Sunday, November 15, 2020

The Last Word

The Last Word is a science fiction short story by Damon Knight. You can read it online here. It begins,
The first word, I like to think, was “Ouch.” Some cave man, trying to knock a stone into better shape with another stone, slipped, hit his thumb – and there you are. Language. 
I have an affection for these useless and unverifiable facts. Take the first dog. He, I feel sure, was an unusually clever but cowardly wolf, who managed to terrorise early man into throwing him a scrap. Early man himself was a terrible coward. Man and wolf discovered that they could hunt together, in their cowardly fashion, and there you are again. ‘Domesticated animals.’ 
I admit that I was lax during the first few thousand years. By the time I realised that Man needed closer supervision, many of the crucial events had already taken place. I was then a young – well, let us say a young fallen angel. Had I been older and more experienced, history would have turned out very differently. 
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12 comments:

  1. ...I'm waiting for the last word from #45.

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  2. I wasn't going to read the story, but then "fallen angel" caught my attention. Good read and seems so apropos for the time we are living in.

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  3. I really like Damon Knight so I will try this one out.

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    1. The man could _write_, couldn't he! Compelling stories.

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  4. This sounds good, thanks! Valerie

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  5. I can envision sending Trump to that firestorm you showed. I might read this later, but right now, I'm playing catch up.

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    1. Indeed. But he ain't goin' anywhere *sigh* He's raising money for a 2024 run, so I hear.

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  6. Interesting, thanks for sharing! Hugs, Jo x

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    1. That writer is always interesting :)

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