Books Quote by Ada Palmer
““You will criticize me, reader, for writing in a style six hundred years removed from the events I describe, but you came to me for explanation of those days of transformation which left your world the world it is, and since it was the philosophy of the Eighteenth Century, heavy with optimism and ambition, whose abrupt revival birthed the recent revolution, so it is only in the language of the Enlightenment, rich with opinion and sentiment, that those days can be described. You must forgive me my ‘thee’s and ‘thou’s and ‘he’s and ‘she’s, my lack of modern words and modern objectivity. It will be hard at first, but whether you are my contemporary still awed by the new order, or an historian gazing back at my Twenty-Fifth Century as remotely as I gaze back on the Eighteenth, you will find yourself more fluent in the language of the past than you imagined; we all are.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Too Soon to Die, 2020 (fiction)
She explains using Enlightenment language to describe future events, urging readers to accept historical stylistic choices.
In simple terms: She writes past events in old-fashioned language.
Key Takeaway
Embrace stylistic choices for authenticity.
Themes
history
language
style
Mood
introspective
educational
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- historical fiction
- academic writing
- creative storytelling
- reader immersion
- linguistic authenticity
Key Concepts
enlightenment
narrative technique
temporal perspective
Questions to Reflect On
- How does language affect your connection to history?
- Can style enhance or hinder understanding?
A Different Perspective
Modern readers may find the style alienating.
