[fantasyfan]

I find myself amazed at the deeply meditative quality of the book. Many of these reveries are quit profound such as his comments on the machine and its relation to humankind.

“And thus, also, the realities of nature resume their pride of place. It is not with metal that the pilot is in contact, Contrary to the vulgar illusion, it is thanks to the metal, and by virtue of it, that the pilot rediscovers nature. As I have already said, the machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature but plunges him more deeply into them.”

And he goes further:

“The central struggle of men has ever been to understand one another, to join together for the common weal. And it is this very thing that the machine helps them to do! It begins by annihilating time and space.”

There are moments of great beauty in this book. But while it has been described as a great adventure story, it is not that. Rather it is a meditation by a man who reflects upon an adventurous life. And it is those reflections rather than the adventures which I found fascinating.