Chunderban Desai:
"'In their different ways, [the Aeneans] all wait for an apocalypse.'" (p. 176)
"'This wouldn't be the first time that a voice from the desert drove nations mad.'" (p. 177)
The novel has shown us apocalypticism in every stratum of Aenean society that we have seen so far: Landfolk; University; tinerans; riverside men; Riverfolk - with one exception, the merchants of the Web. Thus, Desai's words encapsulate the story so far. He also mentions "'...a centering of the rumors on the Orcan area...'" (p. 176) and indeed we have read part of a prophetic speech delivered by Jaan to folk who had swarmed:
"From around the Sea of Orcus..." (9, p. 150)
Speaking disparagingly of the Orcans, Desai says:
"'Our people had more urgent things to do than straggle with the language and ethos of some poverty-stricken dwellers on a dead sea floor.'" (p. 177)
Is that really what he says? No, he really says:
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
That was a very striking comment Desai made, from Chapter 13 of THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN: "This wouldn't be the first time that a voice from the desert drove nations mad." It's plain Anderson had Mohammed and the religion he founded, Islam, in mind. That false prophet conquered Arabia and laid the foundations for the jihad which burst out of the peninsula soon after his death.
And I also checked my Nelson Doubleday copy of TDOTR Desai's comment about the Orcans. It too has "struggle" not "straggle" in the same part of the book. It's interesting how errors and misprints can creep into a text.
Ad astra! Sean
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