The Future And An Old House

"The Sensitive Man."

Much sf is set in the future and quite a lot of that is about people peering further into the future:

"He had grown up among intellects aimed at the future." (III, p. 150)

Wells' Time Traveler flings himself into futurity. The Service in James Blish's The Quincunx Of Time employs a team of scholars trying to write a complete history of the future from fragmentary, barely comprehensible messages.

The futurism contrasts with the setting where Dalgetty grew up:

"Sharp in his mind rose the image of the old house." (ibid.)

"By night you heard the boards creaking and the lonesome sound of wind talking down the chimney. Yes, it had been good." (ibid.)

Wind talks, as often in Poul Anderson's works. Present experience always combines memories and anticipations. Past and future meet now.