The Remarkable Case Of Davidson's Eyes by HG Wells (see also here)
"-And He Built A Crooked House-" by Robert Heinlein (see also here)
Although Poul Anderson is in the same league as Wells and Heinlein and surpasses them in many respects, maybe the above stories by them develop the idea of a fourth spatial dimension further than he did?
I have sometimes summarized complicated time travel plots, e.g.:
Circularity In The Corridors Of Time
Circular Causality I
- and might next try to summarize the dimensional complexities of the above Heinlein story.
Addendum: Have reread the Heinlein story but don't think I'll summarize it. About to go to meditation group. Watching the burning Notre Dame on TV.
11 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I have fond memories of Heinlein's "--And He Built A Crooked House." An excellent example of the kind of FUN science fiction RAH wrote before he went off the rails, starting with STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.
I was horrified and dismayed by the fire which devastated the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris! I remember how Anderson had one of the characters in "The High Ones" being deeply impressed by that church.
Even if, no WHEN rebuilt, Notre Dame can never again be quite the same.
Sean
Sean,
There is an alternative Notre Dame in THE SHIELD OF TIME.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I remember that, a far vaster structure!
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
This may be childish of me, but I want to do my bit to show respect for Notre Dame cathedral and express for its destruction by quoting this bit from Section 3 of Anderson's "The High one": "A day came back to him [Eben Holbrook]. He had been a country boy, remote even from the collective farms, but once when he was seven years old he sent in a winning Party slogan (he didn't know better then) and was awarded a trip to Europe. Somehow he had entered alone that museum called Notre Dame de Paris; and when he stood in its soaring twilight he realized how helplessly small and young he was."
I've never seen Notre Dame in person, but its destruction has saddened me for many reasons.
Sean
Sean,
And that is an appropriate quote.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Thanks! And we both know of how much Poul Anderson admired York Minster as well.
Sean
Sean,
York Minster becomes familiar to readers of Anderson.
Paul.
I have meditated and attended Evensong there.
Kaor, Paul!
And I recall how York Minster was mentioned by PA in GENESIS.
Sean
Kaor, Sean!
I too am saddened by the damage to Notre Dame de Paris, which I did see when I was sixteen, and, I believe, when I was six. I surely expect it to be rebuilt; it may not be quite as before, but I trust that it can be restored. In 1780, it was not quite as it had been in 1300; after vandalism during the French Revolution, it was not as it had been in 1780; and after its mid-19th century reconstruction, it was not exactly as it had been in 1300 or at any previous time. It was nonetheless a beautiful cathedral, and I trust that it will be again.
Have a Blessed Easter!
Nicholas
Kaor, Nicholas!
I agree, any structure, lay or ecclesiastical, which has lasted for centuries will simply not be the SAME as when it was originally built. Repairs, additions, modifications, etc., will ACCUMULATE.
And I hope so much the repair/reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral will be done well, solidly, and with reverence and good taste.
Have a blessed Easter! Sean
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