Search - Childhood's End

Upon his death - I sought out the most recommended books of Mr. Clarke. This one was repeatedly listed as a favorite by some authors.

I did not like it, however. In the forward, Clarke practically says he made a mistake in writing it - because for a brief time a stage magician named Uri Gellar had convinced him that physic phenomenon was possible. Since that time, Clarke learned how Gellar did his tricks, and Gellar stopped calling himself a psychic. The book was embraced by C.S. Lewis because it makes a case for science being of limited scope, and the use of science being dangerous to our spiritual evolution. I may have enjoyed the book more if such thinking wasn't responsible for so many problems in the US - resulting in our culture's general disdain for science and preference for the supernatural.

In short - Clarke, as a science-based writer, was right to apologize. Its an irresponsible premise, and runs counter to understanding the human condition. I'm a bit bewildered at its being recommended by some respectable writers - I can only assume its because they were also fascinated with, and taken in by, spoon benders and other such characters, in their youth.

Also - there is plenty of his customary 'star child' theme - the man was apparently driven to distraction by the idea of humanity turning into magical star creatures. This makes for a good story once or twice - then becomes overly familiar to the reader.

two stars from me (of 5)

The inside back page says Arthur C. Clarke is considered the greatest science fiction writer of all time, so I had high hopes for Childhood's End and was disappointed. I just don't like space fantasy enough to get past all this clumsy writing. There were so many cheesy lines like "you have been reading too much science fiction", "it was all like a Hollywood thriller", and "getting in touch with aliens wasn't as easy as in fiction" ugh. The breathless cartoonyness ...more The inside back page says Arthur C. Clarke is considered the greatest science fiction writer of all time, so I had high hopes for Childhood's End and was disappointed. I just don't like space fantasy enough to get past all this clumsy writing. There were so many cheesy lines like "you have been reading too much science fiction", "it was all like a Hollywood thriller", and "getting in touch with aliens wasn't as easy as in fiction" ugh. The breathless cartoonyness reminded me of how bad the movie Avatar's dialog was.

Arthur C. Clarke's writing led to the development of satellite technology, so I expected more dazzlingly prescient hi-tech like William Gibson does, but all I got was faxes, film and conveyor belts, meh. I gave it an extra star because I dislike the genre and he did have some good pages (164-167) when the action peaks and babies go out of control and freakish planets get described vividly. But then it wraps up with a lot more "he never learned the story of why blah blah blah" which read to me like the author just couldn't be bothered.

Science Fiction classic. Well-worth reading or re-reading.