Many Milieus

The Boat Of A Million Years.

Each chapter requires us to enter into a new sociohistorical milieu. Examples:

"To Yen Ting-kuo, subprefect of the Tumbling Rock district, came an inspector from Ch'ang-an, on an errand from the very Emperor." (II, p. 33)

"A ship was loading at the Claudian dock." (III, p. 47)

"The caravan to Tripolis would leave at daybreak." (IV, p. 70)

"It is told in the saga of Olaf Trggvason..." (V, p. 108)

"Where mountains began their long climb to Tibet..." (X, 1, p. 203)

"Armand Jean de Plessis de Richlieu, Cardinal of the Church, first minister to His Most Christian Majesty Louis XIII..." (XI, p. 221)

"Over the plain from the north the young men came a-gallop." (XII, p. 241)

"The ranch house was small..." (XIV, 1, p. 275)

"This was not the forest of old..." (XVII, p. 344)

"As it came out of the darkness that had severed it from Hanno, his machine self came back to him." (XIX, p. 455)

(Machine self: some of the ancients have lived into an sf future.)

These are the most in your face examples and they are the majority.

In each chapter, it must be gradually disclosed that at least one character has lived longer than usual. In two cases, Hanno spins an elaborate yarn before confirming that the yarn is true.

In Chapter VIII, we are again in China (Later: This is an error. See the next post.) but over a millennium later and in a different stratum of the social hierarchy.

Monasteries are a good place to conceal longevity. The community will keep it quiet and might regard it as a miracle or as a sign of divine favor. In VIII, Asagoa becomes a Buddhist nun whereas, in IX, Svoboda ceases to be a Christian nun. Nothing lasts forever.

Apart from blogging, I am reading a biography and a graphic novel and watching a video. Not all at the same time. This evening, Holocaust Memorial followed by choir for Sheila and a meeting for me. More blogging soon.