It was December of 1931 when this issue of Astounding hit the newsstands. My father was sixteen and I wasn't even a gleam in his eye yet. The Great Depression had been going on for close to two years. For someone to fork out twenty cents, this magazine had better be good. Science fiction was new and not even on the title yet. They were simply Astounding Stories.
I read this one from cover to cover and what struck me the most was the optimism. That's right, optimism in the middle of the Great Depression. Writers of the day were hopeful. They were convinced technology and mankind's persistence could and would solve any problem.
This was of course long before the cable news networks took to scaring the bejesus out of us on a daily, then hourly basis. Be afraid, be very afraid. Global warming, global politics, global terrorism: it all amounts to ratings. They equate fear with viewers and sadly, they're right. When big events happen, we watch. When we're bored and channel surfing, we watch. If there's a car chase going on we stay, especially if it involves a white SUV.
Back then heroes were honest and upright. They solved problems and did the right thing, every time. They were true to their family, their country and their mission. Alien invasions were simple: we had the planet, they wanted it. They must be and will be stopped. The professor will find the solution in the nick of time, his daughter will be saved by the dashing young hero and all will be well in the universe. Maybe I'm just a sucker for happy endings but I love this stuff.
This was of course long before the cable news networks took to scaring the bejesus out of us on a daily, then hourly basis. Be afraid, be very afraid. Global warming, global politics, global terrorism: it all amounts to ratings. They equate fear with viewers and sadly, they're right. When big events happen, we watch. When we're bored and channel surfing, we watch. If there's a car chase going on we stay, especially if it involves a white SUV.
Back then heroes were honest and upright. They solved problems and did the right thing, every time. They were true to their family, their country and their mission. Alien invasions were simple: we had the planet, they wanted it. They must be and will be stopped. The professor will find the solution in the nick of time, his daughter will be saved by the dashing young hero and all will be well in the universe. Maybe I'm just a sucker for happy endings but I love this stuff.
Many years ago a professor I was taking a course from asked me which I thought provided a better escape from reality; drugs or literature? I'm sure he picked me because he had caught a wiff of the herb on me more than once. I think it surprised him however when I answered "literature" without hesitation.
You see, drugs don't actually allow you to escape reality--all they do is distort it. Harlie, a self-aware computer in When Harlie Was One by David Gerrold scrambled his inputs in an attempt to simulate getting high, something he had observed his creator doing. It did not allow him to escape reality any more than it does for humans. A good book on the other hand can present you with an entirely new reality, something even Harlie would have agreed with. I only wish I could devour entire libraries the way he could.
No comments:
Post a Comment