GRAB me the way Dante's work did.
Sean
Sean,
All the discussion of PL is focused on the opening Books.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
It's been a long, long time since I've tried to reread PARADISE LOST. Do you mean the opening books of that poem?
PARADISE LOST, just now, strikes me as heavy, ponderous, and all too grimly self consciously aware of its "majesty." Iow, it's not FUN to read.
Sean
Sean,
Yes.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I've thought so. And how would you rate or compare the DIVINE COMEDY with PARADISE LOST?
Sean
Sean,
I don't know either of them well enough to make a comparison but mainly I think they are just different kinds of poems telling different kinds of stories.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I'm a bit surprised you had never read at least Dorothy L. Sayers' translation of the DIVINE COMEDY. I would classify the DC and Milton's PL as eschatological poems.
Sean
Sean,
I have read it.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Good! I like Sayers' translation of the DIVINE COMEDY. I wonder if Joshua Coffin will mention PARADISE LOST in ORBIT UNLIMITED?
Sean
Sean,
Don't think so. It is Quoted in STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES, "Space Seed": "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."
Paul.
All Khan had to say was, "Have you ever read Milton?" and Kirk knew what passage he referenced. They understood each other.
Kaor, Paul and DAVID!
One of the most famous lines from Milton's PL! And Dante had a grimmer view of how Satan lived: miserable, wretched, cruel, and evil
Sean
Both,
In Neil Gaiman's THE SANDMAN -
Lucifer Morningstar: Still. "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven." Eh, little brother-killer?
Cain: Suh-certainly, Lord Lucifer. Whatever you say, Lord Lucifer.
Lucifer: We didn't say it. Milton said it. And he was blind.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
With the implication being Milton was wrong? I can see that!
Sean
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