Time and Time Again. Robert Silverberg

Time and Time Again - Robert Silverberg


Скачать книгу
the ugliest food objects ever to be prized by mankind. A creature so disagreeable in so many ways must have some redeeming feature. (Other than the flavor of its meat, that is.) And so, instead of depicting them as the savage and hideous-looking critters they really are, what about putting them through a few hundred million years of evolution and turning them into wise and thoughtful civilized beings—the dominant life-form, in fact, of a vastly altered Earth?

       A challenging task, yes. And made even more challenging for me, back there in the otherwise sunny and pleasant November of 1982, by the fact that I had just made the great leap from typewriter to computer. “Homefaring” marked my initiation into the world of floppy disks and soft hyphens, of backup copies and automatic pagination. It’s all second nature to me now, of course, but in 1982 I found myself timidly stumbling around in a brave and very strange new world. Each day’s work was an adventure in terror for me. My words appeared in white letters on a black screen, frighteningly impermanent: one electronic sneeze, I thought, and a whole day’s brilliant prose could vanish like a time traveler who has just defenestrated his own grandfather. The mere making of backups didn’t lull my fears: how could I be sure that the act of backing up itself wouldn’t erase what I had just written? Pushing the button marked “Save”—did that really save anything? Switching the computer off at the end of my working day was like a leap into the abyss. Would the story be there the next morning when I turned the machine on again? Warily, I printed out each day’s work when it was done, before backing up, saving, or otherwise jiggling with it electronically. I wanted to see it safely onto paper first.

       Sometimes when I put a particularly difficult scene together—for example, the three-page scene at the midpoint of the story, beginning with the line, “The lobsters were singing as they marched”—I would stop right then and there and print it out before proceeding, aware that if the computer somehow were to destroy it I would never be able to reconstruct it at that level of accomplishment. (It’s an axiom among writers that material written to replace inadvertently destroyed copy can’t possibly equal the lost passage—which gets better and better in one’s memory all the time.)

       Somehow, in fear and trembling, I tiptoed my way through the entire 88-page manuscript of “Homefaring” without any major disasters. The computer made it marvelously easy to revise the story as I went along; instead of typing out an 88-page first draft, then covering it with handwritten alterations and grimly typing the whole thing out again to make it fit to show an editor, I brought every paragraph up to final-draft status with painless little maneuvers of the cursor. When I realized that I had chosen a confusing name for a minor character, I ordered the computer to correct my error, and sat back in wonder as “Eitel” became “Bleier” throughout the story without my having to do a thing. And then at the end came the wondrous moment when I pushed the button marked “Print”—computers had such buttons, in those pre-Microsoft days—and page after page of immaculate typed copy began to come forth while I occupied myself with other and less dreary tasks.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4Ru6RXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgADAEAAAMAAAABBkAAAAEBAAMAAAABCWAAAAECAAMAAAADAAAA ngEGAAMAAAABAAIAAAESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEVAAMAAAABAAMAAAEaAAUAAAABAAAApAEbAAUAAAAB AAAArAEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAkAAAAtAEyAAIAAAAUAAAA2IdpAAQAAAABAAAA7AAAASQA CAAIAAgALcbAAAAnEAAtxsAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENDIDIwMTggKE1hY2ludG9zaCkA MjAxODowNToyMyAxNDo0NDoxMAAABJAAAAcAAAAEMDIyMaABAAMAAAABAAEAAKACAAQAAAABAAAG QKADAAQAAAABAAAJYAAAAAAAAAAGAQMAAwAAAAEABgAAARoABQAAAAEAAAFyARsABQAAAAEAAAF6 ASgAAwAAAAEAAgAAAgEABAAAAAEAAAGCAgIABAAAAAEAABowAAAAAAAAAEgAAAABAAAASAAAAAH/ 2P/tAAxBZG9iZV9DTQAB/+4ADkFkb2JlAGSAAAAAAf/bAIQADAgICAkIDAkJDBELCgsRFQ8MDA8V GBMTFRMTGBEMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAENCwsNDg0QDg4QFA4O DhQUDg4ODhQRDAwMDAwREQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwM/8AAEQgA oABrAwEiAAIRAQMRAf/dAAQAB//EAT8AAAEFAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAMAAQIEBQYHCAkKCwEAAQUB AQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAQACAwQFBgcICQoLEAABBAEDAgQCBQcGCAUDDDMBAAIRAwQhEjEFQVFhEyJx gTIGFJGhsUIjJBVSwWIzNHKC0UMHJZJT8OHxY3M1FqKygyZEk1RkRcKjdDYX0lXiZfKzhMPTdePz RieUpIW0lcTU5PSltcXV5fVWZnaGlqa2xtbm9jdHV2d3h5ent8fX5/cRAAICAQIEBAMEBQYHBwYF NQEAAhEDITESBEFRYXEiEwUygZEUobFCI8FS0fAzJGLhcoKSQ1MVY3M08SUGFqKygwcmNcLSRJNU oxdkRVU2dGXi8rOEw9N14/NGlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vYnN0dXZ3eHl6e3x//a AAwDAQACEQMRAD8A4asT8URrE1VbnPa1jS57jDGNBJcT+a1rfc5dHgfU3rWU5hvqGDQ7V1l5G8Dy xmu9bf8A1/SVHLnxYheScYduI6n+7H9J3gYxHqIDitbIlErbLwxo3OPDRqf81q7rF+qH1exmRc23 Lf3da9zGz/Jqx/T/AOk561MZuNgVelg1V49fhW0CY/ff/OP/ALb1nz+Kw1GLHOZ7z/VQ/wC7n/42 tlzmOO0TI/4ofPael9SueGVYd73nUAVP48fc1rVeP1X6+1u44L48A6sn/MFm5ds7OLva8n75CGct ze8jwKiPxDmTXDjhHwlxT/50eBil8UlHaEfrcv8AvXkG/Vjr5bvGE6D4vrB/zDZuQHdJ6pW8sfhX 7hyBW53/AEqw5q7Q5bfpNdCdmcH6B8PGsA/9IIjneY6wgR4cUf8AupIHxucTrjgfLij/AN88E6t9 b9ljXVv/AHXgtP8AmuhKF3tt1WUw05LG3N522AOBj+t+cqd3Rui5ILfs4x7Dw+gln/gZ3Vf9BSx5 79/GY/3Txj+9+g2cPx3lzQyQlC+samP+4ePhOGrZu+q+a3cca2vIA4YT6dhH9V/6L/wVZb6rKrHV WsNdjPpMcII+SsRzQn8sgfz+x1sOfBnF4skZ0L0+b6w+dHtT7fJTDU8I2ycOtv8A/9Da6T0bp3RW H7I0vvcIflWQbCP3GkD9DX/wdf8A1zerT8g+Kr2XKFNeRlvLKG7o+k86Nb/Xf/q9cj7fETkyysn5 pzLozl9Wb8gKFPr5Nwqx4c8gmCQBA51KLZRR0/qOKzLcy+q4Q4O02uJ2se6uf5rd/pP+ES6qf2Z1 nGzh7abXjfHAP81eP7VT/V/z1LAwJjGIvjjKWM/ozMP0WtOXXoDqg6jTk4Tgy0CXiWOaZaT3buIb 7mrV6l0vFxum2PoDjbTDy9zi4loP6Qfut9qsZzsOx9OFlifXdupJ0HqVRZta7823Z7/+Er9VMzNr ys7M6c8D9FXWXjxbcHh/+amDmxwgiPyjjn/s+OOPij/h+lYYCyCd/TH+9XEg6AaXdLfaaW22Vvs0 2tL3bQHtYHOH8raxA6t1S8YW2zpz8St72AWvLBqDv2bGe73Ma9R+q3rNwMzGJi6jJsqJiYcGMbu/ zlX6xgddd0y63Nza7a8ZhuNTKtslgPD/AGKwM8PflilOIHEIji4rlx7cHD/3TDMS9kGIl8puuGtP 3uJo25Wz3TG3WfgrGSb6HAW1upcRuaHiCg9Cxm5eYci8huHhRZc90BpcPcxjnO9u1n89Z/6kV/rj MnMq6aXbRdkWPpcajvYPUIc0tf8An7K2blJOeOOaOI1/XP7vp9z/AKMGoIylilk1/qD971cB/wCk gGVIbYw+Y+KfIbh5bWuyaW3NjQnRzR/IsbD2rS6j06vIuxBjgCtj/Rv2citrd43EfnN9P0v+uqgz AfdZk14EvqxnmsGwiXOH84xro2+x276ShjkwyAkJcFCz+jwRMuAcU2YHmMOS4E8QPoljNT4uHilw cLi9R6K/G/S4hdfQe0S9vx2fzlf8tZkt8RxK6htltbdlgdXbWYLToQRq1E+0V/T9Nkz630R/O/zX qf11Px5OHhvfQZP+6/xf0nUj/wAYc33acJX74A9vKPn+b1RnD9/9Dj/9iP8A/9G+/IAILhvAMlkx I7t3D6O5alH1gwvtdOJTX6WM72NsMNAef5tvp/uO+hv/ANIucuuB45VK64EFp4OhXOS5LHmAE70B qj8pl+nw/vRbk5EOv9ZMR2Jlut1NGWS4OOpD/wDC1F3/AE6/5H/FK+cirrf1Ys9exrL6BtfZY4NA urH6N7nuPt+01u/8FWNnfWerK6IMHJpN2YYabSYaCw/osrd9J1371f8Axi5yy6eeAZ14kfnJ+Hk8 2XFjGW8Wbl8noyj18ccf6X92bVy5YxJI9UZx1D03U/rPjZ3SsXG2WjNqNVpv0a1ttYh7mnd6jtzd 6yaOr5+PkvvoyHtvtaWW2k73lujvpW7/AN36Sx/tW53sBf5jj71OsXOOpDSe0R+J3K9j5XBigYCI MJEyMZev5v0fV+j/AFWMcrzeciUY8GgAlI+3/wChuiOo5hscRkXDe7faRY8bncbrNrhvem9e22yX ve8N1O5zj8vcVXrxSdCTrrDjofmFZZiDiDI5aT/1JT+PHHaNMh+BcxIa5Yj6SkkZk3vDqW2PbQ/W 6sOIY7+uydjt21aOF13PxnUU1FllVDnPrqsaIaXB7bHB7Nln0bbPzlRbi6CHENPB8D/KCm3GewEN Anl3ifMfyU2UuWyAxyRBB/eFiz6OL+9wtbJ8F+IYjx4pRnX7kuCdfN/lOCH/AD3d6d9ZPsozPWBf Ze511AAkeq4H9G791jnekr9mJmt6Pi4nSni3cd2RlMsA9873P36O/nv+ufo9i5Zlfpnc7V/Y9gP5 KNjWXscX12Ppa76Wxzmbv8wtUOX4dCRGXl5Rj6ozMZj3MOSeOHt4/TGUP5vi4/77R+9ZcV4eZhON RMf81mhGcuOXzx/yjv8AXr2faK692+2qsNufxJOrZH/T/wCuLM9U7PlP/TVYuc921vLj/vcVY218 Tpt9P5c7kj8OH3UctxG6+euvzcXD+7x/ofuMY54+/LPw6X8l/wDdf3P03//So327TodDwqF9+szy p326Oaef4rKy8sMYCdSTDWjklZ2KFs+Y9Azycttep1J4A5KqgvvdNhEdmax/5kgVhz3l7yC48nwX Q4H1e6jZ053V7KS3p1RabHSG2vrJ/S2YrLPY/wBNn59nsf8A4P1FLOccYFkRsiOulyP6MWxyvKxB E8lcV6X4/utTExLLXtrpqddY76LKmlzj8GMG5bGB0bJu6rV0q9pxrrHbXi1slg2ut37Jbv8Aaz2b Xrayen4vQL+n/WDornWdOhrckS5xLH+02uLv9O38z2ell11LpsvI6WzPwrsoNa+HOxMwwGAlp30u t/N9Wmz1K9/6Oz/jFn5eejQMQZCQlX7wnj+aMo/1W+cpiBwQMhOM+Ej545cfSUP6n6TyvVOgU9Iz 8Olz35GJkbC574a6WvazJZ+j+h+jez0/z10WT0TouLa1lPRrswkTvZZLRrG17sjJr9yo9WzcbqvQ rrTbWMjEyHmjUDf6bj6fpfv+viWM+j/hFczurdHynNd+078cMBBbjFw3F0fTip/uaoTzEtPSSbMZ VEy+VbL35Rx2J8UTkhl4fcr08JxyIw8LzNjanZF3ps9Op73FlZ5YNx21/wDW1P0ntZU97HN3CWFw IDmn85m76bVYqr6W7qb995/Z9fv32TvsEBxq+i12+yzctq5lPWDgONhdRN7iGt9N21u3Zjiv3bXt +h/L2JuTMI1YIBF3X9Xi/wAZs5cwgYjhPCQTKRB9Pp44x/v+h570mw4RxqB5HlqazGJ+idOdddFp 5DcF+EcunHtwy7SncTZXaz6Or/d6Fzf9G/8A8EVdjT+jlpAc0lpIIBHEt/eTsXMzxnigarQg7abt XmuU5fnMZhmh1IidsmOX+rnHiaIDawQOe5PKeX/unifkrj6QWixrZfH5EGbP3Xc+BWnHnIHDLKBr GhIX6uM+mP8AgvIz+DZY87DlZT9OWzjy8PoljhHjn/1Th/yf77//0+Zy7gCHTHY/JYhsN9hsP0dQ weDf/Mla6tbtHot/wjpH9Xn/AMwVWoQFWxRqF92
Скачать книгу