I want to tell you about one of my favorite books that I read a long time ago, several editions passed through my hands, different translations, different circumstances, but my love for Sir Arthur C. Clarke is not weakening. This is the book "The Deep Range", an old edition.
Arthur Clarke - this is the sample of science fiction, which I like the most. Among all the possible varieties and shades, in these fabulous stories about the future and other worlds, in general, two people have captivated me the most - Clarke and Bradbury.
About Bradbury, I'll tell you somehow and "Fahrenheit 451" will take its rightful place in my "reviews". In my opinion - this is one of the most important books that any modern person should read.
And Clarke, a man who not only foresaw the technical equipment of the future and even made specific discoveries and predictions, he built a world with a different attitude, with a different proportion of the relationship between science, culture, society and social evolution.
What do we have in the story "Deep Range"? First of all, this is a technologically advanced society, where every specialist, sufficiently educated, is a cross between a scientist and a technical expert of the highest class. An educated, versatile, deeply intellectual person, a Western pragmatist, but at the same time an employee is not for money, but for some great purpose. This goal, neither more nor less, is humanity.
History is written in such a way that, after reading it, the whole pathos of this service to mankind, all the unique things Clarke wants to say about our future social, spiritual evolution, you do not read all this from history. First of all, in the center, the fate of the cosmonaut, which translates into a very difficult and interesting work. This is an incredibly exciting and very dangerous thing: underwater grazing of whales, in miniature submarines. When Clarke wrote about this - it was pure fantasy, today this fantasy has become a reality.
The world ocean is divided into sectors by ultrasonic veils, and in each sector there is a certain herd of whales and other mammals or fish. This huge world economy brings the future of mankind to huge food reserves. And the work of a sea shepherd who not only guarantees that whales will not spread across the ocean, he from these giant animals, protects them as pets, guards and, if necessary, calls a special doctor on a larger submarine. The doctor can do everything, including the birth of citiech. But this cattle, unfortunately, does not solve one very important problem, about which Clarke writes at the end of the story.
Why do people grow whales? They, along with the huge fields of marine plankton that are fenced off from them and where they continue to try to pass through the barrier to eat it, whales together with this plankton form the backbone of the food pyramid of mankind. Unfortunately, these giants, our distant relatives, are meant for murder. He is extremely humane, very rational, nevertheless these whales, when the time comes, share the fate of sheep, lambs and everything that a person likes to see on his dinner table.
How to solve this problem, you will learn by reading the book. This story is not about vegetarianism, this story is not about the future social harmony of mankind. But this story is not about a person's personal tragedy, because the third topic is the cosmonaut's theme, what happened to him, how it happened, how he should return himself, you will also learn from "The Deep Range".
What is the secret of this literature? In the fact that you never see "seams", how it sticks together, how it's done. And if you see, then, of course, you can not evaluate or repeat it yourself, but you give hints and shows. This is similar to the fact that the master reveals the secret of the focus or genius chess player, reveals a secret combination, that is, you see secrets. In this story, all the secrets are shown at the end of each part, that is, the story develops in stages, and the "seams" are not really visible.
All that I have said, and it is not expressed in such abstract, vague terms, but it is embedded in the plot, in the character of characters, extremely sympathetic, in a real, dashing, twisted intrigue. You'll never guess who will be caught in the end and how it will end. And who knows and read this book - do not tell.
All the books of Clarke are permeated, above all, with great respect for the ability of a person to step over his time, step over his body and mind and become a great, truly worthy vessel for a universal mission, for a space mission, for a mission equal to the boldness to create life as such.
Here is such a scale in the books of Arthur Clarke and at the same time everything is written very simply, it is very easy to read, its stories do not contain any literary frills. But most importantly, they preserve through the decades that have passed since they were written, an amazing fascination. These books, they really are about a bright future, although there it is not about the third millennium and something far off.
Read Arthur Clarke, I'm sure you'll like it and if not this, then his other books. And I want to say that science fiction is a genre that has not yet fully revealed itself. We have ahead, and maybe our children, a real revival of this genre and real masterpieces. "The Deep Range", "Dolphin Island - A Story of the People of the Sea" and other works of Clarke, all this will become a classic that will be honored, which will be addressed, and the most interesting is ahead of us. Actually, Sir Arthur C. Clarke himself believed in this.