Wednesday, October 12, 2005

All New Elevator Cables Are Like Elevator Cables

I've been very busy the past two weeks, so I've only just now been able to read the weird SF lines at Thog's Masterclass. It's perhaps a sign of something about the profession of philosophy that many of them sound vaguely like something we would find in philosophy journals. Consider:

'"You have a slight fever, suggesting your body is fighting some infection," Nicole told General Borzov. "All the internal data confirms that you are feeling severe pain."' -- Arthur C.Clarke & Gentry Lee, Rama II

`Just to the south of them, the new Socket was like a titanic concrete bunker, the new elevator cable rising out of it like an elevator cable ...' -- Kim Stanley Robinson, Green Mars

`He knows in that moment more than he has ever known in his life and more than he will know in five minutes.' -- Marge Piercy, Body of Glass

`The agony went on and on as she threshed about the room, oblivious to nothing but the pain.' -- Stephen Marley, Shadow Sisters