New York at the time of writing in 1954:
"He looked out of his window. Lights flamed against a hectic sky; the streets crawled with automobiles and a hurrying, faceless crowd; he could not see the towers of Manhattan from here, but he knew they reared arrogant toward the clouds."
-Poul Anderson, "Time Patrol" IN Anderson, The Guardians Of Time (New York, 1981), pp. 9-63 AT 3, p. 26.
Anderson conveys dynamism:
lights flame;
the sky is hectic;
streets are full of autombiles;
the crowd hurries;
towers rear arrogantly;
people are on the move;
a civilization is going somewhere.
But, so far, it is what is happening at the time of writing. Then comes the perspective, not only past but also future:
"And it was all one swirl on a river that swept from the peaceful prehuman landscape where he had been to the unimaginable Danellian future."
-ibid.
So some reflection is appropriate:
"How many billions and trillions of human creatures lived, laughed, wept, worked, hoped, and died in its currents!"
-ibid.
How many? Also: how many! That last sentence is not a question because it ends with an exclamation mark.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, I forgot about how Anderson used that bit of a contemporary description in "Time Patrol." You were six years old that year!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I think it should be 1954 which I am changing it to.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Understood. Because Manse Everard would return to the same year the Patrol recruited him, after graduating from the TP Academy.
Ad astra! Sean
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