Analysis of World Literature: Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clarke and Edmond Hamilton - Essay Example

Analysis of World Literature: Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clarke and Edmond Hamilton The authors chosen by me as the manager of the Manuscript Search workgroup for Hard Cover Literature Publishing are four famous science fiction writers who are tightly connected with Hard Cover Literature Publishing. The authors are frequently influenced by the society in which they live or the times and events within their life spans. The examples of these successful writers, their life, works, their devotion to literature and great success they achieved can be good examples for our young authors who just begin their way of writing and self-acceptance in literature. These authors are Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clarke and Edmond Hamilton. “Ray Bradbury is one of those rare individuals whose writing has changed the way people think. His more than five hundred published works -- short stories, novels, plays, screenplays, television scripts, and verse -- exemplify the American imagination at its most creative” (About Ray Bradbury). He wrote his “The Martian Chronicles” in 1950, “which describes the first attempts of Earth people to conquer and colonize Mars, and the unintended consequences” (About Ray Bradbury). Late fourties and fifties were the time of the beginning of Cold War, nuclear weapon appearance, the beginning of space exploration. All these global events affected Ray Bradbury. His novels and stories became the reflection of the global challenges appeared before humankind. “Next came The Illustrated Man and then, in 1953, Fahrenheit 451, which many consider to be Bradbury's masterpiece, a scathing indictment of censorship set in a future world where the written word is forbidden” (About Ray Bradbury). Bradbury wrote his novels and stories in inconsistent time. The world was divided into two opposite systems which differ from each other in different approaches to the styles of life and human rights. In his works Bradbury warns us about possible consequences of such world division and draws pictures of global catastrophes. The epoch and time he created determined the direction of his famous works. Our young author must take into account all the depth of Bradbury’s novels and short stories and influence of time a writer creates his works. Isaac Asimov’s works are influenced by the technical development of society in that time. He lived in the epoch of rapid technological progress touching all sides of human life. “Armed with a uniquely creative imagination, plus a gift for explaining difficult ideas, he began to carve out a remarkable dual role: that of science-fiction writer and futurist and of public educator and interpreter of science” (Isaac Asimov: A Prophet For Our Time). Isaac Asimov was a scientist, and his scientific approach influenced him in writing his masterpieces. The social development generated a lot of different social, technological and global problems affected all humankind. In his works Asimov, also like Bradbury, tried to predict and warn readers about global dangers faced humankind. But Asimov’s approach is more scientific than that of Bradbury. Asimov’s profits on the humankind development were influenced by the width of his scientific views and dynamic scientific and industrial development of the world in the middle and in the end of the twentieth century when Asimov lived and wrote his works. “Arthur C. Clarke is one of the most celebrated science fiction authors of our time. He is the author of more than sixty books with more than 50 million copies in print, winner of all the field's highest honors” (Arthur C. Clarke Unauthorized Homepage). Clarke was influenced by the science development in the middle of the twentieth century and his own war experience (“he served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a radar specialist and was involved in the early warning radar defence system”) (from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and scientific career. “His most important contribution may be the conception that geostationary satellites would be ideal telecommunications relays. He proposed this concept in a paper titled "Extra-Terrestrial Relays - Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?", published in Wireless World in October 1945” (from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). His works are devoted to space flights – these ideas were very popular in science and society in that time, and Clarke who was always interested in such ideas and their scientific substantiation described in his novels and stories humankind aspiration towards far away stars and galaxies. His time and social environment formed him into one of the most famous science fiction writers of our time. Edmond Hamilton was one of the founders of science fiction in the early twentieth century. His interest to the science fiction writing was influenced by his childhood experience. “My interest in s-f dates back to a time when I was so young I could barely read, but was fascinated by the illustrations of an H. G. Wells article, "The Things that Live on Mars," in the old Metropolitan Magazine” (Introducing the Author). Hamilton liked to travel – it was reflected in his numerous works. He liked adventures, so he gave this feature to many of his novels’ and stories’ characters. The time he lived influenced him. During the years of Great Depression Hamilton’s popularity was very high: “The peak of Hamilton's popularity probably came in the 20's and 30's where he proved as popular with the readers of Weird Tales as such prominent authors as Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft” (Edmond Hamilton). His works helped people to distract from their problems and every day reality. The people of that hard time dreamt about beautiful and wonderful life, so he drew brilliant space pictures and glorified the mankind aspiration to unknown ways among planets and stars. “He was likely the first to conceive of interstellar travel in space ships, as well as the idea of the space suit” (Edmond Hamilton). The choice of these brilliant authors is not surprising. They all are recognized masters of science fiction. The time and epoch they lived and wrote influenced their works. While Hamilton was one of the first in this genre, Bradbury, Asimov and Clarke developed science fiction writing. They all lived in the twentieth century – the time of rough technological progress. Life and work of these authors is the best example of the way a writer can achieve success, and I hope that our young author will be inspired by his famous predecessors. References About Ray Bradbury. (http://www.raybradbury.com/about.html) Arthur C. Clarke. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke) Arthur C. Clarke Unauthorized Homepage. (http://www.lsi.usp.br/~rbianchi/clarke) Edmond Hamilton. (http://www.pulpgen.com/pulp/edmond_hamilton/) Introducing the Author. April, 1956. Imagination Science Fiction. (http://www.pulpgen.com/pulp/edmond_hamilton/) Isaac Asimov: A Prophet For Our Time. (http://patduffyhutcheon.com/humanist%20articles/asimov.htm#1) Read More