Clifford simak bibliography. Biography. Good wizard from the West

eng. Clifford Donald Simak; correct pronunciation of last name: Simak

prominent American science fiction writer

Clifford Simak

short biography

Clifford Donald Simak (Clifford Donald Simak The correct pronunciation of the last name is: Simak; August 3, 1904, Millville, Wisconsin, USA - April 25, 1988, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, considered one of the founders of modern American fiction. Due to a common misconception, the books of this author, translated into Russian, were invariably published under the name Simak- it is under this "pseudonym" that he is known to Russian-speaking readers. However, until a certain time, even such Americans as Isaac Asimov, who wrote in the preface to one of Simak's stories, shared the error of Soviet translators:

I have never been able to say or hear his last name spoken aloud. (Even when we did get to meet, I called him Cliff.) As a result, for some reason, I assumed the "i" in his last name was long, and always assumed he was SAIMAK. In reality, "i" is short, and he is SIMak. It may seem like a small thing, but it always annoyed me when someone mangled my last name, and I should be equally careful with strangers.

original text(English)
I never had occasion to use or hear his last name expressed in sound. (Even when we did meet I called him Cliff.) The result is that, for some reason, I assumed the "i" in his last name was long and thought of him always as SIGH-mak. Actually, the "i" is short and it is SIM-ak. It may seem a small thing but I am always irritated when anyone mispronounces my name and I should be equally careful of others" names.
Isaac Asimov

The asteroid (228883) Cliffsimak is named after the writer.

Clifford Donald Simak was born on August 3, 1904 in Millville, Wisconsin to John Lewis Simak and Margaret Simak (née Wiseman ( Wiseman)). Paternal grandfather was a native of Bohemia named Shimak ( Simak).

April 13, 1929 married Agnes Katchenberg; they had two children, Richard Scott and Shelley Ellen.

Studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He worked in various newspapers until he signed a contract with " Minneapolis Star and Tribune”, where he worked from 1939 until his retirement in 1976. Here, from the beginning of 1949, he acted as news editor of the newspaper " Minneapolis Star»; and since the beginning of 1961 - the coordinator of the popular science series " Minneapolis Tribune».

The first to be sent to magazines in early 1931 was the story “ Cubes of Ganymede". It was accepted for publication in Amazing Stories but did not materialize; and at the request of the author in 1935 he was returned a battered manuscript of the story with the wording "outdated". Simak considered this absurd, but noted the weakness typical of his early works. The Cubes of Ganymede was never published.

The writer made his debut in the same 1931, in the December issue of Wonder Stories magazine, with the story “ red sun world».

He left writing in 1933. The only published science fiction work in the four years since its debut was The Maker (1935), which was a story with religious overtones, a rarity in the science fiction genre at the time. It was one of the first rational versions of the explanation of the creation of the Universe by the demiurge in the world science fiction.

In his early years, Simak also wrote war stories and Westerns.

In the late 1930s, he renewed his collaboration with John Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction. Simak soon became one of the leading authors of the "Golden Age of Science Fiction" (1938-1950). His first works at this time (such as " space engineers(1939)) were written in the tradition of "hard" science fiction, but then Simak created his own style, which is often called "soft" and "pastoral". He sang the theme of peaceful contact with "brothers in mind" and the spiritual community of various civilizations in the universe. The typical Simak aliens were more likely to be seen sitting around with beers in rural Wisconsin than conquering Earth. His work was imbued with the idea of the "Galactic School", where humanity enters in the position of "first grader"; and on the further prospects for the development of human civilization, the author was generally optimistic. In many works, the author turned to the themes of a parallel world (for example, in the novels "City", "Ring around the Sun", "Fiends of the Mind"), time travel (in the novels "What could be simpler than time", "Mastodonia", "Magistral eternity"), the extension of human life and immortality (the novel "Why Call Them Back from Heaven?", the stories "Lost Eternity", " Second childhood"), intelligent plants (the novel "All Flesh is Grass", stories " scarecrows», « Green Thumb Boy”, “When the house is lonely”).

In 1952, the famous novel "The City" was published, which is essentially a collection of interconnected stories - "legends", in which the author temporarily changed his already familiar style. With the "City", which received the International Prize in the "Fantasy" genre, Simak's world fame actually began.

In the 1960s, Simak mainly wrote novels, but in the 1970s, due to deteriorating health, he returned to stories and short stories. With the help of a friend, he continued to write and publish science fiction and later fantasy into the 1980s.

Clifford Simak has been writing for fifty-five years. During this time, he wrote 28 novels and 127 novels and stories (short stories).

In 1976, the Science Fiction Writers of America named Simak " The Grand Masters of awards Nebula».

Clifford Donald Simak died on April 25, 1988, at the age of 84, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Editions in Russian

It has been published in Russian translations since 1957. Published many times, including in the famous book series " Foreign fiction Moscow publishing house Mir. Author's books of the writer published in this series:

« charm". Collection. - 1967
« All living...". NF novel. Per. from English. Nora Gal - 1968, 304 p., dust jacket
« goblin sanctuary". Sat. - 1972, 320 p.
« The Worlds of Clifford Simak". Sat. - 1978
« Ring around the sun". Sat. - 1982

In 1993-1995, the Latvian publishing house "Polaris" in the series " The Worlds of Clifford Simak"The complete collection of fantastic works" of the writer was published in 18 volumes. In Russia, in 2004-2006, the collected works of Simak (in 10 volumes) were published in the series “ founding fathers Publishing house "Eksmo".

Screen adaptations

1962 - series "Out of This World" (UK)
- episode "Immigrant" (September 8, 1962) - based on the story of the same name (1954)
- episode "Target Generation" (September 15, 1962) - based on the short story of the same name (1953)
1964 - the series "Beyond the Possible" (USA)
- episode "The Duplicate Man" (December 19, 1964) - based on the story " Good Night, Mr. James» (1951)
1969 - series "Out of the Unknown" (UK)
- episode "Beach Head" (January 28, 1969) - based on the story " You'll Never Go Home Again» (1951)
- episode "Target Generation" (March 18, 1969) - based on the short story of the same name
1993 - "Anomaly" (Russia) - based on the novel " All flesh is grass»
1999 - "Séta" (Hungary) - based on the story " To Walk a City's Street» (1972)

Categories:

Clifford Donald Simak(Clifford Donald Simak, the correct pronunciation of the last name is: Simak; August 3, 1904, Millville, Wisconsin, USA - April 25, 1988, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, considered one of the founders of modern American fiction. Due to a common misconception, the books of this author, translated into Russian, were invariably published under the name of Simak - it is under this “pseudonym” that he is known to Russian-speaking readers. However, until a certain time, even such Americans as Isaac Asimov, who wrote in the preface to one of Simak's stories, shared the error of Soviet translators:

I have never been able to say or hear his last name spoken aloud. (Even when we did get to meet, I called him Cliff.) As a result, for some reason, I assumed the "i" in his last name was long, and always assumed he was SAIMAK. In reality, "i" is short, and he is SIMak. It may seem like a small thing, but it always annoyed me when someone mangled my last name, and I should be equally careful with strangers.
Original text (English) I never had occasion to use or hear his last name expressed in sound. (Even when we did meet I called him Cliff.) The result is that, for some reason, I assumed the "i" in his last name was long and thought of him always as SIGH-mak. Actually, the "i" is short and it is SIM-ak. It may seem a small thing but I am always irritated when anyone mispronounces my name and I should be equally careful of others" names.
Isaac Asimov

The asteroid (228883) Cliffsimak is named after the writer.

Biography

Clifford Donald Simak was born on August 3, 1904 in Millville, Wisconsin to John Lewis Simak and Margaret Simak (née Wiseman). The paternal grandfather was a native of Bohemia named Shimak (imk).

April 13, 1929 married Agnes Katchenberg; they had two children, Richard Scott and Shelley Ellen.

Studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He worked for various newspapers until he signed with the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, where he worked from 1939 until he retired in 1976. Here, from the beginning of 1949, he served as news editor of the Minneapolis Star newspaper; and since the beginning of 1961 - the coordinator of the popular science series "Minneapolis Tribune".

In early 1931, the story "The Cubes of Ganymede" was the first to be sent to the magazines. It was accepted for publication in Amazing Stories but did not materialize; and at the request of the author in 1935 he was returned a battered manuscript of the story with the wording "outdated". Simak considered this absurd, but noted the weakness typical of his early works. The Cubes of Ganymede was never published.

The writer made his debut in the same 1931, in the December issue of Wonder Stories magazine, with the story "The World of the Red Sun".

In his early years, Simak also wrote war stories and Westerns.

In the late 1930s, he renewed his collaboration with John Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction. Simak soon became one of the leading authors of the "Golden Age of Science Fiction" (1938-1950). His first works during this time (such as The Space Engineers (1939)) were written in the tradition of "hard" science fiction, but then Simak developed his own style, which is often described as "soft" and "pastoral". He sang the theme of peaceful contact with "brothers in mind" and the spiritual community of various civilizations in the universe. The typical Simak aliens were more likely to be seen sitting around with beers in rural Wisconsin than conquering Earth. His work was imbued with the idea of the "Galactic School", where humanity enters in the position of "first grader"; and on the further prospects for the development of human civilization, the author was generally optimistic. In many works, the author turned to the themes of a parallel world (for example, in the novels "City", "Ring around the Sun", "Fiends of the Mind"), time travel (in the novels "What could be simpler than time", "Mastodonia", "Magistral eternity"), the extension of human life and immortality (the novel "Why Call Them Back from Heaven?", the stories "Lost Eternity", "Second Childhood"), intelligent plants (the novel "All Flesh Is Grass", the stories "Monsters", " Green boy-with-a-finger”, “When the house is lonely”).

He won the prestigious Hugo Award three times, and in 1981 he was awarded the Nebula Award. His first works were published in Russian back in 1957, he became one of the favorite authors of several generations of Soviet children and teenagers. His novels and short stories have become part of the golden fund of science fiction and are still being reprinted in thousands of copies around the world.

We have selected five of the best books by Clifford Simak.

For the novel "City" the writer received the International Prize for Science Fiction in 1953. The book was created during the Second World War and the Korean War as a protest against military conflicts and cruelty. Clifford Simak wrote a utopia. The author populated the land of the future not with people, but with robots and intelligent Dogs. But a world without humanity is not completely free of human problems.

Perhaps this is the best collection of short stories and novels by Clifford Simak. His central work (“Photo of the Battle of Marathon”) was first published in 1974. The United States lost the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal died down, exposing the wrong side of American political life and the inefficiency of the entire system. Against the background of these events, the dialogue between the protagonist of the Battle and the alien accusing him of indifference and a desire to escape from reality sounds especially acute. It is unpleasant to realize that your descendants will make the same mistakes as you, and also that human nature has not changed for centuries (technology has made us smarter, but not wiser).

Live the highest mercy

Professor Edward Lansing, who is tired of boring routine and routine, receives an invitation to participate in a certain game ... and suddenly finds himself in a gloomy unknown world in the company of strange people and one robot that were transferred from different times and civilizations. Thus begins the novel "Live in the highest mercy." In it, Clifford Simak addresses the idea of searching for a new beginning of civilization. Some superintelligence wants to create an ideal society. So he selects from all the existing worlds candidates for the School of Civilization, so that after many years its surviving graduates will lay the foundation of a new world.

What does consumer paradise look like? Stores owned by no one knows who sell eternal razor blades, electric lamps, and later cars and houses at bargain prices appear. Buy - I do not want. But, as we know, free cheese is only in one place. And, apparently, humanity wants to grab a piece of it. "Ring Around the Sun" came out a year after "The City". This is another cautionary tale by Clifford Simak.

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Clifford Donald Simak (Clifford Donald Simak The correct pronunciation of the last name is: Simak; August 3, 1904, Millville, Wisconsin, USA - April 25, 1988, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, considered one of the founders of modern American fiction. Due to a common misconception, the books of this author, translated into Russian, were invariably published under the name Simak- it is under this "pseudonym" that he is known to Russian-speaking readers. However, until a certain time, the misconception of Soviet translators was shared even by such Americans as Isaac Asimov, who wrote in the preface to one of Simak's stories:

I have never been able to say or hear his last name spoken aloud. (Even when we did get to meet, I called him Cliff.) As a result, for some reason, I assumed the "i" in his last name was long, and always assumed he was SAIMAK. In reality, "i" is short, and he is SIMak. It may seem like a small thing, but it always annoyed me when someone mangled my last name, and I should be equally careful with strangers.

original text(English)

I never had occasion to use or hear his last name expressed in sound. (Even when we did meet I called him Cliff.) The result is that, for some reason, I assumed the "i" in his last name was long and thought of him always as SIGH-mak. Actually, the "i" is short and it is SIM-ak. It may seem a small thing but I am always irritated when anyone mispronounces my name and I should be equally careful of others" names.

The asteroid (228883) Cliffsimak is named after the writer.

Biography

April 13, 1929 married Agnes Katchenberg; they had two children, Richard Scott and Shelley Ellen.

The first to be sent to magazines in early 1931 was the story “ Cubes of Ganymede". It was accepted for publication in Amazing Stories magazine, but it did not take place; and at the request of the author in 1935 he was returned a battered manuscript of the story with the wording "outdated". Simak considered this absurd, but noted the weakness typical of his early works. The Cubes of Ganymede was never published.

The writer made his debut in the same 1931, in the December issue of Wonder Stories magazine, with the story " red sun world».

He left writing in 1933. The only published science fiction work in the four years since its debut was the story "The Maker" (), which was a story with religious overtones, which was rare for the science fiction genre of that time. It was one of the first rational options in world science fiction to explain the creation of the Universe by the demiurge.

In his early years, Simak also wrote war stories and Westerns.

In the late 1930s he renewed his association with John Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction. Simak soon became one of the leading authors of the "Golden Age of Science Fiction" (1938-1950). His first works at this time (such as " space engineers()) were written in the tradition of "hard" science fiction, but then Simak created his own style, which is often called "soft" and "pastoral". He sang the theme of peaceful contact with "brothers in mind" and the spiritual community of various civilizations in the universe. The typical Simak aliens were more likely to be seen sitting around with beers in rural Wisconsin than conquering Earth. His work was imbued with the idea of the "Galactic School", where humanity enters in the position of "first grader"; and on the further prospects for the development of human civilization, the author was generally optimistic. In many works, the author turned to the themes of a parallel world (for example, in the novels "City", "Ring around the Sun", "Fiends of the mind"), time travel (in the novels "What could be simpler than time", "Mastodonia", "Magistral eternity "), the extension of human life and immortality (the novel "Why Call Them Back from Heaven?", stories "Lost Eternity", " Second childhood”), intelligent plants (the novel “All Flesh is Grass”, stories “ scarecrows», « Green Thumb Boy"," When it's lonely in the house ").

Editions in Russian

It has been published in Russian translations since 1957. Published many times, including in the book series " Foreign fiction Publishing house "Mir". Author's books of the writer published in this series:

« charm". Collection. - 1967.
« All living...". NF novel. Per. from English. Nora Gal - 1968, 304 pp., dust jacket.
« goblin sanctuary". Sat. - 1972, 320 p.
« The Worlds of Clifford Simak". Sat. - 1978.
« Ring around the sun". Sat. - 1982.

Notes

Literature

sam moskowitz, The Saintly Heresy of Clifford D. Simak, Amazing Stories, June 1962. p. 86-97. (Reprint: 15. Clifford D. Simak // Sam Moskowitz, Seekers Of Tomorrow(1966). World Publishing Co.)
Simak, Clifford // Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Who is who / ed. Vl. Gakov. - Minsk: Galaxias, 1995.

Links

John Clute , David Pringle , // SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, online edition, 2011-.
Online Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Fantasy Lab website
on the site Lib.Ru

View this template Artworks Clifford Simak

Novels

Tale

stories

An excerpt characterizing Simak, Clifford Donald

“These bad people offended the king and queen and wanted to capture them. So they tried to run. Axel arranged everything for them... But when he was ordered to leave them, the carriage went slower, because the king was tired. He even got out of the carriage to "breathe the air"... and that's where they recognized him. Well, they got it, of course...

Pogrom at Versailles Arrest of the royal family

Fear of what is happening... Seeing Marie Antoinette to the Temple

Stella sighed... and again threw us into another "new episode" of this not so happy, but still beautiful story...
This time everything looked sinister and even frightening.
We found ourselves in some kind of dark, unpleasant room, as if it were a real evil prison. In a tiny, dirty, damp and stinking room, on a wooden couch with a straw mattress, sat exhausted by suffering, dressed in black, a thin, gray-haired woman in whom it was completely impossible to recognize that fabulously beautiful, always smiling miracle queen, whom young Axel most of all loved in the world...

Marie Antoinette at the Temple

He was in the same room, completely shocked by what he saw and, not noticing anything around, stood on his knees, pressing his lips to her still beautiful, white hand, unable to utter a word ... He came to her completely desperate, having tried everything in the world and having lost the last hope of saving her ... and yet, again, he offered his almost impossible help ... He was obsessed with the only desire: to save her, no matter what ... He simply could not let her to die ... Because without her, his life, already unnecessary to him, would end ...
They looked silently at each other, trying to hide the naughty tears that flowed down their cheeks in narrow paths ... Unable to take their eyes off each other, because they knew that if he failed to help her, this look could be the last for them .. .
The bald jailer looked at the heartbroken guest and, not intending to turn away, watched with interest the sad scene of someone else's sorrow unfolding before him ...
The vision disappeared and another appeared, no better than the previous one - a terrible, screaming, armed with pikes, knives and guns, a brutal crowd mercilessly destroyed the magnificent palace ...

Versailles...

Then Axel reappeared. Only this time he was standing at the window in some very beautiful, richly furnished room. And next to him stood the same "friend of his childhood" Margarita, whom we saw with him at the very beginning. Only this time, all her arrogant coldness evaporated somewhere, and her beautiful face literally breathed with participation and pain. Axel was deathly pale and, pressing his forehead against the window glass, watched with horror something happening on the street ... He heard the crowd rustling outside the window, and in a terrifying trance loudly repeated the same words:
– My soul, I never saved you... Forgive me, my poor... Help her, give her the strength to endure this, Lord!...
– Axel, please! .. You must pull yourself together for her sake. Well, please be reasonable! - with participation persuaded his old girlfriend.
– Prudence? What kind of prudence are you talking about, Margarita, when the whole world has gone crazy?! .. - Axel shouted. - What is it for? For what?.. What did she do to them?!.
Margarita unfolded some small piece of paper and, apparently not knowing how to calm him down, said:
- Calm down, dear Axel, now listen better:
“I love you, my friend... Don't worry about me. I miss only your letters. Perhaps we are not destined to meet again ... Farewell, the most beloved and most loving of people ... ".
This was the last letter from the Queen, which Axel had read thousands of times, but for some reason it sounded even more painful from someone else's lips...
- What is this? What is going on there? - I could not stand it.
– This beautiful queen is dying… She is being executed now. Stella replied sadly.
Why can't we see? I asked again.
“Oh, you don’t want to watch this, trust me. The little girl shook her head. - It's a pity, she's so unhappy... How unfair it is.
“I would still like to see…” I asked.
“Well, look…” Stella nodded sadly.
On a huge square, chock-full of “strung-up” people, a scaffold ominously towered in the middle ... A deathly-pale, very thin and exhausted woman dressed in white proudly climbed it along the small, crooked steps. Her short-cropped blond hair was almost completely hidden by a modest white cap, and in her tired eyes, reddened from tears or insomnia, deep hopeless sadness was reflected ...

Swaying a little, because, because of her tightly tied hands behind her back, it was difficult for her to keep her balance, the woman somehow climbed onto the platform, still, with her last strength, trying to stay straight and proud. She stood and looked into the crowd, not lowering her eyes and not showing how truly she was terribly scared ... And there was no one around whose friendly look could warm the last minutes of her life ... No one who warmth could help her endure this terrifying moment when her life had to leave her in such a cruel way ...
Before that, the raging, excited crowd suddenly suddenly fell silent, as if it ran into an insurmountable obstacle ... The women standing in the front rows silently cried. A slender figure on the scaffold approached the chopping block and stumbled a little and fell painfully to her knees. For a few short seconds, she raised her exhausted face to the sky, but already pacified by the proximity of death... took a deep breath... and proudly looked at the executioner, laid her tired head on the chopping block. The crying became louder, the women closed their children's eyes. The executioner approached the guillotine....
- God! No!!! Axel screamed heartbreakingly.
At that very moment, in the gray sky, the sun suddenly peeked out from behind the clouds, as if illuminating the last path of the unfortunate victim ... It gently touched her pale, terribly emaciated cheek, as if affectionately saying the last earthly "forgive me." There was a bright flash on the scaffold - a heavy knife fell, scattering bright scarlet splashes ... The crowd gasped. The blond head fell into the basket, it was all over... The beautiful queen went to where there was no more pain, no more bullying... There was only peace...

There was deadly silence all around. There was nothing else to see...
So the tender and kind queen died, who until the very last minute managed to stand with her head held high, which was then so simply and ruthlessly torn down by the heavy knife of the bloody guillotine...
Pale, frozen like a dead man, Axel looked through the window with unseeing eyes and it seemed that life was flowing out of him drop by drop, painfully slowly ... Carrying his soul far, far away, so that there, in light and silence, forever merge with the one whom he loved so deeply and selflessly...
“My poor... My soul... How did I not die with you?.. Everything is over for me now...” Axel whispered with dead lips, still standing at the window.
But everything will be “finished” for him much later, after some twenty long years, and this end will, again, be no less terrible than that of his unforgettable queen ...
- Do you want to look further? Stella asked softly.
I just nodded, unable to say a word.
We already saw another, raging, brutalized crowd of people, and in front of it stood the same Axel, only this time the action took place many years later. He was still just as handsome, only now almost completely gray-haired, in some kind of magnificent, very highly significant, military uniform, he looked all the same fit and slender.

And so, the same brilliant, most intelligent man stood in front of some half-drunk, brutalized people and, hopelessly trying to outshout them, tried to explain something to them ... But, unfortunately, none of those gathered wanted to listen to him ... poor Axel, stones flew, and the crowd, fueling their anger with nasty swearing, began to press. He tried to fight them off, but they threw him to the ground, they began to brutally trample on his feet, tore off his clothes ... And some big man suddenly jumped on his chest, breaking his ribs, and without hesitation, easily killed him with a kick to the temple. The naked, mutilated body of Axel was dumped on the side of the road, and there was no one who at that moment would have wanted to feel sorry for him, already dead ... There was only a rather laughing, drunken, excited crowd around ... who just needed to splash out on someone - something of his accumulated animal anger ...
Axel's pure, suffering soul, finally freed, flew away to unite with the one that was his bright and only love, and had been waiting for him for so many long years...
So, again, very cruelly, ended his life with Stella and me, almost unfamiliar, but who became so close, a man named Axel, and ... the same little boy who, having lived only some short five years, managed to accomplish an amazing and unique feat in his life, which any adult living on earth could be honestly proud of ...
- What a horror! .. - I whispered in shock. - Why is it so?
“I don’t know…” Stella whispered softly. “For some reason, people were very angry then, even worse than animals ... I looked a lot to understand, but I didn’t understand ...” the little girl shook her head. “They didn’t listen to reason, they just killed. And for some reason everything beautiful was also destroyed ...
- And what about Axel's children or his wife? I asked, recovering from the shock.
“He never had a wife - he always loved only his queen,” said little Stella with tears in her eyes.

And then, suddenly, a flash seemed to flash in my head - I realized who Stella and I had just seen and for whom we were so worried from the bottom of our hearts! ... It was the French queen, Marie Antoinette, whose tragic life we recently (and very briefly!) took place in a history lesson, and our history teacher strongly approved of the execution of which, considering such a terrible end to be very “correct and instructive” ... apparently because he taught us “Communism” mainly in history .. .
Despite the sadness of what happened, my soul rejoiced! I just could not believe in the unexpected happiness that fell on me! .. After all, I had been waiting for this for so long! I almost squealed from the puppyish delight that gripped me! .. Of course, I was so happy not because I did not believe in what was constantly happening to me. On the contrary, I always knew that everything that happened to me was real. But apparently I, like any ordinary person, and especially a child, still sometimes needed some, at least the simplest, confirmation that I was not going crazy yet, and that now I can prove to myself, that everything that happens to me is not just my sick fantasy or fiction, but a real fact described or seen by other people. Therefore, such a discovery was a real holiday for me! ..
I already knew in advance that as soon as I returned home, I would immediately rush to the city library to collect everything I could find about the unfortunate Marie Antoinette and I would not rest until I found at least something, at least some fact that matches with our visions ... I found, unfortunately, only two tiny books, which described not so many facts, but this was quite enough, because they fully confirmed the accuracy of what I had seen from Stella.
Here is what I was able to find then:
the queen's favorite person was a Swedish count named Axel Fersen, who selflessly loved her all his life and never married after her death;
their parting before the departure of the count to Italy took place in the garden of the Petit Trianon - Marie Antoinette's favorite place - the description of which exactly coincided with what we saw;
a ball in honor of the arrival of the Swedish king Gustav, held on June 21, where all the guests for some reason were dressed in white;
an escape attempt in a green carriage organized by Axel (all the other six escape attempts were also organized by Axel, but none of them, for one reason or another, failed. True, two of them failed at the request of Marie Antoinette herself, since the queen did not wanted to run away alone, leaving her children behind);
the beheading of the queen took place in complete silence, instead of the expected "happy rampage" of the crowd;
a few seconds before the executioner's blow, the sun suddenly came out...
The Queen's last letter to Count Fersen is reproduced almost exactly in the book "Memoirs of Count Fersen", and it almost exactly repeated what we heard, with the exception of just a few words.
Already these little details were enough for me to rush into battle with tenfold strength! .. But that was already later ... And then, in order not to seem ridiculous or heartless, I tried my best to pull myself together and hide my delight about my wonderful “ insights." And to dispel Stellino's sad mood, she asked:
- Do you really like the queen?
- Oh yeah! She is kind and so beautiful ... And our poor "boy", he suffered so much here too ...
I felt very sorry for this sensitive, sweet little girl, who, even in her death, was so worried about these people, completely alien and almost unfamiliar to her, as many do not worry about their own relatives ...
– Perhaps there is some share of wisdom in suffering, without which we would not understand how precious our life is? I said uncertainly.
- Here! Grandma says this too! - the girl was delighted. “But if people want only good, then why should they suffer?
– Maybe because without pain and trials, even the best people would not truly understand the same goodness? I joked.
But for some reason, Stella did not take it at all as a joke, but said very seriously:
– Yes, I think you're right... Do you want to see what happened to Harold's son next? she said more cheerfully.
“Oh no, no more! I pleaded.
Stella laughed happily.
– Do not be afraid, this time there will be no trouble, because he is still alive!
How is it alive? I was surprised.
Immediately, a new vision appeared again and, continuing to surprise me unspeakably, it already turned out to be our century (!), And even our time ... A gray-haired, very pleasant man was sitting at the desk and thinking about something intently. The whole room was literally crammed with books; they were everywhere - on the table, on the floor, on the shelves, and even on the windowsill. A huge fluffy cat sat on a small sofa and, not paying any attention to the owner, concentratedly washed his face with a large, very soft paw. The whole atmosphere created an impression of "scholarship" and comfort.
- Is that - he lives again? .. - I did not understand.
Stella nodded.
- And this is right now? - I did not let up.
The girl confirmed again with a nod from her cute red head.
– It must be very strange for Harold to see his son so different?.. How did you find him again?
- Oh, exactly the same! I just "felt" his "key" the way my grandmother taught. Stella thought thoughtfully. - After Axel died, I looked for his essence on all the "floors" and could not find it. Then she looked among the living - and he was there again.
“And do you know who he is now, in this life?”
- Not yet ... But I will definitely find out. I tried many times to "get through" to him, but for some reason he does not hear me ... He is always alone and almost all the time with his books. With him only an old woman, his servants and this cat.
"Well, what about Harold's wife?" Did you find her too? I asked.
– Oh, of course! You know your wife - this is my grandmother! .. - Stella smiled slyly.
I was in real shock. For some reason, such an incredible fact did not want to fit in my dumbfounded head ...
“Grandma?..” was all I could say.
Stella nodded, very pleased with the effect.
- How so? Is that why she helped you find them? Did she know?! .. - thousands of questions simultaneously swirled furiously in my agitated brain, and it seemed to me that I would not have time to ask everything I was interested in. I wanted to know EVERYTHING! And at the same time, I perfectly understood that no one was going to tell me “everything” ...
- I probably chose him because I felt something. Stella said thoughtfully. “Maybe it was Grandma’s idea?” But she will never confess, - the girl waved her hand.
– And HE?.. Does he know too? was all I could ask.
- Surely! Stella laughed. “Why are you so surprised by this?”
“It’s just that she’s already old ... It must be hard for him,” I said, not knowing how to more accurately explain my feelings and thoughts.
- Oh no! Stella laughed again. - He was glad! Very, very happy. Grandma gave him a chance! No one could help him with this - but she could! And he saw her again... Oh, it was so great!
And then, finally, I understood what she was talking about... Apparently, Stella's grandmother gave her former "knight" the chance that he so hopelessly dreamed of all his long life left after physical death. After all, he searched for them so long and hard, so madly wanted to find them, so that only once he could say: how terribly sorry that he once left ... that he could not protect ... that he could not show how strong and he loved them wholeheartedly... He needed them to death to try to understand him and be able to somehow forgive him, otherwise he had no reason to live in any of the worlds...

Clifford Donald Simak (Clifford Donald Simak The correct pronunciation of the last name is: Simak; August 3, 1904, Millville, Wisconsin, USA - April 25, 1988, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, considered one of the founders of modern American fiction. Due to a common misconception, the books of this author, translated into Russian, were invariably published under the name Simak- it is under this "pseudonym" that he is known to Russian-speaking readers. However, until a certain time, the misconception of Soviet translators was shared even by such Americans as Isaac Asimov, who wrote in the preface to one of Simak's stories:

I have never been able to say or hear his last name spoken aloud. (Even when we did get to meet, I called him Cliff.) As a result, for some reason, I assumed the "i" in his last name was long, and always assumed he was SAIMAK. In reality, "i" is short, and he is SIMak. It may seem like a small thing, but it always annoyed me when someone mangled my last name, and I should be equally careful with strangers.

Original text (English)
I never had occasion to use or hear his last name expressed in sound. (Even when we did meet I called him Cliff.) The result is that, for some reason, I assumed the "i" in his last name was long and thought of him always as SIGH-mak. Actually, the "i" is short and it is SIM-ak. It may seem a small thing but I am always irritated when anyone mispronounces my name and I should be equally careful of others" names.

The asteroid (228883) Cliffsimak is named after the writer.

Biography

April 13, 1929 married Agnes Katchenberg; they had two children, Richard Scott and Shelley Ellen.

The writer made his debut in the same 1931, in the December issue of Wonder Stories magazine, with the story " red sun world».

In his early years, Simak also wrote war stories and Westerns.

In 1952, the famous novel "The City" was published, which is essentially a collection of interconnected stories - "legends", in which the author temporarily changed his already familiar style. From the "City", which received the International Prize in the "Fantasy" genre, Simak's world fame actually began.

Clifford Simak has been writing for fifty-five years. During this time, he wrote 28 novels and 127 novels and stories (short stories).

In 1976, the Science Fiction Writers of America named Simak " The Grand Masters of awards Nebula».

« charm". Collection. - 1967
« All living...". NF novel. Per. from English. Nora Gal - 1968, 304 p., dust jacket
« goblin sanctuary". Sat. - 1972, 320 p.
« Notes