In the Dordogne country -
Braganza Diane lives in an internally renovated medieval stone house built against an overhanging cliff;
in front of her house, bushes cover:
"...a site excavated centuries ago, where flint-working reindeer hunters lived for millennia while the glaciers covered North Europe." (p. 212);
every day, the Greenland-Algeria carrier flies overhead;
every night, spaceships visibly lift towards the stars where men now travel.
A future history series shares our past history which can be shown sometimes. In this passage, Poul Anderson lays on multiple layers of time:
"Middle Ages"
"ancientness"
"centuries ago"
"millennia"
"glaciers"
"daily"
"at night"
And to sum all this up:
"In few other parts of the planet could you be more fully in the oneness of time." (ibid.)
That sums up Poul Anderson's works also.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Rome is also a good place where you can sense being "more fully in the oneness of time." We can see so many memorials from different eras there: Imperial, Medieval, and modern. We can get a sense for the deeps of times wandering among the ruins of the Imperial palaces on the Palatine Hill. Or we can get a sense for how much life remains in Rome visiting St. Peter's Basilica, a symbol of the living seat and center of the Papacy and the Catholic Church.
Ad astra! Sean
The eternal city.
Kaor, Paul!
Exactly, even tho' I hadn't thought of using that time worn phrase in my prior comment.
Ad astra! Sean
The thing about time is that it may be one, but you aren't going to experience more than about a hundred years of it.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, at least not during this life. I simply don't believe those researchers trying to extend bodily lifespans will succeed soon enough to benefit us. (Smiles wryly)
Ad astra! Sean
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