I had now reached a point when I had to decide on the form in which these huge themes should be explored.
The first clue came in the question of the continuity of these universal human attributes over the millennia. Whatever it was, the form would have to be large enough to pursue examples through history. I rejected the idea of using a play form, both because the subject was so large that it would take a series of plays and because the nature of each play would be too limiting. The novel might work, but it was not a form which I was accustomed to using. It would not be a philosophical or historical work—there are more than enough of these presently available.
What, then, should be the form?
