Since I was a kid I've been fascinated by science fiction. This originated from my Dad, who had several shelves crammed end-to-end with paperback sci/fi novels. Asimov, Lewis, Heinlein, Pohl, Dick, Bradbury, Clarke...
Having been wrongfully denied our inalienable right to cable television, my siblings and I took respite in these pages instead. If he saw us reading one of his sci/fi books, he'd ask us what we thought of it, and listen to our opinions. Occasionally he'd get a twinkle in his eye and say, "have you gotten to the part where -- " while chuckling at our outcry of dismay that he could have very well just ruined part of the story for us.
I remember feeling robbed of breath during Fall of Moondust, Clarke's book about a recreational space vehicle that lands on a moon and sinks into the dust. Out of the Silent Planet was an eerie tour of a less-than-human planet that made me feel uncompromisingly awed and formed the unstable jello-like semblance of my friendship with the Sorns, a tall alien creature. Who wouldn't, with a hross name like Hyoi? The feeling of my stomach leaping into my throat as I frantically flipped through the pages of the opening sequence in Heinlein's Starship Troopers left me exhilarated. By the time The Bugs appeared I hated them and was ready for them to be dispatched of immediately. I was not disappointed.
When I read sci/fi the ceiling was blown out above my head and anything could happen. Curiosity became a just and faithful king that ruled my attention span while I read and commanded me to find out what happened next, rarely letting me down. Ten to fifteen years later, I don't remember a single line from any of these science fiction books I consumed to feed my never-satiated imagination. But today merely seeing the title on his shelf brings back powerful emotions, every single one making me feel something specific tied to making it from the front to the back of the book alive.
"You know Jim, you may not remember what someone says. Maybe you don't remember anything they said. But you will always remember how that person made you feel." Dad taught us feelings are powerful. "You may not be able to change how you feel at any given moment, but you can change how you act, and your feelings will follow." he'd say.
These were not empty words of cautionary wisdom. They were true, living breathing words, and I was afforded the fantastic visionary journey of discovering one aspect of this truth on my own through his books.
Having been wrongfully denied our inalienable right to cable television, my siblings and I took respite in these pages instead. If he saw us reading one of his sci/fi books, he'd ask us what we thought of it, and listen to our opinions. Occasionally he'd get a twinkle in his eye and say, "have you gotten to the part where -- " while chuckling at our outcry of dismay that he could have very well just ruined part of the story for us.
I remember feeling robbed of breath during Fall of Moondust, Clarke's book about a recreational space vehicle that lands on a moon and sinks into the dust. Out of the Silent Planet was an eerie tour of a less-than-human planet that made me feel uncompromisingly awed and formed the unstable jello-like semblance of my friendship with the Sorns, a tall alien creature. Who wouldn't, with a hross name like Hyoi? The feeling of my stomach leaping into my throat as I frantically flipped through the pages of the opening sequence in Heinlein's Starship Troopers left me exhilarated. By the time The Bugs appeared I hated them and was ready for them to be dispatched of immediately. I was not disappointed.
When I read sci/fi the ceiling was blown out above my head and anything could happen. Curiosity became a just and faithful king that ruled my attention span while I read and commanded me to find out what happened next, rarely letting me down. Ten to fifteen years later, I don't remember a single line from any of these science fiction books I consumed to feed my never-satiated imagination. But today merely seeing the title on his shelf brings back powerful emotions, every single one making me feel something specific tied to making it from the front to the back of the book alive.
"You know Jim, you may not remember what someone says. Maybe you don't remember anything they said. But you will always remember how that person made you feel." Dad taught us feelings are powerful. "You may not be able to change how you feel at any given moment, but you can change how you act, and your feelings will follow." he'd say.
These were not empty words of cautionary wisdom. They were true, living breathing words, and I was afforded the fantastic visionary journey of discovering one aspect of this truth on my own through his books.
