Shrunk by perspective on the stairs in their downward linear recession
Hello:
All of my quotes are from Playing with Dynamite by John Updike.
Earlier in the story, an incident happened.
" One Sunday afternoon, when they were going downstairs to greet some guests, he felt her at his side like a little gust of wind, and then saw her, amazingly much reduced in size, kneeling on the stairs, which were thickly carpeted, several steps below him. He called her name, and thought of reaching down to restrain her, but she, having groped for a baluster and missed, rapidly continued on her way, sledding on her shins all the way to the bottom....."
Then, he recalled this experience.
" He remembered only her appearance, oddly shrunk by perspective on the stairs in their downward linear recession, and the flash of his synapses that imaged his reaching out and restraining her, and his dreamlike inability to do so."
What does "shrunk by perspective on the stairs in their downward linear recession" mean?
Top answer
"Perspective" here is a term from art. It refers to a way to render distance and three-dimensional forms on a flat surface by using a vanishing point with lines drawn to it. The lines of the stairs—the handrail, the edges, the "receding" treads themselves—simulated that.
- "Perspective" here is a term from art.
- It refers to a way to render distance and three-dimensional forms on a flat surface by using a vanishing point with lines drawn to it.
- The lines of the stairs—the handrail, the edges, the "receding" treads themselves—simulated that.
- org/wiki/Ames_room that illustrates the principle Updike was going for.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
"Perspective" here is a term from art. It refers to a way to render distance and three-dimensional forms on a flat surface by using a vanishing point with lines drawn to it. The lines of the stairs—the handrail, the edges, the "receding" treads themselves—simulated that. There is a famous optical illusion call an
0
Related Questions