Childhood's End

[pasithea]

A book wherein Arthur C Clarke interrupts a perfectly good invasion story with a bunch of religious mumbo-jumbo.



I read this book last night and I was pretty-much into the sense of oppressive 'something is about to happen'-ness that it built up and then what happens is suddenly we're sitting in on an episode of Charmed. Blah.

It was loathesome how early in the book, the Overlords seemingly clear away the tediousness of religion, except the entire story sucks up to christian mythos like someone trying to ass-kiss their way into heaven because you know, after all, CLEARLY christian mythos is the only RIGHT one.

Freakin' bloody Hell. I was reading for sci-fi, not repackaged gospel!

And what the heck is with the lame ending? Wooo! We all become one with the great cosmic entity! Never to think or hope or dream again! Complacency is the most wonderful thing!

You know, personally, I'd _RATHER_ not be all seeing and all knowing. Oh, I know, clarke is berating thinking people as being simple-minded and primative, looking for a challenge. How arrogant is that? Challenge what a great thing it would be to becoming part of God and it must be because you're too simple to understand how wonderful it is.

Loathesome. Absolutely loathesome. At least Heinlein is an ass int he first chapter or two. Clarke tries to lull you into a false sense of security and doesn't let you know you've been wasting your time until chapter 19! In Revelations 19, the second coming of christ is announced to Earth. Gee coincidence or crap? You decide!

Fucking mystical shit. If I wanted mysticism, I'd read a fantasy story.

The book was well-written but one of the most dogmatic pieces of tripe I've read in a while. At least it was short.

Comments

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the whole earth, every creature, every ecosystem, is just there to be sublimated into humanity transcending.

[centauress.livejournal.com]

Oh, except for the one guy who demonstrated curiosity and snuck aboard the alien freighter to see the universe, of course.

There's always the solution that the aliens were just running a huge con on people...

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

That's my personal theory. I mean who really wants to be pureed and tossed in a galactic pudding? I think the whole story was about conning stupid humans into letting themselves get wiped out. I mean this great cosmic overmind obviously controlled the overlords; made them work for it and somehow feel inadequate so it doesn't seem wholly benevolent; nor was it's power infinite. The one guy does die at the end though, much like the parents of the children. I don't see that he was really spared from the religious nonsense. The overlords explained he couldn't be part of the shiny new collective, so why'd he throw his life away instead of joining the overlords and studying this thing. He seems more useful to them alive. Anyhow, I was gypted out of several hours by reading this book. I want my money back.

[mercia.livejournal.com]

"To Serve Man...."

[salia-chan.livejournal.com]

Mmm..soylent scifi.

[holohedron.livejournal.com]

I like mystical SF, myself. But then my definition of mystical SF extends to PKD, Le Guin, everything Whitley Strieber's written...

That book doesn't, er, sound like one of Clarke's brighter moments.

[salia-chan.livejournal.com]

My opinion of it is about the same. It sucked. The first part wasn't so bad. But after? -.- Went from bad to worse. Depressing 'man isn't ment for the stars! (cause we say so)' crap.

Hey though...want a book that will make you rant, froth at the lips, and take a chainsaw, blender, and blowtorch to it?

...battlefield earth. ^-^ Cause aliens are just like humans in every motivation, don'tcha know? >.

[frith]

I liked Childhood's End. It was one of Clarke's better books. I especially liked the bit where the freaky kids wiped out all life on the planet because the "simple" minds of the "lower creatures" were bugging them. So much like mowing, weeding and then finally paving your lawn, eh? Or spraying for mosquitoes. The transcendent one-with-the-universe hive mind thingy didn't bother me. The idiot adults killing themselves off because their kids went mooney on them was rather unlikely though. 8-/