The Last Word (Knight short story): Difference between revisions
mNo edit summary |
|||
| (6 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
|language = [[English language|English]] |
|language = [[English language|English]] |
||
|series = |
|series = |
||
|genre = [[Science fiction]] |
|genre = [[Science fiction]] |
||
|publication_type = [[Periodical]] |
|publication_type = [[Periodical]] |
||
|published_in = ''Satellite Science Fiction'' |
|published_in = ''Satellite Science Fiction'' |
||
| Line 14: | Line 14: | ||
|followed_by = |
|followed_by = |
||
}} |
}} |
||
"'''The Last Word'''" is a [[science fiction]] short story |
"'''The Last Word'''" is a [[science fiction]] short story by American writer [[Damon Knight]]. It first appeared in the February 1957 issue of ''[[Satellite Science Fiction]]'' and has been reprinted twice, in ''[[Far Out (book)|Far Out]]'' (1961) and ''The Best of Damon Knight'' (1976).<ref>[http://www.philsp.com/homeville/ISFAC/s141.htm Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections]</ref> |
||
== Synopsis == |
== Synopsis == |
||
| Line 20: | Line 20: | ||
<blockquote> |
<blockquote> |
||
The woman said, "You've won Armageddon, but you've lost Earth." |
The woman said, "You've won Armageddon, but you've lost Earth." |
||
<p> |
|||
I knew the answer to that, of course, but she was a woman and had the last word. |
I knew the answer to that, of course, but she was a woman and had the last word. |
||
<p> |
|||
I gestured toward the purple darkness outside. "Lost Earth? What do you call this?" |
I gestured toward the purple darkness outside. "Lost Earth? What do you call this?" |
||
<p> |
|||
She poised her hand on the switch. |
She poised her hand on the switch. |
||
<p> |
|||
"Hell," she said. |
"Hell," she said. |
||
<p> |
|||
And I have remembered her voice, through ten thousand lonely years. |
And I have remembered her voice, through ten thousand lonely years. |
||
</blockquote> |
</blockquote> |
||
==Background== |
==Background== |
||
About this story, Knight wrote <ref>[[Damon Knight|Knight, Damon]] (1976), ''[ |
About this story, Knight wrote <ref>[[Damon Knight|Knight, Damon]] (1976), ''[https://openlibrary.org/b/OL23266177M/The_best_of_Damon_Knight. The Best of Damon Knight]'', Nelson Doubleday, New York</ref> |
||
<blockquote> |
<blockquote> |
||
"The Last Word" is one of three stories I have written using orthodox Christian materials - God, the devil, etc. - which proves that my childhood training had some use after all. |
"The Last Word" is one of three stories I have written using orthodox Christian materials - God, the devil, etc. - which proves that my childhood training had some use after all. |
||
| Line 46: | Line 46: | ||
[[Category:Works originally published in Satellite Science Fiction]] |
[[Category:Works originally published in Satellite Science Fiction]] |
||
[[Category:Short stories by Damon Knight]] |
[[Category:Short stories by Damon Knight]] |
||
{{1950s-sf-story-stub}} |
|||
Latest revision as of 02:06, 23 April 2021
| "The Last Word" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Damon Knight | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Satellite Science Fiction |
| Publication type | Periodical |
| Publisher | Renown Publications |
| Media type | Print (Magazine, Hardback & Paperback) |
| Publication date | February 1957 |
"The Last Word" is a science fiction short story by American writer Damon Knight. It first appeared in the February 1957 issue of Satellite Science Fiction and has been reprinted twice, in Far Out (1961) and The Best of Damon Knight (1976).[1]
Synopsis
[edit]The story is told in first person, by a narrator who, it soon becomes clear, is Satan. He briefly recounts his history on Earth and tells how he directed people toward destructive activity, for instance by teaching them how to make gunpowder. Now the final war is over, and almost everyone has been killed. Satan comes across a man and a woman, the last survivors, who are inside a transparent dome that keeps out the contaminated air. The two people recognize Satan for who he is; Satan is troubled by their calm certitude, and asks about the elaborate machine that he sees inside their dome. He is told that it is a time machine, and that they are about to go "back to the beginning" to start over, this time without him:
The woman said, "You've won Armageddon, but you've lost Earth."
I knew the answer to that, of course, but she was a woman and had the last word.
I gestured toward the purple darkness outside. "Lost Earth? What do you call this?"
She poised her hand on the switch.
"Hell," she said.
And I have remembered her voice, through ten thousand lonely years.
Background
[edit]About this story, Knight wrote [2]
"The Last Word" is one of three stories I have written using orthodox Christian materials - God, the devil, etc. - which proves that my childhood training had some use after all.
References
[edit]- ^ Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections
- ^ Knight, Damon (1976), The Best of Damon Knight, Nelson Doubleday, New York
 | This article about a science fiction short story (or stories) published in the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |