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Time and Again
'One of those complex and enormously inventive stories... based on some real, honest, practical ethical thinking. It is an idea book.'
- Groff Conklin in Galaxy Science Fiction
Asher Sutton has been lost in deepest space for twenty years. Suddenly arrives a warning from the future, that he will return- and that he must be killed. He is destined to write a book whose message may lead to the death of millions in centuries to come. For this reason Sutton is hounded by the sinister warring factions of the future who wish to influence or prevent the writing of this book he has not yet begun to write.
Yet already a copy has been found in the burnt-out wreckage of a space-craft on Aldebaran XII.
- Groff Conklin in Galaxy Science Fiction
Asher Sutton has been lost in deepest space for twenty years. Suddenly arrives a warning from the future, that he will return- and that he must be killed. He is destined to write a book whose message may lead to the death of millions in centuries to come. For this reason Sutton is hounded by the sinister warring factions of the future who wish to influence or prevent the writing of this book he has not yet begun to write.
Yet already a copy has been found in the burnt-out wreckage of a space-craft on Aldebaran XII.
303 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
650 people are currently reading
2915 people want to read
About the author
Clifford D. Simak
919 books1,038 followers"He was honored by fans with three Hugo awards and by colleagues with one Nebula award and was named the third Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) in 1977." (Wikipedia)
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford...
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 212 reviews
May 17, 2025
A true sci-fi classic winner!
TIME AND AGAIN opens in a distant future on earth that includes androids, robots, interactive television, weather control, mentophones - an ingenious device that allows instantaneous interstellar communication, dramatically extended life spans, travel to distant star systems and a humanity that has conquered the galaxy and spread its seed far and wide. After a 20 year absence, Asher Sutton returns to earth from an expedition to 61 Cygni, a system that until now has defeated every attempt at landing and exploration. In the attempt, Sutton has miraculously survived a crash that left his ship disabled and, by all odds, should have killed him. His ship has somehow managed to return to earth apparently without the actual ability to do so and Sutton, through some extraordinary feat of bio-medical engineering, appears to have been modified into something that is considerably less than completely human. He is mentally linked to someone he refers to as "Johnny". The administration on earth wonder what all of this can possibly mean.
On the surface, TIME AND AGAIN is a thrilling story of time travel. Sutton is carrying a book which he has not yet actually written - a summary of his philosophies that, in a not too distant future, will result in the achievement of the dreams of the Android Equality League, their right to be recognized as sentient beings and a release from their treatment as mere property. But, before the book can even be actually written, Sutton must survive assassination attempts by revisionists - humans from the future who are using time travel as the means to prevent its publication.
Simak's personal credo that reflects his quiet midwest upbringing, his pastoral approach to the science fiction genre and his concerns about humanity and its use of technology as a means to violent conflict are never very far from the surface. Indeed, they rather shine through the writing like a beacon. But, make no mistake - Simak never falls into the trap of preaching. The clear social commentary is never intrusive and never detracts for even an instant from an exciting story line.
In TIME AND AGAIN, Simak was openly critical of humanity's impression of its own importance in the universe - "Not by strength did he hold his starry outposts, but by something else ... by depth of human character, by his colossal conceit, by his ferocious conviction that Man was the greatest living thing the galaxy had ever spawned. All this in spite of much evidence that he was not ... evidence that he took and evaluated and cast aside, scornful of any greatness that was not ruthless and aggressive".
He also used comedy as a vehicle to make a dark statement against weapons. He jests about "the code" having been changed to require everyone under age 100 to bear arms as a way of passing comment on his feelings against the US's unique constitutional amendment regarding the "right" to bear arms. His philosophical argument against Sutton's attempted use of the Christian commandment "Thou shalt not kill" as an exemption from the code is perhaps a little blunt but does serve to point out some of the ironies involved in, for example, a right wing Bible Belt fundamentalist Christian packin' an iron.
Finally, his creation of the Android Equality League represents an ingenious platform from which Simak can express his concerns about the ethical issues related to the problems of advanced artificial intelligence and voice his courageous, clear condemnation of the white's treatment of black people in the 1960s US and his support of the civil rights movement.
In TIME AND AGAIN, Simak has created a story that many have suggested is his finest work. I was excited with the turn of every page and found I couldn't disagree with them!
Paul Weiss
TIME AND AGAIN opens in a distant future on earth that includes androids, robots, interactive television, weather control, mentophones - an ingenious device that allows instantaneous interstellar communication, dramatically extended life spans, travel to distant star systems and a humanity that has conquered the galaxy and spread its seed far and wide. After a 20 year absence, Asher Sutton returns to earth from an expedition to 61 Cygni, a system that until now has defeated every attempt at landing and exploration. In the attempt, Sutton has miraculously survived a crash that left his ship disabled and, by all odds, should have killed him. His ship has somehow managed to return to earth apparently without the actual ability to do so and Sutton, through some extraordinary feat of bio-medical engineering, appears to have been modified into something that is considerably less than completely human. He is mentally linked to someone he refers to as "Johnny". The administration on earth wonder what all of this can possibly mean.
On the surface, TIME AND AGAIN is a thrilling story of time travel. Sutton is carrying a book which he has not yet actually written - a summary of his philosophies that, in a not too distant future, will result in the achievement of the dreams of the Android Equality League, their right to be recognized as sentient beings and a release from their treatment as mere property. But, before the book can even be actually written, Sutton must survive assassination attempts by revisionists - humans from the future who are using time travel as the means to prevent its publication.
Simak's personal credo that reflects his quiet midwest upbringing, his pastoral approach to the science fiction genre and his concerns about humanity and its use of technology as a means to violent conflict are never very far from the surface. Indeed, they rather shine through the writing like a beacon. But, make no mistake - Simak never falls into the trap of preaching. The clear social commentary is never intrusive and never detracts for even an instant from an exciting story line.
In TIME AND AGAIN, Simak was openly critical of humanity's impression of its own importance in the universe - "Not by strength did he hold his starry outposts, but by something else ... by depth of human character, by his colossal conceit, by his ferocious conviction that Man was the greatest living thing the galaxy had ever spawned. All this in spite of much evidence that he was not ... evidence that he took and evaluated and cast aside, scornful of any greatness that was not ruthless and aggressive".
He also used comedy as a vehicle to make a dark statement against weapons. He jests about "the code" having been changed to require everyone under age 100 to bear arms as a way of passing comment on his feelings against the US's unique constitutional amendment regarding the "right" to bear arms. His philosophical argument against Sutton's attempted use of the Christian commandment "Thou shalt not kill" as an exemption from the code is perhaps a little blunt but does serve to point out some of the ironies involved in, for example, a right wing Bible Belt fundamentalist Christian packin' an iron.
Finally, his creation of the Android Equality League represents an ingenious platform from which Simak can express his concerns about the ethical issues related to the problems of advanced artificial intelligence and voice his courageous, clear condemnation of the white's treatment of black people in the 1960s US and his support of the civil rights movement.
In TIME AND AGAIN, Simak has created a story that many have suggested is his finest work. I was excited with the turn of every page and found I couldn't disagree with them!
Paul Weiss
December 2, 2024
„Научил бе и много нови неща, но му се струваше, че ги е знаел винаги.“
След всяка прочетена книга на Саймък ми се струва за момент, че неговите хуманни послания са съвсем ясни и съответно всеки ги знае, а и би могъл да ги изрази по толкова разбираем начин, но това определено е измамно чувство. Всъщност, самото четене ми се отразява благотворно, подтиквайки ме елегантно към необходимите размисли, а и оценявам още по-високо майсторството на големия писател! Фантастиката на Саймък успява именно да възпитава читателите в човеколюбие, както и да дава доста ценен и философски поглед върху евентуални бъдещи светове и техните проблеми! Темите за времето и роботите са централни в неговите творби - „Отново и отново“ не прави изключение и в нея също са развити от автора със страхотно въображение ...
Аш Сътън се завръща на Земята след 20-годишно пътешествие в Космоса и придобил загадъчно познание, свързано със съдбата. Обаче, веднага след пристигането си е предизвикан на дуел и въвлечен в опасни приключения. Впоследствие се оказва, че е необходимо да предприеме вълнуващо пътешествие във времето, както и да напише изключително значима книга...
„— Струва ми се, че бих могъл да се считам за християнин — заяви Сътън. — Доколкото си спомням, имаше някаква заповед да не се убива.
Роботът поклати глава.
— Тя не е валидна.
— Там е казано ясно и определено: „Не убивай!“ — възрази Сътън.
— Точно така — съгласи се роботът. — Но вече никой не вярва в нея. Вие, хората, сами я лишихте от съдържание. Никога не сте я следвали. Или ще я следвате, или ще се отречете от нея. Но не може да отричате нещо, а след това да се позовавате на него.“
„Общоприетата дефиниция — бе заявил д-р Рейвън, сякаш се обръщаше към аудитория — навярно ще се видоизмени донякъде, когато Ашър напише книгата си.“
Но как е възможно Сътън да открие съдбата? Та нали съдба е само едно понятие, абстрактна идея?
— Забравяте — бе обяснил д-р Рейвън, като му говореше кротко като на дете — за така наречената непреодолима сила или въздействие. Изглежда, това е открил Сътън — именно силата или пък въздействието.“
„Войната засяга всички области на човешкото познание и мисъл и променя сънищата на хора, за които времето едва ли някога е било нещо повече от пълзяща сянка върху слънчев часовник.
В тази война участвуват шпиони и идеолози, едните, за да издирват минали събития, подходящи за стратегически планове, а другите — за да изопачават историята, като улесняват по този начин реализирането на тези планове.“
„Беше ми сърдит, но това не е толкова важно, защото гневът му не е в състояние да ме лиши от надеждата, която ми вдъхна книгата му.“
„Но ако човек не се вслуша, тогава той просто не чува нищо. И няма такава сила, която да го накара да се вслуша. Наказание за нечуващите също няма, освен нещастието да се противопоставиш на съдбата си.“
„Нито едно живо същество не върви само по своя път.“
„Обратното би представлявало истинска катастрофа, защото не бъде ли написана тази книга, целият отрязък от бъдещето, свързан с нея, ще се заличи, изчезвайки заедно с книгата, която никога не е съществувала.
А това не бива да стане, каза си Сътън.“
„— Да можеше само да ми дадеш дума, че цялата тази история със съдбата няма да навреди на хората — каза Адамс. — Ако можеше да ме увериш, че няма да помогне на враговете ни…
— Човекът няма други врагове освен онези, които сам си е създал — каза Аш.“
След всяка прочетена книга на Саймък ми се струва за момент, че неговите хуманни послания са съвсем ясни и съответно всеки ги знае, а и би могъл да ги изрази по толкова разбираем начин, но това определено е измамно чувство. Всъщност, самото четене ми се отразява благотворно, подтиквайки ме елегантно към необходимите размисли, а и оценявам още по-високо майсторството на големия писател! Фантастиката на Саймък успява именно да възпитава читателите в човеколюбие, както и да дава доста ценен и философски поглед върху евентуални бъдещи светове и техните проблеми! Темите за времето и роботите са централни в неговите творби - „Отново и отново“ не прави изключение и в нея също са развити от автора със страхотно въображение ...
Аш Сътън се завръща на Земята след 20-годишно пътешествие в Космоса и придобил загадъчно познание, свързано със съдбата. Обаче, веднага след пристигането си е предизвикан на дуел и въвлечен в опасни приключения. Впоследствие се оказва, че е необходимо да предприеме вълнуващо пътешествие във времето, както и да напише изключително значима книга...
„— Струва ми се, че бих могъл да се считам за християнин — заяви Сътън. — Доколкото си спомням, имаше някаква заповед да не се убива.
Роботът поклати глава.
— Тя не е валидна.
— Там е казано ясно и определено: „Не убивай!“ — възрази Сътън.
— Точно така — съгласи се роботът. — Но вече никой не вярва в нея. Вие, хората, сами я лишихте от съдържание. Никога не сте я следвали. Или ще я следвате, или ще се отречете от нея. Но не може да отричате нещо, а след това да се позовавате на него.“
„Общоприетата дефиниция — бе заявил д-р Рейвън, сякаш се обръщаше към аудитория — навярно ще се видоизмени донякъде, когато Ашър напише книгата си.“
Но как е възможно Сътън да открие съдбата? Та нали съдба е само едно понятие, абстрактна идея?
— Забравяте — бе обяснил д-р Рейвън, като му говореше кротко като на дете — за така наречената непреодолима сила или въздействие. Изглежда, това е открил Сътън — именно силата или пък въздействието.“
„Войната засяга всички области на човешкото познание и мисъл и променя сънищата на хора, за които времето едва ли някога е било нещо повече от пълзяща сянка върху слънчев часовник.
В тази война участвуват шпиони и идеолози, едните, за да издирват минали събития, подходящи за стратегически планове, а другите — за да изопачават историята, като улесняват по този начин реализирането на тези планове.“
„Беше ми сърдит, но това не е толкова важно, защото гневът му не е в състояние да ме лиши от надеждата, която ми вдъхна книгата му.“
„Но ако човек не се вслуша, тогава той просто не чува нищо. И няма такава сила, която да го накара да се вслуша. Наказание за нечуващите също няма, освен нещастието да се противопоставиш на съдбата си.“
„Нито едно живо същество не върви само по своя път.“
„Обратното би представлявало истинска катастрофа, защото не бъде ли написана тази книга, целият отрязък от бъдещето, свързан с нея, ще се заличи, изчезвайки заедно с книгата, която никога не е съществувала.
А това не бива да стане, каза си Сътън.“
„— Да можеше само да ми дадеш дума, че цялата тази история със съдбата няма да навреди на хората — каза Адамс. — Ако можеше да ме увериш, че няма да помогне на враговете ни…
— Човекът няма други врагове освен онези, които сам си е създал — каза Аш.“
September 22, 2018
I love Simak. Whenever I'm in the mood for some old-time SF that can still be read with joy today, lacking the most pernicious queasy qualities of the time-period in which popular fiction thrived back then, I always turn to Simak. He never lets me down. It's just plain fun.
This book is no different. It's a time-travel paradox story on the fringes, but at its heart, it's all about Destiny. A guy tries to see what he can see with some strange aliens, comes back missing 20 years and a mysterious group is out to kill him. Sounds like pretty standard thriller-SF, right?
Well, in this case, it's really about leveling up, writing a book that will have a grand effect on the rest of future humanity, making a difference to all the downtrodden androids and aliens who suffer from the "largesse" of the super-dominant mankind.
A light and a once-removed tale of race issues, sure, but this book from 1950 focuses on the heart of it, doesn't stint on pushing for equality, and even pokes huge holes in "Manifest Destiny". Back then, I'm sure the term was used to the nausea of everyone, but not now. Even so, it's interesting to see such a forceful condemnation. :)
It may be old hat now, but the rest of the story is delightful and fast-paced. :) Duels, corporations with a million-year strategy, a time war, and paradox-poking. Very good classic SF. :)
This book is no different. It's a time-travel paradox story on the fringes, but at its heart, it's all about Destiny. A guy tries to see what he can see with some strange aliens, comes back missing 20 years and a mysterious group is out to kill him. Sounds like pretty standard thriller-SF, right?
Well, in this case, it's really about leveling up, writing a book that will have a grand effect on the rest of future humanity, making a difference to all the downtrodden androids and aliens who suffer from the "largesse" of the super-dominant mankind.
A light and a once-removed tale of race issues, sure, but this book from 1950 focuses on the heart of it, doesn't stint on pushing for equality, and even pokes huge holes in "Manifest Destiny". Back then, I'm sure the term was used to the nausea of everyone, but not now. Even so, it's interesting to see such a forceful condemnation. :)
It may be old hat now, but the rest of the story is delightful and fast-paced. :) Duels, corporations with a million-year strategy, a time war, and paradox-poking. Very good classic SF. :)
September 24, 2016
Wow.
This story was so multi-layered, I shake my head in utter amazement that it was written in 1951. If the author were still alive, I'd put it on my dream list to shake his hand and thank him for his talent with words. It's no wonder he won so many awards in his career.
This is a book of philosophy about the meaning of destiny hidden in the guise of Science Fiction. Amidst the requisite time travel theme, it touches on the nature of mankind with its illusion of superiority over all living things. The forgotten value of humility. Evolution. The untapped power of the mind and spirit. The might of the "corporation" that works to enslave the common man's mind. And the power games of war that stem from the need to fight back for a measure of sovereignty that allows for a life lived with dignity.
Mr Simak does all that in one solid story line that doesn't let up until the last line that leaves you breathless.
Read it. Digest it. And see if you don't question both yourself and the society we live in on deeper levels.
This story was so multi-layered, I shake my head in utter amazement that it was written in 1951. If the author were still alive, I'd put it on my dream list to shake his hand and thank him for his talent with words. It's no wonder he won so many awards in his career.
This is a book of philosophy about the meaning of destiny hidden in the guise of Science Fiction. Amidst the requisite time travel theme, it touches on the nature of mankind with its illusion of superiority over all living things. The forgotten value of humility. Evolution. The untapped power of the mind and spirit. The might of the "corporation" that works to enslave the common man's mind. And the power games of war that stem from the need to fight back for a measure of sovereignty that allows for a life lived with dignity.
Mr Simak does all that in one solid story line that doesn't let up until the last line that leaves you breathless.
Read it. Digest it. And see if you don't question both yourself and the society we live in on deeper levels.
July 21, 2020
4.45 ⭐
„Ние не сме сами.
Никой никога не е сам.
От първия немощен проблясък на първата искрица живот върху първата планета в Галактиката, познала зараждането на живота, никога не е имало дори едно-едничко създание, което върви, пълзи или се влачи по своя жизнен път самотно.“
"Отново и отново" е пътешествие във времето, което Саймък посвещава на взаимодействието между човека и андроида. Той споделя своите дръзки възгледи, че всяко живо същество има не само право на съществуване, но и право на пълноценен живот. Саймък разкрива по един въздействащ начин какво се случва в главата на героите си, като тук той показва перспективите от гледна точка на човека и неговото творение.
„Нито едно живо същество, в което тупти пулсът на живота, независимо от начина, по който е създадено, родено, заченато или произведено, не живее в самота."
Аштън Сътън заминава на далечна и опасна мисия преди 20 години и изчезва безследно. Никой не допуска, че той някога ще се върне, а още по- малко, че ще донесе със себе си знание, което може да окаже влияние върху цялото мироздание. Знание, заради което едни са готови да го унищожат, а други- да го бранят с цената на живота си.
"Човекът няма други врагове освен онези, които сам си е създал"
Саймък построява майсторски цялата история, заплита я, развива идеите си, развихря фантазията си. И всичко това го прави с много чувство. Тази книга не е проста суха научно- фантастична проза, а дълбоко емпатична творба, която през цялото време алармира, че никой не е сам в този свят и че всеки носи емоции, които трябва да бъдат уважавани.
Аз, като Човек, приемам своето Господство на Земята за даденост и никога не се бях замисляла за това как би могъл да изглежда животът от гледна точка на друго живо същество, или такова, което е плод на човешката ръка. Е, Саймък явно доста е мислил по този въпрос и освен идеите за пътешествие във времето, е показал и своите виждания за роботите и андроидите. Концепциите му за придвижването по времевата ос, са много интересни и честно казано, досега не бях чела някъде някой да ги е развил толкова добре. В повечето книги на подобна тематика, пътуването е просто факт, но тук Саймък разкрива своята визия как това може да се случи.
" Отново и отново" е едно от най- емблематичните научно- фантастични четива, на което несъмнено може да се сложи етикет " Златна класика".
„Ние не сме сами.
Никой никога не е сам.
От първия немощен проблясък на първата искрица живот върху първата планета в Галактиката, познала зараждането на живота, никога не е имало дори едно-едничко създание, което върви, пълзи или се влачи по своя жизнен път самотно.“
"Отново и отново" е пътешествие във времето, което Саймък посвещава на взаимодействието между човека и андроида. Той споделя своите дръзки възгледи, че всяко живо същество има не само право на съществуване, но и право на пълноценен живот. Саймък разкрива по един въздействащ начин какво се случва в главата на героите си, като тук той показва перспективите от гледна точка на човека и неговото творение.
„Нито едно живо същество, в което тупти пулсът на живота, независимо от начина, по който е създадено, родено, заченато или произведено, не живее в самота."
Аштън Сътън заминава на далечна и опасна мисия преди 20 години и изчезва безследно. Никой не допуска, че той някога ще се върне, а още по- малко, че ще донесе със себе си знание, което може да окаже влияние върху цялото мироздание. Знание, заради което едни са готови да го унищожат, а други- да го бранят с цената на живота си.
"Човекът няма други врагове освен онези, които сам си е създал"
Саймък построява майсторски цялата история, заплита я, развива идеите си, развихря фантазията си. И всичко това го прави с много чувство. Тази книга не е проста суха научно- фантастична проза, а дълбоко емпатична творба, която през цялото време алармира, че никой не е сам в този свят и че всеки носи емоции, които трябва да бъдат уважавани.
Аз, като Човек, приемам своето Господство на Земята за даденост и никога не се бях замисляла за това как би могъл да изглежда животът от гледна точка на друго живо същество, или такова, което е плод на човешката ръка. Е, Саймък явно доста е мислил по този въпрос и освен идеите за пътешествие във времето, е показал и своите виждания за роботите и андроидите. Концепциите му за придвижването по времевата ос, са много интересни и честно казано, досега не бях чела някъде някой да ги е развил толкова добре. В повечето книги на подобна тематика, пътуването е просто факт, но тук Саймък разкрива своята визия как това може да се случи.
" Отново и отново" е едно от най- емблематичните научно- фантастични четива, на което несъмнено може да се сложи етикет " Златна класика".
December 9, 2024
Time and Again is one Simak's most complex yet quite popular novels. It's one of his deepest examinations of artificial intelligence and responsibility and the nature of humanity; it's chock full of many of the most popular genre tropes. The story is about a space traveler who returns to Earth after having been lost for decades. He's gained psychic powers after being influenced by an alien race. The Earth has changed, as androids are now extant who are kept as slaves and want their freedom. Assassins are sent from the distant future to keep him from writing a book that will change the course of civilization and cause massive tragedy. It all comes full circle, as time travel novels should, and it's a captivating read. The last page is especially poignant and moving. The novel has a complex history; it was serialized in H.L. Gold's Galaxy magazine from October through December in 1950 under the title Time Quarry. Simon and Schuster published it in hardback in 1951 with a different ending with the current title. (I wonder how the ending differed in the magazine version?) Dell printed the first paperback edition in 1953 but changed the title to First He Died. Very confusing, especially when you consider the number of times Time and Again has been used as a title in the field, such as the Jack Finney novel from 1970 that Simon and Schuster also printed. Anyway, I believe it's one worth searching for.
January 14, 2025
This was another of those old science fiction paperbacks from the 50s to the 80s that I keep in a box, which I like to reach in and grab a fast afternoon read. This one, "Time and Again" by Clifford D. Simak (1904-1988) (published in 1951) actually surprised me. It was better than expected. I expected a simple time travel story but this one was a lot more than that. It's 6000 years in the future and Sutton has been sent to make contact with the aliens of 61 Cygni. Then all contact was lost with him until he returned to Earth twenty years later. He returns with powers beyond human understanding....Throw in androids who seek equality with humans and a book which people will kill to prevent from being written and you have a rather complex story which deserved to be developed at greater length....
I have to add that I enjoy these old SF books which give a view of the future from a 1950s or 60s perspective. Here, we have a galactic empire existing 6000 years in the future and people are still making tapes. No one carries a personal computer. And, naturally, women serve in a man's society as secretaries and you can't expect a woman to be a boss...!
I have to add that I enjoy these old SF books which give a view of the future from a 1950s or 60s perspective. Here, we have a galactic empire existing 6000 years in the future and people are still making tapes. No one carries a personal computer. And, naturally, women serve in a man's society as secretaries and you can't expect a woman to be a boss...!
April 18, 2010
While the first few chapters had the makings of a really good time-travel book, it just seemed to bog down later on - to the point where I simply skipped over some of the paragraphs. Most of the time travel in the book are just references to things which will happen in the future for example, the text of a book, not yet written, found in the burnt-out wreckage of a space-craft....
The book had so much promise but just didn't deliver.
The book had so much promise but just didn't deliver.
July 30, 2011
What would you think if you found an old book signed with your name-and learned that it bore a date in the distant future? It happens to Asher Sutton, and upon setting out to investigate the incredible enigma, he finds that book a ticket to a galactic empire many thousands of years from now!
Definitely my favourite time-travel novel so far!
Definitely my favourite time-travel novel so far!
April 29, 2016
Oh dear, this book is a bit of a mess. It's about time travel....no, it's about androids and Asimovian space cops... No, it's about biology and symbiotic life forms...no, it's about time travel again...no, it's a scathing critique of manifest destiny...no, it's about a war between androids and humanity...no, it's about mutant humans with special powers...no, I'm not sure what it's about.
October 25, 2023
This is exactly the kind of science fiction novel that a humanist would write. It is not heavy on the science or on technology, but it is just as mind-expanding as other pieces of hard scifi. Simak himself sums up what I think of as his unique contribution to science fiction: "before Man goes to the stars he [sic] should learn how to live on Earth." Hardly a truer statement has been written in science fiction or argued as compelling as Simak does here and elsewhere.
Also, forget for a moment that Simak is writing about androids and their relationship to humans and their rights to the pursuit of "destiny." Substitute any oppressed group or minority into that formulation and you end up with a very progressive ethical philosophy that has so much lasting cultural relevance and which ought to be a check on any scientific or technological pursuit. This was written in 1951 -- imagine how that argument would have seemed then, if not cloaked in a fanciful discussion of androids.
The start was a bit rough and confusing, but I get that it was necessary because of the time travel angle. Regardless, this book is an absolute gem and is now up there in my list of top 3 Simak novels.
Also, forget for a moment that Simak is writing about androids and their relationship to humans and their rights to the pursuit of "destiny." Substitute any oppressed group or minority into that formulation and you end up with a very progressive ethical philosophy that has so much lasting cultural relevance and which ought to be a check on any scientific or technological pursuit. This was written in 1951 -- imagine how that argument would have seemed then, if not cloaked in a fanciful discussion of androids.
The start was a bit rough and confusing, but I get that it was necessary because of the time travel angle. Regardless, this book is an absolute gem and is now up there in my list of top 3 Simak novels.
February 27, 2022
A weird and absolutely wonderful story. Just like one of the main themes of this story, we jump straight into the future with bot servant AIs, mentophones, teleporters and extrasolar colonisation all displayed and discussed within the first two or three chapters. We also learn very early that there's something up with Sutton, something is definitely NQR, Not Quite Right with him but equally from his perspective something is also NQR at home on Earth.
Humanity is presented at once as both familiarly paranoid and regrettably regressive in this version of our future, which nonetheless seems fantastical in the extreme.
While reaching for and "conquering" the stars has apparently removed any need for violence, this lack of a release for our innate aggressive tendencies has been recognised such that the law allows for the declaration of duels, which any able person under one hundred years of age must participate in when challenged. It seems like every new comfort which we learn about pairs with some underlying tension.
There were two elements of this story which I instantly recalled from a much newer book that I'd read only a few weeks before this one. The book was called 'How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe' by Charles Yu and the matching concepts were the mechanics of the time travel and the idea of writing a book that you already know has been written.
There's a movement to grant equal rights to Artificial Intelligences which pops its head up from time to time and an interesting tangible existence is given to the idea of destiny. Destiny is described as having no conflict with religion and although I don't hold truck with any of these ideas they were written well and fun to read.
As any good story about time travel should do, this story comes full circle by the end and ties up all of the threads in a very satisfying way. I never really think ahead enough to guess this kind of thing but if you do then you might see it coming.
This classic ages well, although there was only one female character she was not a dainty or hysterical pushover. The only noticeable issue was the use of male centric generalisations, like saying mankind instead of humankind.
This is either my second or third by Simak and I'm impressed, a genuine giant of the genre who I will be looking forward to reading again and again.
Humanity is presented at once as both familiarly paranoid and regrettably regressive in this version of our future, which nonetheless seems fantastical in the extreme.
While reaching for and "conquering" the stars has apparently removed any need for violence, this lack of a release for our innate aggressive tendencies has been recognised such that the law allows for the declaration of duels, which any able person under one hundred years of age must participate in when challenged. It seems like every new comfort which we learn about pairs with some underlying tension.
There were two elements of this story which I instantly recalled from a much newer book that I'd read only a few weeks before this one. The book was called 'How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe' by Charles Yu and the matching concepts were the mechanics of the time travel and the idea of writing a book that you already know has been written.
There's a movement to grant equal rights to Artificial Intelligences which pops its head up from time to time and an interesting tangible existence is given to the idea of destiny. Destiny is described as having no conflict with religion and although I don't hold truck with any of these ideas they were written well and fun to read.
As any good story about time travel should do, this story comes full circle by the end and ties up all of the threads in a very satisfying way. I never really think ahead enough to guess this kind of thing but if you do then you might see it coming.
This classic ages well, although there was only one female character she was not a dainty or hysterical pushover. The only noticeable issue was the use of male centric generalisations, like saying mankind instead of humankind.
This is either my second or third by Simak and I'm impressed, a genuine giant of the genre who I will be looking forward to reading again and again.
Read
August 30, 2020Леко ме подразниха сюжетните пробойни, особено по линията на пътуването във времето (където реално няма как да се мине без пробойни, но тук парадоксите ми се сториха твърде натрапливо невъзможни и недомислени), както и типичното за маса екшън истории неубедително оцеляване на главния герой (толкова много хора искаха той да умре и разполагаха с перфектните условия да го убият), но иначе страхотна плетеница от идеи, въплътени във вълнуваща история, забавна и зрелищна с фантастичните си елементи (пътуване във времето, космически кораби, химически андроиди, симбиотични абстракции, телекинеза, ментофони, психоиндикатори и какво ли не) и интересна с политическите въпроси, които поставя (силата на корпорациите, манипулацията на информацията, антропоцентризмът, експанзионизмът и равенството между видовете).
Впрочем винаги е забавно да се чете стара научна фантастика, защото постоянно се появяват сцени, в които героят през 7662-ра година вади ХАРТИЕН УКАЗАТЕЛ, за да провери номера на мястото, до което иска да се ТЕЛЕПОРТИРА.
Впрочем винаги е забавно да се чете стара научна фантастика, защото постоянно се появяват сцени, в които героят през 7662-ра година вади ХАРТИЕН УКАЗАТЕЛ, за да провери номера на мястото, до което иска да се ТЕЛЕПОРТИРА.
December 30, 2021
As I think I may have mentioned elsewhere, stories about time travel can sometimes give me a headache right between the eyes. And really, who among us hasn't, at one time or another, come close to getting a major-league migraine when trying to suss out the temporal conundrums inherent in many of these tales? Fortunately for me--and my head--the novel that I have just experienced is one that does indeed feature time travel in its story line, but that lays out its complexities in a manner that leaves the reader blissfully headache free. The book in question is Clifford D. Simak's second novel, "First He Died"; an early and surprisingly superior outing from the beloved future Grand Master.
"First He Died" has a somewhat complicated publishing history. It initially appeared serially under the title "Time Quarry" in the first three issues of the legendary pulp magazine "Galaxy Science Fiction"--the October, November and December 1950 issues--when Simak was already 46. That first issue, which must be a collector's item today, featured beautiful cover art for Simak's story by David Stone, and sold for 25 cents. From 1952 to 2005, Simak's second novel was reprinted in over a dozen foreign-language editions, in countries such as Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Serbia and Russia. Here in the U.S., the 1953, 25-cent Dell paperback offering sported the altered title "First He Died," a name that has apparently stuck, and with cover art by one Walter Brooks. There have been any number of other U.S. printings as well, some of them under the title of "Time and Again." (And do not fear--this publishing history is the only headache-inducing aspect regarding this book!) Thus, laying one's hands on a copy of Simak's novel, under any one of these titles, should not pose too much of a problem for you. And to make things even easier, Armchair Fiction, in 2020, came out with its own reasonably priced edition, sporting the same title and Walter Brooks artwork as on that 1953 Dell paperback.
Now, although Simak had already seen over 30 of his sci-fi short stories published, 1950 was the year in which he really started to fly as a novelist. I have already written here of his first novel, "Cosmic Engineers," which appeared earlier that year in hardcover; an expansion of a 1939 serial. "Time Quarry" would appear just months later, followed by his third novel, "Empire," in 1951. As compared to that first novel, "Time Quarry" finds Simak just beginning to discover his gentle, pastoral tone, as will be seen.
The book introduces the reader to one Asher Sutton, a space explorer who returns to Earth after a period of 20 years. Sutton had been tasked with the seemingly hopeless mission of making contact with the denizens of a planet in 61 Cygni, 11 light-years away; a world encased in some kind of protective screen that had previously made any approach impossible. But Asher had somehow managed to find his way through, only to crash-land to his death on the planet's surface. But that demise, apparently, was only the beginning of Sutton's story! Brought back to life and physically and mentally modified by the "symbiotic abstractions" who peopled that world, Sutton would go on to spend the next two decades there before returning home. And so, when we first encounter Asher Sutton, the year is 7990, and he has come back to Earth both driven by a mission and thoroughly confused as to what transpires around him. Sutton's boss, Christopher Adams, is contacted by a man from the future, urging him to kill Sutton immediately upon his return. Our hero, soon after his arrival, is challenged to a duel for no good reason by a notorious marksman, and manages to kill this adversary by shooting him...in the arm? A spaceship crashes on Aldebaran XII, and one of its deceased passengers is discovered to be holding a book written by...Asher Sutton. Later, another spacecraft, this one from the future, crashes on Earth, and Sutton finds, on the dying pilot's body, a book on the subject of destiny written by one...Asher Sutton. An android brings Asher a suitcase that had been packed by his family's loyal robotic retainer, containing a letter written by one of Sutton's ancestors in a place called Wisconsin around 6,000 years earlier...in 1987, to be exact. Numerous attempts are made on Sutton's life, and a mysteriously motivated woman named Eva Armour, as well as an equally mysteriously motivated android named Herkimer, apparently come to his aid on several occasions, even going so far as to shanghai him to one of the lonely planetoids in the Asteroid Belt for his own protection.
As the mysterious events pile up, however, and Sutton's latent superhuman abilities come to the fore, we begin to slowly understand what is going on: Asher, during his stay in 61 Cygni, had been vouchsafed the secret behind the destiny of all living things, and would eventually write a book on said subject, changing the course of human--and nonhuman--history. And upon his return to Earth, three alliances, that have been/will be warring temporally for centuries, try to either (a) kill Sutton outright, (b) allow him to write his book as planned, OR (c) make revisions to the sacred text for reasons of their own. It is quite the long game that is in progress here, with all of time and space for its playing field, and with the befuddled Sutton understandably at a loss as to just how to proceed....
"First He Died" is a difficult book to write about without giving away too many of the story's many surprises, and I do hope that I have not already said too much. It is also hard to convey the sense of mystery and outré weirdness that pervades the novel's first half, before things start to clear up a bit. Simak's book is complexly plotted but, as I mentioned up top, the author manages to nicely resolve all the potentially bewildering temporal sticking points. His book boasts some new mind-blowing development or some kind of imaginative adornment in every one of its 50 chapters, and, as the story jumps from Earth to outer space, and from the year 7990 to 1977 to 8500, there is just no way for the reader to predict what will occur next. And if we readers are a bit confused in the book's first half, it is comforting to realize that Sutton is just as perplexed as we are: "...none of it makes sense," he ponders early on. "The tangled thread of logic was too much for him," we are told later. Readers should be advised to hang on tight, and know that the author will indeed clarify all of the book's many mysteries before long.
Though written in Simak's easygoing, reader-friendly style, "First He Died" boasts any number of colorful, futuristic touches. Besides the time machines, there are the teleport booths, for instantly zipping from one location to another; the ubiquitous metallic robots and chemically created androids; those legalized duels; mentophone caps, with which one can mentally communicate with another person in a faraway section of the galaxy; fantasy clubs that almost sound like the holodeck on the starship Enterprise; psych tracers that can detect a person's brain wave pattern from millions of miles away; and, of course, the notion of a time war itself. As for those time machines, you'd think that Simak would have given them some kind of stressed importance here, but no. They're just there, part of the background and taken for granted, like a kitchen sink; just part of everyday life. Robert A. Heinlein would no doubt have approved of this offhand manner of presenting the most flabbergasting futuristic gizmos. Further wonder in the book is engendered by Sutton's gradually increasing, superhuman abilities. Besides coming back from the dead several times, our leading man also has, embedded in his noggin, one of the Cygni denizens, who Sutton calls "Johnny" and who advises him in tight spots. Sutton, as we come to realize, is able to absorb energy from both distant stars and mechanical engines; can kill with a mere thought; can fly a powerless and crumpled starship; can control dice telekinetically; and can enter the minds of other humans and animals. And yet, despite his remarkable abilities, Sutton remains a very challenged individual throughout, to put it mildly.
For the rest of it, "First He Died" shows Simak giving voice, for the first time in a novel, to his love of the rural setting that he knew so well. A significant part of this particular book takes place in the Bridgeport, Wisconsin of the late 20th century, an area just a few miles away from the town of Millville, where the author was born and raised. His gentle and lovely descriptions of the countryside betray his adoration for this southwestern corner of the state. In one section, as Sutton gazes at the Wisconsin landscape, he ponders:
"...Man leaped rivers on great spans of steel and he never heard the talk of rivers as they rolled down to the sea. Man leaped seas on wings powered by smooth, sleek engines, and the thunder of the sea was a sound lost in the empty vault of sky. Man crossed space in metallic cylinders that twisted time and space and hurled Man and his miraculous machines down alleys of conjectural mathematics that were not even dreamed of in this world of Bridgeport, 1977.
"Man was in a hurry and he went too far, too fast. So far and fast that he missed many things...things that he should have taken time to learn as he went along...things that someday in some future age he would take the time to study. Someday Man would come back along the trail again and learn the things he’d missed and wonder why he missed them and think upon the years that were lost for never knowing them...."
And "First He Died" is nicely right-on when it comes to its espousing a belief in the equality of all living things...even the artificially created androids. To quote Sutton again, vis-à-vis those androids:
"...We gave them inferiority...we made them less than human and that gave them a reason to fight us. We denied them something they have to fight to get...equality. We furnished them with a motive Man lost long ago, though he still has a need to feel superior to other humans for some arbitrary and unimportant difference. Once it was religion, nationality, the color of the skin. Now it's the ability to reproduce...."
Thus, we have a highly imaginative and colorful work, mind-blowing in parts but ultimately impeccably plotted, with some lovely bucolic sections and a modern-day take on the brotherhood of all sentient beings. As a matter of fact, I only have two very minor quibbles that I would raise against Simak's sophomore novel here. The first is the fact that he mentions that Aldebaran is 50 light-years away from Earth, whereas it is more like 65. And the other is that one of Sutton's nemeses is shown to have an inkwell on his desk. Really? An inkwell? In the year 8500? I think those things had pretty much disappeared by 1960! But as I say, these are mere quibbles. "First He Died" is a very solid early work from a novelist just beginning to come into his own, and I do recommend it. To read it is to experience a desire to check out the author's seldom-discussed follow-up novel, "Empire." Happily, I believe that this third novel of Simak's is also available from the fairly gigantic catalog of Armchair Fiction....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Clifford D. Simak....)
"First He Died" has a somewhat complicated publishing history. It initially appeared serially under the title "Time Quarry" in the first three issues of the legendary pulp magazine "Galaxy Science Fiction"--the October, November and December 1950 issues--when Simak was already 46. That first issue, which must be a collector's item today, featured beautiful cover art for Simak's story by David Stone, and sold for 25 cents. From 1952 to 2005, Simak's second novel was reprinted in over a dozen foreign-language editions, in countries such as Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Serbia and Russia. Here in the U.S., the 1953, 25-cent Dell paperback offering sported the altered title "First He Died," a name that has apparently stuck, and with cover art by one Walter Brooks. There have been any number of other U.S. printings as well, some of them under the title of "Time and Again." (And do not fear--this publishing history is the only headache-inducing aspect regarding this book!) Thus, laying one's hands on a copy of Simak's novel, under any one of these titles, should not pose too much of a problem for you. And to make things even easier, Armchair Fiction, in 2020, came out with its own reasonably priced edition, sporting the same title and Walter Brooks artwork as on that 1953 Dell paperback.
Now, although Simak had already seen over 30 of his sci-fi short stories published, 1950 was the year in which he really started to fly as a novelist. I have already written here of his first novel, "Cosmic Engineers," which appeared earlier that year in hardcover; an expansion of a 1939 serial. "Time Quarry" would appear just months later, followed by his third novel, "Empire," in 1951. As compared to that first novel, "Time Quarry" finds Simak just beginning to discover his gentle, pastoral tone, as will be seen.
The book introduces the reader to one Asher Sutton, a space explorer who returns to Earth after a period of 20 years. Sutton had been tasked with the seemingly hopeless mission of making contact with the denizens of a planet in 61 Cygni, 11 light-years away; a world encased in some kind of protective screen that had previously made any approach impossible. But Asher had somehow managed to find his way through, only to crash-land to his death on the planet's surface. But that demise, apparently, was only the beginning of Sutton's story! Brought back to life and physically and mentally modified by the "symbiotic abstractions" who peopled that world, Sutton would go on to spend the next two decades there before returning home. And so, when we first encounter Asher Sutton, the year is 7990, and he has come back to Earth both driven by a mission and thoroughly confused as to what transpires around him. Sutton's boss, Christopher Adams, is contacted by a man from the future, urging him to kill Sutton immediately upon his return. Our hero, soon after his arrival, is challenged to a duel for no good reason by a notorious marksman, and manages to kill this adversary by shooting him...in the arm? A spaceship crashes on Aldebaran XII, and one of its deceased passengers is discovered to be holding a book written by...Asher Sutton. Later, another spacecraft, this one from the future, crashes on Earth, and Sutton finds, on the dying pilot's body, a book on the subject of destiny written by one...Asher Sutton. An android brings Asher a suitcase that had been packed by his family's loyal robotic retainer, containing a letter written by one of Sutton's ancestors in a place called Wisconsin around 6,000 years earlier...in 1987, to be exact. Numerous attempts are made on Sutton's life, and a mysteriously motivated woman named Eva Armour, as well as an equally mysteriously motivated android named Herkimer, apparently come to his aid on several occasions, even going so far as to shanghai him to one of the lonely planetoids in the Asteroid Belt for his own protection.
As the mysterious events pile up, however, and Sutton's latent superhuman abilities come to the fore, we begin to slowly understand what is going on: Asher, during his stay in 61 Cygni, had been vouchsafed the secret behind the destiny of all living things, and would eventually write a book on said subject, changing the course of human--and nonhuman--history. And upon his return to Earth, three alliances, that have been/will be warring temporally for centuries, try to either (a) kill Sutton outright, (b) allow him to write his book as planned, OR (c) make revisions to the sacred text for reasons of their own. It is quite the long game that is in progress here, with all of time and space for its playing field, and with the befuddled Sutton understandably at a loss as to just how to proceed....
"First He Died" is a difficult book to write about without giving away too many of the story's many surprises, and I do hope that I have not already said too much. It is also hard to convey the sense of mystery and outré weirdness that pervades the novel's first half, before things start to clear up a bit. Simak's book is complexly plotted but, as I mentioned up top, the author manages to nicely resolve all the potentially bewildering temporal sticking points. His book boasts some new mind-blowing development or some kind of imaginative adornment in every one of its 50 chapters, and, as the story jumps from Earth to outer space, and from the year 7990 to 1977 to 8500, there is just no way for the reader to predict what will occur next. And if we readers are a bit confused in the book's first half, it is comforting to realize that Sutton is just as perplexed as we are: "...none of it makes sense," he ponders early on. "The tangled thread of logic was too much for him," we are told later. Readers should be advised to hang on tight, and know that the author will indeed clarify all of the book's many mysteries before long.
Though written in Simak's easygoing, reader-friendly style, "First He Died" boasts any number of colorful, futuristic touches. Besides the time machines, there are the teleport booths, for instantly zipping from one location to another; the ubiquitous metallic robots and chemically created androids; those legalized duels; mentophone caps, with which one can mentally communicate with another person in a faraway section of the galaxy; fantasy clubs that almost sound like the holodeck on the starship Enterprise; psych tracers that can detect a person's brain wave pattern from millions of miles away; and, of course, the notion of a time war itself. As for those time machines, you'd think that Simak would have given them some kind of stressed importance here, but no. They're just there, part of the background and taken for granted, like a kitchen sink; just part of everyday life. Robert A. Heinlein would no doubt have approved of this offhand manner of presenting the most flabbergasting futuristic gizmos. Further wonder in the book is engendered by Sutton's gradually increasing, superhuman abilities. Besides coming back from the dead several times, our leading man also has, embedded in his noggin, one of the Cygni denizens, who Sutton calls "Johnny" and who advises him in tight spots. Sutton, as we come to realize, is able to absorb energy from both distant stars and mechanical engines; can kill with a mere thought; can fly a powerless and crumpled starship; can control dice telekinetically; and can enter the minds of other humans and animals. And yet, despite his remarkable abilities, Sutton remains a very challenged individual throughout, to put it mildly.
For the rest of it, "First He Died" shows Simak giving voice, for the first time in a novel, to his love of the rural setting that he knew so well. A significant part of this particular book takes place in the Bridgeport, Wisconsin of the late 20th century, an area just a few miles away from the town of Millville, where the author was born and raised. His gentle and lovely descriptions of the countryside betray his adoration for this southwestern corner of the state. In one section, as Sutton gazes at the Wisconsin landscape, he ponders:
"...Man leaped rivers on great spans of steel and he never heard the talk of rivers as they rolled down to the sea. Man leaped seas on wings powered by smooth, sleek engines, and the thunder of the sea was a sound lost in the empty vault of sky. Man crossed space in metallic cylinders that twisted time and space and hurled Man and his miraculous machines down alleys of conjectural mathematics that were not even dreamed of in this world of Bridgeport, 1977.
"Man was in a hurry and he went too far, too fast. So far and fast that he missed many things...things that he should have taken time to learn as he went along...things that someday in some future age he would take the time to study. Someday Man would come back along the trail again and learn the things he’d missed and wonder why he missed them and think upon the years that were lost for never knowing them...."
And "First He Died" is nicely right-on when it comes to its espousing a belief in the equality of all living things...even the artificially created androids. To quote Sutton again, vis-à-vis those androids:
"...We gave them inferiority...we made them less than human and that gave them a reason to fight us. We denied them something they have to fight to get...equality. We furnished them with a motive Man lost long ago, though he still has a need to feel superior to other humans for some arbitrary and unimportant difference. Once it was religion, nationality, the color of the skin. Now it's the ability to reproduce...."
Thus, we have a highly imaginative and colorful work, mind-blowing in parts but ultimately impeccably plotted, with some lovely bucolic sections and a modern-day take on the brotherhood of all sentient beings. As a matter of fact, I only have two very minor quibbles that I would raise against Simak's sophomore novel here. The first is the fact that he mentions that Aldebaran is 50 light-years away from Earth, whereas it is more like 65. And the other is that one of Sutton's nemeses is shown to have an inkwell on his desk. Really? An inkwell? In the year 8500? I think those things had pretty much disappeared by 1960! But as I say, these are mere quibbles. "First He Died" is a very solid early work from a novelist just beginning to come into his own, and I do recommend it. To read it is to experience a desire to check out the author's seldom-discussed follow-up novel, "Empire." Happily, I believe that this third novel of Simak's is also available from the fairly gigantic catalog of Armchair Fiction....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Clifford D. Simak....)
December 23, 2022
Саймък работи с космически замах, който не е кой знае колко остарял технологично дори и след всичките тези години. Пътуване във времето, загадъчно завърнал се изчезнал пилот, нова религия, всички съставки са налице. Мистичните момементи към края малко пресолиха действието, но книгата е увлекателна.
3,5⭐️
3,5⭐️
November 2, 2023
good golden age sci-fi.. i listened on audible.. the reader is pleasant enough but overall not a good fit for the material imo, i should have gotten the paperback
this is my first Simak, i will read more in paperback.. i like most all good sci-fi from last century.. this is a very satisfying piece :)
this is my first Simak, i will read more in paperback.. i like most all good sci-fi from last century.. this is a very satisfying piece :)
January 23, 2015
Тази книга излезе в серията "Галактика" когато бях студент. Четох я с ококорени очи и често си я препрочитам.
Поводът за последното прочитане беше разговор за обърканите прескачания във времето в Интерстелар и невероятната лекота, с която го прави Саймък. (А и малко да си измия вкуса в устата от блудкатава "Крива на щастието".)
Не знам какво да добавя повече за тази книга. Саймък е майстор от висота, която надали някой от съвремените автори скоро ще достигне. Комерсиализмът и идеите за многотомно писане убиват дълбоко философския смисъл на една книга и търсенето на точно подбрани думи, така че да се постигне исканото внушение.
Книгата е задължителна за четене, както и "Всичко живо е трева".
„Ние не сме сами.
Никой никога не е сам.
От първия немощен проблясък на първата искрица живот върху първата планета в Галактиката, познала зараждането на живота, никога не е имало дори едно-едничко създание, което върви, пълзи или се влачи по своя жизнен път самотно.“
"Сътън стоеше мълчалив, обгърнат сякаш от самотата на вечността. Съвсем не се чувствуваше велик, както бе казала Ева, а само тъжен и самотен… човек, който е сам и завинаги ще остане сам."
Поводът за последното прочитане беше разговор за обърканите прескачания във времето в Интерстелар и невероятната лекота, с която го прави Саймък. (А и малко да си измия вкуса в устата от блудкатава "Крива на щастието".)
Не знам какво да добавя повече за тази книга. Саймък е майстор от висота, която надали някой от съвремените автори скоро ще достигне. Комерсиализмът и идеите за многотомно писане убиват дълбоко философския смисъл на една книга и търсенето на точно подбрани думи, така че да се постигне исканото внушение.
Книгата е задължителна за четене, както и "Всичко живо е трева".
„Ние не сме сами.
Никой никога не е сам.
От първия немощен проблясък на първата искрица живот върху първата планета в Галактиката, познала зараждането на живота, никога не е имало дори едно-едничко създание, което върви, пълзи или се влачи по своя жизнен път самотно.“
"Сътън стоеше мълчалив, обгърнат сякаш от самотата на вечността. Съвсем не се чувствуваше велик, както бе казала Ева, а само тъжен и самотен… човек, който е сам и завинаги ще остане сам."
April 22, 2019
I discovered Clifford Simak nearly 35 years ago. I was a young mother, and his tales of robots and dogs genetically engineered to talk were balm to my soul. Maybe man would disappear someday in the future, but something would continue.
Thank goodness I didn't read "Time and Again" back then. This is a very disturbing book about what it means to be human, destiny as a concept and Manifest Destiny.
If we isolate what ever it is that makes us human is it worth preserving the human race, or is that it?
There are no talking dogs here, and the androids may be kindly companions, or they may not. Or they may not be androids at all.
At least the hero, Ash Sutton, is human ...
Thank goodness I didn't read "Time and Again" back then. This is a very disturbing book about what it means to be human, destiny as a concept and Manifest Destiny.
If we isolate what ever it is that makes us human is it worth preserving the human race, or is that it?
There are no talking dogs here, and the androids may be kindly companions, or they may not. Or they may not be androids at all.
At least the hero, Ash Sutton, is human ...
October 29, 2018
Колкото повече го чета/препрочитам този човек, толкова повече ми харесва, вместо да ми омръзва.
Ето един чудесен пример за книга излязла преди „Градът”, която е хомогенна, многопластова и доволно философска, напук на всички самообявили се критици по творчеството на Саймък.
В едно въведение Клиф пишеше, че неговите роботи и андроиди, всъщност са „човешки сурогати”, а не машини или биологични роби. В „Отново и отново” тази тема е засегната сериозно. Всяко разумно същество, независимо от произхода си, има съдба и право на живот.
След като двадесет години се води изчезнал в космоса, Аш Сътън се завръща на земята и носи познание, което ще п��омени цялото човечество. Познание заради което в бъдещето се водят безспирни войни и различни групировки искат да го унищожет, променят или запазят. Учудващо, Сътън намира най-ревностна поддръжка в лицето на андроидите, на които, още ненаписаната му книга дава цел и надежда. От там следват интриги, мръсни предложения и много скоци из времето. Накрая, все пак става ясно, че всеки го дърпа за собствени цели. Дали са етични или егоистични да си преценява читателят.
Да отбележа, че това е единственото произведение което съм чел от Саймък, където действието се води през очите на двама главни герои.
Ето един чудесен пример за книга излязла преди „Градът”, която е хомогенна, многопластова и доволно философска, напук на всички самообявили се критици по творчеството на Саймък.
В едно въведение Клиф пишеше, че неговите роботи и андроиди, всъщност са „човешки сурогати”, а не машини или биологични роби. В „Отново и отново” тази тема е засегната сериозно. Всяко разумно същество, независимо от произхода си, има съдба и право на живот.
След като двадесет години се води изчезнал в космоса, Аш Сътън се завръща на земята и носи познание, което ще п��омени цялото човечество. Познание заради което в бъдещето се водят безспирни войни и различни групировки искат да го унищожет, променят или запазят. Учудващо, Сътън намира най-ревностна поддръжка в лицето на андроидите, на които, още ненаписаната му книга дава цел и надежда. От там следват интриги, мръсни предложения и много скоци из времето. Накрая, все пак става ясно, че всеки го дърпа за собствени цели. Дали са етични или егоистични да си преценява читателят.
Да отбележа, че това е единственото произведение което съм чел от Саймък, където действието се води през очите на двама главни герои.
December 4, 2024
Time and Again (1951) (aka First He Died and Time Quarry) is an amazing tour-de-force that presents themes which are echoed through science fiction’s hallowed halls for the succeeding decades. Here, we have a human who journeyed to another planet and, after living with other beings there, returns with psychic powers, including the ability to move objects with his mind, reminding us perhaps of Heinlein’s Michael Valentine from Stranger in a Strange Land. There are groups on Earth in this novel who want to prepare humanity for the next million years, reminding us of Frank Herbert’s Dune and Leto Atriedes’ golden plan. We have also ideas about symbiotic relationships. We also have androids and their role with humans, echoing perhaps Asimov’s robot novels and stories. We also get the problems of time paradox which has become a long-time staple of science fiction. Simak was, in many ways, a writer ahead of his time.
Time and Again is not a traditional novel and, reading it, the reader is probably as befuddled and confused for much as Asher Sutton is. Asher Sutton is the man who journeyed to a far-off planet, 61 Cyngi, where he could not have survived the crash. Indeed, studies showed that it was impossible for anyone to have survived and there were no motors, no engines, no air, no life support, no way for Asher to have returned. Yet, he returned, although twenty years later.
61 Cygni was an odd world, cloud-covered, and sheltered. No one else had ever made it there because it was as if there was a force field deflecting other ships. So the question becomes whether or not Asher is still human. After all, he is a rebuilt job with two hearts and an extra circulatory system.
These are things, though, that Asher is not concerned about. After all, he can always talk to Johnny, who might be an alter ego or might be a symbiotic parasite that is coexisting with him and guiding him. There was nothing dangerous about Cygnians, he explains. They weren’t even beings. It is hard to tell exactly what they are other than symbiotic abstractions.
This would all be fascinating if it were not merely the backstory because Asher is the most important man in the universe. He apparently wrote a book or will write a book that will change the world and there are those who want him to rewrite it and those who do not and those who want to go back in time and kill Asher to prevent him from writing the book. And, back on Earth, there is a dispute brewing between humans and androids with humans wanting to expand across the universe in a manifest destiny and those who are unsure of the distinction between chemically designed androids and humans other than the fact that androids do not reproduce.
Then again, there is the conflict here between fate and coincidence as Asher wonders about the minor details and if they mean something and if trips to the past will change things or if he is caught in a never-ending paradox.
This novel, Time and Again, is fascinating on so many different levels. There is so much packed within it that it may be worth a re-read or two to understand everything in fullness.
Time and Again is not a traditional novel and, reading it, the reader is probably as befuddled and confused for much as Asher Sutton is. Asher Sutton is the man who journeyed to a far-off planet, 61 Cyngi, where he could not have survived the crash. Indeed, studies showed that it was impossible for anyone to have survived and there were no motors, no engines, no air, no life support, no way for Asher to have returned. Yet, he returned, although twenty years later.
61 Cygni was an odd world, cloud-covered, and sheltered. No one else had ever made it there because it was as if there was a force field deflecting other ships. So the question becomes whether or not Asher is still human. After all, he is a rebuilt job with two hearts and an extra circulatory system.
These are things, though, that Asher is not concerned about. After all, he can always talk to Johnny, who might be an alter ego or might be a symbiotic parasite that is coexisting with him and guiding him. There was nothing dangerous about Cygnians, he explains. They weren’t even beings. It is hard to tell exactly what they are other than symbiotic abstractions.
This would all be fascinating if it were not merely the backstory because Asher is the most important man in the universe. He apparently wrote a book or will write a book that will change the world and there are those who want him to rewrite it and those who do not and those who want to go back in time and kill Asher to prevent him from writing the book. And, back on Earth, there is a dispute brewing between humans and androids with humans wanting to expand across the universe in a manifest destiny and those who are unsure of the distinction between chemically designed androids and humans other than the fact that androids do not reproduce.
Then again, there is the conflict here between fate and coincidence as Asher wonders about the minor details and if they mean something and if trips to the past will change things or if he is caught in a never-ending paradox.
This novel, Time and Again, is fascinating on so many different levels. There is so much packed within it that it may be worth a re-read or two to understand everything in fullness.
June 4, 2021
vanakooli vanamees-ulmekirjanikest on Simak mu kindel lemmik, nii et suurt elevust tekitas minus avastus, et talt on midagi värskelt eesti keelde tõlgitud ja mul see seni lugemata nagunii.
pettumus nr 1 (natuke spoiler ka): ühtegi rääkivat koera, pesukaru ega härjapõlvlast selles loos ei olnud. ma tean, et isegi Simakil päris alati ei ole, aga ikka ootan talt neid alati.
pettumus nr 2: ma muidu Tatjana Peetersood tõlkijana väga hindan ja usaldan, aga siin olid küll mingid lubamatud kohmakused sisse jäänud, mis sundisid lauseid peas inglise keelde tagasi tõlkima, et aru saada, mida autor/tegelane just ütles. palun ärme tee nii! kui tõlkida, siis korralikult, ja kui korralikult ei saa, siis ma parem loengi originaalis teine kord.
pettumus nr 3: lugesin loo lõpuni ja pidin nentima, et VÄGA segaseks jäi see kõik. ma ei saanud isegi öösel magada selle pärast! kõik unenäod keerlesid selle ümber, kes on elus ja kes surnud, kes inimene ja kes robot, ja millal see kõik juhtub. vahel ikka tuleb ette, et ma mõnd raamatut päriselt ei mõista, aga Simak spst ongi mu lemmik, et ta üldiselt on minu masti lihtsa jutu mees, nii et temalt ma sellist segadust ei oodanud. see jäi nii piinama, et hommikul otsustasin raamatu otsast uuesti üle... kui mitte lugeda, siis sirvida, et ehk teisel ringil on asi selgem. ja see tasus ära! uuel lugemisel selgus, et olin esimesel korral suutnud kümmekond peatükki lihtsalt vahele jätta :P seega oli mul ports infot ja tegevust lihstalt puudu ja täitsa arusaadav, et kõik jäi arusaamatuks. (kuidas see segadus juhtuda sai - süüdistan Ellut. viimasel ajal töötab seal lugemine mu käes/brauseris eriti kehvasti ja iga uut peatükki pean menüüst käsitsi valima ja kuskil seal rooma numbrite vahel ma ära eksisin.)
lõpuks selgus, et täitsa kena filosoofiline lugu, ilmselgete viidete ja moraaliga meie oma aega ja maailma (Simak kirjutas selle küll 70 aastat tagasi, aga paraku pole asjad sestsaadik üldse tohutult muutunud, ikka sama jama). oleks üksainuski pesukaru olnud, ma paneks neli punkti!
(pettumus nr 4 ka ikkagi: miski jäi närima ja googeldasin ja selgus, et Manifest Destiny, raamatus tõlgitud "saatusemanifest", on täitsa googeldamisväärt termin ja oleks minu meelest ka joonealust märkust-seletust väärinud. kui meile seal juba Lewis Carrollit ja 4. juulit lahti seletati.)
pettumus nr 1 (natuke spoiler ka): ühtegi rääkivat koera, pesukaru ega härjapõlvlast selles loos ei olnud. ma tean, et isegi Simakil päris alati ei ole, aga ikka ootan talt neid alati.
pettumus nr 2: ma muidu Tatjana Peetersood tõlkijana väga hindan ja usaldan, aga siin olid küll mingid lubamatud kohmakused sisse jäänud, mis sundisid lauseid peas inglise keelde tagasi tõlkima, et aru saada, mida autor/tegelane just ütles. palun ärme tee nii! kui tõlkida, siis korralikult, ja kui korralikult ei saa, siis ma parem loengi originaalis teine kord.
pettumus nr 3: lugesin loo lõpuni ja pidin nentima, et VÄGA segaseks jäi see kõik. ma ei saanud isegi öösel magada selle pärast! kõik unenäod keerlesid selle ümber, kes on elus ja kes surnud, kes inimene ja kes robot, ja millal see kõik juhtub. vahel ikka tuleb ette, et ma mõnd raamatut päriselt ei mõista, aga Simak spst ongi mu lemmik, et ta üldiselt on minu masti lihtsa jutu mees, nii et temalt ma sellist segadust ei oodanud. see jäi nii piinama, et hommikul otsustasin raamatu otsast uuesti üle... kui mitte lugeda, siis sirvida, et ehk teisel ringil on asi selgem. ja see tasus ära! uuel lugemisel selgus, et olin esimesel korral suutnud kümmekond peatükki lihtsalt vahele jätta :P seega oli mul ports infot ja tegevust lihstalt puudu ja täitsa arusaadav, et kõik jäi arusaamatuks. (kuidas see segadus juhtuda sai - süüdistan Ellut. viimasel ajal töötab seal lugemine mu käes/brauseris eriti kehvasti ja iga uut peatükki pean menüüst käsitsi valima ja kuskil seal rooma numbrite vahel ma ära eksisin.)
lõpuks selgus, et täitsa kena filosoofiline lugu, ilmselgete viidete ja moraaliga meie oma aega ja maailma (Simak kirjutas selle küll 70 aastat tagasi, aga paraku pole asjad sestsaadik üldse tohutult muutunud, ikka sama jama). oleks üksainuski pesukaru olnud, ma paneks neli punkti!
(pettumus nr 4 ka ikkagi: miski jäi närima ja googeldasin ja selgus, et Manifest Destiny, raamatus tõlgitud "saatusemanifest", on täitsa googeldamisväärt termin ja oleks minu meelest ka joonealust märkust-seletust väärinud. kui meile seal juba Lewis Carrollit ja 4. juulit lahti seletati.)
November 5, 2024
This book has two themes run together, one of which works better than the other.
The first theme is about Asher Sutton and what he found on the seventh planet of 61 Cygni. This is classic, magnificent sense-of-wonder sf, told in Simak’s unhurried, thoughtful prose.
The second theme is about the world Sutton came from: a far-future society of humans and their android servants, treated as inferiors although they’re the same in almost every respect as humans made in the traditional way.
I don’t believe in this future society, so for me the book’s second theme seems to agonize pointlessly over a non-issue. The Android Problem was a preoccupation of sf writers around the middle of the twentieth century, but I think it’s been out of fashion for decades by now, and it has the quaintness you sometimes find when writers in the past imagine the future and get it wrong.
However, thinking about it more deeply, the story of Asher Sutton is about whether or not you make a fundamental distinction between humans and other sentient beings; and androids are merely an example of other sentient beings. Thus, if you see the presence of androids in the story as a flaw, it’s really a superficial rather than a fundamental flaw.
Simak seems to have been a man who worried about the human condition, about how we can come to terms with life and live at peace with the world. However, his writing style is slow, calming, and reassuring, even when he wrote of the strange and the new, and even when he wrote of action and violence. Although he wrote about the future, he liked to balance the strange and the new with the old and familiar; and his instinct was to retreat into the countryside for comfort, into a rural world that changes less than the city.
The first theme is about Asher Sutton and what he found on the seventh planet of 61 Cygni. This is classic, magnificent sense-of-wonder sf, told in Simak’s unhurried, thoughtful prose.
The second theme is about the world Sutton came from: a far-future society of humans and their android servants, treated as inferiors although they’re the same in almost every respect as humans made in the traditional way.
I don’t believe in this future society, so for me the book’s second theme seems to agonize pointlessly over a non-issue. The Android Problem was a preoccupation of sf writers around the middle of the twentieth century, but I think it’s been out of fashion for decades by now, and it has the quaintness you sometimes find when writers in the past imagine the future and get it wrong.
However, thinking about it more deeply, the story of Asher Sutton is about whether or not you make a fundamental distinction between humans and other sentient beings; and androids are merely an example of other sentient beings. Thus, if you see the presence of androids in the story as a flaw, it’s really a superficial rather than a fundamental flaw.
Simak seems to have been a man who worried about the human condition, about how we can come to terms with life and live at peace with the world. However, his writing style is slow, calming, and reassuring, even when he wrote of the strange and the new, and even when he wrote of action and violence. Although he wrote about the future, he liked to balance the strange and the new with the old and familiar; and his instinct was to retreat into the countryside for comfort, into a rural world that changes less than the city.
January 17, 2015
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did, but it wasn't the sort of book I thought it would be.
The title and blurb imply that this is primarily a time travel adventure. It is not. True, there is some time travel and some adventure, but mainly this is a philosophical musing upon the nature of religious sects. The main character is perhaps most akin to the Buddha, in that he writes a book that describes a worldview and becomes quite influential. In fact, it is so important a text that a group of people create a new version of it, annotating it to twist it into saying things they find more palatable. The time travel aspect is that he hasn't written the book yet, and both factions want him to produce the version they prefer.
If that sounds interesting to you, and you can cope with the inevitable anachronisms of a book six decades old which discusses events six millennia hence, I recommend it. I enjoyed those aspects myself, but the experience was like ordering steak and getting barbecue. Both are satisfying meals on their own, but when you're served something you didn't order, it's a bit harder to swallow.
The title and blurb imply that this is primarily a time travel adventure. It is not. True, there is some time travel and some adventure, but mainly this is a philosophical musing upon the nature of religious sects. The main character is perhaps most akin to the Buddha, in that he writes a book that describes a worldview and becomes quite influential. In fact, it is so important a text that a group of people create a new version of it, annotating it to twist it into saying things they find more palatable. The time travel aspect is that he hasn't written the book yet, and both factions want him to produce the version they prefer.
If that sounds interesting to you, and you can cope with the inevitable anachronisms of a book six decades old which discusses events six millennia hence, I recommend it. I enjoyed those aspects myself, but the experience was like ordering steak and getting barbecue. Both are satisfying meals on their own, but when you're served something you didn't order, it's a bit harder to swallow.
August 14, 2017
Лятото е времето, когато се връщам към изданията на "Галактика" от 80-те. Брилянтна фантастика, брилянтен Саймък. Повече от 60 години преди "Интерстелар" сме знаели как да пътуваме. И сме познавали своята съвест.
November 18, 2020
3.5 stars
February 22, 2017
I read an Open Road Media re-publication of this 1951 novel in kindle format because there was a short-term deep price cut for it on Amazon, and I have always liked Clifford Simak’s work. It is sad now to give this as low a rating as I have. I highly recommend his best novels – Way Station and City.
The problem with the book is that there are two plots. The novel first has Ash Sutton who has returned from a twenty-year first-contact mission to 61 Cygni. He died there, and was brought back to life by some alien force, leaving an additional personality in his head that he has named Johnny. Ash has flown his smashed spaceship back, apparently open to the vacuum. There are some clues to what has happened, but then the plot shifts to a war in time, for equal rights between the Androids and the Humans who built them. Ash is caught up in this, as there is a book he is yet to write, approaching religious stature in the future, that has become pivotal in the struggle of the Android Equality League. Meanwhile the Revisionist Humans are trying to get him to rewrite it to make it applicable only to Humans. Now, a two-headed plot would be ok, except that the mysteries of the first are never resolved. It is as if Simak forgot that Ash was not simply a normal Human or Android, and just wrote about the second plot, for the second half of the book.
Ash’s book is entitled “This is Destiny”, and while it is revolutionary enough to produce a new perspective for humans and/or androids, the contents of it are never really exposed. Too bad, because I think Simak had some ideas that no one, born or made, is ever alone, and I would have liked to hear more about it. In the end though, it seems that the point is that it is the destiny of non-humans is to become equal to humans.
The past and future settings of this book are near Bridgeport, Wisconsin. Clifford Simak was born in that area, and his descriptions of the land and the river are awe inspiring to me. I live in the same state, have been there many times, and it is a beautiful area. But the descriptions and the second plot alone are not enough to save the book for me. It needs work.
The problem with the book is that there are two plots. The novel first has Ash Sutton who has returned from a twenty-year first-contact mission to 61 Cygni. He died there, and was brought back to life by some alien force, leaving an additional personality in his head that he has named Johnny. Ash has flown his smashed spaceship back, apparently open to the vacuum. There are some clues to what has happened, but then the plot shifts to a war in time, for equal rights between the Androids and the Humans who built them. Ash is caught up in this, as there is a book he is yet to write, approaching religious stature in the future, that has become pivotal in the struggle of the Android Equality League. Meanwhile the Revisionist Humans are trying to get him to rewrite it to make it applicable only to Humans. Now, a two-headed plot would be ok, except that the mysteries of the first are never resolved. It is as if Simak forgot that Ash was not simply a normal Human or Android, and just wrote about the second plot, for the second half of the book.
Ash’s book is entitled “This is Destiny”, and while it is revolutionary enough to produce a new perspective for humans and/or androids, the contents of it are never really exposed. Too bad, because I think Simak had some ideas that no one, born or made, is ever alone, and I would have liked to hear more about it. In the end though, it seems that the point is that it is the destiny of non-humans is to become equal to humans.
The past and future settings of this book are near Bridgeport, Wisconsin. Clifford Simak was born in that area, and his descriptions of the land and the river are awe inspiring to me. I live in the same state, have been there many times, and it is a beautiful area. But the descriptions and the second plot alone are not enough to save the book for me. It needs work.
January 9, 2021
Onestamente, so di aver già letto molti anni fa questo romanzo di Simak, perché a tratti avevo di chiari ricordi. Nel complesso però è stato come se non lo avessi mai letto prima.
Vi ho scoperto, o riscoperto, tematiche poi sfruttate da molti altri autori in altri media. Penso alla guerra fredda temporale in Star Trek: Enterprise, ad esempio. Allo sciovinismo estremo della specie umana verso qualunque altra, persino gli androidi, figli della biochimica e dell'umanità.
C'è anche tutto un discorso sul "destino manifesto" della specie umana e su cosa potrebbe essere davvero il destino.
Lettura scorrevole, ma non così veloce.
Vi ho scoperto, o riscoperto, tematiche poi sfruttate da molti altri autori in altri media. Penso alla guerra fredda temporale in Star Trek: Enterprise, ad esempio. Allo sciovinismo estremo della specie umana verso qualunque altra, persino gli androidi, figli della biochimica e dell'umanità.
C'è anche tutto un discorso sul "destino manifesto" della specie umana e su cosa potrebbe essere davvero il destino.
Lettura scorrevole, ma non così veloce.
February 9, 2016
One I read repeatedly as a young person. I loved it.
September 24, 2023
24/09/2023 (**)
Romanzo poco conosciuto al di fuori del ristretto circolo di appassionati di fantascienza. Ne avevo sentito parlare, e vistolo nella collana proposta per i 70 anni di Urania, me lo sono portato in libreria (anche perché è introvabile nel mercato editoriale italiano).
Premetto subito che non mi è piaciuto, la trama non mi ha preso e l'ho finito per dovere, anche se di fatto il racconto in sé, o la scrittura di Simak, non sono particolarmente ostici.
Ambientazione fantascientifica, ovviamente, millemila anni al di là del nostro presente, quando l'umanità si è espansa in molti mondi nella galassia. Succede che su uno di questi mondi, misterioso e impenetrabile, uno degli esploratori mandati dalla Terra - il protagonista, Ash Sutton - entra in contatto con strani e inconcepibili esseri alieni, che gli danno nuova vita, misteriori poteri e soprattutto la capacità di entrare nella mente di tutti gli esseri viventi: da qui, egli concepisce l'idea di un futuro dove tutte le specie viventi siano in pace e in comunione, tutte allo stesso livello e non vessate né inferiori a nessun'altra (e alla razza umana dei dominatori, in particolari).
L'uomo diviene una sorta di profeta, il profeta del destino, e intende mettere nero su bianca la sua rivelazione. Scriverà un libro, che diventerà nel futuro una sorta di nuova Bibbia. Sappiamo questo perché, dal futuro, arrivano gli agenti delle tre fazioni che stanno combattendo una specie di guerra fredda fra le pieghe dello spazio e, soprattutto, del tempo. Ogni fazione cerca di ottenere da Sutton il profeta il massimo per i propri interessi: gli "ortodossi" sono interessati che il pensiero di Sutton si sviluppi a pieno - fra di loro i più interessati sono gli androidi, che gli uomini hanno costruito a milioni per servirli e aiutarli nel dominare gli infiniti spazi della galassia; i "riformisti", che vorrebbero modificare le tesi di Sutton al fine di confermare che è nel destino della sola umanità il dominio su tutte le altre forme di vita; la terza, che non ha nome, e che semplicemente vuole uccidere Sutton.
Intorno a questo nucleo, si dipana una trama abbastanza convenzionale in fondo, ma poco lineare e complicata da continui slittamenti (narrativi, e anche temporali) che ne rendono poco piacevole la lettura. Il libro è ricco di paradossi temporali, piuttosto innovativi per gli anni in cui venne scritto (1951), ma in larga parte irrisolti, con clamorosi passaggi del tutto illogici (come diavolo fa un terrestre del 3500 e rotti a interloquire tranquillamente con un vecchio contadino del Wisconsin americano degli anni Settanta del Novecento, quando fino a due pagine prima non sapeva nemmeno dell'esistenza del Wisconsin - toponimo, dice il libro, scomparso prevedibilmente nel corso dei secoli?) e con scarsissima immaginazione sulla tecnologia del futuro (uomini che viaggiano ai confini della galassia, o addirittura nel tempo, che usano nel contempo ancora documenti cartacei, graffette metalliche, lettere et similia?).
I personaggi sono onestamente noiosi, poco definiti e largamente inutili. La trama, come detto, salta continuamente di scena, in maniera troppo repentina, fornendoci una tale quantità di argomenti e sottotrame da scriverci altri tre libri, e senza chiuderne nessuna. Utilizzando un vecchio detto ma assai valido, troppa carne al fuoco: il risultato sono una serie di portate, esagerate nel numero e mal cucinate, limitandosi alla fine al resoconto di una serie di fatti fra loro intrecciati. La prosa abbonda di figure retoriche e circonvoluzione verbali, alcune veramente eccessive.
A tratti lo stile richiama il Solaris di Lem, anche in certe complicazioni, ma in modo molto caotico, raffazzonato, molto meno dolente e drammatico, e solenne.
Non mi ha attratto, anche se ricco di buoni spunti e pagine interessanti.
Rivedibile.
Romanzo poco conosciuto al di fuori del ristretto circolo di appassionati di fantascienza. Ne avevo sentito parlare, e vistolo nella collana proposta per i 70 anni di Urania, me lo sono portato in libreria (anche perché è introvabile nel mercato editoriale italiano).
Premetto subito che non mi è piaciuto, la trama non mi ha preso e l'ho finito per dovere, anche se di fatto il racconto in sé, o la scrittura di Simak, non sono particolarmente ostici.
Ambientazione fantascientifica, ovviamente, millemila anni al di là del nostro presente, quando l'umanità si è espansa in molti mondi nella galassia. Succede che su uno di questi mondi, misterioso e impenetrabile, uno degli esploratori mandati dalla Terra - il protagonista, Ash Sutton - entra in contatto con strani e inconcepibili esseri alieni, che gli danno nuova vita, misteriori poteri e soprattutto la capacità di entrare nella mente di tutti gli esseri viventi: da qui, egli concepisce l'idea di un futuro dove tutte le specie viventi siano in pace e in comunione, tutte allo stesso livello e non vessate né inferiori a nessun'altra (e alla razza umana dei dominatori, in particolari).
L'uomo diviene una sorta di profeta, il profeta del destino, e intende mettere nero su bianca la sua rivelazione. Scriverà un libro, che diventerà nel futuro una sorta di nuova Bibbia. Sappiamo questo perché, dal futuro, arrivano gli agenti delle tre fazioni che stanno combattendo una specie di guerra fredda fra le pieghe dello spazio e, soprattutto, del tempo. Ogni fazione cerca di ottenere da Sutton il profeta il massimo per i propri interessi: gli "ortodossi" sono interessati che il pensiero di Sutton si sviluppi a pieno - fra di loro i più interessati sono gli androidi, che gli uomini hanno costruito a milioni per servirli e aiutarli nel dominare gli infiniti spazi della galassia; i "riformisti", che vorrebbero modificare le tesi di Sutton al fine di confermare che è nel destino della sola umanità il dominio su tutte le altre forme di vita; la terza, che non ha nome, e che semplicemente vuole uccidere Sutton.
Intorno a questo nucleo, si dipana una trama abbastanza convenzionale in fondo, ma poco lineare e complicata da continui slittamenti (narrativi, e anche temporali) che ne rendono poco piacevole la lettura. Il libro è ricco di paradossi temporali, piuttosto innovativi per gli anni in cui venne scritto (1951), ma in larga parte irrisolti, con clamorosi passaggi del tutto illogici (come diavolo fa un terrestre del 3500 e rotti a interloquire tranquillamente con un vecchio contadino del Wisconsin americano degli anni Settanta del Novecento, quando fino a due pagine prima non sapeva nemmeno dell'esistenza del Wisconsin - toponimo, dice il libro, scomparso prevedibilmente nel corso dei secoli?) e con scarsissima immaginazione sulla tecnologia del futuro (uomini che viaggiano ai confini della galassia, o addirittura nel tempo, che usano nel contempo ancora documenti cartacei, graffette metalliche, lettere et similia?).
I personaggi sono onestamente noiosi, poco definiti e largamente inutili. La trama, come detto, salta continuamente di scena, in maniera troppo repentina, fornendoci una tale quantità di argomenti e sottotrame da scriverci altri tre libri, e senza chiuderne nessuna. Utilizzando un vecchio detto ma assai valido, troppa carne al fuoco: il risultato sono una serie di portate, esagerate nel numero e mal cucinate, limitandosi alla fine al resoconto di una serie di fatti fra loro intrecciati. La prosa abbonda di figure retoriche e circonvoluzione verbali, alcune veramente eccessive.
A tratti lo stile richiama il Solaris di Lem, anche in certe complicazioni, ma in modo molto caotico, raffazzonato, molto meno dolente e drammatico, e solenne.
Non mi ha attratto, anche se ricco di buoni spunti e pagine interessanti.
Rivedibile.
July 4, 2025
A less pastoral, more complex story from simak.
There’s definitely shades of do androids dream of electric sheep here, used as a somewhat heavy handed allegory for racial equality, heady stuff for the early 50’s but a common theme in Simak’s work.
Biological androids, created by humans as a slave race to serve us as workers or soldiers, dream of forging their own destiny in a galaxy dominated by a thinly spread human race.
Asher Sutton, sent to a distant star system, returns after twenty years, no longer completely human and the proud owner of a bootstrap paradox In the form of a book he’s written, but not yet.
The book is so inflammatory that a war is raging across time between those who follow the pure tenants of the book and the revisionist, who have their own interpretation. Still, the book is not written.
Not his absolute best, which is still a toss up between City and way station but his stuff is all great.
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