Richard Bartrop (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} rjbartrop) wrote,@ 2008-03-19 10:59:00 |
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Arthur C. Clarke R.I.P.1917 - 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7304
I spent a good portion of my formative years devouring Clarke's work. Together with authours like Heinlein and Asimov, shaped my ideas of what science fiction is about. His essays on the future continue to inspire. He lived a long, full, life, but he was also one of the last of the "Grand Masters" of science fiction, and hus passing marks the end of an era. His brand of science fiction is regarded as passe in some circles, which I think is unfortunate.
Back the days before Star Wars took over the collective imagination, there was this underlying idea that there was something more to science fiction than just a pleasant escape from the mundane world. It was more than just another kind of fairy tale, substitute aliens for dragons, and blasters for swords. There was an underlying assumption that somehow, this stuff was important. The literature was just a way to get get people thinking about the kind of world they want to live in.
Science Fiction is certainly a lot more popular now, and has pretty much entered the cultural mainstream, but in achieving that popularity, I can't help feeling that something's been lost in what used to be called "the literature of ideas". We've emphasized the literature part, which is not a bad thing, and somewhere along the way, the ideas part has been overlooked.
THe year 2000 has come and gone, and we are now living in that territory that used to be thought of s "the future". The world continues to change, and we still need to think about the kind of world we want to line in. Clarke is gone, but we need people like him as much as ever.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7304
I spent a good portion of my formative years devouring Clarke's work. Together with authours like Heinlein and Asimov, shaped my ideas of what science fiction is about. His essays on the future continue to inspire. He lived a long, full, life, but he was also one of the last of the "Grand Masters" of science fiction, and hus passing marks the end of an era. His brand of science fiction is regarded as passe in some circles, which I think is unfortunate.
Back the days before Star Wars took over the collective imagination, there was this underlying idea that there was something more to science fiction than just a pleasant escape from the mundane world. It was more than just another kind of fairy tale, substitute aliens for dragons, and blasters for swords. There was an underlying assumption that somehow, this stuff was important. The literature was just a way to get get people thinking about the kind of world they want to live in.
Science Fiction is certainly a lot more popular now, and has pretty much entered the cultural mainstream, but in achieving that popularity, I can't help feeling that something's been lost in what used to be called "the literature of ideas". We've emphasized the literature part, which is not a bad thing, and somewhere along the way, the ideas part has been overlooked.
THe year 2000 has come and gone, and we are now living in that territory that used to be thought of s "the future". The world continues to change, and we still need to think about the kind of world we want to line in. Clarke is gone, but we need people like him as much as ever.
