Monday 23 September 2019

The Contemporary In The Cosmic

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:

Sean M. Brooks said...

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

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
I think it should be 1954 which I am changing it to.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

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