Clifford D. Simak

[pyan]

Welcome to the Summerlands of the Internet, shabeg - can I suggest that you hie yourself over to the Introductions thread, and tell us a bit more about yourself!

[D_Davis]

Originally Posted by shabeg

Did I die without noticing? A corner of the Internet where people discuss Simak and Budrys? Some lost, frustrated group of souls who like short, well-written science fiction?

Short, well-written SF is what it's all about!

[Elflock]

Originally Posted by pyan

Welcome to the Summerlands of the Internet, shabeg - can I suggest that you hie yourself over to the Introductions thread, and tell us a bit more about yourself!

No one from this forum ever welcomed me or mentioned such a thing as an introductions thread...never heard of it.

[clovis-man]

Originally Posted by Elflock

No one from this forum ever welcomed me or mentioned such a thing as an introductions thread...never heard of it.

Well, a hearty belated welcome from me. I guess as long as I say that before your one hundredth post, it's okay.

And glad to see you dive right in without testing the water first anyway.

[Elflock]

Originally Posted by clovis-man

Well, a hearty belated welcome from me. I guess as long as I say that before your one hundredth post, it's okay.

And glad to see you dive right in without testing the water first anyway.

Thanks very much! And hello.

[J Riff]

Lots Cliff Simak fans here and some great related thread to catch up on, have fun.* )

[Fried Egg]

Well, I might shortly be able to act upon all the recommendations that were offered when I asked way back. A local second hand book shop as quite a large cache of Simak I discovered and I need to review the suggestions made here before I go back...

[Extollager]

Visiting or revisiting Simak is a great idea.

[hitmouse]

Way Station and City are great, but I am also very fond of some of his lesser-known works, which have had multiple readings over the years:
Cemetery World
The Goblin Reservation
Time is the Simplest Thing
Shakespeare's Planet

The thing about Simak is that this is not grand-themed epic fiction, it is quite idiosyncratic ordinary-man SF with a good dose of whimsy. Very agreeable and humane.

[eternalmetal]

I finished reading Simak's City not too long ago, and I was quite impressed. The concept itself was really fascinating; the lost past being reconstructed through folk-tales told from the perspective of a new dominant race on earth. The stories are told to be fictional in content, but the reader (as a human) knows/implies otherwise.

At first I was a little disappointed with how dated the book feels. Heck, Simak's representation of a City feels every part of the 60 years it is out of date. His futuristic impressions were ingrained with ideologies and superstitions from the 50s and frankly not that accurate. I didnt let this stop me from enjoying the book however, as I found it to be a very refreshing book in a world of dystopian science fiction with disgusting amounts of technology, population, and war.

The themes and ideas Simak explored were done in a very thought provoking way. The always present superior viewpoint I as a reader (and member of the 'elusive' human race) felt obliged to feel in comparison with the dogs' was very interesting; as I bet that the dogs would disagree.

City was my first Simak book and I thoroughly enjoyed it to the point that I want to explore some of his other works. What do any of you other readers recommend I go with next?

[clovis-man]

Originally Posted by eternalmetal

City was my first Simak book and I thoroughly enjoyed it to the point that I want to explore some of his other works. What do any of you other readers recommend I go with next?

Just read through the earlier posts in this thread. Lots of good suggestions.

[eternalmetal]

Originally Posted by clovis-man

Just read through the earlier posts in this thread. Lots of good suggestions.

Ok, will do

Originally Posted by D_Davis

City - a short review

Simak's book is totally of its time, and read through today's eyes it can seem outdated and anachronistic. Some of the science is a bit off, and the entire premise might be seen as overly quaint, coy, and pastoral for some modern readers. However, Simak pulls everything together, and through his deceptively simple prose he constructs a wondrous story that is part Martian Chronicles, part Norman Rockwell, part cautionary tale and all together effective. It is vintage golden-age science fiction, and because there is no hard-science pretense, Simak is clearly dealing with myth and legend, it is not hindered by its old fashioned style - on the contrary, it is bolstered by it.


Reading City as akin to listening to a great tale told by your grandpa, while sitting around the campfire with a cup of hot chocolate in hand. It plays upon the nostalgia for all things Americana. It is not only of its time, but it is also a uniquely American novel. The stories are a bit presumptuous in that they only deal with fate of American society and assume that the rest of the world shared a similar fate. While some may see this as a fault, I see it as simply a product of a golden rule in fiction: write what you know. Simak knew America. He was a science-fiction equivalent of John Steinbeck, or William Saroyan, and he used his deep rooted knowledge of American society to his benefit.

This is pretty much exactly how I felt when I read City. The dated and old-fashioned feel of the story enhances the folklore tune of the book.


As far as recommendations of what to read next, looks like the obvious choice would have to be Way Station. Out of the lesser known/acclaimed novels, Ring Around the Sun and Cemetery World interest me the most.