The Foreword ends with Poul Anderson's account of Robert Anderson's death the previous year (1972?) whereas the opening chapter begins with Robert Anderson's account of Jack Havig's birth in 1933. Novels have always been able to move backwards in time even when they did not involve time travel.
Robert Anderson dies in his sleep. Vikings and ERB's green Martians want to die fighting. Dominic Flandry wants to see death coming and fight it. See here. Which is the best way to go? In "The Man Who Came Early," Ospak thinks that everyone dies at a preordained time but I doubt it. Life is ruled by Fortuna, not by the norns.
3 comments:
When Theodore Roosevelt died, the NYT obituary said, in part: "Death came for Theodore Roosevelt in his sleep. It had to. If he'd been awake, there would have been a fight..."
That would be right for TR. I would want to be fully alert but - when the time has come, of course - accepting, not resisting.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling and Paul!
Mr. Stirling: Ha! Amusing and very like TR! I'm reminded of how Dominic Flandry thought somewhere that he would refuse to die gently, that he would make the stupid thing (death) fight for every centimeter of him.
Paul: I do respect those who strive to face death with calm, philosophic resignation and/or trusting faith in God (if a Christian). But I also sympathize with Flandry's unwillingness to go gently.
Ad astra! Sean
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