One last thought for tonight, maybe.
When van Rijn has finished complaining first that thieves pirate his executives and secondly that some of his two few good men must be employed to lure executives from elsewhere:
"He took a noisy gulp of beer. 'Well.'" (p. 522)
This gives Emil Dalmady the opportunity to venture a conversational gambit. But here is my thought. I have become very used to noticing what happens during the pauses in the conversations in Poul Anderson's works. Very often, as we have seen, the sound of the wind in the background will emphasize the human silence or will even seem to comment on what has been said. It will sigh, growl, roar etc as appropriate. Do references to beer, and particularly to gulps of beer, perform a similar function in van Rijn's monologues and dialogues? We might reread many passages to find an answer to this question. But I find some confirmation before my eyes. Three paragraphs down the same page, when van Rijn seems to pause for thought and even closes his eyes:
"The butler appeared with a coldly hissing and steaming goblet." (ibid.)
And, on the facing page, van Rijn interrupts himself in mid-sentence with:
"' - Ahmed, more beer! -'" (p. 523)
Satan's World climaxes with the horrific realization that van Rijn and his team face a long journey in a spaceship with no beer!
Maybe I can leave that as a research project for someone else?
7 comments:
Kaor,. Paul!
That was funny! I have more than once that if I had been traveling with Old Nick like and had two bottles of his favorite beer I would sell them to him for 500,000 credits each. Just think of his agnonized lamentations, the anguished protests that he was being robbed of the few credits he had for supporting his impoverished old age, etc! (Laughs)
And then van Rijn would settle down to dickering on how much to pay.
Ad astra! Sean
As with most very wealthy men, van Rijn treats money as counters in a game, or as enabling things he wants to do. This is a different outlook from your average Jo trying to meet the weekly grocery bill -- entirely different.
Eg., when Elon Musk got rich, he bought a bunch of big houses. A few years later, he sold all of them because he didn't spend any time at them. He mostly lives in a $50K mobile home near Starbase in Texas.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Absolutely, what you said in your first sentence! I think I'm doing reasonably well, but it took me many years of thrift and slow building up of investments. And being careful about bills/debts.
Because what Elon Musk really wants to do is get off this rock! And I hope so much he succeeds in sending manned expeditions to Mars.
That said I wouldn't begrudge him buying one nice house on Maui!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: I wouldn't either, but he's busy... 8-). Also "on the spectrum", if I can recognize it.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Yes, I can believe Musk is very busy! Working to get those Superheavy Starships ready to be sent to Mars in about three months. Besides being used to test what works/does not work I've wondered if they will be loaded with some of the supplies a manned expedition will need.
If Musk is "on the spectrum," at least he is very high functional. Which is good.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: there's an advantage to being on the spectrum, if you're high-functioning. It makes you more objective.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Good, if that's the case with Musk and other "high functionals." Wishful thinking, confirmation base, and stubbornly clinging to failed/unworkable ideas is far too common among normal types.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment