It was an honour and a donning of responsibility, and no boy who had grown up inside the confining walls of the creche could fail to respond to the thrill of this major step. Within a few minutes the way would be open for me to join that life. I regarded it as an enthralling existence, charged with purpose, ceremony, and responsibility he told me nothing of his life or work, but his uniform, his vague manner, and his frequent absences from the city hinted at a preoccupation with matters of utmost importance. My father was a guildsman, and I had always seen his life from a certain remove. It was a moment of excitement and apprehension, a concentration into a few minutes of all that my life had been until then.
Beyond the door the guildsmen were assembling for the ceremony in which I would be admitted as a guild apprentice.
I HAD REACHED the age of six hundred and fifty miles. Above and below, tall spires of light rose from the center of the disk"? Those of you who managed to get beyond advanced algebra might have already figured out what's to come. The inhabitants of the city seem to be earthlings trapped on another planet, but if that's so, why do the hostile villagers speak Spanish? And why is the sun described as "a broad orange disk, slightly tilted down towards us. His city is built on rails, constantly moving north to stay within range of "the optimum." His job is not only to maintain the city's motion but also to protect the secret of what lies outside the optimum. Helward Mann is "six hundred and fifty miles" old. NYRB Classics recently reissued Priest's 1974 novel, Inverted World, and while much of SF from that era is outrageously outdated (cough Heinlein cough), Priest's work has not aged a bit. But in science-fiction circles, he's known as one of the best living British writers. Priest is probably best known for his prize-winning 1995 novel The Prestige, later adapted into a hit Christopher Nolan film. Calculus does come in handy, at least when you're reading Christopher Priest. "Do we really have to take this? It's not like we'll ever use it." But we were all wrong.
It's standard for book lovers and English majors to sneer at advanced math classes in college. Christopher Priest may be best known for his prize-winning 1995 novel, The Prestige, later adapted into a hit Christopher Nolan film.
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