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Time Is the Simplest Thing
Without setting foot on another planet, people like Shep Blaine were reaching out to the stars with their minds, telepathically contacting strange beings on other worlds. But even Blaine was unprepared for what happened when he communed with the soul of an utterly alien being lightyears from Earth. After recovering from his experience, he becomes a dangerous man: not only has he gained startling new powers—but he now understands that humankind must share the stars.
Hunted through time and space by those who he used to trust, Blaine undergoes a unique odyssey that takes him through a nightmarish version of small-town America as he seeks to find others who share his vision of a humane future. Blaine has mastered death and time. Now he must master the fear and ignorance that threatened to destroy him!
Hunted through time and space by those who he used to trust, Blaine undergoes a unique odyssey that takes him through a nightmarish version of small-town America as he seeks to find others who share his vision of a humane future. Blaine has mastered death and time. Now he must master the fear and ignorance that threatened to destroy him!
191 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
387 people are currently reading
1,874 people want to read
About the author
Clifford D. Simak
912books1,031followers"He was honored by fans with three Hugo awards and by colleagues with one Nebula award and was named the third Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) in 1977." (Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews
March 28, 2020
This is my second Clifford Simak book, my first being the seminal “Way Station�. I enjoyed this book, not nearly as much as “Way Station�, but it was a pleasant experience. It doesn’t have the clarity of plot, but I find his writing to be charming, engaging, and calming.
Simak first published “Time is the Simplest Thing� in May 1961. For context, Russia first launched Sputnik in 1957 and put the first man in space in April 1961. Mankind was just learning how difficult space travel was and had yet to determine if travel beyond an Earth orbit was possible. This question seems to be the guiding thought underneath this novel. In “Time is the Simplest Thing�, people have given up on manned space travel. Humans are found to be too fragile to withstand the rigors of space and exposure to radiation outside of Earth’s protection.
Instead, there are breakthroughs in psychic abilities. Humans develop a number of these abilities; telepathy, levitation, to name a few. With the help of technology, a star machine, humans develop the ability to visit the stars. Think astral projection combined with a rover that records the experience. The astral explorers bring back inventions and ideas that are processed by a shadowy corporation that decides what gets distributed to the population and what doesn’t. Interestingly, the failure of normal space travel is somewhat considered a failure of science and with the psychic abilities, a backlash from society occurs. Individuals with psychic abilities (called parries), are increasingly feared and tormented. All of this is wonderful, but the plot itself follows the main character (Shep Blaine), an astral projection space explorer who brings back a little more than bargained for. Blaine runs and we follow him as he attempts to escape the shadowy corporation and others that fear what he has brought back.
So, the backdrop is wonderful, but unfortunately, Blaine is somewhat motiveless for much of the story. This causes the plot to somewhat meander and it’s largely the interesting world building that carries us through the book. For me, it’s telling that despite this issue, I still enjoyed Simak’s writing. His love of nature shines though and anytime he describes a scene in nature his prose transforms from pedestrian to poetic! An example:
“The sky came down, pressing on the Earth, a hazy sky that stretched from bluff to bluff, roofing in the river and shutting out the sun so that the birds flew with uneasy twitterings in the willows, puzzled at the early fall of night.�
Simak explores prejudice and bigotry in this story, showing the alarming speed at which “parries� are outcast and persecuted. So while the plot has challenges, the writing, the worldbuilding, the theme, and Simak’s mid-western charm were enough for me to fully enjoy this tale � four stars.
Simak first published “Time is the Simplest Thing� in May 1961. For context, Russia first launched Sputnik in 1957 and put the first man in space in April 1961. Mankind was just learning how difficult space travel was and had yet to determine if travel beyond an Earth orbit was possible. This question seems to be the guiding thought underneath this novel. In “Time is the Simplest Thing�, people have given up on manned space travel. Humans are found to be too fragile to withstand the rigors of space and exposure to radiation outside of Earth’s protection.
Instead, there are breakthroughs in psychic abilities. Humans develop a number of these abilities; telepathy, levitation, to name a few. With the help of technology, a star machine, humans develop the ability to visit the stars. Think astral projection combined with a rover that records the experience. The astral explorers bring back inventions and ideas that are processed by a shadowy corporation that decides what gets distributed to the population and what doesn’t. Interestingly, the failure of normal space travel is somewhat considered a failure of science and with the psychic abilities, a backlash from society occurs. Individuals with psychic abilities (called parries), are increasingly feared and tormented. All of this is wonderful, but the plot itself follows the main character (Shep Blaine), an astral projection space explorer who brings back a little more than bargained for. Blaine runs and we follow him as he attempts to escape the shadowy corporation and others that fear what he has brought back.
So, the backdrop is wonderful, but unfortunately, Blaine is somewhat motiveless for much of the story. This causes the plot to somewhat meander and it’s largely the interesting world building that carries us through the book. For me, it’s telling that despite this issue, I still enjoyed Simak’s writing. His love of nature shines though and anytime he describes a scene in nature his prose transforms from pedestrian to poetic! An example:
“The sky came down, pressing on the Earth, a hazy sky that stretched from bluff to bluff, roofing in the river and shutting out the sun so that the birds flew with uneasy twitterings in the willows, puzzled at the early fall of night.�
Simak explores prejudice and bigotry in this story, showing the alarming speed at which “parries� are outcast and persecuted. So while the plot has challenges, the writing, the worldbuilding, the theme, and Simak’s mid-western charm were enough for me to fully enjoy this tale � four stars.
April 26, 2025
„Блей� загуби всякакво усещане за време, всякаква представа за това кой е или къде е или пък защо е там. Беше се заслушал така, както едно момче би слушало омайващите разкази на някой древен моряк от далечна и непозната страна.�
Обожавам Клифърд Саймък... Неговите удивителни творби всеки път ме впечатляват със своята тиха мъдрост и прецизни хуманни послания! Във „Времето е най-простото нещо�, авторът елегантно преплита наука и магия, за да разкаже на читателите паранормална приключенска история, критикувайки чрез нея всякакви видове крайности и прояви на фанатизъм.
Книгата ни пренася в атмосферата на едно футуристично Средновековие... Главен герой е Шепърд Блейн, който е един от хората с паранормални способности и работи като космически изследовател за огромната корпорация Фишхуук. Някога тази компания е била създадена с благородни цели, но с времето се е превърнала в алчен монополист в най-различни сфери. При едно от пътешествията си до непозната планета, Блейн неочаквано получава извънземен интелект. След завръщането си, той трябва спешно да намери начин да избяга от Фишхуук, които съвсем скоро започват да го преследват...
Измъквайки се от лапите на корпорацията, Блейн попада на хора от другата крайност - побеснели фанатици, които са заслепени от омраза и искат да убият всеки, притежаващ паранормални сили. Той отново успява да се спаси, а впоследствие се въвлича в далеч по-опасни приключения, като започва да търси други бивши служители на Фишхуук, опитвайки се да предпази от всички видове мракобесие паранормалните хора...
„То� беше убеден, че няма нещо, свързано с „Фишхуук�, което тя да не знае. Репортажите й бяха шокиращо обективни, дори можеше да се каже � безпристрастни, но дори в такава рядко срещана атмосфера за журналистиката тя успяваше да вложи лек намек за човешка топлота.�
„Тов� беше странно, ако човек се замислеше. Защото въпреки неясната пропаст, която лежеше между ПК и науката, именно подреденият ум, който науката бе донесла на човешката раса, можеше да накара ПК най-после да заработи.
И колкото и странно да изглеждаше, каза си Блейн, било е необходимо първо да се появи науката. Защото науката е трябвало да бъде развита, преди човекът да може да проумее силите, които са освободили ума му от оковите. Науката е трябвало да бъде развита, преди менталната енергия да може да бъде овладяна и накарана да работи от тези, които са я носили в себе си. Защото дори в учението за ПК е имало нужда от метод, а науката е била инкубаторът, в който този метод бил създаден.�
„� така човекът бе загубил своя културен герой, а тъй като природата му е така устроена, че той трябва да има някакъв абстрактен идол, когото да почита, се бе получил един крещящ за запълване вакуум.�
„Н� тази дума не означаваше нищо за човек като Райли. Всеки здрав смисъл и всяка способност за разбиране бяха изчезнали сред гръмотевиците от ужас, които разтърсваха ума му.�
„Картината ставаше все по-ясна и светла, като че ли някъде в мозъка му някой изтриваше обектива, за да получи по-ясен образ. Сега той можеше да види в смразяващи разсъдъка детайли формата на живот, която обитаваше хаотичната джунгла. Тя беше отвратителна и ужасяваща, придвижваше се с пълзене и от нея лъхаше една заучена, хладна жестокост � жестокостта на невежеството и незачитането, създадена само от примитивен глад и примитивна омраза.�
„Блей� без ни най-малко съжаление си спомни изражението в очите на Фин, след като размени част от ума си с неговия � стъкления поглед, разкриващ ужаса от това нагло поругаване, от това неизбежно оскверняване на могъщия проповедник и пророк, прикрил омразата си с мантия, която не бе изцяло религиозна, но бе толкова близо до религия, колкото Фин се бе осмелил да я създаде.�
„Б� объркал един разум, който, независимо какво щеше да прави Фин оттук-нататък, вече никога нямаше да е толкова ограничен и маниакално егоистичен, колкото бе досега.�
„То� се зачуди колко ли способности и таланти лежаха погребани в тези селища � способности и таланти, които светът можеше да използва, но не го правеше поради нетърпимостта и омразата към по-различните хора. А те най-малко от всички заслужаваха да са мишени на подобни чувства.�
„Всек� народ налага свои стандарти за всяка генерация и тези стандарти и норми се установяват не по някакво универсално правило, не по някакъв всеобщ критерий, а по това, което съответства на масовото мнение. Този избор безусловно съчетава в себе си всички предразсъдъци и предубеждения, цялото погрешно мислене и неуравновесена логика, към които е склонен човешкият интелект.�
„Никог� не бяха се докосвали до извънземна идея, а тази беше именно такава. Не беше дори толкова хлъзгава, колкото изглеждаше. Просто беше извънземна. Съществуваха много извънземни неща, които караха косата на човек да настръхва, а в същността си бяха съвсем обикновени.�
„� Анита � попита той, � те наистина ли са върколаци?
� Да � отвърна тя. � Твоите върколаци са там долу.
Така беше наистина, каза си той. Тъмнината в ума, празнотата на мислите, повърхностните цели. Това бяха върколаците на този свят.�
Обожавам Клифърд Саймък... Неговите удивителни творби всеки път ме впечатляват със своята тиха мъдрост и прецизни хуманни послания! Във „Времето е най-простото нещо�, авторът елегантно преплита наука и магия, за да разкаже на читателите паранормална приключенска история, критикувайки чрез нея всякакви видове крайности и прояви на фанатизъм.
Книгата ни пренася в атмосферата на едно футуристично Средновековие... Главен герой е Шепърд Блейн, който е един от хората с паранормални способности и работи като космически изследовател за огромната корпорация Фишхуук. Някога тази компания е била създадена с благородни цели, но с времето се е превърнала в алчен монополист в най-различни сфери. При едно от пътешествията си до непозната планета, Блейн неочаквано получава извънземен интелект. След завръщането си, той трябва спешно да намери начин да избяга от Фишхуук, които съвсем скоро започват да го преследват...
Измъквайки се от лапите на корпорацията, Блейн попада на хора от другата крайност - побеснели фанатици, които са заслепени от омраза и искат да убият всеки, притежаващ паранормални сили. Той отново успява да се спаси, а впоследствие се въвлича в далеч по-опасни приключения, като започва да търси други бивши служители на Фишхуук, опитвайки се да предпази от всички видове мракобесие паранормалните хора...
„То� беше убеден, че няма нещо, свързано с „Фишхуук�, което тя да не знае. Репортажите й бяха шокиращо обективни, дори можеше да се каже � безпристрастни, но дори в такава рядко срещана атмосфера за журналистиката тя успяваше да вложи лек намек за човешка топлота.�
„Тов� беше странно, ако човек се замислеше. Защото въпреки неясната пропаст, която лежеше между ПК и науката, именно подреденият ум, който науката бе донесла на човешката раса, можеше да накара ПК най-после да заработи.
И колкото и странно да изглеждаше, каза си Блейн, било е необходимо първо да се появи науката. Защото науката е трябвало да бъде развита, преди човекът да може да проумее силите, които са освободили ума му от оковите. Науката е трябвало да бъде развита, преди менталната енергия да може да бъде овладяна и накарана да работи от тези, които са я носили в себе си. Защото дори в учението за ПК е имало нужда от метод, а науката е била инкубаторът, в който този метод бил създаден.�
„� така човекът бе загубил своя културен герой, а тъй като природата му е така устроена, че той трябва да има някакъв абстрактен идол, когото да почита, се бе получил един крещящ за запълване вакуум.�
„Н� тази дума не означаваше нищо за човек като Райли. Всеки здрав смисъл и всяка способност за разбиране бяха изчезнали сред гръмотевиците от ужас, които разтърсваха ума му.�
„Картината ставаше все по-ясна и светла, като че ли някъде в мозъка му някой изтриваше обектива, за да получи по-ясен образ. Сега той можеше да види в смразяващи разсъдъка детайли формата на живот, която обитаваше хаотичната джунгла. Тя беше отвратителна и ужасяваща, придвижваше се с пълзене и от нея лъхаше една заучена, хладна жестокост � жестокостта на невежеството и незачитането, създадена само от примитивен глад и примитивна омраза.�
„Блей� без ни най-малко съжаление си спомни изражението в очите на Фин, след като размени част от ума си с неговия � стъкления поглед, разкриващ ужаса от това нагло поругаване, от това неизбежно оскверняване на могъщия проповедник и пророк, прикрил омразата си с мантия, която не бе изцяло религиозна, но бе толкова близо до религия, колкото Фин се бе осмелил да я създаде.�
„Б� объркал един разум, който, независимо какво щеше да прави Фин оттук-нататък, вече никога нямаше да е толкова ограничен и маниакално егоистичен, колкото бе досега.�
„То� се зачуди колко ли способности и таланти лежаха погребани в тези селища � способности и таланти, които светът можеше да използва, но не го правеше поради нетърпимостта и омразата към по-различните хора. А те най-малко от всички заслужаваха да са мишени на подобни чувства.�
„Всек� народ налага свои стандарти за всяка генерация и тези стандарти и норми се установяват не по някакво универсално правило, не по някакъв всеобщ критерий, а по това, което съответства на масовото мнение. Този избор безусловно съчетава в себе си всички предразсъдъци и предубеждения, цялото погрешно мислене и неуравновесена логика, към които е склонен човешкият интелект.�
„Никог� не бяха се докосвали до извънземна идея, а тази беше именно такава. Не беше дори толкова хлъзгава, колкото изглеждаше. Просто беше извънземна. Съществуваха много извънземни неща, които караха косата на човек да настръхва, а в същността си бяха съвсем обикновени.�
„� Анита � попита той, � те наистина ли са върколаци?
� Да � отвърна тя. � Твоите върколаци са там долу.
Така беше наистина, каза си той. Тъмнината в ума, празнотата на мислите, повърхностните цели. Това бяха върколаците на този свят.�
December 22, 2022
A great read from the "classic" sci-fi era!
The story opens in a distant future on earth - so distant, in fact, that space travel is only a memory of the past. After countless attempts, man has begrudgingly acknowledged itself defeated by the insurmountable difficulties of travel to the stars. But, in the attempt, mankind has rediscovered and refined a long-lost talent - paranormal kinetics, a form of telepathy by which gifted individuals - called "parries" - can "travel" to the stars and experience with their minds all that other worlds have to offer. Fishhook, a corporation set up to develop, market, sell and profit from the myriad wonders the telepathic travelers find has succumbed to the greed of a monopoly. It now secretly works at promoting a global belief that these abilities are somehow abnormal, twisted or, even worse, represent a perverted, evil magic as opposed to a normal but seldom used human talent.
During an otherwise routine exploration, one of the parries, Shepherd Blaine, inadvertently "trades minds" with an alien intelligence. In more modern sci-fi terms, I was put in mind of a permanent Vulcan mind meld. Coming to the realization that he now has access to virtually all of the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the galaxy, that he can simply will himself bodily through space and time, and that he is no longer even entirely human, Blaine flees Fishhook. He attempts to reconcile himself and his newly discovered abilities and knowledge with the visceral hatred and fear he encounters in the heartland of Simak's stomping grounds, the US Midwest.
In one chapter, the irony in Simak's chilling portrayal of a frightened and hateful lynch mob trying to pull Blaine out of a local jail to string him up is extraordinary. Simak didn't dress his mob in white hoods and robes carrying burning crosses, but there was no question in my mind of the picture he was painting. The irony arose somewhat later when Simak took an opportunity to remind his readers that the US was formed as a result of the Puritan's fleeing that same type of prejudiced, bigoted persecution and hatred. As an aside, I wouldn't think that Simak had any particular subliminal message in mind when he created Fishhook but, in this modern world, one can't help but be concerned about the perils of allowing untrammeled corporate growth to blossom into pure monopoly.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable tale from the 50s and 60s classic pulp sci-fi era and a wonderful example of Simak's fertile imaginings as to how time travel might be experienced in the future. TIME IS THE SIMPLEST THING is pretty clearly dated and doesn't travel into today's world quite as well as some of his other works but it's a fast-paced thoroughly enjoyable read nonetheless.
Paul Weiss
The story opens in a distant future on earth - so distant, in fact, that space travel is only a memory of the past. After countless attempts, man has begrudgingly acknowledged itself defeated by the insurmountable difficulties of travel to the stars. But, in the attempt, mankind has rediscovered and refined a long-lost talent - paranormal kinetics, a form of telepathy by which gifted individuals - called "parries" - can "travel" to the stars and experience with their minds all that other worlds have to offer. Fishhook, a corporation set up to develop, market, sell and profit from the myriad wonders the telepathic travelers find has succumbed to the greed of a monopoly. It now secretly works at promoting a global belief that these abilities are somehow abnormal, twisted or, even worse, represent a perverted, evil magic as opposed to a normal but seldom used human talent.
During an otherwise routine exploration, one of the parries, Shepherd Blaine, inadvertently "trades minds" with an alien intelligence. In more modern sci-fi terms, I was put in mind of a permanent Vulcan mind meld. Coming to the realization that he now has access to virtually all of the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the galaxy, that he can simply will himself bodily through space and time, and that he is no longer even entirely human, Blaine flees Fishhook. He attempts to reconcile himself and his newly discovered abilities and knowledge with the visceral hatred and fear he encounters in the heartland of Simak's stomping grounds, the US Midwest.
In one chapter, the irony in Simak's chilling portrayal of a frightened and hateful lynch mob trying to pull Blaine out of a local jail to string him up is extraordinary. Simak didn't dress his mob in white hoods and robes carrying burning crosses, but there was no question in my mind of the picture he was painting. The irony arose somewhat later when Simak took an opportunity to remind his readers that the US was formed as a result of the Puritan's fleeing that same type of prejudiced, bigoted persecution and hatred. As an aside, I wouldn't think that Simak had any particular subliminal message in mind when he created Fishhook but, in this modern world, one can't help but be concerned about the perils of allowing untrammeled corporate growth to blossom into pure monopoly.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable tale from the 50s and 60s classic pulp sci-fi era and a wonderful example of Simak's fertile imaginings as to how time travel might be experienced in the future. TIME IS THE SIMPLEST THING is pretty clearly dated and doesn't travel into today's world quite as well as some of his other works but it's a fast-paced thoroughly enjoyable read nonetheless.
Paul Weiss
April 18, 2022
Classic '61 SF that's part mystery, part regular adventure, but both are done right.
No spoilers, but Simak does the old style well and unproblematically. Death and dying, alien transmissions, a little human heaven reserve called Fishhook. It's all amusing and the intrigue is tight.
It may not be everyone's thing and it certainly feels like it's 60 years old, but that's not precisely a BAD THING. :) Some things are more innocent.
No spoilers, but Simak does the old style well and unproblematically. Death and dying, alien transmissions, a little human heaven reserve called Fishhook. It's all amusing and the intrigue is tight.
It may not be everyone's thing and it certainly feels like it's 60 years old, but that's not precisely a BAD THING. :) Some things are more innocent.
December 31, 2014
Like most people, I always get nervous rereading books that meant a lot to me in childhood and adolescence, wondering if they're going to hold up. Time Is the Simplest Thing is one of those odd cases where some things have held up beautifully, some flaws are now glaring, and some beauty I was too young to recognize is finally apparent.
In a way, this is Simak's science fiction take on Huckleberry Finn: two fugitives making their way across America and seeing slices of the country to get a sense of the whole. The book is also obviously shaped by Jim Crow and the dawning civil rights movement. There's a sense that if we're this bad at handling difference in 1961, we are going to truly suck at managing true alienness, and we are going to miss out on a lot because of it. And yet despite this, the book has a hopeful tone, a sense that there will always be people who push back against prejudice and stupidity and force us to grow.
The language is also gorgeous--Simak deftly paints one beautiful picture after another in every scene. You have a vivid sense of place and people without ever getting bogged down in long descriptions.
The weak point is the plot: a lot of the scenes feel disjointed rather than building on each other. Despite this being a journey story, where Shep is going and what he hopes to accomplish keeps changing, and often feels unimportant. Something that made me vaguely uncomfortable as a kid is also way more icky now: Shep's love interest, Anita, is a joyriding teenager, and somehow neither her dad, nor Shep, nor any of Shep's adult friends have a problem with this.
But the truth is, the gorgeous language and the grace of the individual scenes override the disjointed plot for me. This is going to remain a favorite.
In a way, this is Simak's science fiction take on Huckleberry Finn: two fugitives making their way across America and seeing slices of the country to get a sense of the whole. The book is also obviously shaped by Jim Crow and the dawning civil rights movement. There's a sense that if we're this bad at handling difference in 1961, we are going to truly suck at managing true alienness, and we are going to miss out on a lot because of it. And yet despite this, the book has a hopeful tone, a sense that there will always be people who push back against prejudice and stupidity and force us to grow.
The language is also gorgeous--Simak deftly paints one beautiful picture after another in every scene. You have a vivid sense of place and people without ever getting bogged down in long descriptions.
The weak point is the plot: a lot of the scenes feel disjointed rather than building on each other. Despite this being a journey story, where Shep is going and what he hopes to accomplish keeps changing, and often feels unimportant. Something that made me vaguely uncomfortable as a kid is also way more icky now: Shep's love interest, Anita, is a joyriding teenager, and somehow neither her dad, nor Shep, nor any of Shep's adult friends have a problem with this.
But the truth is, the gorgeous language and the grace of the individual scenes override the disjointed plot for me. This is going to remain a favorite.
August 19, 2019
This is a soft SF novel, read as a Buddy Read in Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels group. The book was Hugo award nominee in 1962.
The story starts with an interesting and quite rare premise: the space is deadly, there is no hope for interplanetary travel, even less for interstellar. Since this news, that shaken the world a century has passed and a new mode of travel emerges (here the soft part) � psychokinetic. No one believed in psy-powers but a company named Fishhook persisted and was finally successful. They send consciousness of psy-operators with marvelous machines many light years away.
The protagonist is one of such operators, Shepherd Blaine meets an alien intelligence in one of such travels and it states: “Hi, pal. I trade with you my mind.� Back to Earth, Blaine tries to run off for who can tell what Fishhook will do with such an invader.
The starting ideas are quite promising, but as story progresses I found it a bit too filled with coincidences and lucky strikes from the helping alien mind, which aren’t followed with investigation of these new great powers.
The story starts with an interesting and quite rare premise: the space is deadly, there is no hope for interplanetary travel, even less for interstellar. Since this news, that shaken the world a century has passed and a new mode of travel emerges (here the soft part) � psychokinetic. No one believed in psy-powers but a company named Fishhook persisted and was finally successful. They send consciousness of psy-operators with marvelous machines many light years away.
The protagonist is one of such operators, Shepherd Blaine meets an alien intelligence in one of such travels and it states: “Hi, pal. I trade with you my mind.� Back to Earth, Blaine tries to run off for who can tell what Fishhook will do with such an invader.
The starting ideas are quite promising, but as story progresses I found it a bit too filled with coincidences and lucky strikes from the helping alien mind, which aren’t followed with investigation of these new great powers.
January 16, 2019
Интересно, но точно този роман съм го пропуснал в младежките си години. Въпреки че точно тогава Саймък беше една от искрите, които запалиха в мен любовта към фантастичната книга. Помня как всички хлапета изчетохме верижно една опърпана бройка на „Всичк� живо е трева� и въпреки подвеждащото заглавие вътре нямаше грам марихуана, но все пак много от нас станаха верни последователи на жанра.
Както и да е. С открито сърце мога да наредя „Времето е най-простото нещо� до най-добрите произведения на Саймък, особено сега, след като съм запознат с голяма част от творчеството му. Тук той пределно ясно показва защо повечето му герои са чешити и самотници, развивайки обратен сценарий. Също така, типично, се насочва навътре към човека, въпреки цялата технологична революция, която рамкира произведението. Нетипично, пък, се впуска в едно изследване на психологията на тълпата, като контрапункт на единствен човек, както е в повечето му книги.
Такааа, Шепърд Блейн е изследовател във „Фишхук� � огромен търговски агломерат, който сякаш се доближава най-много до Гибсъновите корпорации. Фишхук работят с „паранормалници� � индивиди владеещи слаби паранормални способности, на този етап напълно проумени и обработени от науката. Шепърт обаче закача нещо със съзнанието си, докато изпълнява задълженията си за фирмата и ще му се наложи да бяга. Когато остава незащитен от корпорацията осъзнава точно в колко грозно място се е превърнал света за хора като него. Намира приятели и противници и ще му се наложи да промени правилата на играта завинаги. А времето, то е най-простото нещо, само трябва да ви го обясни.
Няма такава словесност:
„То� пълзеше в мрачния кладенец, в който беше потопен, като опипваше пътя си със сляпа, почти инстинктивна упоритост. Знаеше къде се намира � сигурен беше, че знае � но не можеше да го проумее. Беше попадал в този кладенец и преди, беше попадал в него много пъти и той му беше познат, но сега усещаше някаква странност, която никога преди не бе съществувала.
Знаеше, че странността е вътре в него � сякаш той беше някой друг, сякаш беше само наполовина себе си, а другата му половина бе обсебена от непознато създание, което бе притиснато до стената, виеше от страх и самотно скимтеше.
Той пълзеше, за да се измъкне от кладенеца, а съзнанието му трескаво се бореше срещу изпълващата го скимтяща странност и продължи да се бори дори когато той осъзна, че от тази борба няма смисъл. Странността щеше да живее в него и да бъде част, от него докато той самият съществуваше.
За момент спря, за да си отпочине от изкачването, и се опита да се концентрира, но това беше твърде сложно, защото той представляваше много неща на много места. Той беше човешко същество (каквото и да означаваше това), беше също суетяща се машина, беше извънземно Розово, проснало се на светлосин под, беше безмозъчна субстанция, прекосяваща цяла вечност от крещящо време, която, когато я бяха уточнили математически, всъщност се оказа част от секундата.�
И другото, ей този момент, когато главният герой прескача минути назад в миналото, вече изживяно и попада на тази сцена, която ако не е вдъхновила Кинг за Ланголиерите, нинам:
„Имаш� едно дърво � самотно и увехнало � което се издигаше на ъгъла до бръснарския салон.
И никъде нямаше хора. Нито птички, нито птичи песни. Нито кучета. Нито котки. Нито бръмчене на насекоми. Може би, помисли си Блейн, нямаше дори нито една бактерия или микроб.
...
Отдалечи се от моста на една-две крачки, защото той се беше превърнал ако не в заплаха, то поне в нещо, с което човек трябваше да е много внимателен. Не можеше да разчита на него. Беше просто илюзия и видение. Призрак, който му се бе изпречил на пътя. Ако беше стъпил на него или ако се беше опитал да мине по него, можеше да се търкулне надолу към коритото на потока.
Дали и мъртвите дървета и коловете от оградата също бяха видения?
Той застина неподвижно при тази мисъл. Дали всичко бе видение? Остана напълно неподвижен за миг, като не смееше да мръдне и дишаше бавно. Всяко смущение, което предизвикаше, можеше да изпрати това крехко и нереално място в прахта на пустеещото небитие.
Но земята под краката му беше (или поне така изглеждаше) твърда и стабилна. Опита я, като натисна силно с единия си крак. Тя все още държеше. Внимателно коленичи и я опипа с протегната ръка, сякаш проверяваше плътността й. Прокара пръсти по прахта на повърхността.
Това е пълна глупост, каза си той, ядосан на самия себе си. Беше вървял по този път и той не се беше разпаднал под натиска на краката му.�
И така нататък цяла глава. И така нататък цялата книга. От задължителните е.
Както и да е. С открито сърце мога да наредя „Времето е най-простото нещо� до най-добрите произведения на Саймък, особено сега, след като съм запознат с голяма част от творчеството му. Тук той пределно ясно показва защо повечето му герои са чешити и самотници, развивайки обратен сценарий. Също така, типично, се насочва навътре към човека, въпреки цялата технологична революция, която рамкира произведението. Нетипично, пък, се впуска в едно изследване на психологията на тълпата, като контрапункт на единствен човек, както е в повечето му книги.
Такааа, Шепърд Блейн е изследовател във „Фишхук� � огромен търговски агломерат, който сякаш се доближава най-много до Гибсъновите корпорации. Фишхук работят с „паранормалници� � индивиди владеещи слаби паранормални способности, на този етап напълно проумени и обработени от науката. Шепърт обаче закача нещо със съзнанието си, докато изпълнява задълженията си за фирмата и ще му се наложи да бяга. Когато остава незащитен от корпорацията осъзнава точно в колко грозно място се е превърнал света за хора като него. Намира приятели и противници и ще му се наложи да промени правилата на играта завинаги. А времето, то е най-простото нещо, само трябва да ви го обясни.
Няма такава словесност:
„То� пълзеше в мрачния кладенец, в който беше потопен, като опипваше пътя си със сляпа, почти инстинктивна упоритост. Знаеше къде се намира � сигурен беше, че знае � но не можеше да го проумее. Беше попадал в този кладенец и преди, беше попадал в него много пъти и той му беше познат, но сега усещаше някаква странност, която никога преди не бе съществувала.
Знаеше, че странността е вътре в него � сякаш той беше някой друг, сякаш беше само наполовина себе си, а другата му половина бе обсебена от непознато създание, което бе притиснато до стената, виеше от страх и самотно скимтеше.
Той пълзеше, за да се измъкне от кладенеца, а съзнанието му трескаво се бореше срещу изпълващата го скимтяща странност и продължи да се бори дори когато той осъзна, че от тази борба няма смисъл. Странността щеше да живее в него и да бъде част, от него докато той самият съществуваше.
За момент спря, за да си отпочине от изкачването, и се опита да се концентрира, но това беше твърде сложно, защото той представляваше много неща на много места. Той беше човешко същество (каквото и да означаваше това), беше също суетяща се машина, беше извънземно Розово, проснало се на светлосин под, беше безмозъчна субстанция, прекосяваща цяла вечност от крещящо време, която, когато я бяха уточнили математически, всъщност се оказа част от секундата.�
И другото, ей този момент, когато главният герой прескача минути назад в миналото, вече изживяно и попада на тази сцена, която ако не е вдъхновила Кинг за Ланголиерите, нинам:
„Имаш� едно дърво � самотно и увехнало � което се издигаше на ъгъла до бръснарския салон.
И никъде нямаше хора. Нито птички, нито птичи песни. Нито кучета. Нито котки. Нито бръмчене на насекоми. Може би, помисли си Блейн, нямаше дори нито една бактерия или микроб.
...
Отдалечи се от моста на една-две крачки, защото той се беше превърнал ако не в заплаха, то поне в нещо, с което човек трябваше да е много внимателен. Не можеше да разчита на него. Беше просто илюзия и видение. Призрак, който му се бе изпречил на пътя. Ако беше стъпил на него или ако се беше опитал да мине по него, можеше да се търкулне надолу към коритото на потока.
Дали и мъртвите дървета и коловете от оградата също бяха видения?
Той застина неподвижно при тази мисъл. Дали всичко бе видение? Остана напълно неподвижен за миг, като не смееше да мръдне и дишаше бавно. Всяко смущение, което предизвикаше, можеше да изпрати това крехко и нереално място в прахта на пустеещото небитие.
Но земята под краката му беше (или поне така изглеждаше) твърда и стабилна. Опита я, като натисна силно с единия си крак. Тя все още държеше. Внимателно коленичи и я опипа с протегната ръка, сякаш проверяваше плътността й. Прокара пръсти по прахта на повърхността.
Това е пълна глупост, каза си той, ядосан на самия себе си. Беше вървял по този път и той не се беше разпаднал под натиска на краката му.�
И така нататък цяла глава. И така нататък цялата книга. От задължителните е.
April 23, 2024
Another banger from Simak!
This one reminds me of that Carl Sagan quote from the demon haunted world about technology being in the hands of the few and people, not understanding, falling back to superstition and darkness.
In his usual, Bradbury-esque style he eschews actual science in favour of psychic abilities, creating a world where a company called fishhook, made up of telepaths who can project their minds into space, find technology they can use on earth. Fishhook has a monopoly on all alien tech and is squeezing out earthbound business interests.
Because of that, people with psychic powers are feared and hated outside the safety of fishhook. People once again believe in witchcraft and will kill “parries� when they find them.
The book is a pretty on the nose allegory for racial intolerance and the plot wanders a bit but I think simak isn’t really interested in doing straight ahead thrillers. His stories are like landscape paintings of possible worlds, he sometimes just lets these scenes play out and he’s got great prose.
Given the similarities between this and the x-men, which came out right around the same time, I wonder if it’s possible that it was inspired by this novel. I may look into that.
I’ve become a big fan of Simak’s work. He deserves to be better remembered and more widely read.
This one reminds me of that Carl Sagan quote from the demon haunted world about technology being in the hands of the few and people, not understanding, falling back to superstition and darkness.
In his usual, Bradbury-esque style he eschews actual science in favour of psychic abilities, creating a world where a company called fishhook, made up of telepaths who can project their minds into space, find technology they can use on earth. Fishhook has a monopoly on all alien tech and is squeezing out earthbound business interests.
Because of that, people with psychic powers are feared and hated outside the safety of fishhook. People once again believe in witchcraft and will kill “parries� when they find them.
The book is a pretty on the nose allegory for racial intolerance and the plot wanders a bit but I think simak isn’t really interested in doing straight ahead thrillers. His stories are like landscape paintings of possible worlds, he sometimes just lets these scenes play out and he’s got great prose.
Given the similarities between this and the x-men, which came out right around the same time, I wonder if it’s possible that it was inspired by this novel. I may look into that.
I’ve become a big fan of Simak’s work. He deserves to be better remembered and more widely read.
December 23, 2024
Time Is the Simplest Thing is one of Simak's most bleak, plot-driven stories, and I believe it was his longest novel. It was serialized under the title of The Fisherman in four installments (which was a rarity; three was standard) in 1961 in the April through July issues of Analog, shortly after the name changed from Astounding. It was nominated for a Hugo Award for the best novel of that year but lost to Robert A. Heinlein's iconic classic, Stranger in a Strange Land. It's set in the far future on an Earth where space exploration is conducted by telepaths working with a top-secret organization called Fishhook. Shep Blaine makes contact with an alien who exchanges consciousness with him and has to go on the run because Fishhook is afraid of contamination. Simak is discussing space travel and time travel and paranormal powers, but what he is obviously writing about is the Cold War and Civil Rights and mankind's innate fear of The Other. I wonder if this novel mightn't have been a big influence on some of the X-Men story arcs over the next couple of decades. There are some kind of long scenes where characters ponder the nature of power and politics and religion and prejudice and fear, but it's a very worthwhile and thought-provoking read, and definitely among Simak's best.
September 7, 2010
Although the title suggests a time-travel tale, this is actually a story about persecuted paranormals, standing in a tradition with Stapledon's Odd John (1935) at one end and X-Men, The 4400 and Heroes at the other. Simak's 1961 novel has more in common with the former, in that it shares Stapledon's pessimism about the possibility of reconciliation between exceptional and ordinary people.
Our hero is the slyly-named telepath Shepherd Blaine. He works for Fishhook, a corporation that employs paranormals ("parries") to visit the stars remotely. The rigours of solar radiation have rendered it impossible for mankind to travel there physically:
Blaine encounters an alien who takes up squatting room in Blaine's mind. Former colleagues to whom this has happened have been abducted by Fishhook, so Blaine goes on the run. He travels through a little-changed small-town America (Simak's habitual terrain), looking for purpose, dodging not only his employer's pursuit but the blind prejudice and mob violence of ordinary people.
It's in this persecution that Simak's characteristic sadness about the human condition comes through. The attempts of Blaine and others to create understanding between the inevitably factionalised populations, parries and normals, are seen to come to naught: small-minded prejudice, ignorance and fear, Simak seems to suggest, are beyond the ability of reason and goodwill to defeat. Using the skills he inherits from the alien, Blaine has to make his own 'happy ending': it cannot encompass everyone.
Simak was a great SF writer, sadly neglected now, and unusual among the old US crop in infusing his folksy books not with indomitable optimism, but with a humane, clear-sighted melancholy. This is no classic of the genre, but it's intelligent, thoughtful and well-written.
Our hero is the slyly-named telepath Shepherd Blaine. He works for Fishhook, a corporation that employs paranormals ("parries") to visit the stars remotely. The rigours of solar radiation have rendered it impossible for mankind to travel there physically:
And all the years were dead and all the dreams were futile and Man had finally ended up in a little planetary dead-end. For then the gods had toppled, and Man, in his secret mind, had known that after all the years of yearnings, he had achieved nothing more than gadgets.
Blaine encounters an alien who takes up squatting room in Blaine's mind. Former colleagues to whom this has happened have been abducted by Fishhook, so Blaine goes on the run. He travels through a little-changed small-town America (Simak's habitual terrain), looking for purpose, dodging not only his employer's pursuit but the blind prejudice and mob violence of ordinary people.
It's in this persecution that Simak's characteristic sadness about the human condition comes through. The attempts of Blaine and others to create understanding between the inevitably factionalised populations, parries and normals, are seen to come to naught: small-minded prejudice, ignorance and fear, Simak seems to suggest, are beyond the ability of reason and goodwill to defeat. Using the skills he inherits from the alien, Blaine has to make his own 'happy ending': it cannot encompass everyone.
Simak was a great SF writer, sadly neglected now, and unusual among the old US crop in infusing his folksy books not with indomitable optimism, but with a humane, clear-sighted melancholy. This is no classic of the genre, but it's intelligent, thoughtful and well-written.
March 7, 2017
Written s(i)mack-dab in the middle of the American Civil Rights Movement, Clifford D. Simak's "Time Is the Simplest Thing" utilizes the tools of science fiction to make poignant comments on the issues of the day. The novel, the author's sixth out of an eventual 29, was initially serialized in the May � July 1961 issues of "Analog" magazine with the equally appropriate title "The Fisherman," and went on to be nominated for that year's Hugo Award. (It lost, to Robert A. Heinlein's "Stranger In a Strange Land.") Later that year, it made its first book appearance as a Doubleday hardcover, the selfsame edition that this reader was fortunate enough to acquire at NYC bookstore extraordinaire The Strand. Simak, it should be mentioned, was actually only a part-time writer at this stage of his lengthy career. From 1939 � '76, the Wisconsin-born author held a full-time job on the "Minneapolis Star," where he worked as news editor from 1949 on. Nevertheless, by 1961, Simak had already written those five earlier novels, not to mention some 95 short stories, and had already copped his first Hugo (for 1959's Best Novelette, "The Big Front Yard"); he would go on to win two more Hugos and a Nebula, and be proclaimed sci-fi's third official Grand Master, before his career was through. "Time Is the Simplest Thing" was written when the author was 57, and finds him in very fine form, indeed. It is a fast-moving, imaginative tale, and one that had--as I mentioned--the added benefit of being socially relevant, as well.
In Simak's novel, mankind has finally admitted defeat, as far as ever traveling to the stars is concerned, that pesky Van Allen radiation belt seeming to be a practically unpassable obstacle. Thus, around 100 years from the present day, an organization known as Fishhook comes into being. Headquartered in northern Mexico, the group makes use of telepathically gifted individuals who can explore other worlds by projecting outward with their minds! And so, mankind can safely wander over the worlds of the galaxy while its "paranormals" lie safely in their "star machines" at Fishhook HQ. Shepherd Blaine is one such paranormal, one whose life is upended one day when he shares minds with a gigantic, pink, bloblike alien as he mentally explores a planet around 5,000 light-years distant. When he is revived at Fishhook, Blaine discovers that the alien mentality is still sharing part of his noggin, making him a suspected, infected target for the organization's security force. Shep thus takes it on the lam, along with sympathetic, telepathic newswoman Harriet Quimby.
The two manage to make it to the U.S., where Blaine is almost lynched in a small border town. The entire populace, it seems, is in great fear of all "parries," branding them witches and werewolves. Fortunately, as Blaine continues to flee across the country, hunted by the Fishhook people and the frightened populace, he discovers that he now possesses some unusual new abilities, thanks to that alien residue in his mind: the ability to speed up or slow down time, the ability to divine an object's history by merely staring at it (psychometry), and...one other crucial ability, that comes in very handy when he discovers that another Fishhook ex-employee, Lambert Finn, is planning a genocidal pogrom against all the parries in the world. But will even these godlike abilities be enough to quell worldwide discrimination and unrest?
As "Time Is the Simplest Thing" proceeds, it becomes evident that all these folks with paranormal abilities--be they telepaths or teleporters or psychokineticists--are stand-in symbols for all those folks who are discriminated against in modern-day, real-life society. Whether they are blacks, Jews, gays...or Muslims, Simak has this to say on the subject:
"…how much ability and genius might be lying barren, ability and genius that the world could use but would never know because of the intolerance and hate which was held against the very people who were least qualified as the targets of it."
And later in the book:
"Someday...the world would look back and wonder at the madness...at the blindness and the folly and the sheer intolerance. Someday there would be vindication. Someday sanity."
And later still:
"The darkness of the mind, the bleakness of the thought, the shallowness of purpose. These were the werewolves of the world."
For its right-on central message alone, regarding the evils of intolerance of those who are different, "Time Is the Simplest Thing" would get my heartiest recommendation. But the book offers the reader many other pleasures, as well.
As I said before, the book gallops along at a rapid pace, and Blaine's predicament is an interesting one. As Scottish critic David Pringle mentions in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction," the novel is "a shade tougher than this sentimental/pastoral author's normal fare," and I suppose that this is true, with any number of violent confrontations, fistfights, murders, suicide and assorted mayhem on display. Simak was a wonderful writer, need I even mention, and adds pleasing, futuristic grace notes throughout his book, such as automobiles with air jets and nuclear engines, not to mention all the many wonders that Fishhook has managed to bring back to Earth (becoming at the same time more of a venal, capitalistic monopoly than a space exploration agency): the "Dimensino" entertainment program; the "transo" booth for instantaneous transportation; the Gobathian drug, used by an insect race to repair broken bodies; and that straitjacket-like robe, made from the striped skin of an alien creature.
Simak's writing style is simple, clean and compulsively readable, and yet still capable of delivering a choice line such as "a face that looked as if it were a place where chickens scratched in their search for grubs and worms." As had Alfred Bester in his 1953 masterpiece "The Demolished Man," Simak here utilizes different typefaces very effectively to convey spoken and telepathed conversations, often mixing the two in the same paragraph. He's not above coining his own words --such as "smuggery"--to suit his needs, and even seems to have beaten Patrick McGoohan's classic television program "The Prisoner" to the punch when he describes the idyllic Fishhook pleasure village by the sea, in which it holds captive those who attempt to escape the organization!
All of which is not to say that Simak's novel is a perfect affair. Indeed, this reader had two problems with "Time Is the Simplest Thing," one large and one small. The minor complaint is that it is a bit too dependent on (double) coincidence; I'll let you find out just where and when yourself. My main problem with Simak's story, however, is that we never learn precisely just how Fishhook has managed to bring back all those alien goods to Earth, when our explorers are only visiting those planets mentally. It is an aspect of the story that is hardly touched on, and yet one that plays a central role in Fishhook's position in Earth society. This reader wanted to know more, to put it mildly. Simak's book ends with matters not completely resolved, either, with the fate of many of the parries still very much in jeopardy, and with Blaine thinking that a lot of work remains to be done. Simak could easily have revisited this fascinating story line of his for a justifiable follow-up tale, but no; this was one author who never wrote a sequel to any of his 29 novels, preferring to always come up with something fresh and original.
Still, for what it is, "Time Is the Simplest Thing" remains a satisfying experience, and, as I say, a right-on one. It is a book whose central message--a plea for understanding and acceptance for those who are different--is more needed today than ever.
(By the way, this review initially appeared on the FanLit website at ... a most excellent destination for all fans of Clifford D. Simak....)
In Simak's novel, mankind has finally admitted defeat, as far as ever traveling to the stars is concerned, that pesky Van Allen radiation belt seeming to be a practically unpassable obstacle. Thus, around 100 years from the present day, an organization known as Fishhook comes into being. Headquartered in northern Mexico, the group makes use of telepathically gifted individuals who can explore other worlds by projecting outward with their minds! And so, mankind can safely wander over the worlds of the galaxy while its "paranormals" lie safely in their "star machines" at Fishhook HQ. Shepherd Blaine is one such paranormal, one whose life is upended one day when he shares minds with a gigantic, pink, bloblike alien as he mentally explores a planet around 5,000 light-years distant. When he is revived at Fishhook, Blaine discovers that the alien mentality is still sharing part of his noggin, making him a suspected, infected target for the organization's security force. Shep thus takes it on the lam, along with sympathetic, telepathic newswoman Harriet Quimby.
The two manage to make it to the U.S., where Blaine is almost lynched in a small border town. The entire populace, it seems, is in great fear of all "parries," branding them witches and werewolves. Fortunately, as Blaine continues to flee across the country, hunted by the Fishhook people and the frightened populace, he discovers that he now possesses some unusual new abilities, thanks to that alien residue in his mind: the ability to speed up or slow down time, the ability to divine an object's history by merely staring at it (psychometry), and...one other crucial ability, that comes in very handy when he discovers that another Fishhook ex-employee, Lambert Finn, is planning a genocidal pogrom against all the parries in the world. But will even these godlike abilities be enough to quell worldwide discrimination and unrest?
As "Time Is the Simplest Thing" proceeds, it becomes evident that all these folks with paranormal abilities--be they telepaths or teleporters or psychokineticists--are stand-in symbols for all those folks who are discriminated against in modern-day, real-life society. Whether they are blacks, Jews, gays...or Muslims, Simak has this to say on the subject:
"…how much ability and genius might be lying barren, ability and genius that the world could use but would never know because of the intolerance and hate which was held against the very people who were least qualified as the targets of it."
And later in the book:
"Someday...the world would look back and wonder at the madness...at the blindness and the folly and the sheer intolerance. Someday there would be vindication. Someday sanity."
And later still:
"The darkness of the mind, the bleakness of the thought, the shallowness of purpose. These were the werewolves of the world."
For its right-on central message alone, regarding the evils of intolerance of those who are different, "Time Is the Simplest Thing" would get my heartiest recommendation. But the book offers the reader many other pleasures, as well.
As I said before, the book gallops along at a rapid pace, and Blaine's predicament is an interesting one. As Scottish critic David Pringle mentions in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction," the novel is "a shade tougher than this sentimental/pastoral author's normal fare," and I suppose that this is true, with any number of violent confrontations, fistfights, murders, suicide and assorted mayhem on display. Simak was a wonderful writer, need I even mention, and adds pleasing, futuristic grace notes throughout his book, such as automobiles with air jets and nuclear engines, not to mention all the many wonders that Fishhook has managed to bring back to Earth (becoming at the same time more of a venal, capitalistic monopoly than a space exploration agency): the "Dimensino" entertainment program; the "transo" booth for instantaneous transportation; the Gobathian drug, used by an insect race to repair broken bodies; and that straitjacket-like robe, made from the striped skin of an alien creature.
Simak's writing style is simple, clean and compulsively readable, and yet still capable of delivering a choice line such as "a face that looked as if it were a place where chickens scratched in their search for grubs and worms." As had Alfred Bester in his 1953 masterpiece "The Demolished Man," Simak here utilizes different typefaces very effectively to convey spoken and telepathed conversations, often mixing the two in the same paragraph. He's not above coining his own words --such as "smuggery"--to suit his needs, and even seems to have beaten Patrick McGoohan's classic television program "The Prisoner" to the punch when he describes the idyllic Fishhook pleasure village by the sea, in which it holds captive those who attempt to escape the organization!
All of which is not to say that Simak's novel is a perfect affair. Indeed, this reader had two problems with "Time Is the Simplest Thing," one large and one small. The minor complaint is that it is a bit too dependent on (double) coincidence; I'll let you find out just where and when yourself. My main problem with Simak's story, however, is that we never learn precisely just how Fishhook has managed to bring back all those alien goods to Earth, when our explorers are only visiting those planets mentally. It is an aspect of the story that is hardly touched on, and yet one that plays a central role in Fishhook's position in Earth society. This reader wanted to know more, to put it mildly. Simak's book ends with matters not completely resolved, either, with the fate of many of the parries still very much in jeopardy, and with Blaine thinking that a lot of work remains to be done. Simak could easily have revisited this fascinating story line of his for a justifiable follow-up tale, but no; this was one author who never wrote a sequel to any of his 29 novels, preferring to always come up with something fresh and original.
Still, for what it is, "Time Is the Simplest Thing" remains a satisfying experience, and, as I say, a right-on one. It is a book whose central message--a plea for understanding and acceptance for those who are different--is more needed today than ever.
(By the way, this review initially appeared on the FanLit website at ... a most excellent destination for all fans of Clifford D. Simak....)
March 26, 2023
Дуже класний і динамічний початок, цікавий сюжет та персонажі. Також сподобався світ майбутнього, подорожі на інші планети, саме як вони відбувалися. Але кінцівка книги як на мене взагалі ніяка, хотілось епіка та екшну, а була тільки філософія.
August 14, 2019
Not my favorite Simak. Hotbeds of activity are over the border in Mexico, and then Pierre, South Dakota, really? And what does the man have against contractions (like won't instead of will not)? Still, interesting ideas, terrific exploration of human nature in regards to things we don't understand and to which we develop a fear.
"For it was authority that made men suspicious and stern-faced. Authority and responsibility which made them not themselves, but a sort of corporate body rather than a person."
Give me Simak over Heinlein any day.
"For it was authority that made men suspicious and stern-faced. Authority and responsibility which made them not themselves, but a sort of corporate body rather than a person."
Give me Simak over Heinlein any day.
February 28, 2025
Мене настільки переповнюють емоції, що важко поки описати це словами.
Однозначно краще ніж Місто.
Сімак з другої книги ввірвався у перший ряд найулюбленіших письменників.
Можливо я прочитав щось своє (через власну оптику), але це було прям в 💘
Однозначно краще ніж Місто.
Сімак з другої книги ввірвався у перший ряд найулюбленіших письменників.
Можливо я прочитав щось своє (через власну оптику), але це було прям в 💘
October 30, 2013
Людина звикла бути сильнішою. У всі часи людина знаходила спосіб бути сильнішою за природу, інших істот.. Але що коли поруч з людьми з'являться "істоти" сильніші за неї, хоч і не бажаючи людині нічого погано, чи зможе сама людина усвідомлюючи це співіснувати з потенційно сильнішою у мирі? А що взагалі робити коли Ти інакший?
Дуже цікава роль корпорації в цій книзі.. Про наростання незадоволення з однієї сторони і бажання все контролювати з іншої.. Надзвичайно цікава історія і не менш відпадние закінчення ;)! Рекомендую!
П.С.Будь які крайнощі згубні!
Дуже цікава роль корпорації в цій книзі.. Про наростання незадоволення з однієї сторони і бажання все контролювати з іншої.. Надзвичайно цікава історія і не менш відпадние закінчення ;)! Рекомендую!
П.С.Будь які крайнощі згубні!
January 25, 2019
Wish I'd liked this one more than I did. There are clear parallels here between the persecution of paranormals ("parries") and the persecution of Jews, black people, etc. However, I'm not keen at all on the paranormal (a.k.a. ESP, psionics, etc.) in SF and found I cared little about most of the characters here.
August 11, 2022
Time is the Simplest Thing is a saga of telepathic space travel, common human ignorance and savagery, and a high caliber story of conspiracy and fear. After mankind has failed to traverse the stars physically, the newly evolved telepaths prove to be the only ones capable of exploring other planets and systems. The organization Fishhook employs telepaths to project themselves thousands of light years away, exploring alien planets, and even taking technology and discoveries from these places to be appropriated on Earth for the benefit of humankind. Ocassionally even encountering alien entities unexplainable to the rest of the world.
Humans wouldn’t be humans if a large portion of the population wasn’t deathly afraid of the telepaths, and suspicious of Fishhook, imagining nefarious intentions behind this mysterious organization. And so this is the setting we have, a world in which telepaths, who offer mighty and magical things for the prosperity of humanity, are treated with disgust and violence.
One of these Fishhook telepaths becomes bonded with an alien life form he encounters, and upon returning to his body after the excursion, recalls what he was once told by a colleague: If you make contact, don’t wait around for Fishhook to find out. Run. And so he runs, and thus begins the odyssey of Shepard Blaine’s fleeing from a shadowy megacorp, and a rapidly unfolding story about a bigger conflict, a stranger mystery, and competing plots for the fate of all telepaths on an Earth that is hostile to them.
This is the only book by Simak I’ve read, but it’s a terrific one. Perfectly paced, with tight prose that has just enough imagery and feeling and sensory exposition, subtle worldbuilding, a convincing and yet amorphous narrative that seems to redirect the story at various points until all the directions make sense at once. Telepathy plays a central role throughout the book, and is executed in a way that predicts modern modes of communication. Some of Simak’s other inventiveness foreshadows a great deal about human habits and leisure.
It’s got an intensity to it that’s grounded in realistic human hatred and confusion, made more magnificent by the alienness that grows increasingly important as things progress. This alien element that has become part of Blaine is almost a story in itself, an escape into the universe and into nonhuman ways of knowing. A great book that builds and builds, never loses control or focus, and hints at cosmic wonders and perseverance and hope even in chaos.
Humans wouldn’t be humans if a large portion of the population wasn’t deathly afraid of the telepaths, and suspicious of Fishhook, imagining nefarious intentions behind this mysterious organization. And so this is the setting we have, a world in which telepaths, who offer mighty and magical things for the prosperity of humanity, are treated with disgust and violence.
One of these Fishhook telepaths becomes bonded with an alien life form he encounters, and upon returning to his body after the excursion, recalls what he was once told by a colleague: If you make contact, don’t wait around for Fishhook to find out. Run. And so he runs, and thus begins the odyssey of Shepard Blaine’s fleeing from a shadowy megacorp, and a rapidly unfolding story about a bigger conflict, a stranger mystery, and competing plots for the fate of all telepaths on an Earth that is hostile to them.
This is the only book by Simak I’ve read, but it’s a terrific one. Perfectly paced, with tight prose that has just enough imagery and feeling and sensory exposition, subtle worldbuilding, a convincing and yet amorphous narrative that seems to redirect the story at various points until all the directions make sense at once. Telepathy plays a central role throughout the book, and is executed in a way that predicts modern modes of communication. Some of Simak’s other inventiveness foreshadows a great deal about human habits and leisure.
It’s got an intensity to it that’s grounded in realistic human hatred and confusion, made more magnificent by the alienness that grows increasingly important as things progress. This alien element that has become part of Blaine is almost a story in itself, an escape into the universe and into nonhuman ways of knowing. A great book that builds and builds, never loses control or focus, and hints at cosmic wonders and perseverance and hope even in chaos.
February 8, 2022
Még nem tartunk ott, amilyen lehetőségeket vizionál Simak ebben a regényben. Mai világunk a technika bűvöletében él, nehéz elképzelni másfajta irányt.
Mint regény nem túlzottan jó, de a szerző sok érdekes témát boncolgat, a világűr meghódításával kapcsolatban, az emberiség jövőjéről.
Ami nekem tetszett, az az űrutazás témája, szkeptikus vagyok ez ügyben. Szerintem hiába várjuk nagy reményekkel a Mars-utazást, a bolygóközi távolságok legyőzését, kolóniák születését-ami sok-sok sci-fi témája. A történeteket olvasni jó, de más dolog a realitás. Clifford Simak eltérő módon képzeli el a jövőt, mindenesetre érdekes teória.
Pörgős cselekményt, izgalmakat várók ne olvassák!
Mint regény nem túlzottan jó, de a szerző sok érdekes témát boncolgat, a világűr meghódításával kapcsolatban, az emberiség jövőjéről.
Ami nekem tetszett, az az űrutazás témája, szkeptikus vagyok ez ügyben. Szerintem hiába várjuk nagy reményekkel a Mars-utazást, a bolygóközi távolságok legyőzését, kolóniák születését-ami sok-sok sci-fi témája. A történeteket olvasni jó, de más dolog a realitás. Clifford Simak eltérő módon képzeli el a jövőt, mindenesetre érdekes teória.
Pörgős cselekményt, izgalmakat várók ne olvassák!
August 23, 2019
This book is well worth reading, but I got tired of the repetitive, lengthy preaching. And also, despite the title, it is not really about time travel. It's about men, and one man in particular, who travel to the stars by telepathy,
Anyway, it was worth reading, it just could have been shorter. Here's a great quote . . .
___And the pity of it was that such hate and such intolerance would never have been born, could never had existed, had it not been for . . . the bigots and egomaniacs; the harsh, stern Puritans; the little men who felt the need of power to lift them from their smallness.
___There was little moderation in humanity, it was either for you or it was against you.
Ain't in the truth! Ain't it the truth!
Anyway, it was worth reading, it just could have been shorter. Here's a great quote . . .
___And the pity of it was that such hate and such intolerance would never have been born, could never had existed, had it not been for . . . the bigots and egomaniacs; the harsh, stern Puritans; the little men who felt the need of power to lift them from their smallness.
___There was little moderation in humanity, it was either for you or it was against you.
Ain't in the truth! Ain't it the truth!
January 6, 2018
Fifth Simak novel that I've read. I feel of those, this is his most aggressive in tone. He crams a lot in the plot and yet, sometimes it is still surprising. At times a little too esoteric. The ending (last couple of chapters) for example, is a struggle to get through. This is less about mental powers than the fear that humans have of the Other and the control that corporations exert. Human development story with social commentary. Add a little fugitive escape and evasion. Stir. Good for Simak fans and Vintage maniacs.
September 7, 2010
I got this book from my local libary when i devoured the SCI-FI section not long after i found how much i loved reading.
December 20, 2023
Na GR znalazłam kilka zachwytów nad tą książką plus Rebis ją wznowił, więc uznałam, że oparła się działaniu czasu na tyle skutecznie, żeby ją przeczytać w 2023 roku. Myliłam się. W samym sednie opisywanych problemów jest wciąż aktualna, ale wykonanie nie przetrwało próby czasu. Końcówka lat 60 XX wieku nie jawi się w nich jako wielowymiarowa rzeczywistość, lecz tylko tło, jak w filmach z fabryki snów, kiedy ktoś niby jedzie samochodem, a tak naprawdę stoi w studiu w LA. Miałam nawet nadzieję na początku lektury, że to przemyślany zabieg, coś jak w „Według łotra� Wiśniewskiego-Snerga. Ale nie. Na myśl przychodziły mi też książki PKD, które pisane były w tym samym czasie, ale nie ma w nich niezamierzonej sztuczności jego światów. PKD sztuczność w rzeczywistość swoich książek intencjonalnie wkalkulowywał.
Simak opisał moment, w którym nauka staję magią, czymś co wywołuje negatywne reakcje postronnych osób, które zaczynają się jej bać. Co więcej - ten, kto posiadł zbyt wielki (jak na standardy społeczeństwa) „magiczny� dar, staje się pariasem, czarownikiem, wyklętym. Osoby te posiadają bowiem zdolności parapsychiczne. Społeczeństwo zrównuje je w kolektywnej świadomości z wampirami, zmiennokształtnymi, upiorami, zombie, które nadal w tym świecie nie istnieją obiektywnie, za to istnieją realnie - w umysłach wierzących w nie ludzi, którzy postępują tak, jakby te istoty mogły im zrobić krzywdę.
Świat popada w zabobon. Żeby tego było mało nauka ręka w rękę z kapitałem odbiera ludziom godność, uszczęśliwiając ich swoimi wynalazkami, które sprawiają, że ‘zwyklaki� czują się niepotrzebne. Podziały pogłębiają się.
Ludzie ze specjalnymi umiejętności, których nie rozumieją zwyczajni współobywatele, to ważny motyw tej książki. Ci ludzie są nadzieją ludzności na dalszy postęp, a jednocześnie są odrzucani przez ludzkość, bo zbyt różnią się od reszty. Ludzie boją się inności, ale boją się też tego, co przyniesie postęp, który już ich zdążył rozczarować.
Simak opisał moment, w którym nauka staję magią, czymś co wywołuje negatywne reakcje postronnych osób, które zaczynają się jej bać. Co więcej - ten, kto posiadł zbyt wielki (jak na standardy społeczeństwa) „magiczny� dar, staje się pariasem, czarownikiem, wyklętym. Osoby te posiadają bowiem zdolności parapsychiczne. Społeczeństwo zrównuje je w kolektywnej świadomości z wampirami, zmiennokształtnymi, upiorami, zombie, które nadal w tym świecie nie istnieją obiektywnie, za to istnieją realnie - w umysłach wierzących w nie ludzi, którzy postępują tak, jakby te istoty mogły im zrobić krzywdę.
Świat popada w zabobon. Żeby tego było mało nauka ręka w rękę z kapitałem odbiera ludziom godność, uszczęśliwiając ich swoimi wynalazkami, które sprawiają, że ‘zwyklaki� czują się niepotrzebne. Podziały pogłębiają się.
Ludzie ze specjalnymi umiejętności, których nie rozumieją zwyczajni współobywatele, to ważny motyw tej książki. Ci ludzie są nadzieją ludzności na dalszy postęp, a jednocześnie są odrzucani przez ludzkość, bo zbyt różnią się od reszty. Ludzie boją się inności, ale boją się też tego, co przyniesie postęp, który już ich zdążył rozczarować.
February 27, 2020
Час - найпростіша річ? Точно простіша за людські стосунки. А як було б чудово: приймати невідоме, не боятися нового, бути відкритими до незвіданого, не відкидати не-таке. Давати жити іншим, в решті решт. На жаль, ми такі які є.
Ідея зустрічі людини з інопланетним розумом не нова, як і можливі варіанти вирішення конфлікту, але вихід, запропонований Саймаком, мені поки найбільше припав до душі. Якщо люди не хочуть мінятися, не бажають впускати нове в свої життя, не сприймають пояснень - чому не дати їм спокій, не залишити їх там, де вони є, і не піти? Нехай живуть, як їм буде завгодно, можливо, "світле майбутнє" у кожного своє. Правда, зовсім добре, коли йти є куди, в цьому героям роману пощастило, звичайно. Нам же так просто не втекти від наших чвар.
Але повернемося до книги. Гарна, якісна фантастика, якій мені так не вистачало. Людство вийшло в космос, хай і не так, як розраховувало спочатку, але вийшло, відкриває для себе нові світи і себе для них, нові культури, світогляди. Деякі з них близькі до досконалості, деякі - до абсолютного зла. І так легко, побачивши щось одне, вирішити, що і решта світу така ж, злякатися, зрадіти, зненавидіти, захопитися, захотіти закритися в своєму крихітному закутку космосу або ж навпаки, впустити в нього якомога більше іншого. Але хіба не своєю різноманітністю і прекрасен Всесвіт? Чому ж людству так важко це прийняти ...
Ідея зустрічі людини з інопланетним розумом не нова, як і можливі варіанти вирішення конфлікту, але вихід, запропонований Саймаком, мені поки найбільше припав до душі. Якщо люди не хочуть мінятися, не бажають впускати нове в свої життя, не сприймають пояснень - чому не дати їм спокій, не залишити їх там, де вони є, і не піти? Нехай живуть, як їм буде завгодно, можливо, "світле майбутнє" у кожного своє. Правда, зовсім добре, коли йти є куди, в цьому героям роману пощастило, звичайно. Нам же так просто не втекти від наших чвар.
Але повернемося до книги. Гарна, якісна фантастика, якій мені так не вистачало. Людство вийшло в космос, хай і не так, як розраховувало спочатку, але вийшло, відкриває для себе нові світи і себе для них, нові культури, світогляди. Деякі з них близькі до досконалості, деякі - до абсолютного зла. І так легко, побачивши щось одне, вирішити, що і решта світу така ж, злякатися, зрадіти, зненавидіти, захопитися, захотіти закритися в своєму крихітному закутку космосу або ж навпаки, впустити в нього якомога більше іншого. Але хіба не своєю різноманітністю і прекрасен Всесвіт? Чому ж людству так важко це прийняти ...
October 27, 2024
This book is a mixture of time travel, paranormality, telepathy and space. As we see in his other works, the theme here is a common man against all odds, and the protagonist, a space explorer named Shep Blaine, goes through a lot.
The method of space traveling here is different as humanity has already given up on trying it physically, due to the dangers, the expenses and the fact of gaining nothing for all the trouble. It's astral projection. Humanity has built a technology to allow gifted people to travel with this method across the galaxy. Sounds much more efficient than exploring the space physically, right? The problem is, that there is an anti paranormal movement in the population. Some of the explorers tend to disappear once they return from their expeditions, especially if they've been mentally impacted by their travels. And Shep Blaine, after returning from his expedition, in which he makes telepathic contact with an alien mind, finds himself in a tight spot. After his very extraordinary experience, now he needs to face humanity's ignorance and prejudice. And unfortunately, that's the bigger challenge...
I like what Simak does with his sci-fi stories. He uses sci-fi as a tool to talk about humanity and society. I think that's the strong suit of speculative fiction and essentially, that's what the best speculative fiction works successfully do. Changing regular guns with lasers won't make it science fiction, but exploring the impact of having laser guns on society will. Simak aims to do that, at least that has been the case in the works that I've read so far. That's what makes me keep returning to his books and he is for sure becoming one of my favorite authors.
The method of space traveling here is different as humanity has already given up on trying it physically, due to the dangers, the expenses and the fact of gaining nothing for all the trouble. It's astral projection. Humanity has built a technology to allow gifted people to travel with this method across the galaxy. Sounds much more efficient than exploring the space physically, right? The problem is, that there is an anti paranormal movement in the population. Some of the explorers tend to disappear once they return from their expeditions, especially if they've been mentally impacted by their travels. And Shep Blaine, after returning from his expedition, in which he makes telepathic contact with an alien mind, finds himself in a tight spot. After his very extraordinary experience, now he needs to face humanity's ignorance and prejudice. And unfortunately, that's the bigger challenge...
I like what Simak does with his sci-fi stories. He uses sci-fi as a tool to talk about humanity and society. I think that's the strong suit of speculative fiction and essentially, that's what the best speculative fiction works successfully do. Changing regular guns with lasers won't make it science fiction, but exploring the impact of having laser guns on society will. Simak aims to do that, at least that has been the case in the works that I've read so far. That's what makes me keep returning to his books and he is for sure becoming one of my favorite authors.
June 11, 2016
Storyline: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Writing Style: 3/5
World: 4/5
What happens when science fails to live up to society's expectations? How will the masses react when a sixth sense is verified? Simak's world shows us the answers to these stimulating questions. Through a fairly simple plot - basically an extended chase scene - the book showcases excellent science fiction writing.
Simak, here, is weak with the micro-level: the characters are shallow, the individual action scenes are not particularly dramatic, and the "other" is far too familiar. When zoomed out, however, the work excels in projecting the future of mass social behavior, the path of an economic system, and the revolting reaction to genuinely alien ideas. It is one of those science fiction works that stands the test of time. It would still be provocative, creative, and relevant were it first published today.
Characters: 2/5
Writing Style: 3/5
World: 4/5
What happens when science fails to live up to society's expectations? How will the masses react when a sixth sense is verified? Simak's world shows us the answers to these stimulating questions. Through a fairly simple plot - basically an extended chase scene - the book showcases excellent science fiction writing.
Simak, here, is weak with the micro-level: the characters are shallow, the individual action scenes are not particularly dramatic, and the "other" is far too familiar. When zoomed out, however, the work excels in projecting the future of mass social behavior, the path of an economic system, and the revolting reaction to genuinely alien ideas. It is one of those science fiction works that stands the test of time. It would still be provocative, creative, and relevant were it first published today.
May 24, 2023
2.5�
No me gusta ponerle tan baja nota a los libros pero para mi tiene mucho valor la honestidad conmigo misma y, si soy sincera, sé que mañana ya olvidaré haber leído este libro. No tan literal, pero sí.
No creo que el protagonista, Blaine, me aporte nada nuevo desde la temática de distopía; se parece demasiado a todos los personajes que leemos y vemos en este tipo de historias, aunque es extraño porque el elemento paranormal podría haber sumado demasiado para la construcción de su identidad y personalidad. ¿Quién es este hombre? ¿Qué lo distingue del resto de personajes y lo hace especial? Nada, la verdad es que nada. Quizá la cosa color de rosa, la cual desapareció en algún punto y no sé si fue importante o no para la trama. Sin embargo, sí fue importantísima para una de las reflexiones que más me gustaron del libro, así que no me quejo...tanto.
Respecto al ritmo, se me hizo normal, un poco lento para el final sólo porque perdí el enganche y no ayudó de nada que me pusieran uno de los clichés que más odio con todo mi corazón, el instalove. ¿Blaine y Anita? ¿En qué minuto? Lo sentí tan forzado como las relaciones que construyó Dan Brown en los libros de Robert Langdon (que por cierto, los amé); ¿por qué la chica debía quedarse afuerzas con el protagonista? Cuando ellas eran increíbles solas, cuando no tenía por qué haber química romántica ahí, sólo química laboral o de compañeros de equipo. Innecesario.
En conclusión, sólo soy capaz de recordar lo malo porque todo lo demás está eclipsado por mis lecturas actuales.
No me gusta ponerle tan baja nota a los libros pero para mi tiene mucho valor la honestidad conmigo misma y, si soy sincera, sé que mañana ya olvidaré haber leído este libro. No tan literal, pero sí.
No creo que el protagonista, Blaine, me aporte nada nuevo desde la temática de distopía; se parece demasiado a todos los personajes que leemos y vemos en este tipo de historias, aunque es extraño porque el elemento paranormal podría haber sumado demasiado para la construcción de su identidad y personalidad. ¿Quién es este hombre? ¿Qué lo distingue del resto de personajes y lo hace especial? Nada, la verdad es que nada. Quizá la cosa color de rosa, la cual desapareció en algún punto y no sé si fue importante o no para la trama. Sin embargo, sí fue importantísima para una de las reflexiones que más me gustaron del libro, así que no me quejo...tanto.
Respecto al ritmo, se me hizo normal, un poco lento para el final sólo porque perdí el enganche y no ayudó de nada que me pusieran uno de los clichés que más odio con todo mi corazón, el instalove. ¿Blaine y Anita? ¿En qué minuto? Lo sentí tan forzado como las relaciones que construyó Dan Brown en los libros de Robert Langdon (que por cierto, los amé); ¿por qué la chica debía quedarse afuerzas con el protagonista? Cuando ellas eran increíbles solas, cuando no tenía por qué haber química romántica ahí, sólo química laboral o de compañeros de equipo. Innecesario.
En conclusión, sólo soy capaz de recordar lo malo porque todo lo demás está eclipsado por mis lecturas actuales.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2017
I've read a couple of other books by recently; and , and enjoyed both very much. Unfortunately, wasn't quite as successful. It was a short book so I stuck with it.
Basically, Shep Blaine is a paranormal who is used by an organization called Fishhook to explore the stars. At some point in Earth's history, mankind decided that science and spaceships could not succeed in this exploration. Fishhook continued working with science and discovered that paranormals with the assistance of star machines could explore the universe without leaving Earth; their minds and a recording machine of sorts would do this exploration and bring back anything useful that was discovered. Fishhook is a monopoly and becomes a repository for anything useful discovered that is then sold to mankind to make life easier.
Blaine discovers another being on one visit and their minds become enmeshed. He decides he has to escape Fishhook as he is now alien and a danger to them. Thus begins a mad journey across the US as he tries to discover who he is and how he can fight Fishhook and also help paranormals scattered throughout the US and world. For another twist in the story is that mankind has become very suspicious and superstitious of paranormals, believing them to be akin to witches and werewolves and such.
There are interesting possibilities in this story but overall I just thought it tried to hard and ended up not succeeding like it wanted. I liked lots of pieces; Simak displayed a nice touch with small details and actions. But it just was a bit all over the place and while the ending tried to resolve matters, it wasn't all that satisfying of a story. I still have some of his books to read and will try again but this wasn't one of his successes in my mind. (2.5 stars)
Basically, Shep Blaine is a paranormal who is used by an organization called Fishhook to explore the stars. At some point in Earth's history, mankind decided that science and spaceships could not succeed in this exploration. Fishhook continued working with science and discovered that paranormals with the assistance of star machines could explore the universe without leaving Earth; their minds and a recording machine of sorts would do this exploration and bring back anything useful that was discovered. Fishhook is a monopoly and becomes a repository for anything useful discovered that is then sold to mankind to make life easier.
Blaine discovers another being on one visit and their minds become enmeshed. He decides he has to escape Fishhook as he is now alien and a danger to them. Thus begins a mad journey across the US as he tries to discover who he is and how he can fight Fishhook and also help paranormals scattered throughout the US and world. For another twist in the story is that mankind has become very suspicious and superstitious of paranormals, believing them to be akin to witches and werewolves and such.
There are interesting possibilities in this story but overall I just thought it tried to hard and ended up not succeeding like it wanted. I liked lots of pieces; Simak displayed a nice touch with small details and actions. But it just was a bit all over the place and while the ending tried to resolve matters, it wasn't all that satisfying of a story. I still have some of his books to read and will try again but this wasn't one of his successes in my mind. (2.5 stars)
October 4, 2018
Space exploration with the mind, good aliens, bad aliens, and a societal backlash against paranormal humans (and subsequent commentary on civil rights) - this once serialized book has all of this and more. It also felt a bit preachy, a bit scattered and lacked a solid conclusion.
So how did I really feel? This book was originally serialized, and at times it felt like short stories in that world. Most had their own conclusion; the book as a whole didn't seem to, and the solution chosen by the main character wasn't great. Also, why choose Mexico and South Dakota as locations - then ignore most of what comes between the two geographically?
Simak does describe locations beautifully, and these include both the past and the future. I really liked the handling of Time, though the main character could have used these solutions more. Time doesn't factor into the conclusion either, so the title piece is almost a red herring.
This novel was nominated for a 1962 Hugo and is on Harris' list of "Defining Science Fiction of the 1960s". Other than that it is mostly unrecognized.
So how did I really feel? This book was originally serialized, and at times it felt like short stories in that world. Most had their own conclusion; the book as a whole didn't seem to, and the solution chosen by the main character wasn't great. Also, why choose Mexico and South Dakota as locations - then ignore most of what comes between the two geographically?
Simak does describe locations beautifully, and these include both the past and the future. I really liked the handling of Time, though the main character could have used these solutions more. Time doesn't factor into the conclusion either, so the title piece is almost a red herring.
This novel was nominated for a 1962 Hugo and is on Harris' list of "Defining Science Fiction of the 1960s". Other than that it is mostly unrecognized.
May 23, 2020
I don't know what happened. Time matches on, I guess. One decade your science fiction is cutting edge, top notch, killer stuff, then one day it is stilted, over dramatic and no longer topical. This novel of a future where paranormal humans are hounded by normals and exploited by a corrupt corporation either wasn't all that good to begin with, or it didn't age well.
Clifford Simak was one of Wisconsin's great products of its Progressive Creative Arts tradition, but please choose a different one of his books as a representative of his style.
Clifford Simak was one of Wisconsin's great products of its Progressive Creative Arts tradition, but please choose a different one of his books as a representative of his style.
May 31, 2020
I last read this Simak classic decades ago but it all came flooding back whilst reading it. He has written better novels than this, particularly Way Station, but this is ahead of its time. All about persecution, corporate greed and who to trust. It is all about a hope for mankind. It is typical Simak who always favours the small man/woman is his story telling.
Ray Smillie
Ray Smillie
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