Thoughts from
San Diego on Law, Politics, and Culture

 
A rocket blast from the past
By Tom Smith

I was in the university library looking for stuff on Agatha Christie for Patrick's school report, when I came across some of the books of Arthur C. Clarke. It brought back powerful memories.

Clarke and Isaac Asimov changed my life. Unlike my kids, I did not discover reading until I was in eighth grade. Until then, my passion in life was football. (All the other kids had not yet gotten bigger than I.) I also loved skiing, and war movies. That was pretty much it. Then I caught pneumonia, and had to spend three weeks, maybe more, at home. I asked my dad to get some books for me at the library, and suggested science fiction, thinking vaguely it might be less boring than other books. He brought home a stack of Clarke and Asimov books. There was 2001, Childhood's End, collections of short stories. I was entranced. My sickbed was transported to the stars, where philosophical paradoxes played themselves out on the largest of scales. From there I decided I had to find out about astronomy, philosophy, theology and every other topic these writers touched on, however superficially. I am quite sure that had I not fallen ill, and spent weeks with nothing to do but read, and come across these very thought provoking, if not literary, books, my life would have been a lot less interesting. Maybe it is just a symptom of middle age, but I think nothing can recapture that excitement, of your mind opening up for the first time. It was even better than listening to the White Album for the first time.

posted by thomas at 2/28/2006 08:39:00 PM