We know that, barring accidents, we will die in our beds comparatively soon. I am 77 and a Romany palm-reader told me that I would live to 95. Of course, she might be wrong. I might have a lot less than another 18 years still ahead of me.
Felipe Argens and his crew know something very different:
"...our immortality isn't absolute, because sooner or later some chance combination of circumstances is bound to kill you." (p. 27)
They know that they will die by accident and they have no idea how soon. Their deaths are very different from ours and that makes their lives also very different from ours.
It is the attempt to imagine what it would be like that makes Poul Anderson's accounts of his characters, Hanno, Argens, Manse Everard, Jack Havig etc, so interesting.
I will retire to Inspector Morse and then to bed.
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteAgree, what you said about Anderson's abilities.
Ad astra! Sean
Well, I've had people try to kill me. On one occasion, I lost consciousness (this was at 16) with my head held underwater and was convinced I was dying.
ReplyDeleteKaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteI've had one or two narrow escapes myself, but nothing as horrific as someone trying to murder you. Glad you survived!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: I still have no earthly idea -why- I survived. I came to with my head and shoulders out of the water and not even my wallet or shoes missing.
ReplyDeleteKaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteI am angry that thug was never caught and punished for his crime! Very glad you survived.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: yeah, well, he hit me from behind and I never saw him.
ReplyDeleteKaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteI do understand, meaning you were unable to give any description to the police.
Still smoldering! Sean
Sean: no, I didn't tell anyone about it. I would -still- be grounded, and my parents have been dead for decades.
ReplyDeleteKaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteHa! Even now, in your seventies? (Smiles)
Children are fortunate if they have parents like yours.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: my parents were protective, but not over-protective. When we came home from school, my mother gave us a cookie and said "Go play until dinnertime". Hovering parents are a bad mistake.
ReplyDeleteKaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteOf course, I agree about the desirability of parents not being over-protective.
Ad astra! Sean