"'In candor, I expect Homo sapiens will have a shorter course than the dinosaurs did - I give him another hundred years at maximum -...'" (p. 111)
The Devil's Game was published in 1980, nearly forty years ago. The views of a character are not necessarily those of his creator. Nevertheless, behind this dialogue lie the knowledge, insight and wisdom of Poul Anderson. Did he mean to create a character more pessimistic than himself? Is the human race worth preserving, given some of what it does? Yes, because we can do better.
When Dornford Yates' characters make similar Predictions, we are confident that the views of the characters are indeed those of their creator.
And now good night.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Some of us can or will sometimes do better! That's enough to justify the survival of the human race.
I've never read any of Dornford Yates books. But can the views and beliefs of his characters safely be said to be those of Yates himself?
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
In Yates' case, definitely. He is consistent. All the "good guys" say the same things. The last two Berry books are conversation pieces where the characters agree with each other that Germans and Oscar Wilde are vile, that there should be hanging and flogging, that standards have declined because professional people no longer have domestic servants, that civilization is doomed etc. (Unfortunately, that last opinion might very well be true.)
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
If Yates wrote like that, then I have to agree the views he has his characters saying are ones he too agrees with.
As for civilization being doomed, I hope not! Esp. if Elon Musk manages to found his Mars colony. Then we would no longer be stupidly keeping all our eggs in only one basket.
Ad astra! Sean
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