Posted: 05 August 2025 at 3:34pm | IP Logged | 5
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My father introduced me to CITY AT WORLD’S END when I was about 14 (1964), so the sensibilities were pretty current for my first reading. Over the years since—I have read it pretty close to annually—I have watched the world change as CITY stayed (ironically?) locked in time. I have been surprised to see some forward thinking in Hamilton’s prose. Eventually, for instance, I realized he probably meant for Jon Arnol to be Black, but didn’t feel comfortable coming right out and saying it. It also took MANY readings to get that the alien Gorr Holl is a BEAR. (Despite the marvelous “teddy bear!” scene with the little girl!) Nowadays, when I reread I allow myself to rewrite, modernizing those antiquated sensibilities.
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