GordonD Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Site has apparently been down for most of the day, but better late than never: Today is the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Arthur C. Clarke, science fiction writer and visionary. He came up with the idea that became the communications satellite, in 1945, and was the author of such SF classics as Childhood's End and of course 2001: A Space Odyssey. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansReggelsen Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 One of my favourite novels of his is 'The Fountains of Paradise' and then of course the the short story collection 'Tales from the White Hart'. Cheers Hans J 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Kesterton Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 "Rendezvous with Rama" is one of my favorites - and particularly apt given this: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/27/mysterious-object-detected-speeding-past-the-sun-could-be-from-another-solar-system-a2017-u1 anthony 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonD Posted December 16, 2017 Author Share Posted December 16, 2017 36 minutes ago, Anthony Kesterton said: "Rendezvous with Rama" is one of my favorites - and particularly apt given this: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/27/mysterious-object-detected-speeding-past-the-sun-could-be-from-another-solar-system-a2017-u1 anthony Exactly my thought when I saw the article! The astronomers missed a trick when they named it! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Almost passed me by - Minehead's most famous son (unless somebody knows some other famous personage from Minehead). I started reading Clarke when I was about ten and every so often I delve back into my Clarke book collection. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bejay53 Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 I re-read "Childhood's End" this past summer. Still a great read. Did I hear of a possible film adaptation of this awhile ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Over the decades there have been many announcements that this or that Clarke novel was going to be made into a movie. With the exception of "2001" (which was an original screenplay rather than based on a pre-existing novel), none of these projects have ever hit the big (or small) screen. In some ways, many of the concepts and ideas that Clarke originated in his books (fiction and non-fiction) have been seen in lots of Hollywood films that weren't specifically based on a Clarke novel. The 1980s TV series "V" had aspects of "Childhood's End" in it (although it was way too schlocky) and even "Interstellar" had a "Clarkian" feel to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonD Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 There has been a three-part TV mini-series of Childhood's End. Not too bad though there were some unnecessary changes. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4146128/combined Available on DVD https://www.amazon.co.uk/Childhoods-End-DVD-Mike-Vogel/dp/B01CU6SZBC/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1513528991&sr=1-1&keywords=childhoods+end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 That didn't get shown over this part of the world, or did it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonD Posted December 18, 2017 Author Share Posted December 18, 2017 17 hours ago, Eric Mc said: That didn't get shown over this part of the world, or did it? It was on Sky, IIRC. Still available on catch-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Sky itself or one of the other channels hosted by Sky - such as Sci-Fi or Horror? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperService Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Another incentive to follow Doctor's orders and get my weight down. The Moebius 1/144 Discovery will be my reward! Thanks for the notification. 2001 was based off The Sentinel short story IIRC so nearly a film. There was also 2010 which followed the book I think... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelman182 Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 One of the truly great Science Fiction authors - my personal favourite story is "I'm on Marsport without Hilda" (from The Menace From Earth short story collection). Funny, I was just thinking I needed to get that book into my collection again. Liked Clarke almost as much as Asimov. But have to admit that I thought Kubrick's work on 2001 truly sucked (just my opinion, and I know it's out of step with lots of folk). Would recommend reading "The Lost Worlds of 2001" - an anthology that covers the stories and concepts behind 2001. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niall Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 The BBC did Childhood's End and A Fall of Moondust as radio plays, they have been released on CD but I don't know if they are still available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamS Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 3 hours ago, modelman182 said: One of the truly great Science Fiction authors - my personal favourite story is "I'm on Marsport without Hilda" (from The Menace From Earth short story collection). Funny, I was just thinking I needed to get that book into my collection again. Liked Clarke almost as much as Asimov. But have to admit that I thought Kubrick's work on 2001 truly sucked (just my opinion, and I know it's out of step with lots of folk). Would recommend reading "The Lost Worlds of 2001" - an anthology that covers the stories and concepts behind 2001. Kev I try to like 2001 (and will watch it on Blu-ray) but it is a stupendously boring and self-indulgent film. Good hardware though. Childhood’s End was shown on Sky 1. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonD Posted December 18, 2017 Author Share Posted December 18, 2017 5 hours ago, modelman182 said: One of the truly great Science Fiction authors - my personal favourite story is "I'm on Marsport without Hilda" (from The Menace From Earth short story collection). Are you winding us up? "I'm in Marsport without Hilda" was Asimov, and "The Menace from Earth" was Heinlein! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 10 hours ago, SleeperService said: Another incentive to follow Doctor's orders and get my weight down. The Moebius 1/144 Discovery will be my reward! Thanks for the notification. 2001 was based off The Sentinel short story IIRC so nearly a film. There was also 2010 which followed the book I think... 2001 was based on Kubrick's reading of a few Clarke short stories. "The Sentinel" was one as was "Encounter in the Dawn". The story of how the two collaborated during the making of the film is all in the book "The Lost Worlds of 2001". It's been long out of print but it's worth tracking down a copy if you are interested to the background of "2001". The film "2010" is, of course, based closely on the novel "2010". However, the political tenseness between the Soviet and American parallel missions is absent in the book and the separate expedition by the Chinese which is in the book is absent in the film. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Structor Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 On 12/17/2017 at 6:23 AM, Bejay53 said: I re-read "Childhood's End" this past summer. Still a great read. Did I hear of a possible film adaptation of this awhile ago? I also re-read it this past year. Loved it as a kid. My favorite by him. Still not bad all these years later but as an adult, I find he was lacking as a writer. He had vision and knew his science though. A lot of the hard SciFi strikes me that way now. Just as a side note, Ray Bradbury was my favorite and I read him often even now. For me, his writing has weathered well. I did watch the mini-series and enjoyed it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 Clarke was very good with themes and ideas. His description of people and how they behave was not so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelman182 Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 On 12/18/2017 at 7:45 PM, GordonD said: Are you winding us up? "I'm in Marsport without Hilda" was Asimov, and "The Menace from Earth" was Heinlein! Oh dear God - that's gotta be one of my worst memory lapses EVER! It would also explain why I haven't located The Menace from Earth. I knew there would be consequences from "stopping taking the pills" Sorry about that, Gordon. No insult or injury was intended. Kev 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonD Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 6 hours ago, modelman182 said: Sorry about that, Gordon. No insult or injury was intended. I can't take any offence from somebody who has Calvin and Hobbes as his avatar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelman182 Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 2 hours ago, GordonD said: I can't take any offence from somebody who has Calvin and Hobbes as his avatar! C&H won out (barely) over Garfield and Dilbert - though I have to admit if Johnny Hart's BC had any model related humour THAT would have beaten all comers! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephLalor Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 1 hour ago, modelman182 said: C&H won out (barely) over Garfield and Dilbert - though I have to admit if Johnny Hart's BC had any model related humour THAT would have beaten all comers! Kev Bloom County? I remember Opus the penguin and his backstreet liposuction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelman182 Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 No Joseph, not Bloom County but B.C the caveman and his Friends - not sure how many books in the series but I know that I had around 30 of them in my last library collection (sadly all lost now). You can see some of them here: https://johnhartstudios.com/bc/ Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gruffy Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 I’ve never read any of his sci fi books but I loved the tv series Arthur c Clarke’s mysterious world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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