Author Arthur C Clarke died today at his home in Sri Lanka. He was 90 years old. More here. Best known as the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, he wrote on a number of subjects and is credited as the inventor of the geosynchronous satelite.
I never much cared for his writing. I know, blasphemous. I was more an Asimov fan. But he did bring a lot to the genre, and had some interesting ideas asa futurist. My favorite was his thinking that by 1960 we’d have trained gorillas to act as servants (prediction made in 1956). That’s some crazy Dr. Moreau shit, right there, and how can you not get behind that?
It is unfortunate that allegations of pedophilia dogged him throughout his adult life, and several quotes have been attributed to him that- though he vehemently denied them- cast quite the shadow on his life in Sri Lanka.
Well, if he has a problem with it, he can raise his ass up as some sort of skeletal revenant and track me down.
That being said, all I did was point out that his life was dogged by allegations, not proof. I take an extremely dim view of child abuse. So what if he was a brilliant writer and futurist? If the allegations are true, then there was more to his life than all the glory people heap upon him, and that should temper their opinion of him. In the interest of fairness, everyone’s life is more than their greatest accomplishments. It is the sum of all their actions, good and bad.
Roman Polanski is, by all accounts, a great director. But I’ll never watch one of his movies, ever. And if he ever sets foot back in the States, I hope he is immediately arrested and forced to begin from day 1 all 20 years of his prison sentence. Doesn’t matter what good he has done or what art he has created.
I never much cared for his writing. I know, blasphemous. I was more an Asimov fan. But he did bring a lot to the genre, and had some interesting ideas asa futurist. My favorite was his thinking that by 1960 we’d have trained gorillas to act as servants (prediction made in 1956). That’s some crazy Dr. Moreau shit, right there, and how can you not get behind that?
It is unfortunate that allegations of pedophilia dogged him throughout his adult life, and several quotes have been attributed to him that- though he vehemently denied them- cast quite the shadow on his life in Sri Lanka.
Ahh, Carl, never one to miss an opportunity to speak ill of the dead…
Care to go piss on his grave for good measure?
Well, if he has a problem with it, he can raise his ass up as some sort of skeletal revenant and track me down.
That being said, all I did was point out that his life was dogged by allegations, not proof. I take an extremely dim view of child abuse. So what if he was a brilliant writer and futurist? If the allegations are true, then there was more to his life than all the glory people heap upon him, and that should temper their opinion of him. In the interest of fairness, everyone’s life is more than their greatest accomplishments. It is the sum of all their actions, good and bad.
Roman Polanski is, by all accounts, a great director. But I’ll never watch one of his movies, ever. And if he ever sets foot back in the States, I hope he is immediately arrested and forced to begin from day 1 all 20 years of his prison sentence. Doesn’t matter what good he has done or what art he has created.