Friday 13 March 2020

The Larger Context: Van Rijn And Others

Large though van Rijn is, he fits into a larger context. Avalonians are more familiar with his protege, Falkayn. Van Rijn takes his place among a host of other characters. We are usually shown him as seen by someone else. Hloch, colleague of Arinnian/Christopher Holm, introduces a story by Judith Lundgren about her father, Emil Dalmady, which includes Dalmady's interview with van Rijn. "The Master Key" features its narrator, the narrator's friend, the friend's son, the son's ensign and the son's and ensign's employer, van Rijn. Some stories are about van Rijn's employees, not about him. "Margin of Profit," which introduces van Rijn, and the much later written "How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson," which retro-introduces Adzel, are shown as happening contemporaneously. So dig van Rijn and dig everyone else.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I certainly agree with you in urging readers of this blog who have not yet done so to look up and read Anderson's Technic Civilization stories! And I hope some will deposit their own comments and opinions here.

Ad astra! Sean