“Lost his faith in humanity in the trenches of Verdun” — last line of an SF story
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty{ margin-bottom:0;
}
I read this long story (novella?) a couple of decades ago, I believe, and probably in one of the SF magazines. There's a good chance this was in F&SF of the time.
It involves a priest who was an ex-soldier of WWI. He resides in a abbey that conceals a room that gives accurate visions of the future to one person in a generation who sits in it and dreams. He was that person for his time.
The next person in the line of oracles, so to speak, is a young woman who is drawn to that abbey. Stuff happens, the priest resists telling her about the room, but in the end she finds out -- by going into the room and seeing the world ending in nuclear war.
She accosts the priest and asks him why he didn't do anything, why didn't he use the room to guide humanity away from that terrible ending he also knew about.
His response was, "I lost my faith in humanity in the trenches of Verdun." (Obviously I am misremembering the exact quote as googlemind knows nothing about that.)
Does that ring a bell with anyone?
44 years, not a couple of decades. A powerful story, for me to remember it after reading it just once.
story-identification novella
asked Apr 18 at 23:46
Walt DonovanWalt Donovan
1787
add a comment |
I read this long story (novella?) a couple of decades ago, I believe, and probably in one of the SF magazines. There's a good chance this was in F&SF of the time.
It involves a priest who was an ex-soldier of WWI. He resides in a abbey that conceals a room that gives accurate visions of the future to one person in a generation who sits in it and dreams. He was that person for his time.
The next person in the line of oracles, so to speak, is a young woman who is drawn to that abbey. Stuff happens, the priest resists telling her about the room, but in the end she finds out -- by going into the room and seeing the world ending in nuclear war.
She accosts the priest and asks him why he didn't do anything, why didn't he use the room to guide humanity away from that terrible ending he also knew about.
His response was, "I lost my faith in humanity in the trenches of Verdun." (Obviously I am misremembering the exact quote as googlemind knows nothing about that.)
Does that ring a bell with anyone?
44 years, not a couple of decades. A powerful story, for me to remember it after reading it just once.
story-identification novella
asked Apr 18 at 23:46
Walt DonovanWalt Donovan
1787
add a comment |
I read this long story (novella?) a couple of decades ago, I believe, and probably in one of the SF magazines. There's a good chance this was in F&SF of the time.
It involves a priest who was an ex-soldier of WWI. He resides in a abbey that conceals a room that gives accurate visions of the future to one person in a generation who sits in it and dreams. He was that person for his time.
The next person in the line of oracles, so to speak, is a young woman who is drawn to that abbey. Stuff happens, the priest resists telling her about the room, but in the end she finds out -- by going into the room and seeing the world ending in nuclear war.
She accosts the priest and asks him why he didn't do anything, why didn't he use the room to guide humanity away from that terrible ending he also knew about.
His response was, "I lost my faith in humanity in the trenches of Verdun." (Obviously I am misremembering the exact quote as googlemind knows nothing about that.)
Does that ring a bell with anyone?
44 years, not a couple of decades. A powerful story, for me to remember it after reading it just once.
story-identification novella
asked Apr 18 at 23:46
Walt DonovanWalt Donovan
1787
I read this long story (novella?) a couple of decades ago, I believe, and probably in one of the SF magazines. There's a good chance this was in F&SF of the time.
It involves a priest who was an ex-soldier of WWI. He resides in a abbey that conceals a room that gives accurate visions of the future to one person in a generation who sits in it and dreams. He was that person for his time.
The next person in the line of oracles, so to speak, is a young woman who is drawn to that abbey. Stuff happens, the priest resists telling her about the room, but in the end she finds out -- by going into the room and seeing the world ending in nuclear war.
She accosts the priest and asks him why he didn't do anything, why didn't he use the room to guide humanity away from that terrible ending he also knew about.
His response was, "I lost my faith in humanity in the trenches of Verdun." (Obviously I am misremembering the exact quote as googlemind knows nothing about that.)
Does that ring a bell with anyone?
44 years, not a couple of decades. A powerful story, for me to remember it after reading it just once.
story-identification novella
story-identification novella
asked Apr 18 at 23:46
Walt DonovanWalt Donovan
1787
asked Apr 18 at 23:46
Walt DonovanWalt Donovan
1787
edited Apr 19 at 7:29
Walt Donovan
asked Apr 18 at 23:46
Walt DonovanWalt Donovan
1787
asked Apr 18 at 23:46
Walt DonovanWalt Donovan
1787
asked Apr 18 at 23:46
Walt DonovanWalt Donovan
1787
1787
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
This is "The Custodians" (1975) by Richard Cowper.
You've remembered the gist of it quite well - the abbey, the prophetic room, the young woman, the fact that it appeared in F&SF.
The quote isn't quite as you recall, nor is it the last line, though it's near the end. It's not a spoken line but ruminations in the mind of the priest, Spindrift. It actually reads
...Spindrift's God had died in the mud of Ypres.
or maybe it's the line
...some vital spark of humanity had been extinguished far back in the
blood-stained ruins of 1917.
But the point is as you remembered, this prevents him from taking any action to ward off Armageddon.
answered Apr 19 at 4:33
Organic MarbleOrganic Marble
26.8k494136
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "186"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fscifi.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f209348%2flost-his-faith-in-humanity-in-the-trenches-of-verdun-last-line-of-an-sf-stor%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
This is "The Custodians" (1975) by Richard Cowper.
You've remembered the gist of it quite well - the abbey, the prophetic room, the young woman, the fact that it appeared in F&SF.
The quote isn't quite as you recall, nor is it the last line, though it's near the end. It's not a spoken line but ruminations in the mind of the priest, Spindrift. It actually reads
...Spindrift's God had died in the mud of Ypres.
or maybe it's the line
...some vital spark of humanity had been extinguished far back in the
blood-stained ruins of 1917.
But the point is as you remembered, this prevents him from taking any action to ward off Armageddon.
answered Apr 19 at 4:33
Organic MarbleOrganic Marble
26.8k494136
add a comment |
This is "The Custodians" (1975) by Richard Cowper.
You've remembered the gist of it quite well - the abbey, the prophetic room, the young woman, the fact that it appeared in F&SF.
The quote isn't quite as you recall, nor is it the last line, though it's near the end. It's not a spoken line but ruminations in the mind of the priest, Spindrift. It actually reads
...Spindrift's God had died in the mud of Ypres.
or maybe it's the line
...some vital spark of humanity had been extinguished far back in the
blood-stained ruins of 1917.
But the point is as you remembered, this prevents him from taking any action to ward off Armageddon.
answered Apr 19 at 4:33
Organic MarbleOrganic Marble
26.8k494136
add a comment |
This is "The Custodians" (1975) by Richard Cowper.
You've remembered the gist of it quite well - the abbey, the prophetic room, the young woman, the fact that it appeared in F&SF.
The quote isn't quite as you recall, nor is it the last line, though it's near the end. It's not a spoken line but ruminations in the mind of the priest, Spindrift. It actually reads
...Spindrift's God had died in the mud of Ypres.
or maybe it's the line
...some vital spark of humanity had been extinguished far back in the
blood-stained ruins of 1917.
But the point is as you remembered, this prevents him from taking any action to ward off Armageddon.
answered Apr 19 at 4:33
Organic MarbleOrganic Marble
26.8k494136
This is "The Custodians" (1975) by Richard Cowper.
You've remembered the gist of it quite well - the abbey, the prophetic room, the young woman, the fact that it appeared in F&SF.
The quote isn't quite as you recall, nor is it the last line, though it's near the end. It's not a spoken line but ruminations in the mind of the priest, Spindrift. It actually reads
...Spindrift's God had died in the mud of Ypres.
or maybe it's the line
...some vital spark of humanity had been extinguished far back in the
blood-stained ruins of 1917.
But the point is as you remembered, this prevents him from taking any action to ward off Armageddon.
answered Apr 19 at 4:33
Organic MarbleOrganic Marble
26.8k494136
edited Apr 19 at 13:00
answered Apr 19 at 4:33
Organic MarbleOrganic Marble
26.8k494136
answered Apr 19 at 4:33
Organic MarbleOrganic Marble
26.8k494136
answered Apr 19 at 4:33
Organic MarbleOrganic Marble
26.8k494136
26.8k494136
add a comment |
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fscifi.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f209348%2flost-his-faith-in-humanity-in-the-trenches-of-verdun-last-line-of-an-sf-stor%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
