Childhood’s End by Arthur C Clarke – considered ‘a classic of alien literature’, some say the best book of its author, notwithstanding his much more popular 2001 A Space Odyssey https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/2001-space-odyssey-by-arthur-c-clarke.html - 10 out of 10

 

Childhood’s End by Arthur C Clarke – considered ‘a classic of alien literature’, some say the best book of its author, notwithstanding his much more popular 2001 A Space Odyssey https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/2001-space-odyssey-by-arthur-c-clarke.html

 

10 out of 10

 

The spectacular Childhood’s End has been included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, and it has jumped on my very own best 100, or let us say 150 best novels list, not because it is not that good, but with time, I have accumulated many masterpieces that I find exhilarating, and some that are obscure, impregnable

 

The impression was so strong and overwhelming that I am now changing plans, instead of avoiding Science Fiction, which was (used to say is) not my favorite genre, I will try it, albeit with the best recommended works, of which Non Stop https://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/non-stop-by-brian-aldiss-10-out-of-10.html was perfect example

In Childhood’s End, the aliens have arrived, they are called the Overlords, they are much more intelligent than us, human beings - let us put the spoiler alert here, for I do not know what I may reveal – although the Overmind is somewhere even higher on that spectrum, and they try to protect our race, as much as they can

 

At one stage, they mention that people are not ‘allowed’ out in space, because they will not be able to cope, they say ‘imagine the cave man coming to modernity, and even engineers dealing with the steam engine, a few centuries ago, would be overwhelmed by computers’ thus humans facing the universe is not a good idea

One intrepid sapiens does manage to enter a contraption and hide in a space ship that will travel for forty light years, only because of Einstein and the relativity theory (actually, it is not because of Albert) Jan Rodricks will spend a couple of months on the way there, and then the same as he comes back, which is eighty years later in human time

 

He will be the last man standing, reminding one of Planet of The Apes, with that brilliant scene where the hero finds the Statue of Liberty on the beach, explaining thus that humanity has been extinguished, and instead, we have the apes that control the earth -kudos – https://realini.blogspot.com/2018/01/planet-of-apes-based-on-novel-by-pierre.html now back to this splendid creation, it does prove the writer is god

The glorious Penelope Lively explains in According to Mark that authors are gods, they create worlds, peopled by their personages, in which they decide everything, and what a scenario we have here, everything (almost) is credible, imaginative, captivating, thought provoking and a good analysis of things that actually happen

 

People get to see more television and that has disastrous effects – they have actually looked at that in Bhutan, the last country to bring in television and advertising with it, and their happiness levels dropped, they look very closely at happiness in Bhutan – Clarke writes that abundance will bring benefits, but some drawbacks as well

Humans can eat what they like, robots do the menial, and more than those jobs, we have a community, called New Athens, that proposes innovations, when the Overlord speaks about humanity and challenges, he compares this also to colonizing India, the British did it by some sort of accident, then they were unhappy, until they left it

 

They do not show their ‘faces’ – if they have them, there is plenty of speculation on that – and promise that it will happen in fifty years, I do not get the last part though, when we see what appears to be a mutation, first one child, then the rest ‘stop being human’, they become a different species, and they are isolated

The spoiler alert has been there for quite some time – our race will disappear, if there is something in this outstanding work, and these children of the future become one, this has somehow a shade of similarity with the Singularity theory, only they are very different, they change the moon, and then everything else around here

 

Otherwise, it is not just gloomy, it is cataclysmic, we all die in the end, which may seem a bit pessimistic -or too much – on the other hand, if we look at other things that take place, and Clarke could not have anticipated fifty or more years ago -actually, I just checked and Childhood’s End was written in 1953 – they could bring in the Apocalypse

For yours truly, the ultimate sign of the decay we face is the cult of Orange Jesus – America used to be the ideal, the most advanced democracy in the world – still the world leader, and one of the most democratic – only with this phenomenon of the Biggest fraudster, they have two chances in three to elect an ape as president

 

If this does not confirm Arthur C Clarke in his dramatic predictions, I don’t what, we could add climate change, the way we destroy the planet and then we come to same conclusions, however different the path, in Childhood’s End, children seem to bring on Armageddon, however hazy this aspect it to the under signed

Let me bring in a bit of criticism to what is a stupendous book, a scientist was arguing over the presence of aliens, and said that they are very unlikely to come around to greet us – although the overlords keep the distance mostly – because of the fear that they would bring in viruses that can devastate their populations

We have in history many documented cases when travelers, conquistadores have sailed a long way and then they wiped out the natives of America, Tasmania and other places, through violence, but mostly because of the diseases they brought along, so why would clever (they would have reached this far, right?) beings take that immense risk?

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”