Childhood's End
by
Arthur C. Clarke
1953
Science Fiction, Psychological, Classics
Richard Alex Jenkins
This is a utopian novel with a dystopian undercurrent and ideal if you're interested in science fiction or philosophy.
It's remarkably ahead of its time and forward in thinking for a book released in 1953!
"In this galaxy of ours there are eighty-seven thousand million suns. Even that figure gives only a faint idea of the immensity of space."
The probability of life on other planets is therefore very real. Maybe we're the first in the universe or we haven't found each other yet?
In the meantime we continually war with each other, constantly and rather pathetically feuding over territory and resources.
What if Earth was globally at peace with no more wars, with no more need to work or make any strenuous effort?
“There's nothing sinful in leisure as long as it doesn't degenerate into mere sloth."
A relaxation zone with fully automated factories supplying anything we realistically want at any time.
"There were factories that ran for weeks without being visited by a single human being. Men were needed for troubleshooting, for making decisions, for planning new enterprises. The robots did the rest."
Might we also stop living, exploring or actively doing anything, perpetually living in idle luxury, with no need to fight, discover new horizons or advance, no space exploration, no future terra forming, no conquests, rivalries, passion, nothing?
A book that predicts how technology could eventually strip us of our identities.
"If you went without sleep and did nothing else, you could follow less than a twentieth of the entertainment that’s available at the turn of a switch! No wonder that people are becoming passive sponges – absorbing but never creating. The average viewing time per person is now three hours a day. Soon people won’t be living their own lives any more. It will be a full-time job keeping up with the various family serials on TV!"
Sound familiar?
The essence of mankind is a child reaching maturity or perhaps the end of social media, war taking its toll, Childhood's End, the need to be more globally organized and less selfish.
There are parallels with The Midwich Cuckoos (1957) by John Wyndham and the rise of the collective mind over the disorganized individual, but if you think about it we’re already a collective mind of sorts due to the internet and our immediate access to worldwide events.
Many people worry, rightly so, about life being sucked of individualism and creativity because of social media and automatism - the dystopian element of the book - protecting your interests against the inevitable technological tornado with nothing for cover but a thin paper bag.
Although current and very readable, Childhood's End loses a star because it slogs slightly in the middle and feels a bit disjointed.
But as a science fiction classic with great ideas, imagine the effect it had in the early 1950s.
Share this review:
