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| Biography of Clifford Simak. Biography Strange doesn't mean scary |
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Excerpt characterizing Simak, Clifford Donald
“These bad people offended the king and queen and wanted to capture them. So they tried to escape. Axel arranged everything for them... But when he was ordered to leave them, the carriage drove slower because the king was tired. He even got out of the carriage to “get some air”... and that’s where they recognized him. Well, they grabbed it, of course...Pogrom at Versailles Arrest of the royal family
Fear of what is happening... Seeing off Marie Antoinette to the Temple
Stella sighed... and again threw us into another “new episode” of this, not so happy, but still beautiful story...
This time everything looked ominous and even frightening.
We found ourselves in some dark, unpleasant room, as if it was a real evil prison. In a tiny, dirty, damp and fetid room, on a wooden bed with a straw mattress, sat exhausted by suffering, dressed in black, a thin, gray-haired woman, in whom it was completely impossible to recognize that fabulously beautiful, always smiling miracle queen whom young Axel most loved. loved in the world...
Marie Antoinette at the Temple
He was in the same room, completely shocked by what he saw and, not noticing anything around, stood on bended knee, pressing his lips to her still beautiful, white hand, unable to utter a word... He came to her completely desperate, having tried everything in the world and lost last hope to save her... and yet, again he offered his almost impossible help... He was obsessed with a single desire: to save her, no matter what... He simply could not let her die... Because without it would have ended his already unnecessary life...
They looked at each other in silence, trying to hide the disobedient tears that flowed in narrow paths down their cheeks... Unable to take their eyes off each other, because they knew that if he failed to help her, this glance could be their last.. .
The bald jailer looked at the grief-stricken guest and, not intending to turn away, watched with interest the sad scene of someone else's sadness unfolding in front of him...
The vision disappeared and another one appeared, no better than the previous one - a terrible, screaming, armed with pikes, knives and guns, a brutal crowd mercilessly destroyed the magnificent palace...
Versailles...
Then Axel appeared again. Only this time he was standing at the window in some very beautiful, richly furnished room. And next to him stood the same “friend of his childhood” Margarita, whom we saw with him at the very beginning. Only this time all her arrogant coldness had evaporated somewhere, and her beautiful face literally breathed with sympathy and pain. Axel was deathly pale and, pressing his forehead against the window glass, watched in horror something happening on the street... He heard the crowd rustling outside the window, and in a terrifying trance he loudly repeated the same words:
- My soul, I never saved you... Forgive me, my poor... Help her, give her the strength to bear this, Lord!..
– Axel, please!.. You have to pull yourself together for her sake. Well, please be reasonable! – his old friend persuaded him with sympathy.
- Prudence? What kind of prudence are you talking about, Margarita, when the whole world has gone crazy?!.. - Axel shouted. - What is it for? For what?.. What did she do to them?!.
Margarita unfolded a small piece of paper and, apparently not knowing how to calm him down, said:
- Calm down, dear Axel, listen better:
- “I love you, my friend... Don’t worry about me. The only thing I miss is your letters. Perhaps we are not destined to meet again... Farewell, the most beloved and most loving of people...”
This was the queen’s last letter, which Axel had read thousands of times, but for some reason it sounded even more painful from someone else’s lips...
- What is this? What's going on there? – I couldn’t stand it.
- This beautiful queen is dying... She is now being executed. – Stella answered sadly.
- Why don’t we see? – I asked again.
“Oh, you don’t want to look at this, trust me.” – The little girl shook her head. - It’s such a pity, she’s so unhappy... How unfair it is.
“I would still like to see...” I asked.
“Well, look...” Stella nodded sadly.
In a huge square, chock-full of “excited” people, a scaffold rose ominously in the middle... A deathly pale, very thin and exhausted woman dressed in white proudly climbed up the small, crooked steps. Her short-cropped blond hair was almost completely hidden by a modest white cap, and her tired eyes, reddened from tears or lack of sleep, reflected deep, hopeless sadness...
Swaying slightly, since it was difficult for her to keep her balance because of her hands tied tightly behind her back, the woman somehow climbed onto the platform, still trying with all her might to stay straight and proud. She stood and looked into the crowd, without lowering her eyes and not showing how truly terrified she was... And there was no one around whose friendly gaze could warm the last minutes of her life... No one who warmth could have helped her withstand this terrifying moment when her life was about to leave her in such a cruel way...
The previously raging, excited crowd suddenly suddenly fell silent, as if it had run into an insurmountable obstacle... The women standing in the front rows cried silently. The thin figure on the scaffold approached the block and, stumbling slightly, fell painfully to her knees. For a few short seconds, she raised her exhausted, but already pacified by the proximity of death, face to the sky... took a deep breath... and, proudly looking at the executioner, laid her tired head on the block. The crying became louder, the women covered the children's eyes. The executioner approached the guillotine....
- God! No!!! – Axel screamed heartbreakingly.
At that same moment, in the gray sky, the sun suddenly appeared from behind the clouds, as if illuminating last way unfortunate victim... It gently touched her pale, terribly emaciated cheek, as if affectionately saying the last earthly “I’m sorry.” There was a bright flash on the scaffold - a heavy knife fell, scattering bright scarlet splashes... The crowd gasped. The blond head fell into the basket, it was all over... The beautiful queen went to a place where there was no more pain, no more bullying... There was only peace...
There was deadly silence all around. There was nothing else to see...
This is how the gentle and kind queen died, until the very last minute she managed to stand with her head held high, which was then so simply and mercilessly demolished by the heavy knife of the bloody guillotine...
Pale, frozen, like a dead man, Axel looked with unseeing eyes out the window and it seemed that life was flowing out of him drop by drop, painfully slowly... Carrying his soul far, far away, so that there, in the light and silence, he could forever merge with the one whom he loved so deeply and selflessly...
“My poor... My soul... How did I not die with you?.. Everything is over for me now...” Axel whispered with dead lips, still standing at the window.
But everything will be “over” for him much later, after some twenty long years, and this end will, again, be no less terrible than that of his unforgettable queen...
– Do you want to watch further? – Stella asked quietly.
I just nodded, unable to say a word.
We saw another, raging, brutal crowd of people, and in front of it stood the same Axel, only this time the action took place many years later. He was still just as handsome, only almost completely gray-haired, in some magnificent, very important military uniform, he still looked just as fit and slender.
And now, the same brilliant one, the smartest person stood in front of some half-drunk, brutal people and, hopelessly trying to shout them down, tried to explain something to them... But none of those gathered, unfortunately, wanted to listen to him... Stones flew at poor Axel, and the crowd, disgusting Inciting her anger with swearing, she began to press. He tried to fight them off, but they threw him to the ground, began to brutally trample him, tear off his clothes... And some big guy suddenly jumped on his chest, breaking his ribs, and without hesitation, easily killed him with a blow to his temple. Axel's naked, mutilated body was dumped on the side of the road, and there was no one who at that moment would want to feel sorry for him, already dead... There was only a rather laughing, drunk, excited crowd around... who just needed to throw it out on someone - your accumulated animal anger...
Axel's pure, suffering soul, finally freed, flew away to unite with the one who was his bright and only love, and waited for him for so many years...
This is how, again, very cruelly, an almost stranger to Stella and I, but who became so close, a man named Axel, ended his life, and... the same little boy who, having lived only a short five years, managed to accomplish an amazing and unique feat in his life, of which any adult living on earth could be honestly proud...
“What horror!..” I whispered in shock. - Why is he doing this?
“I don’t know...” Stella whispered quietly. “For some reason people were very angry back then, even angrier than animals... I looked a lot to understand, but I didn’t understand...” the little girl shook her head. “They didn’t listen to reason, they just killed.” And for some reason everything beautiful was destroyed too...
– What about Axel’s children or wife? – Having come to my senses after the shock, I asked.
“He never had a wife - he always loved only his queen,” said little Stella with tears in her eyes.
And then, suddenly, a flash seemed to flash in my head - I realized who Stella and I had just seen and for whom we were so sincerely worried!... It was the French queen, Marie Antoinette, about whose tragic life we had very recently (and very briefly!) took place in a history lesson, and the execution of which our history teacher strongly approved, considering such a terrible end to be very “correct and instructive”... apparently because he mainly taught “Communism” in history. .
Despite the sadness of what happened, my soul rejoiced! I simply could not believe the unexpected happiness that had fallen upon me!.. After all, I had been waiting for this for so long!.. This was the first time when I finally saw something real that could be easily verified, and from such a surprise I almost squealed from the puppyish delight that gripped me!.. Of course, I was so happy not because I didn’t believe in what was constantly happening to me. On the contrary, I always knew that everything that happened to me was real. But apparently to me, like everyone else to an ordinary person, and especially as a child, sometimes I still needed some kind of, at least the simplest confirmation that I was not yet going crazy, and that now I could prove to myself that everything that was happening to me was not just my sick fantasy or invention, but real fact described or seen by other people. That’s why such a discovery was a real holiday for me!..
I already knew in advance that as soon as I returned home, I would immediately rush to city library, to collect everything I can find about the unfortunate Marie Antoinette and I will not rest until I find at least something, at least some fact that coincides with our visions... I found, unfortunately, only two tiny books, in which not so many facts were described, but this was quite enough, because they completely confirmed the accuracy of what I saw from Stella.
Here's what I managed to find then:
the queen's favorite man was a Swedish count named Axel Fersen, who selflessly loved her all his life and never married after her death;
their farewell before the count's departure to Italy took place in the garden of the Little Trianon - Marie Antoinette's favorite place - the description of which exactly coincided with what we saw;
a ball in honor of the arrival of the Swedish King Gustav, held on June 21, at which all the guests for some reason were dressed in white;
an escape attempt in a green carriage, organized by Axel (all other six escape attempts were also organized by Axel, but none of them, for one reason or another, failed. True, two of them failed at the request of Marie Antoinette herself, since the queen did not wanted to run away alone, leaving her children);
the beheading of the queen took place in complete silence, instead of the expected “happy riot” of the crowd;
a few seconds before the executioner struck, the sun suddenly came out...
The queen's last letter to Count Fersen is almost exactly reproduced in the book "Memoirs of Count Fersen", and it almost exactly repeated what we heard, with the exception of only a few words.
Already these small details were enough for me to rush into battle with tenfold force!.. But that was only later... And then, in order not to seem funny or heartless, I tried my best to pull myself together and hide my delight at my wonderful insight." And in order to dispel Stellino’s sad mood, she asked:
– Do you really like the queen?
- Oh yeah! She is kind and so beautiful... And our poor “boy”, he suffered so much here too...
I felt very sorry for this sensitive, sweet little girl, who, even in her death, was so worried about these completely strangers and almost strangers to her, just as many people do not worry about their closest relatives...
– Probably in suffering there is some amount of wisdom, without which we would not understand how precious our life is? – I said uncertainly.
- Here! Grandma says that too! – the girl was delighted. – But if people only want good, then why should they suffer?
– Maybe because without pain and trials, even the best people would not truly understand the same goodness? – I joked.
But for some reason Stella did not take this at all as a joke, but said very seriously:
– Yes, I think you’re right... Do you want to see what happened to Harold’s son next? – she said more cheerfully.
- Oh no, perhaps not anymore! – I begged.
Stella laughed joyfully.
- Don't be afraid, this time there will be no trouble, because he is still alive!
- How - alive? – I was surprised.
Immediately a new vision appeared again and, continuing to surprise me unspeakably, this turned out to be our century (!), and even our time... A gray-haired, very pleasant man was sitting at the desk and was thinking intently about something. The whole room was literally filled with books; they were everywhere - on the table, on the floor, on the shelves, and even on the windowsill. A huge fluffy cat was sitting on a small sofa and, not paying any attention to its owner, was intently washing itself with its large, very soft paw. The whole atmosphere created the impression of “learnedness” and comfort.
“What, is he living again?..” I didn’t understand.
Stella nodded.
- And this is right now? – I didn’t let up.
The girl again confirmed with a nod of her cute red head.
– It must be very strange for Harold to see his son so different?.. How did you find him again?
- Oh, exactly the same! I just “felt” his “key” the way my grandmother taught me. – Stella said thoughtfully. – After Axel died, I looked for his essence on all the “floors” and could not find it. Then I looked among the living - and he was there again.
– And do you know who he is now, in this life?
– Not yet... But I’ll definitely find out. I tried many times to “reach out” to him, but for some reason he doesn’t hear me... He is always alone and almost all the time with his books. Only with him old woman, his servant and this cat.
- Well, what about Harold’s wife? “Did you find her too?” I asked.
- Oh, of course! You know your wife - this is my grandmother!.. - Stella smiled slyly.
I froze in real shock. For some reason this incredible fact I just didn’t want to get my head around it...
“Grandma?..” was all I could say.
Stella nodded, very pleased with the effect produced.
- How so? Is that why she helped you find them? She knew?!.. – thousands of questions were simultaneously spinning madly in my excited brain, and it seemed to me that I would never have time to ask everything that interested me. I wanted to know EVERYTHING! And at the same time, I understood perfectly well that no one was going to tell me “everything”...
“I probably chose him because I felt something.” – Stella said thoughtfully. - Or maybe grandma brought it up? But she will never admit it,” the girl waved her hand.
- AND HE?.. Does he know too? – that’s all I could ask.
- Surely! – Stella laughed. - Why does this surprise you so much?
“She’s just old... It must be hard for him,” I said, not knowing how to more accurately explain my feelings and thoughts.
- Oh no! – Stella laughed again. - He was glad! Very, very happy. Grandma gave him a chance! No one could have helped him with this - but she could! And he saw her again... Oh, it was so great!
And only then did I finally understand what she was talking about... Apparently, Stella’s grandmother gave her former “knight” the chance that he had so hopelessly dreamed of throughout his long life remaining after physical death. After all, he had been looking for them so long and persistently, so madly wanted to find them, so that just once he could say: how terribly he regrets that he once left... that he could not protect... that he could not show how much and he loved them selflessly... He needed to death that they would try to understand him and be able to somehow forgive him, otherwise he had no reason to live in any of the worlds...
Clifford Donald Simak(Clifford Donald Simak, correct pronunciation of the surname: Simak; August 3, 1904, Millville, Wisconsin, USA - April 25, 1988, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) - American writer in the genre science fiction and fantasy, is considered one of the founders of modern American science fiction. Due to a common misconception, the books of this author, translated into Russian, were invariably published under the name Simak - it is under this “pseudonym” that he is known to Russian-speaking readers. However, until a certain time, the misconception of Soviet translators was shared even by Americans such as Isaac Asimov, who wrote in the preface to one of Simak’s stories:
I never had a chance to pronounce or hear his last name spoken out loud. (Even when we managed to meet, I called him Cliff.) As a result, for some reason, I assumed that the “i” in his last name was long, and always assumed that he was SIMAC. In reality, “i” is short, and he is SIMAC. This may seem like a small thing, but I've always been annoyed when someone misrepresents my last name, and I should be equally careful with others'.
Original text (English) I never had occasion to use or hear his last name expressed in sound. (Even when we did meet I called him Cliff.) The result is that, for some reason, I assumed the “i” in his last name was long and thought of him always as SIGH-mak. Actually, the “i” is short and it is SIM-ak. It may seem a small thing but I am always irritated when anyone mispronounces my name and I should be equally careful of others" names.
Isaac Asimov
The asteroid (228883) Cliffsimak is named after the writer.
Biography
Clifford Donald Simak was born on August 3, 1904, in Millville, Wisconsin, to John Lewis Simak and Margaret Simak (née Wiseman). The paternal grandfather was a native of Bohemia with the surname Shimak (imk).
Married Agnes Kachenberg on April 13, 1929; They had two children - Richard Scott and Shelley Ellen.
He studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He worked for various newspapers until he signed a contract with the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, where he worked from 1939 until his retirement in 1976. Here, from the beginning of 1949, he served as news editor of the Minneapolis Star newspaper; and since the beginning of 1961, coordinator of the popular science series of the Minneapolis Tribune.
The first story to be sent to magazines in early 1931 was “The Cubes of Ganymede.” It was accepted for publication in Amazing Stories magazine, but it did not materialize; and at the author’s request in 1935, the tattered manuscript of the story was returned to him with the wording “outdated.” Simak considered this absurd, but noted the weakness typical of his early works. The Cubes of Ganymede was never published.
The writer made his debut in the same 1931, in the December issue of Wonder Stories magazine, with the story “The World of the Red Sun.”
He left his writing career in 1933. The only published science fiction work in the four years following its debut was the story "The Creator" (1935), which was a story with religious overtones, which was rare for the science fiction genre of that time. This was one of the first rational options in world science fiction to explain the creation of the Universe by the demiurge.
In his early period of creativity, Simak also wrote war stories and westerns.
In the late 1930s he resumed his collaboration with John Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction. Simak soon became one of the leading authors of the "Golden Age of Science Fiction" (1938-1950). His first works during this time (such as Space Engineers (1939)) were written in the tradition of hard science fiction, but then Simak created his own style, which is often called "soft" and "pastoral". He sang the theme of peaceful contact with “brothers in mind” and the spiritual community of various civilizations in the Universe. Typical Simak aliens were more likely to be imagined sitting around drinking beer somewhere in rural Wisconsin than conquering Earth. His work was imbued with the idea of the “Galactic School”, where humanity enters as a “first grader”; and the author was generally optimistic about the future prospects for the development of human civilization. In many works, the author addressed the themes of a parallel world (for example, in the novels “The City”, “The Ring Around the Sun”, “Fiend of the Mind”), time travel (in the novels “What Could Be Simpler than Time”, “Mastodonia”, “Highway” eternity"), extension of human life and immortality (the novel “Why Call Them Back from Heaven?”, the stories “Lost Eternity”, “Second Childhood”), intelligent plants (the novel “All Flesh is Grass”, the stories “Scarecrows”, “ Green Thumb Boy”, “When It’s Lonely in the House”).
Clifford Donald Simak (Clifford Donald Simak, correct pronunciation of the surname: Simak; 1, Millville, Wisconsin, USA - 1, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, considered one of the founders of modern American science fiction. Due to a common misconception, the books of this author, translated into Russian, were invariably published under the name Simak- it is under this “pseudonym” that he is known to Russian-speaking readers. However, until a certain time, the misconception of Soviet translators was shared even by Americans such as Isaac Asimov, who wrote in the preface to one of Simak’s stories:
I never had a chance to pronounce or hear his last name spoken out loud. (Even when we managed to meet, I called him Cliff.) As a result, for some reason, I assumed that the “i” in his last name was long, and always assumed that he was SIMAC. In reality, “i” is short, and he is SIMAC. This may seem like a small thing, but I've always been annoyed when someone misrepresents my last name, and I should be equally careful with others'.
The asteroid (228883) Cliffsimak is named after the writer.
Biography
Clifford Donald Simak was born 1 in Millville, Wisconsin, to John Lewis Simak and Margaret Simak (née Wiseman). Wiseman)). The paternal grandfather was a native of Bohemia with the surname Shimak ( Simák).reliability
2 married Agnes Kachenberg; They had two children - Richard Scott and Shelley Ellen.
He studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He worked for various newspapers until he signed a contract with " Minneapolis Star and Tribune", where he worked from 1939 until his retirement in 1976. Here he acted as editor of the news department " Minneapolis Star"since the beginning of 1949 and coordinator of the popular science series" Minneapolis Tribune"since the beginning of 1961.
He made his debut in 1931 in the December issue of Wonder Stories magazine with the story “The World of the Red Sun.” He left his writing career in 1933. The only published science fiction work over the next four years was the story "The Creator" (1935), which was a story with religious overtones, which was rare for the science fiction genre of that time. During the early period, Simak also wrote war stories and westerns.
In the late 1930s, he renewed his collaboration with John Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction, and Simak became one of the leading authors of the Golden Age of Science Fiction (1938-1950). His first works at this time (such as Space Engineers (1939)) were written in the tradition of hard science fiction, but Simak soon created his own style, which was often called soft and pastoral. He sang the theme of peaceful contact with “brothers in mind” and the spiritual community of various civilizations in the Universe. Typical Simak aliens were more likely to be imagined sitting around drinking beer somewhere in rural Wisconsin than conquering Earth. His work was imbued with the idea of the “Galactic School,” where humanity enters as a “first-grader,” and the author was generally optimistic about the future prospects for the development of human civilization. In many works, the author addressed the themes of a parallel world (for example, in the novels “City”, “Ring Around the Sun”, “Fiend of the Mind”), time travel (in the novels “What Could Be Simpler than Time”, “Mastodonia”, “Highway” eternity"), extension of human life and immortality (the novel “Why Call Them Back from Heaven?”, the stories “Lost Eternity”, “Second Childhood”), intelligent plants (the novel “All Flesh is Grass”, the stories “Scarecrows”, “ Green Thumb Boy”, “When It’s Lonely in the House”).
Briefly about the article: Article about life and creativity American writer Clifford Donald Simak, a prominent representative of "soft" science fiction.
Guardian of the Mind
Clifford Simak
In the depths of my soul, I wanted to create a world where I myself and other people who had lost faith could, at least for a while, hide from the life in which we are forced to live.
Clifford Simak
The world around us is not conducive to complacency - there are too many contradictions, mutual claims, violence in it... Modern science fiction is only a reflection of society, so it is no wonder that the ideas of many authors about Contact with another mind border on xenophobia, total suspicion of Aliens who allegedly They only want to take away our lands, food and women. The remarkable American science fiction writer Clifford Simak saw Contact completely differently, convinced that Reason would certainly conquer fear and mistrust.
The Good Wizard of the West
Simak is one of those science fiction writers whose books came to our readers back in Soviet times. Along with Ray Bradbury, Robert Sheckley, Harry Harrison, and Isaac Asimov, he was on a relatively small list of “progressive” Western writers whose books supposedly exposed capitalist “mores.” In the case of Simak, the fact that he was of the most “socially close” origin probably played a role.
Clifford Donald Simak was born on August 3, 1904 in the vicinity of the provincial town of Millville (Wisconsin) in the family of simple farmers John Lewis Simak and Margaret Olivia Wiseman. It is interesting that the future writer was of Slavic origin: his grandfather, who emigrated to the States from the Czech Republic, bore the surname Shimok.
The Saimakis lived a poor life, but they lived amicably - honest hard workers, a truly American “salt of the earth.” Clifford carried the bright memory of his childhood throughout his life: all his work is imbued with a special pastoral spirit, and many of his books take place in the provinces, mainly in his native Wisconsin.
Clifford grew up on a farm, helping his father, but digging in the ground was not part of the plans of the future writer - after school he entered the journalism department of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Alas, soon the Simak family, like many American farmers of that time, began to have financial difficulties (it’s not for nothing that in the books of the famous science fiction writer, soulless officials and greedy bankers often get it!), and they had to give up their studies. Clifford went to work as a teacher, and after marrying Agnes Karchenberg in 1929, he ventured into potentially more “bread-and-bread” journalism.
To feed his family, he had to work hard: Clifford simultaneously worked part-time in several regional newspapers in Michigan, Kansas and Minnesota, fortunately he had a quick pen. In 1939, Simak finally moved to Minnesota, signing a permanent contract with the Minneapolis Star and Tribune newspaper, where he worked until his retirement in 1976. First as a reporter, then as an editor in the news department, and finally as the chief of the popular science department.
Not just fantasy: Simak in the Wild West. |
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Already at the beginning of his journalistic career, Clifford tried himself as a writer. To tell the truth, he did this for financial reasons, and he wrote all sorts of things - mostly Westerns and adventure stories. And then he took up science fiction, which he became interested in as a child, after reading the books of H.G. Wells. At first it didn’t work out with science fiction - Simak wrote something, but it didn’t get published. The first SF publication took place in 1931 - the story " World of the Red Sun"was published in Hugo Gernsback's magazine Wonder Stories. Then - how it was cut off. The capricious editors of science fiction periodicals rejected almost all the stories without looking at them.
The true “godfather” of the science fiction writer Simak (like many other pillars of the “Golden Age” of American SF) was John Campbell, who meticulously selected the brightest and most original authors for his magazine Astounding Science Fiction. Since the late 1930s, Simak has deservedly become one of the most frisky “horses” of Campbell’s literary “stable”.
Little by little, Clifford felt his own way in science fiction - he began mainly with space operas and “hard” SF, until he finally established a special niche. Simak actually became one of the founders of “soft” science fiction with a particularly humanistic orientation, the center of which is not intrepid, square-jawed supermen, but ordinary people who find themselves in fantastic situations.
In 1935, Simak’s first big story “ Creator", four years later Astounding published his "almost" novel " Space engineers"(at that time - a story, later noticeably expanded), however, for several more years Clifford remained mainly the author of short stories. Success as a novelist came only in 1952, with the appearance of what was announced specifically as a novel “ Cities" - a series of plot-related stories that had previously been published in magazines for eight years. Roman received International Prize fantasy, although there were no elves or magicians there - in those days “fantasy” in the English-speaking world was called fantasy in general.
After “The City,” the most fertile time came for Simak the creator - for almost 20 years he remained one of the leaders of American SF. Nothing special happened in everyday life: Simak wrote books, worked in a newspaper, popularized science and raised children. True, at the very end of the 1970s the writer began to have health problems, which is why in subsequent years Simak leaned more heavily on the short form. But his novels of that time, although they often touch upon serious problems and controversial topics, artistically noticeably inferior to the books of the “golden” sixties. The writer found himself at a crossroads - world fiction was changing before our eyes: at first “ New wave”, then the advent of the modernized space opera, the emerging tsunami of fantasy. Simak feverishly rushed about, trying to maintain a leading position - hence the variety of themes that echoed the popular works of more fashionable authors at that time. Many of Simak’s books exhibit mystical or esoteric motives and a fair amount of politicized topicality. However, there were also bright thoughts and non-standard ideas. And writing skills have not gone away. In the seventies, the master of “soft” SF tried his hand at fantasy, writing adventurous quests “ Pilgrimage to Magic" And " Mascot Brotherhood».
The late Simak is characterized by increased “ideological intensity” - although his books could never be called thoughtless - but problems arose with entertainment. At the end of his career, the writer clearly gave up - given his advanced age and struggle with illness, this is not surprising. However, " Live by the highest grace“, although it has something in common with Philip Farmer’s “River World,” it makes a strong impression with its philosophical component - perhaps this is the best novel of the “late” Simak.
In Russia they are not lagging behind either! |
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In 1976, the Science Fiction Writers of America recognized Clifford Simak's contributions to the genre with the title of Grandmaster of the Nebula Awards. He also had other awards - another Nebula, three Hugos, a Locus and a Bram Stoker Award. Over more than half a century of his career as a science fiction writer, Simak wrote 28 novels and more than a hundred novellas and short stories. His books are actively published abroad - besides Russia, they are especially popular in France, Italy, Portugal, Germany and Denmark, and “The City” was even published in Argentina! Simak’s first Russian publication dates back to 1957, when the magazine “Knowledge is Power” published the story “Once Upon a Time on Mercury.” In Soviet times, almost all of Simak's best books were translated - after all, the ideas of the humanist writer turned out to be close to official communist values. At the same time, Simak was never a “scourge” of the social ills of the world of capital, although there are many ironic, even satirical notes in his work.
Weird doesn't mean scary
Simak did not write any cycles at all. However, his work can be divided into several thematic blocks, the most significant of which is Contact with another mind.
Contact in Simak's books is varied. Ordinary people encounter former fellow superhumans, with in different forms alien life, with unexpectedly intelligent neighbors on the planet, with creatures of our own making... It is clear that Contact turns into a huge cultural shock for humanity, fraught with colossal upheavals - moral, ideological, religious, social, political. Confusion, anxiety, and, finally, fear - these are the feelings that overwhelm a person when faced with the unknown, the unexpected. But why? Perhaps the vector of perception needs to be completely changed?
Contacts are different. |
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One of Simak’s first novels, written on the verge of a satirical pamphlet “ Ring around the Sun“, is a peculiar version of the “war” of the X-Men against ordinary (more precisely, philistine) humanity. At the same time - reflections on the inherent vices of people, such as xenophobia, an attempt to understand the very essence of human nature. Even more poignantly, the idea of a collision between an ordinary person and his more advanced “alter ego”, who has moved to the next stage of evolution, is deployed in one of best novels writer " What could be simpler than time?" A " Werewolf principle"in many respects overlaps with the famous "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Heinlein, telling about a foundling in whose consciousness the human principle fights with the alien. In these books, two fundamental facets of the work of Simak, a true son of his time and a certain environment, are clearly visible: on the one hand, an optimistic faith in man, in the best features of his nature, on the other, a fair amount of idealism on the verge of naivety.
Contact does not always lead to peace, quite often it is conflict, but there are options here too. It is not necessary to bring things to the point of murder; a reasonable compromise is also a way out. Echoing stories about Isaac Asimov's robots, Simak's novel Again and again"shows the conflict between people and the androids they created. However, what else can people expect who have used “their children” as slaves for many years? Do you want to play the Creator? But this is a colossal responsibility! On the other hand, the position of the rebel androids is also not flawless, especially since a “third force” is interfering in the game. The hero of the book finds himself between the rock and the hard place of clashing interests, together with the reader desperately trying to find a bridge of mutual understanding that everyone, both “wolves” and “sheep,” can cross. Sometimes you have to make a choice - who said it was easy?
Largely satirical " Almost like people" - an ironic story of another alien invasion of Earth. Having studied earthlings, cunning strangers realized that cheerfully rustling ones could be much more effective than star dreadnoughts banknotes- and people almost sold their world! However, the caustic irony over “ birthmarks capitalism" the novel does not end there. Yes, the greedy desire to do “business” can become a means of self-destruction, but individualism absorbed with mother’s milk, the feeling of “one’s” home, which must be protected at all costs, are inherent only in truly free people. It is they, the true bearers of the traditional values of American democracy, who turned out to be inaccessible to the temptation of the “golden calf.” However, it couldn’t have happened without the help of a “good” alien.
Novel " All flesh is grass", in which humanity comes into contact with intelligent plants, poses another difficult choice for people. The transition to a new stage of civilization is fraught for humanity with a complete abandonment of the usual “mechanized” way of life, especially weapons. For many, this approach is completely unacceptable, so violence becomes the main and natural reaction. And again, saving the world is not the lot of short-sighted people in power, but of an ordinary person, a kind of rustic American “hobbit” from the outback.
Freedom is above all! |
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IN " Aliens“Simak brilliantly shows the very atmosphere of the first Contact - strange black objects descend to Earth. Clearly something out of the ordinary is happening - but what? The novel may seem bland, but it is an attempt to model the situation based on the reality surrounding the writer. The result was a “production” chronicle with an open ending.
« Transfer station" - the apotheosis of the Contact theme in Simak’s work, most fully revealing the key idea of many of his books about the commonality of all minds. The hero of the story is the owner of a secret transit point for intergalactic travelers living in the American wilderness, who has become a kind of mediator between civilizations. Simak's people are just one of the types of intelligent beings inhabiting the vast expanses of the Universe. And the main task for all types of sapiens is not to find out who is better or worse, but to find what unites them in order to extend a hand in time or accept it in response, in order to be ready to unite with another mind... Naive? Maybe. But if people wholeheartedly accepted this simple principle here and now, many conflicts and contradictions could be resolved peacefully.
About eternal wanderings and the Earth
Simak's most famous novel " City"paints an elegiacally sad image of the Earth, which people abandoned, leaving intelligent dogs as uninvited substitutes. The book turned out to be very emotional, multi-layered, ambiguous - the author's optimism here alternates with tragic reflections on human nature.
“The City” was written as a result of the collapse of illusions... Humanity went through a war that not only claimed millions of lives, but also gave birth to new weapons capable of destroying not armies, but entire nations... I personally was shocked not so much by the destructive power of the new weapons It’s such an obvious fact that man, in his insane thirst for power, will stop at nothing. There seems to be no limit to the cruelty that people are ready to unleash on the heads of their neighbors... “The City” was not conceived as a protest (what good are protests?), it was a search fantasy world, capable of confronting the real world... Someone called this collection “an indictment of humanity”; such a definition did not occur to me when I wrote the stories, but I agree with it and believe that I had and still have reasons to present an indictment to humanity.
Clifford Simak
In “The City,” Simak is still balancing on the brink of idealistic faith in the best and disappointment in it, trying to find a different path for human development than modern civilization. “I am concerned that under the influence of technology, our society and worldview are losing humanity,” wrote Simak. Humanity is the golden key to the entire work of this wonderful science fiction writer. His heroes, in the most unusual circumstances, try to remain human - even if they are not human. Simak’s later novel “The City” also echoes Burying ground", in which the Earth turned into a planet-cemetery. You can bring flowers here, remembering past greatness and glory, but you cannot live in a cemetery.
In his work, Simak touched on almost all the traditional themes of modern science fiction: space adventures (“Empire”, “Space Engineers”), time travel (“Mastodonia”, “Children of Our Children”), bizarre parallel worlds (“Fiends of the Mind”), decline of civilization (“Star Legacy”, “Choice of the Gods”), immortality (“Why call them back from heaven?”). But in all the writer’s works, his heroes are in a spiritual search, because thoughtless immersion in the abyss of philistine joys inevitably leads to degradation.
The positive characters of Simak are akin to the knights of King Arthur, whose destiny is the search for the Holy Grail. Who said it has to be a bowl? The grail can be anything, for example, a dragon! On the one hand, he is the repository of all the knowledge of the Universe, on the other hand, he is simply a beautiful creature personifying the greatness of Life. This turned out to be the ultimate goal of the heroes " Goblin Sanctuary" - the most popular book by Simak. As soon as it was published in Russian, it literally captivated Soviet readers with its striking and unusual aroma of “wonderfulness” - ironic, but inexplicably attractive.
The heroes of Simak’s books are looking for, and whatever becomes the object of their aspirations - powerful artifacts that open doors or carry truth (“Toy of Fate”, “In the Lair of Evil Spirits”), or answers to eternal questions(“Pilgrimage to Magic”, “Live by Supreme Grace”), the result of the search is always the same. There is no need to look for the Grail outside, it is inside each of us - you just need to find the right path. The heroes of Clifford Simak, as a rule, succeed in this - not completely, not immediately, but they take the first timid steps along the path of self-knowledge. Open and understand your own soul and heart - what could be more important?
* * *
Simak loved people and believed in them, calling for a spiritual community of different minds, regardless of the number of limbs or the presence of tails. He despised xenophobes and chauvinists and believed in the triumph of common sense. It is this belief in the best, in the fact that “together we will overcome!” - one of the main reasons why Simak’s books are tempting to re-read even in our cynical times. Indeed, in his saddest works, a naive but attractive optimism is always visible.
Clifford Donald Simak died on April 25, 1988 in Minneapolis. He remained in history as an iconic figure of American and world science fiction, although in recent years he has been somewhat forgotten. But if the world around you seems like a viper’s hole, read “The Goblin Sanctuary” or “Almost Like People”, and your soul will become noticeably lighter. The magic of Clifford Simak is still alive.
| Novels by Clifford Simak |
"Cosmic Engineers" (Cosmic Engineers, 1950; magazine publication in 1939) "Again and Again" (Time and Again, 1951) "Empire" (Empire, 1951) "City" (City, 1952) "Ring Around the Sun" (Ring Around the Sun, 1953) "Trouble with Tycho, 1961" “What could be simpler than time?” (Time is the Simplest Thing, 1961) “Almost Like People” (They Walked Like Men, 1962) "Way Station" (1963) "All Flesh is Grass" (1965) "The Werewolf Principle" (1967) “Why call them back from heaven?” (Why Call Them Back from Heaven?, 1967) The Goblin Reservation (1968) Out of Their Minds (1969) Destiny Doll (1971) A Choice of Gods (1972) "Boneyard" (Cemetery World, 1973) "Our Children's Children" (1973) "Pilgrimage into Magic" (Enchanted Pilgrimage, 1975) A Heritage of Stars (1977) "Mastodonia" (Mastodonia, 1978) "The Fellowship of the Talisman" (1978) "The Visitors" (1980) "Project Vatican" (Project Pope, 1981) "Live by Supreme Grace" (Special Deliverance, 1982) "In the lair of evil spirits" (Where the Evil Dwells, 1982) "Highway of Eternity" (1986) |
(I read the collection)
Three in one.
I'll try to formulate my opinion about this collection. As one of them - Simak is an excellent author!
It all starts with “The Goblin Reserve” - this is a rather lively, wise, bright work. It is weighty and bright. Complete and revealing of the author in my opinion. It’s like poetry, there is romance (and I’m not talking about kisses on a bench), stylistic grace, information density. In principle, as in all three works in the collection, but in “The Reserve” all this is brought to the ideal. Beautiful book.
How I love this! I love it when the main thing is not who is stronger, but who is wiser and who has more love.
And here you have heroes for every taste and color: Spirit, Shakespeare, dragon, Saber-toothed tiger, nervous young lady, talented artist, time jumps, unknown space and lots and lots of humanism! This is the kind of science fiction I love, the one that tells us how to make things good, and not the one that shouts: “Hide, they will kill you all!” Who the hell cares about us except ourselves? And this is where they tell us how to please our dear ones, so that dragons and goblins will flow, and the ale will flow like a river and the fairies will play the pipes.
It’s so touching that the old race asks someone unknown to free their pet. Not to save ourselves, not to sink our teeth into our brains, but just to free a small pet! At the end I was incredibly moved and I can’t even explain how it feels to suddenly feel love pouring into you through the pages.
The next work is “The Werewolf Principle”. This novel was written a year earlier and here you can see how the author moved towards the “Reserve”. Familiar turns of phrase, familiar places, familiar tonality appear, not many of them, but still, like in Rybnikov’s music from the film “Through Thorns to the Stars,” the motif of “Juno and Avos” is visible, not many, in places, but audible. But since you read “The Werewolf Principle” after “The Goblin Sanctuary,” a feeling of echoes is created in order to soften the transition, from something big and bright to maybe no less to a larger work, but with shades of darkness in it, it's like you're from ideal world you take a step back into a more primitive world. I actually liked “The Werewolf Principle” even a little more than “The Preserve” - it had more drama, there was more power, there were more doubts and in the end everything may not be entirely logical, but it is illuminated by the sun. Although the idea in "Reserve" may be a little stronger than in "Principle", but somehow surprisingly, I found it more interesting to read. And so as not to keep saying the same thing, I’ll say that I again put all my gasps into a separate review.
The third story itself is not bad at all. This is the novel "Ring Around the Sun". But honestly, after the first two strong works, she seems weak and rather unsightly. Separated from them, it might have been more successful, but in comparison it is no good. In addition, this is one of Simak’s early works. The beginning of the book was very poetic, but the further it went, the more the book sagged and got lost. The idea of an ideal world, ideal and not-so-ideal people, and a better life is not bad in principle, but everything is very blurry, it is not entirely clear what the author ultimately saw. And everything seems to be correct and you largely agree with him, but there is something that does not allow you to admire the book. Simak himself could not stand the interesting and strong beginning of his own book and his own idea.
In my opinion, it was a waste to include the third book in this collection. It is too noticeable that it is not ideal, especially after such strong works by the author. That is, in the general idea of humanism, it works and is, as it were, included correctly, but it is inferior in strength and weakens the entire book. If it weren’t for the first two works, I would have rated the collection down. But since there are more of them and they deserve to be, I left five out of five stars.
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