"The minutes dragged by. A man at the point of death was supposed to review his whole life, but Hollister didn't feel up to it. He was too tired." (VIII, p. 278)
Are we supposed to review our whole life? Or is the idea not just that our whole life is supposed to rush before us?
This paragraph continues:
"He sat watching the telescreen which showed the space field. Dust and wind and the skeleton cradles, emptiness, and a roiling gloom beyond." (ibid.)
Here are the wind and gloom from before together with a few more relevant details: dust, skeleton, emptiness. Hollister sees potential death and the unknown.
The story approaches its conclusion. After the upbeat ending, we turn to The Complete Psychotechnic League, Volume 2, where the contents page reveals a much broader sweep of future history:
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And I thought "The Snows of Ganymede" esp. interesting. More so than some of the other stories listed.
Ad astra! Sean
I think the 'review your life' story comes from people who had near-death experiences and whose memories flickered and shot randomly.
I had one experience where I lost consciousness firmly believing I was dying, and my only thought was "I wish I could get this foot off my head".
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
That makes sense. In such a grim situation one's thoughts would be focused on struggling to survive. Glad you did!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: no credit to me. I was totally surprised to recover consciousness and to this day I have no idea why I didn't die.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I understand, but I'm still glad you survived.
Ad astra! Sean
So am I... 8-).
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
So are your legions of fans and readers!
Ad astra! Sean
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