The third narrative passage in "The Sorrow..." is headed 300. The numbers, ranging from 43 to 2319, refer to year dates. "A.D." is not added because none of the years in this Time Patrol instalment are B.C.
300 is historically earlier than either 372 or 1935 - quite obviously! - but it is also earlier in Carl's experience which was not necessarily going to be the case in a time travel story. Flashbacks are frequent in fiction. An author can open with the buildup to the climax, then backtrack to show how it all began, then conclude with the climax, as Anderson does here. See also John Milton's approach in Paradise Lost here.
Carl, based in the 1930's, visits Gothland through the period, 300-372. Thus, the opening passage, 372, is set very near the end - but not quite at the end. There is a long build-up to a devastating climax and the title is fully appropriate.
No comments:
Post a Comment