@Jed Yes, Sir Arthur; but, it reminds me of the mythical king. Actually apropos! :-)
@SVJ I, too, felt the pain of the demise of the earth in my teenage reading; but, as an adult I saw it as a metaphor for the ornithological egg or the cocoon of the butterfly. Extending the metaphor, the overlords were the snake in the garden leading mankind toward knowledge and the alienation from the womb. Sir Arthur pitied the overlords, forever the midwife but never the bride. Yes, he did not believe in a God; but, did he believe in a god in the overmind? And how would the caterpillar know the difference? Witness Rama. Eh, grasshopper? :-) Terry On Fri, Mar 21, 2008 at 7:26 PM, OrionWorks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Terry sez: > > > I never did understand what inspired Sir Clarke to write this novel. > > > > Terry > > Like Jed, I'll take a stab at answering this conundrum. I'll also be > the first to admit that my comments are highly eccentric, personally > opinionated, and filled with a kind of new age mystic drivel that > would have likely irked Sir Arthur, being the atheist that he was, to > no end, so my apologies up front. > > I'd like to think that Clarke being the playful and inquisitive old > soul that I suspect he was, was likely beginning to sense his own > personal connections with the vast collective unconsciousness, or > super-consciousness. I gather such recognitions, particularly in the > beginning "old soul" stages of the recognition process, is not > necessarily perceived as a welcomed experience since there is the > initial fear that one's personal identity, all that one thinks one > "is", will be completely absorbed or obliterated by something > incomprehensibly larger than themselves. Perhaps one of the major > lessons old souls like Sir Arthur must negotiate through is the fear > of holding onto our isolated identities when perhaps it's time to let > go of it. Perhaps when one finally recognizes the fact that one's > identity is just another illusion that consciousness has been playing > with for eons, perhaps it makes it a little easier to move on - to > become curious as to what might be just around the corner. > > Metaphorically speaking, that's what "Childhood's End" was all about > for me, personally. > > I gather there are not very many old souls on the planet these days. > Carl Jung obviously comes to mind as another likely "old soul" > candidate, considering his writings on the "collective > unconsciousness". > > Incidentally, I was about 14 years old when I read Clarke's novel. The > ending depressed me to no end. How horrible, I thought to have Earth > just after it entered into its "golden age" abruptly evaporate, to > transform into something else that I could no longer comprehend. What > a painful loss, I lamented! > > Guess I ain't no old soul. ;-) > > PS: Good comments, Jed. > > Regards > Steven Vincent Johnson > www.OrionWorks.com > www.zazzle.com/orionworks > >
