Project Gutenberg 2016-03-28 Public domain in the USA. 70 Budrys, Algis 1931 2008 Budrys, Algirdas Jonas Scarff, William Hodgkins, David C. The Rag and Bone Men Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Rag and Bone Men" by Algis Budrys is a science fiction novella written in the early 1960s. The narrative is set in a distant future where two characters, Maurer and Charpantier, interact with a mysterious being known as the Veld, who is attempting to create a new transporter to return to his home. The story explores themes of existential struggle, the search for identity, and the limitations of human knowledge when confronted with the unknown. The plot centers on Maurer and Charpantier as they navigate their relationship with the Veld, a powerful entity marooned on Earth who tries to replicate Veldish technology using Earthly materials. The story is steeped in metaphysics as Maurer fears the implications of the Veld's attempt to create something fundamentally different from what is possible with available resources. As the Veld works on his transporter, Maurer grapples with feelings of inadequacy and the existential dread of a world that is distanced from true understanding. The tale delves into the fragile boundaries between creation and destruction, and the tension between aspiration and reality, raising profound questions about what it means to seek one's heart's desire in a seemingly indifferent universe. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Science fiction Short stories PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction 42693 42696 2024-09-21T13:11:23.085170 2023-09-22T10:08:04.856965 text/html text/html 39017 2016-03-28T17:21:36 text/html; charset=us-ascii 120656 2016-03-28T17:21:38 text/html; charset=us-ascii application/zip 135309 2024-09-21T13:11:24.744178 application/epub+zip 134230 2024-09-21T13:11:23.452198 application/epub+zip 75871 2024-09-21T13:11:23.254174 application/epub+zip 167703 2024-09-21T13:11:25.931176 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 161142 2024-09-21T13:11:24.551157 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 102883 2022-09-23T13:29:23.393655 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 36642 36547 2024-09-21T13:11:22.989178 2023-09-22T10:08:04.690986 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 36573 2016-03-28T17:21:36 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 13931 2016-03-28T17:21:38 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 18882 2024-09-21T13:11:26.055152 application/rdf+xml 28778 2024-09-21T13:11:23.319158 image/jpeg 4825 2024-09-21T13:11:23.286184 image/jpeg 121587 2024-09-21T13:11:23.093168 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia