ASTOUNDING DAYS [Paperback]

Perhaps it is inaccurate to call this an autobiography. A good portion of it (particularly the first part of the book) is Arthur critiquing the early issues of Astounding Science Fiction magazine. Later, he tells quite a bit about his own life, but mostly this is a memoir of his experiences with Astouding. It is interesting for several reasons: first, we learn what Clarke thinks of a great many of his colleagues (including heavies like Asimov and Heinlein, both friends of Arthur's). But what makes the book really interesting for the hard-core ACC reader is later in the book where he tells a lot about his own life. We learn of his experiences at college, as a civil servant, and his time in the military. We also get a lot of his views and ideas on many things relating to science, as well as a good deal he says about his own subsequent books, the ideas behind them, and how the writing of other authors influenced him. And of course the book is all written in Clarke's trademark witty style.

This will all seem very boring for the casual Clarke reader, or for those who only know him as "that guy who did 2001". But for those true fans who recognize Arthur for what he is, a brilliant, creative, and witty writer who is unquestionably one of the literary greats of the 20th century, and possibly the greatest science fiction writer of all-time. The only thing about this book that disappoints me is that ACC elaborates so little on his own works for Astounding. I figured that would be the main point of the book, but it isn't; although he mentions many times his works, they are rarely the ones found in Astounding. Still, this is a worthwhile and book for the Clarke devotee; casual fans should look elsewhere.

I remember walking into a science fiction book store while visiting New York City in 1984. A crowd had gathered around an older gentleman who wore a silver flight jacket. At first I thought it was only a local geek smoffing off, but when he turned around, I saw that he was none other than Arthur C. Clarke, there to promote the release of 2010. I was reminded of this incident when reading Astounding Days, Clake's memoirs of his long love affair with the premier American SF magazine of the 1930s and 1940s. It is written in a very conversational style with the author tossing off asides in every direction with no sense of writing discipline, much like he surely did that day long ago. Clarke was fortunate to have come of age just as Astounding was making its debut. Many of its stories would go on to become classics. He makes special mention of the 1934 issues. Then, the reader was treated to the serialization in succeeding issues of Jack Williamson's The Legion of Space, "Doc" Smith's Skylark of Valeron, and John W. Campbell's The Mightiest Machine. I remember being similarly blown away when I happened to open up the bound volume of that year's issues while browsing through the stacks at the University of Illinois Library. Clarke reminiscences on many of the writers and stories published in Astounding that made an impression on him during those years including H.P. Lovecaft, Stanley Weinbaum, Ray Cummings, Robert Heinlein, A.E. VanVogt--as well as many lesser known works that have not stood the test of time. One interesting tidbit is his aside that Astounding magazines typically reached Britain in those days as ballast on freighters. Interspersed with this discussion of the stories are his memoirs of growing up as a young fan in prewar England and involvement in such SF groups as the British Interplanetary Society.

Wonderful memories of way early science fiction, and his life connected with all this. Then he goes through many stories selected from 'Astounding' I have only read one of his novels, '2010' but these biographies are fantastic!