Clifford simak biography. Biography. Editions in Russian

American science fiction writer.

Clifford Donald Simak - one of the largest American science fiction writers - was born on August 3, 1904 in Wisconsin (it is no coincidence that many of his works take place there).

Attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison but did not graduate. Worked as a reporter and editor. newsroom in the city newspaper of Minneapolis (pc. Wisconsin), where he lived all his life.

Although Simak published his first science fiction story in 1931, recognition came later, in the late 1930s, when he began contributing to Estounding magazine, which was edited by John Campbell. Together with Asimov, Van Vogt, Del Rey, Kuttner, Sturgeon, Hunlein, who were published in Campbell's magazine, Simak is considered the father of modern American science fiction, and thanks to these writers, the period from the late 30s to the second half of the 40s is rightly called "golden age" of US fiction. The name of Clifford Simak has been known to the Russian reader since 1957, when his story "Once Upon a Time on Mercury" was published on the pages of the magazine "Znanie-Sila". Since then, his novels "Everything Living ...", "Almost Like People", "Goblin Reserve", "City", "Ring Around the Sun" and many others have been published in Russian.

From the early 60s, Simak switched mainly to writing novels, the most significant of which is The Transfer Station (1963), also awarded the Hugo Award, but his other books of that time are What could be simpler than time (1961 ), "Almost Like People" (1962), "Everything Living" (1965) are not too inferior to him. In 1968, the famous novel "The Goblin Reserve" was published, which was almost immediately translated into Russian and became extremely popular among Soviet science fiction lovers. Simak's novels published in the 70s and 80s are noticeably inferior to those previously published, the most significant of them being "A Choice of Gods" (1972), "A Heritage of Stars" (1977), "The Visitors" (1980). The story "The Grotto of the Dancing Deer" (1980) won the Hugo and Nebula awards.

A distinctive feature of Simak's work is faith in reason, in a good beginning in man and humanity, a call for peace and unity of all who live on planet Earth and with whom else earthlings may meet. Over thirty novels, collections of novels and short stories, numerous literary awards, including the most prestigious award in American science fiction, the Hugo Award, which Simak has won repeatedly - this is the result of more than fifty years of creative activity of this patriarch of the science fiction genre.

In 1977, Simak was awarded the "Grand Master Nebula" prize. In the same year he retired. On April 25, 1988 he died.

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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

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.

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 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.

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".

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

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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...

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.

Briefly about the article: An article about the life and work of the American writer Clifford Donald Simak, a prominent representative of "soft" science fiction.

mind keeper

Clifford Simak

In the depths of my soul, I wanted to create a world where I myself and other disillusioned people could take refuge at least for a while from the life in which we are forced to live.

Clifford Simak

The world around us is not conducive to complacency - there are too many contradictions, mutual claims, violence in it ... Modern science fiction is only a reflection of society, therefore it is not surprising that the ideas of many authors about Contact with another mind border on xenophobia, total suspicion of Aliens, who supposedly they only want to take away our lands, food and women. The remarkable American science fiction writer Clifford Simak, who was convinced that Reason would certainly overcome fear and mistrust, saw Contact in a completely different way.

Good wizard from the West

Simak is one of those science fiction writers whose books came to our reader back in Soviet times. Together with Ray Bradbury, Robert Sheckley, Harry Harrison, Isaac Asimov, he was one of a relatively small list of "progressive" Western writers whose books allegedly exposed capitalist "mores." In the case of Simak, the fact that he was of the most “socially close” origin probably played a role.

Clifford Donald Simak was born on August 3, 1904 in the suburbs of the provincial town of Millville (Wisconsin) in the family of simple farmers John Lewis Simak and Margaret Olivia Wiseman. It is interesting that the origin of the future writer was Slavic: his grandfather, who emigrated to the States from the Czech Republic, had the surname Shimok.

Simaki did not live well, but together - honest hard workers, truly American "salt of the earth." Clifford carried a bright memory of childhood through his whole life: all his work is imbued with a special pastoral spirit, and the action of many books takes place in the province, mainly in his native Wisconsin.

Ros Clifford on the farm, helping his father, but digging in the ground was not part of the future writer's plans - after school, he entered the journalism department of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Alas, soon the Simakov family, like many American farmers of that time, began to have financial difficulties (it’s not for nothing that heartless officials and greedy bankers go to the books of the famous science fiction writer!), and they had to leave their studies. Clifford went to work as a teacher, and after marrying Agnes Karchenberg in 1929, he ventured into potentially more "bread" journalism.

To feed his family, he had to sweat: Clifford simultaneously worked part-time in several regional newspapers in Michigan, Kansas and Minnesota, since he had a lively pen. In 1939, Simak finally moved to Minnesota, signing a permanent contract with the Minneapolis Star and Tribune newspaper, where he worked until his retirement in 1976. First as a reporter, then as a news editor, and finally as the head of the popular science department.


Not just science fiction: Simak in the Wild West.

Already at the beginning of his journalistic career, Clifford tried himself as a writer. In truth, he did it for financial reasons, and he wrote all sorts of things - mostly westerns and adventure stories. And then he took up science fiction, which he became interested in as a child, having read the books of H. G. Wells. At first, it did not work out with science fiction - Simak composed something, but did not publish it. The first sf-publication took place in 1931 - the story " red sun world published in Hugo Gernsbeck's Wonder Stories. Further - as cut off. Capricious editors of science fiction periodicals rejected almost all stories and novels without looking.

The true "godfather" of Simak the science fiction writer (as well as many other pillars of the "Golden Age" of American SF) was John Campbell, who meticulously selected the brightest and most original authors for his Astounding Science Fiction magazine. Since the late 1930s, Simak deservedly became one of the most frisky "horses" of Campbell's literary "stable".

Slowly, Clifford groped for his own path in science fiction - he started mainly with space operas and "hard" sci-fi, until he finally settled a special niche. Simak actually became one of the founders of "soft" fiction of a particularly humanistic orientation, in the center of which are not intrepid square-jawed supermen, but ordinary people who find themselves in fantastic situations.

In 1935, Simak's first major novel appeared in Marvel Tales, Creator", four years later Astounding published his "almost" novel " space engineers”(At that time - a story, later noticeably expanded), but for several more years Clifford remained mainly the author of stories. Success as a novelist came only in 1952, with the advent of the novel " Cities”- a series of plot-combined stories that had previously been published in magazines for eight years. The novel received the International Fantasy Award, although there were no elves and magicians there - in those days, fantasy in the English-speaking world was called fiction in general.

After the "City", the most fertile time came for Simak the creator - for almost 20 years he remained one of the leaders of the American SF. Nothing special happened in everyday life: Simak wrote books, worked in a newspaper, popularized science and raised children. True, at the very end of the 1970s, the writer began to have health problems, because of which, in subsequent years, Simak leaned more on the short form. But his novels of that time, although they often touch on serious problems and controversial topics, are noticeably inferior to the books of the “golden” sixties in artistic terms. The writer found himself at a crossroads - world science fiction was changing before our eyes: first the New Wave, then the advent of a modernized space opera, the emerging fantasy tsunami. Simak feverishly rushed about, trying to maintain a leading position - hence the variety of topics that echo popular works by more fashionable authors at that time. In many of Simak's books, mystical or esoteric motifs appear, a fair amount of politicized topicality. However, there were also bright thoughts and non-standard ideas. Yes, and writing skills have not gone away. In the seventies, the master of "soft" SF tried his hand at fantasy, composing adventurous quests " Pilgrimage to magic" And " Mascot Brotherhood».

The late Simak is characterized by an increased "ideological" - although his books could never be called thoughtless - but there were problems with entertainment. At the end of his career, the writer clearly passed - given his advanced age and the fight against diseases, this is not surprising. However, " Live the highest mercy”, although it echoes Philip Farmer's “River World”, makes a strong impression of the philosophical component - perhaps this is the best novel of the “late” Simak.


In Russia, too, do not lag behind!

In 1976, the Science Fiction Writers' Association of America recognized Clifford Simak's contributions to the genre with the title of Grandmaster of the Nebula Award. He also had other awards - another Nebula, three Hugos, Locus and the Bram Stoker Award. For more than half a century of science fiction career, Simak wrote 28 novels, more than a hundred novels and short stories. His books are actively published abroad - apart from Russia, they are especially popular in France, Italy, Portugal, Germany and Denmark, and The City was even released in Argentina! Simak's first Russian publication dates back to 1957, when the magazine "Knowledge is Power" published the story "Once Upon a Time on Mercury". In Soviet times, almost all of Simak's best books were translated - after all, the ideas of the humanist writer turned out to be close to official communist values. At the same time, Simak has never been a "scourge" of the social ulcers of the world of capital, although there are many ironic, even satirical notes in his work.

Strange doesn't mean scary

Simak did not write cycles at all. However, his work can be divided into several thematic blocks, the most significant of which is Contact with another mind.

Contact in Simak's books is diverse. Ordinary people are faced with former fellow superhumans, with various forms of alien life, with unexpectedly intelligent neighbors on the planet, with their own creations ... It is clear that Contact turns into a huge cultural shock for humanity, fraught with colossal upheavals - moral, ideological, religious, social , political. Confusion, anxiety, and, finally, fear - it is these feelings that overwhelm a person when faced with the unknown, the unexpected. But why? Perhaps you need to completely change the vector of perception?


Contacts are different.

One of Simak's first novels, written on the verge of a satirical pamphlet " Ring around the sun”, - a kind of version of the “war” of the X-Men against ordinary (more precisely, philistine) humanity. At the same time - reflections on the inherent vices of people like xenophobia, an attempt to understand the very essence of human nature. Even more acutely the idea of a collision between an ordinary person and his more advanced "alter ego", which has passed to the next stage of evolution, is deployed in one of the writer's best novels " What could be easier than time?". A " The werewolf principle” largely intersects with the famous “Stranger in a Strange Land” by Heinlein, talking about a foundling, in whose mind the human principle struggles with the alien. In these books, two fundamental facets of Simak's work, a true son of his time and a certain environment, are clearly visible: on the one hand, an optimistic faith in a person, in the best features of his nature, on the other, a fair amount of idealism bordering on naivety.

Contact does not always lead to peace, quite often it is a conflict, but there are options here too. After all, it is not necessary to bring the matter to the point of murder, a reasonable compromise is also a way out. Echoing Isaac Asimov's robot tales, Simak's novel " Again and again” shows the conflict between people and the androids they created. However, what else can people expect who have been using “their children” as slaves for many years? Want to play Creator? But this is a huge responsibility! On the other hand, the position of the rebellious androids is also not perfect, especially since a “third force” interferes with the game. The hero of the book finds himself between the hammer and the anvil of clashing interests, together with the reader desperately trying to find a bridge of mutual understanding through which everyone, both "wolves" and "sheep" can pass. Sometimes you have to make a choice - who said it was easy?

Mostly satirical. Almost like people"- an ironic story of another invasion of aliens on Earth. Having studied earthlings, cunning strangers realized that merrily rustling banknotes can be much more effective than star dreadnoughts - and people almost sold their world! However, the novel is not exhausted by caustic irony over the “birthmarks of capitalism”. Yes, the greedy desire to make a “business” can become a means of self-destruction, but the individualism imbibed with mother’s milk, the feeling of “one’s own” home that needs to be protected at all costs, are inherent only to truly free people. It was they, the true bearers of the traditional values of American democracy, who turned out to be inaccessible to the temptation of the "golden calf". However, without the help of a "good" alien, too, could not do.

Novel " All flesh is grass”, in which humanity comes into Contact with intelligent plants, puts before people another difficult choice. The transition to a new stage of civilization is fraught for humanity with a complete rejection of the usual "mechanized" way of life, especially weapons. For many, this approach is completely unacceptable, because violence becomes the main and natural reaction. And again, the salvation of the world is not the destiny of the short-sighted powers that be, but of an ordinary person, a kind of rustic American "hobbit" from the outback.


Freedom above all!

IN " Aliens» Simak brilliantly shows the very atmosphere of the first Contact - incomprehensible black objects descend to the Earth. Obviously something out of the ordinary is going on - but what? The novel may seem bland, but this is an attempt to model the situation based on the reality surrounding the writer. The result was a "production" chronicle with an open ending.

« transfer station” - the apotheosis of the theme of Contact in the work of Simak, most fully revealing the key idea of many of his books about the commonality of all minds. The hero of the story is the owner of a secret staging post for intergalactic travelers living in the American wilderness, who has become a kind of mediator between civilizations. Simak's people are just one of the types of intelligent beings inhabiting the vast expanses of the Universe. And the main task for all species of sapiens is not to find out who is better or worse, but to find what unites them, in order to lend a hand in time or accept it in response, in order to be ready to unite with a different mind ... Naive? Maybe. But if people accepted with all their hearts this simple principle here and now, many conflicts and contradictions could be resolved peacefully.

About eternal wanderings and the Earth

Simak's most famous novel City"draws an elegiac-sad image of the Earth, which people left, leaving reasonable dogs as uninvited deputies. The book turned out to be very emotional, multi-layered, ambiguous - the author's optimism here is interspersed with tragic reflections on human nature.

"The City" was written as a result of the collapse of illusions... Mankind went through a war that not only claimed millions of lives, but also gave rise to new weapons capable of destroying not armies, but entire nations... I was personally shocked not so much by the destructive power of the new weapons , how much is the obvious fact that a person in his insane thirst for power will stop at nothing. It seems that there is no limit to the cruelty that people are ready to unleash on the heads of their neighbors ... "The City" was not conceived as a protest (what is the use of protests?), It was a search for a fantasy world that could resist the real world ... Someone called this collection is "an indictment of mankind"; such a definition did not occur to me when I wrote the stories, but I agree with it and believe that I had and still have reasons to bring an indictment against humanity.

Clifford Simak

In The City, Simak is still balancing on the verge of an idealistic faith in the best and disappointment in it, trying to find a different path for the development of mankind than modern civilization. “I am worried that under the influence of technology our society and worldview are losing humanity,” wrote Simak. Humanity is the golden key to all the work of a wonderful science fiction writer. His characters in the most unusual circumstances try to remain human - even if they are not human. Simak's later novel, The City, echoes The City burial ground”, in which the Earth turned into a graveyard planet. You can bring flowers here, remembering the former greatness and glory, but you can’t live in the cemetery.

In his work, Simak touched on almost all the traditional topics of modern science fiction: space adventures ("Empire", "Space Engineers"), time travel ("Mastodonia", "Children of Our Children"), bizarre parallel worlds ("Fiends of the Mind"), the decline of civilization ("Star Legacy", "The Choice of the Gods"), immortality ("Why call them back from heaven?"). But in all the works of the writer, his heroes are in a spiritual search, because thoughtless immersion in the abyss of philistine joys inevitably leads to degradation.

The positive characters of Simak are akin to the knights of King Arthur, whose destiny is the search for the Holy Grail. Who said it had to be a bowl? Anything can be a grail, for example, a dragon! On the one hand, the receptacle of all the knowledge of the Universe, on the other hand, it is simply a beautiful creature, personifying the greatness of Life. This was the ultimate goal of the heroes " goblin sanctuary”- the most popular book of Simak in our country. As soon as it came out in Russian, it literally enchanted Soviet readers with a striking and unusual aroma of "wonderfulness" - ironic, but inexplicably attractive.

The heroes of Simak's books are looking for, and whatever becomes the subject of their aspirations - powerful artifacts that open doors or carry the truth ("Toy of Destiny", "In the Lair of Uncleanness"), or answers to eternal questions ("Pilgrimage to Magic", "Live the highest Grace"), the result of the search is always the same. You should not look for the Grail outside, it is inside each of us - you just need to find the right path. The heroes of Clifford Simak, as a rule, succeed - not completely, not immediately, but they take the first timid steps along the path of self-knowledge. To open and understand your own soul and heart - what could be more important?

* * *

Simak loved people and believed in them, calling for a spiritual community of different minds, regardless of the number of limbs or the presence of tails. He despised xenophobes and chauvinists and believed in the triumph of common sense. It is this faith in the best, in the fact that “together we will overcome!” - one of the main reasons why Simak's books are re-read even in our cynical times. Indeed, in the saddest of his works, a naive, but attractive optimism always peeps through.

Clifford Donald Simak died on April 25, 1988 in Minneapolis. He remained in history as an iconic figure in American and world fiction, although in recent years he has been somewhat forgotten. But if the world around you seems like a viper hole, read "The Goblin Sanctuary" or "Almost Like People", and your soul will become noticeably brighter. The magic of Clifford Simak still lives on.

Novels by Clifford Simak

"Space Engineers" (Cosmic Engineers, 1950; magazine publication in 1939)

"Over and Again" (Time and Again, 1951)

"Empire" (Empire, 1951)

"City" (City, 1952)

"Ring Around the Sun" (Ring Around the Sun, 1953)

Trouble with Tycho, 1961

"What could be simpler than time?" (Time is the Simplest Thing, 1961)

"Almost like people" (They Walked Like Men, 1962)

"Transfer Station" (Way Station, 1963)

All Flesh is Grass (1965)

The Werewolf Principle (1967)

"Why call them back from heaven?" (Why Call Them Back from Heaven?, 1967)

The Goblin Reservation (1968)

"Fiends of the Mind" (Out of Their Minds, 1969)

Destiny Doll (1971)

"Choice of the Gods" (A Choice of Gods, 1972)

"Burial Ground" (Cemetery World, 1973)

Our Children's Children (1973)

"Pilgrimage to Magic" (Enchanted Pilgrimage, 1975)

"Star Heritage" (A Heritage of Stars, 1977)

Mastodonia (Mastodonia, 1978)

"The Fellowship of the Talisman" (The Fellowship of the Talisman, 1978)

"Aliens" (The Visitors, 1980)

"Project" Vatican "(Project Pope, 1981)

"Live the Highest Grace" (Special Deliverance, 1982)

"In the lair of evil spirits" (Where the Evil Dwells, 1982)

Highway of Eternity (1986)

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.

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».

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.
« Notes