Capturing the Past

I actually did it. As mentioned in this here blog recently, I sought out a book which I read as a preteen and enjoyed then, but hadn't read since. Against the Fall of Night by Arthur C. Clarke, if it's that much trouble to click on the embedded link. I had read it while eating Pringles and drinking Faygo Root Beer. As such, I bought a small supply of each along with a copy of the book off our dear friends at Amazon, taking all three items with me to Hessel in da U.P. a couple of weeks ago.

You what what? You can relive the past just a bit, even only a whiff, a mere hint of enjoyment. Sitting on the sofa up north while noshing Pringles and washing it down with Detroit's finest root beer, I did feel something like a young boy experiencing the book for the first time. 

To be honest, the story isn't exactly the greatest science fiction. I discovered that Clarke, something I did think about all those years ago, tended to drop names and facts into the narrative without explanation, as though I should have known them, and then never offered later background. The tale was also a bit too rushed. That was annoying. Yet it was adventurous and intriguing enough that I understand why a relative youngster just getting a taste for novels would like it.

And I did like it, despite the abruptness. You can go back, I will argue, even if only slightly. That's satisfying on its own level.

Reading Old School

Yes, I do seem to remember old times all the more as I age. Well, sort of, that is.

I recall reading Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction novel Against the Fall of Night when I was 11 or 12 and being absolutely captivated by it. Yet this morning I can't think of one single fact about the story. Not one plot detail comes to mind. But I remember sitting on the living room couch and being very taken in as I ate Pringles Potato chips and drank Faygo root beer.

So I think what I'll do is order a copy off Amazon. When it arrives I'll stock up on Pringles and grab a few cans of Faygo root beer, burrow myself into my reading space, and try to capture the feeling all over again, 53 years later. 

Can you relive the past? I'm going to try to find out.

Against the fall of Pringles

Funny how some things stick in your mind, isn't it?

I remember me Pops bringing home Pringles when they first came out (yes, the potato chip) and loving them from the get go. I was perhaps 11 or 12, pre-teen, and we had root beer on hand that day as well. I poured a cup of the soda and grabbed a handful of chips. I remember thinking, I still think, that Pringles and root beer are a great combination.

But what goes along with that memory, or discovery as you may like, was that I also remember the book which I read along with that snack: Against the Fall of Night, by the sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke. It took me a few days to finish that book, and every time I read I made it a point to have a snack of Pringles and root beer along with it.

I need to find that book, and reread it while drinking a bottle of root beer and noshing on Pringles. Maybe it will help me recall why the memory lives so fully in my mind.

Or maybe it simply sticks in my head for no real reason. Yet I can't help wonder why it would. I know this: I don't want to look up the book on Wikipedia or anywhere. I want to see if I can recreate the original feel of the experience. Please forward me no spoilers.

2001: A Birthday Odyssey

As many of you might already know, I just celebrated a birthday. And it was a good one too. My sons bought me some great DVDs and baseball tickets, and my daughter took me to a midnight showing of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's perhaps my favorite movie.

By now I'm sure there has been a combination of eye rolling (from those who don't like the film) and nods of agreement (from those who do). Be all that as it may, I like the movie. A lot.

But how do you watch it? The best way is on the big screen. Yet that's true of most any film made for theaters. What, you may ask, in Marty's mind makes it such a grand motion picture?

I'm wont to argue that whether Stanley Kubrick meant it or not, he made a film which touches on the numinous in a profound and inspiring way. Arthur C. Clarke, who collaborated with him on the project, said at the time (the 1960s, when the film was made) that MGM had just made the first $10 million religious picture. I believe he's right, in a manner of speaking.

The fact is that stories take on a life of their own as they develop. 2001 touches on the mystery and awe inspired by all the great questions and great philosophers of history in an innovative and compelling way.

All that being said, and part of me can't believe that someone like me is about to say what I'm about to say, the best way to watch 2001 is to just let it overwhelm you. Allow yourself to drift into its universe; simply sit back and watch it, get lost in it if you will, accepting its pace and unusual qualities, and take in the accomplishments and limitations of humankind (mainly symbolically, but quite literally at points) roll out before you. And I believe the film will make more sense then.