See my summary of CS Lewis' concept of "Joy" in the combox for:
For me, if for no one else, there is a hint of "Joy" in the following passage:
"Clouds towering over a sunset ocean, painted crimson and gold, painted masts and wheeling gulls. And her eyes...the color of the sea in her wide eyes...
"...the ocean and a ship! Back to the rover's life." (p. 330)
Imagine that that sunset moment endures and that the return to the remembered rover's life becomes permanent...
People imagine hereafters. I think that it is sufficient that we can imagine.
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
A text worthy of Anderson!
I believe the hereafter is real.
Ad astra! Sean
Note that Valeria is a pirate -- that is, a seagoing bandit.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
In our real world female pirates were rare. And I can't recall there ever being any women land bandits. But I might well be wrong.
Ad astra! Sean
"women land bandits"
Tales & archeological evidence for women warriors seems to concentrate on the Eurasian Steppe. Is there a difference between banditry & raids on neighboring tribes or nearby farming peoples? See a certain character in "To Turn the Tide".
I suspect the reason women warriors were more common in that region is that, if you are doing your fighting on the backs of not particularly large horses, being a bit lighter means the horse can run faster which compensates for being less strong. So in that case women end up *roughly* as capable fighters as men.
Kaor, Jim!
I forgot about those Eurasian steppe raiders. But even there women raiders seems to have been rare. I can imagine "some" strong young women taking part in their tribes raids.
A current real world example of what I think "bandits" are would be the gangs terrorizing Haiti.
Ad astra! Sean
Oh, there are female bandits -- in India, I know of half a dozen. Generally speaking, unless a culture is -really- misogynist, you'll get occasional women following male trades.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I sit corrected, my thought being that women bandits would have to be physically very strong. At least as strong as a healthy man. And women can be as cruel and ruthless as men.
Ad astra! Sean
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