The World Beyond the Hill: Science Fiction and the Quest for Transcendence

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Synopsis
The world in which we live has been shaped by the myths of science fiction. In that vast imaginative universe of mystery and endless possibility, the darkest nightmares and the grandest aspirations of scientific man have been given life -- from Frankenstein to Galactic Empire. Looking through the mirror of past science fiction at the reflections of literary inventors such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, we can discover the series of steps that led our society to its current state of great accomplishments and even greater confusion. And in the Golden Age stories of writers like Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and A.E. van Vogt we can discern a mythic prevision of the crucial values, attitudes, and intuitions that underlie the coming age of higher consciousness and holistic understanding. Addressing both those who love science fiction and those who have never read it, The World Beyond the Hill recounts the most central stories of the genre, how they came to be written, and what fundamental human questions they attempted to answer. By telling both the story of science fiction and the stories of science fiction, Alexei and Cory Panshin take us on a journey through the most wonder-filled regions of imagination and bring us home with new insight into our culture, our nature, and our goals. The World Beyond the Hill is a synthesis of remarkable originality. It is both high- quality literature written with clarity, grace, and warmth, and a unique work of research and scholarship. It is biography, history, and social psychology, but most of all it is the recounting of the dream of unknown things, of higher possibilities and of the human quest for transcendence in visions of the mythical but emergent world beyond the hill.
Copyright:
1989

Book Details

Book Quality:
Excellent
Book Size:
687 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780874774368
Publisher:
Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Alexei and Cory Panshin
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Literature and Fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Language Arts
Submitted By:
Roger Drewicke
Proofread By:
Michael Sestak
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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