#lynn venable

[bracketsoffear]

Solaris (Stanisław Lem) "This book is soaked in loneliness. It follows three men who avoid each others company on a dilapidated research station on a distant titular planet - Solaris. It is covered by an ocean of gelatinous substance with no solid land in sight, and is later revealed to be an alien. A single alien, a vast extraterrestrial intelligence the size of a planet. Lem wrote 'the peculiarity of those phenomena seems to suggest that we observe a kind of rational activity, but the meaning of this seemingly rational activity of the Solarian Ocean is beyond the reach of human beings' and I just cannot help myself but think what a lonely existence that must be. A planet sized being, unable to communicate with probably the first other living beings it has ever encountered. It creates landscapes and people out of white seafoam from the memories of the research crew, if their flying cars get too close to the dark viscous surface. It reaches into the minds and pulls up the most emotional of memories to awkwardly reconstruct them into a haunt that will follow a person until destroyed. This quote also got me thinking about the communication between different life forms, and that even if humanity ever makes contact with aliens they might be too incomprehensible for us to grasp. Are we alone in the universe? And does it even matter if we are alone or not, if communication and understanding is impossible?"

Time Enough At Last (Lynn Venable) "The short story that formed the basis for the classic segment in The Twilight Zone. Henry Bemis wants to be left alone so he can fulfil his wish to read a book from cover to cover, and does so by shutting himself in a bank vault. When he leaves, he finds that an atomic bomb has struck, wiping out everyone he knew and possibly the rest of the world. He plans to take advantage of the solitude by reading everything he can in the remains of the library, but his glasses (bespoke due to his complicated prescription) fall off and break, forcing him to confront what it truly means to be entirely alone."

Lonely Leitner Bracket Round 2 Bout 8

Solaris (Stanisław Lem)

Time Enough At Last (Lynn Venable)

Voting ended onMay 22, 2024

[bracketsoffear]

The Black Corridor (Michael Moorcock) "Space isolation horror! A man is released from cryosleep to take his solo shift making sure the ship runs properly. For 25 years."

Time Enough At Last (Lynn Venable) "The short story that formed the basis for the classic segment in The Twilight Zone. Henry Bemis wants to be left alone so he can fulfil his wish to read a book from cover to cover, and does so by shutting himself in a bank vault. When he leaves, he finds that an atomic bomb has struck, wiping out everyone he knew and possibly the rest of the world. He plans to take advantage of the solitude by reading everything he can in the remains of the library, but his glasses (bespoke due to his complicated prescription) fall off and break, forcing him to confront what it truly means to be entirely alone."

Lonely Leitner Bracket Round 1 Bout 16

The Black Corridor (Michael Moorcock)

Time Enough At Last (Lynn Venable)

Voting ended onMay 21, 2024

[bracketsoffear]

The Nature of Love (Harry F. Harlow) "A research report on the results of the author's (highly controversial) maternal-separation, dependency needs, and social isolation experiments on rhesus monkeys. If you have ever read or heard the words "Cloth Mother and Wire Mother" or "the Pit of Despair": Yes, this is that guy. Yes, this is THAT study. Some researchers cite these experiments as a factor in the rise of the animal liberation movement in the United States. Paradoxically, his darkest experiments may have the brightest legacy, for by studying "neglect" and its life-altering consequences, Harlow confirmed love's central role in shaping not only how we feel but also how we think, and how devastating the effects of isolation are on the brain."

Time Enough At Last (Lynn Venable) "The short story that formed the basis for the classic segment in The Twilight Zone. Henry Bemis wants to be left alone so he can fulfil his wish to read a book from cover to cover, and does so by shutting himself in a bank vault. When he leaves, he finds that an atomic bomb has struck, wiping out everyone he knew and possibly the rest of the world. He plans to take advantage of the solitude by reading everything he can in the remains of the library, but his glasses (bespoke due to his complicated prescription) fall off and break, forcing him to confront what it truly means to be entirely alone."

Lonely Leitner Bracket Round 3 Bout 4

The Nature of Love (Harry F. Harlow)

Time Enough At Last (Lynn Venable)

Voting ended onMay 23, 2024

[oldmanyellsatspaceship]

IF: Worlds of Science Fiction cover from January 1953, by Anton Kurka.

Included the original publication of "Time Enough at Last" which would be adapted into one of the most well-known Twilight Zone episodes.

[oldmanyellsatspaceship]

Episode 4 - Time Enough At Last - Lynn Venable by Old Man Yells at Spaceship

A special treat this week, as the Old man reads a story with prescription eye wear, a man who never has enough time, and Agnes. This story w

New episode is up! I read "Time Enough at Last" by Lynn Venable. This episode was used as the basis for a rather famous episode of The Twilight Zone.

[hyperwave]

The atomic bomb meant, to most people, the end. To Henry Bemis it meant something far different—a thing to appreciate and enjoy.

[bookbegins]

For a long time, Henry Bemis had had an ambition. To read a book. Not just the title or the preface, or a page somewhere in the middle. He wanted to read the whole thing, all the way through from beginning to end. A simple ambition perhaps, but in the cluttered life of Henry Bemis, an impossibility.