Product Description
"All my past is accepted."

Science fiction's most eloquent creator of visions of tomorrow, Brian Aldiss, spins out his most fascinating story yet: his own.

Born in 1925, Aldiss is representative of the unique generation that reached adolescence in the era of World War II. Growing up in the rural hells of Norfolk and Devon, the son of a department store owner, he was formed and altered by wartime, serving three years in Burma and Asia with the Forgotten Army. Intrigued by science fiction and the near-apocalyptic imagery of the London Blitz, Aldiss became intoxicated by the beautiful lands, tropical climate, and horrific brutality he discovered in Burma and Sumatra, an "enchanted zone" that later provided the catalyst for much of his work.

Poignantly and passionately, Aldiss recalls the camaraderie of the army and the sobriety of postwar England; bookselling in Oxford; marital breakdown and financial impoverishment; life as a struggling novelist and literary editor; his seminal role in the science fiction's New Wave in the 1960s; and his friendships with Kingsley Amis, J.G. Ballard, Doris Lessing, and Michael Moorcock, among others.

Versatile, prolific, and outspoken, Aldiss writes revealingly on many issues and experiences, from literary inspiration to childhood illness, from mental breakdown to the critical attitudes toward science fiction.

For most of his life, Brian Aldiss has concerned himself with re-creating our present. In this moving, candid, and compelling autobiography, he reflects on a future that, in the twinkling of an eye, has become the past.
Amazon.com Review
Autobiography is about the sorting out of those moments that gave one identity. For Brian Aldiss, distinguished science fiction writer and all-around literary gent, these are a disparate lot--the lost paradise of his grandfather's Norfolk haberdashery store, the excitement and terror of the Army's triumphant thrust through Burma, the intermittent bliss of his second marriage, the midlife crisis of depressive illness through which he came to new joy. Books are important too--the books that educated him, his early manhood as a bookseller, the books the writing of which was a principal delight and a source of personal freedom.

This is partly the story of the making of a writer and of a writer's life; it is also about a life lived in contact with both ideas and the senses. Sequential time is no major part of his approach. Some sections of the book are brief summaries and others rehashes of things he has said before, but which are crucial to him. Aldiss tells us how things felt to a middle-class Englishman in the 20th century--love, bereavement, travel, war, psychoanalysis, and the discovery of Pluto; if not a great book, it will remain a perennially attractive one. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Absorbing and moving literary autobiography
It seems to me that the practice of the literary memoir is more prevalent in England than in the United States. At any rate, few distinguished English writers seem to escape autobiography. For me, the memoirs of writers I admire hold great interest, despite the usually somewhat mundane everyday lives of authors. There's something compelling about tracing the roots of a writer's imagination, and I also take gossipy interest in the accounts of meetings with other well-known writers that these books usually contain. And, to be sure, famous writers are usually good writers, and their memoirs are more likely to be well-written. The Twinkling of an Eye delivers on all counts: it is a very enjoyable literary autobiography.

Brian W. Aldiss is a giant in the Science Fiction field. His major contributions are of course as a writer of the stuff (he's a winner of both the Hugo and the Nebula, and among his SF books are Hothouse, The Malacia Tapestry, and the Helliconia series). He's also made significant contributions as a critic/historian of the field (his controversial Billion Year Spree (later updated as Trillion Year Spree with David Wingrove) is his most famous work in this area.) But Aldiss has always been part of the main stream, if you will, of post-War British writing. His first book, The Brightfount Diaries, a comic account of working in a bookstore, was certainly not SF, but it was very successful. He worked for many years as Literary Editor of the Oxford Mail. And he had some non science fiction bestsellers in the late '60s and early '70s.

A life is not a story, really. Thus Aldiss does not tell this book in a linear fashion, nor hew to a narrative structure. He opens with an account of heading off to Burma, to join the XIV Army, the "Forgotten Army", is driving the Japanese out of that country toward the end of World War II. Follows a series of chapters, ordered somewhat impressionistically, which tell of his young life, his less than idyllic experience in public schools, and of his somewhat difficult relationship with his parents. He offers a moving account of his early years, and how the birth of both of his sisters affected him deeply. Aldiss continues with a description of his years in the Army, mopping up the Japanese in Burma, then spending a couple of years in India just prior to independence, and in Sumatra. After leaving the Army, Aldiss moved to Oxford, and worked in a couple of bookshops. At this time he got married, sold his first stories, started writing the sketches which became The Brightfount Diaries, and had his first son.

The rest of the book is a bit more episodic. The sections concerning his first marriage, and especially its breakup, are very moving, even as Aldiss is still understandably reticent on the details.The pain and sense of failure he felt, and the agony of losing his children, especially his new born daughter, are keenly portrayed.This dovetails into a period of depression and poverty, coupled with increasing artistic success in his fiction. It seems that Aldiss' marriage to Margaret Manson largely brought him out of his funk.Just as he keenly portrayed his depression over the failure of his first marriage, he is able to convey quite wonderfully his love for Margaret, and the happiness she brought him.The later chapters are mini-essays, covering various aspects of his later life: travels to places like Jugoslavia and Denmark; the United States and China; his feelings about Science Fiction, its history, and worth, and its treatment by mainstream critics; a look back at a critical year spent in Sumatra, and his later return; the writing of a select few of his books, most notably the Helliconia trilogy; his experiences with acting and movie-making, including time spent working on a (never completed) project with Stanley Kubrick (apparently this movie, AI, may soon be made by Steven Spielberg); his relationships with his wife and children and sister; some brief comments on political matters; and finally a fascinating account of his visit to Turkmenistan, which occurred only after he had written a book set there.

I was quite absorbed by this book, and quite moved.I found it fascinating reading throughout.This is a very worthwhile account of the life of a man in this century.Definitely recommended. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Joy to Read and Examine - Again and Again
The brilliant, fun poetry is equalled only by the totally engaging illustrations. I re-read it regularly, getting more out of it each time.

A short fable teaching one mans path to self discovery
This beautiful book illustrates one mans realization of personal evil and his victory over it.The line-drawing illustrations and beatiful prose combine to make this picture book unforgetable and moving.

beautiful...a brilliantly illustated story/poem
This book contains a story that you simply cannot forget. A story perhaps about the downfall of an incredible society or perhaps the rise of an even more advanced but archaic group. Beautifully illustrated...unforgetablepictures ... Read more

Product Description
The writer Brian Aldiss provides an account of his wife's fatal illness and her death from pancreatic cancer in November 1997. The book describes how they first found out about the cancer, which was initially masked by a heart complaint. Margaret's illness is rapid: she goes from occasionally tired, to bedridden, in a matter of months. Aldiss records the kindness of friends, and the support he receives from colleagues, doctors and the Macmillan nurses who care for Margaret. He speaks about the minutiae of existence: making his wife's progressively tiny breakfast, buying a new car, visiting an old home. He portrays his wife as stoical, uncomplaining and brave, and shows how the tragedy affects his four children. While looking through some of Margaret's old diaries, he comes across some unflattering comments about himself, along with some very loving words. The experience is humbling. He and his wife visit a hospice for the terminally ill and Margaret eventually asks to be taken there. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

This is one of those rare books...
...that you remember forever, in a vague dreamlike way. I was in my teens when I first read it, then again in my twenties, and finally in my thrirties the original UK version. But it wasn't the book that changed so much, it was the world. Get your ticket punched with Cryptozoic and then start counting, reverse forward.

3.5 star rating
Rating System:
1 star = abysmal; some books deserve to be forgotten
2 star = poor; a total waste of time
3 star = good; worth the effort
4 star = very good; what writing should be
5 star = fantastic; must own it and share it with others

STORY: People are able to time travel via a method calld mind-travel. This fad has led to the economic breakdown of the future and martial law initiated. For one man, he is tasked to track down a outlaw of the state in order to save the word from further chaos.

MY FEEDBACK:
Pro: Book is a very fast read (read all 190pgs in a day). That also means the author doesn't waste time getting to the point
Pro: Very different take on the time travel idea. Believable and well delivered
Pro: In very few pages we really get into the character of the main protagonist. Regardless if you like the protagonist or not, Aldiss does some good character development here.
Con: Towards the end he goes on for about 40+ pages trying to explain some theories. It was just a little long for me especially when you consider that is 20% of the entire book
Pro: Leaves you thinking in the end

OVERALL: I liked it and it kept my interest. I thought it would have been great if it didn't get so overly complex towards the end and give me a headache. Great classic sci-fi otherwise.

An Age
I refer to the Sphere edition of this novel, published under the title of 'An Age', which I have just re-read.Firstly, about the publication - it desparately needed a good proofreading, there are just SO many typographical errors!I re-read this novel because it made a big impression when I read it first - at least ten years ago.I still like the novel, but perhaps not as much as I originally did.There is a bit too much of philosophising and pseudo science for my liking.But it does have a very original idea that is explored well.Unfortunately 'when all is revealed' and the explanations and speculations start at the end I suddenly saw a lot of what Philip Dick did in 'Counter-Clock World' come back to haunt me.To be honest, I don't know which of these novels came first.They are both well worth reading although, for me, the Dick is stronger and more inventive.In the Aldiss, I was also put off by all the male characters being known by their family names and the main female character being called Ann - it seemed a bit coy and cute to me, too unbalanced from a sexist point of view.Something I thought a good editor may have advised against. ... Read more

Product Description
A critical study of the science fiction of Brian W. Aldiss. ... Read more

Product Description
The authors believe transitional science fiction writer and critic Brian Aldiss represents the evolutionary leap from the older pulp/adventure science fiction to the post "new wave" genre. They compare his work to that of the early mainstream literary modernists. While science fiction revives the modernist spirit and possesses its ranges, the authors maintain only Aldiss has taken advantage of that potential. His works embody both the potential and contradictions in new wave science fiction. Griffin and Wingrove emphasize the remarkable continuity of Aldiss's work. Neither rebel against the science fiction tradition nor transgressor of literary values, Aldiss is, for the authors, a model of literary survival. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Poop and six legged cow pigs - Meet the Utods
Group of holy patriarchs lost their bearing in space winds and had to land to an unknown planet. Within the seed of leguminous plant, in the doorway of their ship, they gaze the new planet and debate if the planet is worthy enough to be united to be part of their far away triple sun system. They reach consensus: it is. The high patriarch states solemnly: "Let defecation commence". The closest mud spot sits there ready to take their weltering. The utods have landed.

This is story about first contact: the humans that find these 6 legged cow pigs in their mud spot and utods that raise to meet the two-legs. The trigger fingered soldier thinks the rhinos are attacking and slaughters all but two of them. Back in the earth the utods are put to zoo for scientists and military to poke them. They do not understood the utods having 100 million years of evolution. They only see the two in captive to squeak with 6 holes using bands of which some are out of human hearing range. No one can possibly not love a novel with dialogue where the two utods in the zoo opine that if this is all they get, it will be a little boring: "a change of scenery would be welcomed at least every 5 years" (The utods live 1000+ years).

Three (3) stars. Published in 1964 this is a dazzling story about bodily functions; It's about poop; the physical and mental health requires wallowing in mud and filth is requirement for utods. A staple of comedy long before Douglas Adams. The story is biting and hilarious. But the wryly humorous indictment of man's boundless arrogance on the other hand is not so well balanced. Two-legs are cardboard stereotypes. Also shooting utods like cattle from a "helicopter" is quite on the borderline, because the reader gets so sympathetic towards them. The story is sharp and sad. Highly recommended, but the book probably won't last repeated reads well.

Snok Snok of the Grudgrodd!
This slim novel is a wryly humorous indictment of man's boundless arrogance. Failure to comprehend an existence that is starkly at odds with our own leads to the mistaken conclusion that the utods are little more than vaguely bright cattle. Throughout the story the strange alien's serene intelligence is either misconstrued or missed completely. Only one man, who decides to exile himself in order to observe the creatures in their own environment, will ever understand the profound connection they have with their world and each other.

This isn't one of Aldiss's best. The humour can be a little smug and the narrative seems to lack conviction. Also, the depth of characterisation and description doesn't live up to that of his better work. That said, as always with Aldiss, this is still worth a read.

Slight but penetrating
In my edition of the book it's pretty obvious that the person who wrote the back cover copy didn't actually bother to read the book itself and just read the last two chapters, since that's basically what it describes (it must be the publisher, because my copy of Barry Malzberg's "Galaxies" is from the same publisher and the same problem is there) . . . which isn't bad, but turns out to be incredibly misleading and makes you think the point of the book is very different from what it really is. What we have here is a slim novel about humans making contact with an alien race and lousing it up pretty bad. Aldiss' theory, in what was becoming a fairly prevalent one among SF authors at the time, was that aliens, not being human, can't be necessarily understood very easily and it'll take a lot of work. Unlike Lem's Solaris, which postulated that we'd never be able to understand aliens no matter how hard we tried, Aldiss states that we could do it if we work at it, but nobody will bother. The bulk of the book is a satire on the human race essentially, dissecting all the little things that make us so screwy as a whole. It's not a very optimistic book, so don't expect any uplifting message here, while most of the humans are fairly decent people, a lot of them do some pretty mean things out of ignorance or just plain spite. And the aliens themselves are sort of dopey, while the whole "communicating through excrement" thing is pretty funny and there's some other scattered neat ideas, as a race they just aren't that interesting. In fact the whole book suffers from good ideas but okay execution . . . the plot itself is almost too straightforward, there are barely any really standout characters (the main characters disappears partway through the book, never to be seen again) and while there's a statement lurking in the story somewhere, it never really coheres into a solid one. On the whole though it's a thought provoking and entertaining read and short enough that you can finish it off in a long afternoon without much trouble. Aldiss is enough of a master that even his minor works offer something to take home and make it a worthwhile read. Definitely worth a look.

Sharp, witty, sad
In a myriad of SF-writers, Brian Aldiss has always stood out because of his ability to infuse typical genre scenarios withunique imagination and gentle irony, and The Dark Light Years is the author at his best. The plot follows humanity's first contac with an alien race called the Utods, an intelligent, gentle people who think technology is a strange Idea and socialize using their excrements(!). Aldiss turns this scenario into a humorous but but bleak fable about human nature, with lots of sideways glances at heavy philosophical themes like the nature of communication, religion and progress. A great book, halfway between Ellison and Asimov. Thoroughly recommended.

I can't figure it out.
I don't know , Brian Aldis is a great writer , he wrote masterpieces like "The Long Afternoon On Earth" and "Space , Time And Netaniel" but this book is just horrible.

It's REALLY dated , totalyflat charecters , childish aliens , and the story itself is pretty bad.

Ilike most of his work , and he does have ingenius sparks sometimes , butthis book is lame!For some good read of Aldis you should try "theinterpreter" or "The Long Afternoon On Earth". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Yes
This is easily one of the best sci-fi novel, or just book, that I have ever read. This book is old and I had to obtain my copy via eBay, but it was worth it. The eight interconnected stories come to a surprising conclusion, and overall is very thought-provoking. I liked how each chapter focused on a different part in human history. While I do feel that this book could have used some more detail (the book is fairly slim compared to other books such as say, Dune) it is still a wonderful and thought-provoking read, with some juicy nugget of philosophy or thought in each section. My favorites were the 'Mutant' and the 'Ultimate' Millennia chapters.

Gigantic scale combined with small human moments...
A series of short stories, each dealing with a specific era in the human development and future histoy. Alldis is known in his intelligent and philosofic works and this one is not only keeping those high standarts , but stands out as a wonderfull, imaginative story of our race , millions of years into the future. super recommended. enjoy.

One of those books you never forget
I read this book as a teenager, and then many other times. It's a story ofmankind spanning millions of years. This book is one-of-a-kind, for thegigantic scale on which is projected, the bold imagination, the longsilences between flashes of history that let yor mind fascinated for theuntold but imagined. And there is a subtle sadness for those million lives,their joys and despairs...but always life flourishes in unexpected ways.Reading this book is like looking at the sky in a clear night and wonderingat the immense universe.

The history of how mankind eventually did itself in.
An excellent Aldiss book. It annnotates the history of mankind as told byits replacement. Telling the tale like a geologist would - using million,billion, thousand, and hundred year increments - Aldiss shows how man isthe perfect seedling for populating the universe as well as the ultimatevehicle for its self-destruction. Man ruins the Earth, leaves Earth for thestars, tackles the problems of time travel through an intergrated form ofspeech-like alchemy, rediscovers a still populated Earth but does notbelive it to be the Earth of myth, renames Earth as there are alreadyhundreds of planets in the universe laying claim to that distinction,unifies the universe, institutes galactic warfare as a necessary economicaldevice, and destroys the universe in a truely unique battle against man'ssuccessor. Time is the constant, and Aldiss makes us aware that we are justa silly soap opera for the infinate to enjoy for but a minute or two. ... Read more