(reacTORmag) The Golden Age of SF

[James Nicoll]

The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)

What were you reading when you were 12?

https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

[Dave]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I actually have no idea what I was reading when I was 12. Probably the
Hardy Boys. I had not yet seen 2001, but was watching Star Trek.

[Scott Lurndal]

Post by Dave

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I actually have no idea what I was reading when I was 12. Probably the
Hardy Boys. I had not yet seen 2001, but was watching Star Trek.

My father gave me a copy of _Have Spacesuit, Will Travel_ for my
12th birthday; one of his coworkers had recommended it. It started
my SF journey (along with _The Girl who Owned a City_ which I found
at the library that summer). Before that, the three investigators
series - what boy at that age wouldn't want to live in a junkyard?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Investigators

[The Horny Goat]

Post by Dave

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I actually have no idea what I was reading when I was 12. Probably the
Hardy Boys. I had not yet seen 2001, but was watching Star Trek.

When >I< was 12? I had watched the first three seasons of Star Trek,
fantasized about 2001 (at least the Moon Colony) being a documentary
and not fiction, and read the three Foundation books, falling in love
with Arkady Darrell from Second Foundation. (Mostly hoping I met
somebody "Just Like Arkady"!)

Who I believe Asimov wrote as 14-15 years old. (I was by then
definitely interested in girls but not in a big hurry as I knew I had
lots of time. I remember when I was 15-16 Dad could see I was
interested in girls but told me to take my time and be very sure I got
the right one which I think I did even though she and him never hit it
off - both are now gone, she after 37 years of marriage)

[Garrett Wollman]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

Copying my Mastodon reply:

I have two from the top 100, and I'm pretty sure I didn't read either
one during that year and three more in the next 200, nothing more in
the remaining 200. I had (probably still have) *very* niche reading
tastes, but if there's anything from the 1984 list that I actually
read *in* 1984 it was probably THE HERO AND THE CROWN. (Of note: I'm a
December baby so I was only 11 for most of that year. For 1985 I am
3/500, but one of those is an Asimov F&SF essay collection and
shouldn't count for this purpose.)

-GAWollman

[WolfFan]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

Hmm.

Tv tie-ins: Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, Voyage to the Bottom of the
Sea

Enid Blyton: her books were set in a not-quite-parallel universe

W.E. Johns: his books were in a somewhat different not-quite-parallel
universe; he also perpetuated a few books where the protags accidentally let
a kitten loose on Mars and it Grew. And was quite annoying.

Burroughs’ Mars and Venus books

RAH’s juvies, starting with Between Planets, Space Cadet, and The Rolling
Stones

Asimov’s robot and Foundation books.

A lot of Clarke, and Chandler, and E.E. Smith.

A ton of Tom Swift, by ‘Victor Appleton’ and ‘Victor Appleton II’;
the nuclear powered submarine helicopter made anything in Joe 90 and Captain
Scarlet look tame.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

Post by WolfFan

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

Hmm.
Tv tie-ins: Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, Voyage to the Bottom of the
Sea
Enid Blyton: her books were set in a not-quite-parallel universe
W.E. Johns: his books were in a somewhat different not-quite-parallel
universe; he also perpetuated a few books where the protags accidentally let
a kitten loose on Mars and it Grew. And was quite annoying.
Burroughs’ Mars and Venus books
RAH’s juvies, starting with Between Planets, Space Cadet, and The Rolling
Stones
Asimov’s robot and Foundation books.
A lot of Clarke, and Chandler, and E.E. Smith.
A ton of Tom Swift, by ‘Victor Appleton’ and ‘Victor Appleton II’;
the nuclear powered submarine helicopter made anything in Joe 90 and Captain
Scarlet look tame.

Tom Swift & Tom Swift Jr.
The Roy Rockwood "Great Marvel" books.
Heinlein, mostly _Space Cadet_ which was in our elementary school library.
Nourse _Raiders From The Rings_.
Norton _The Zero Stone_, _The Stars Are Ours_, _The Last Planet_, others.
Space Cat by ??
Cameron the Mushroom Planet books
Balmer _When Worlds Collide_, _After Worlds Collide_
Mrs. Pickerel and the etc.
Danny Dunn
Lloyd Alexander _Taran Wanderer_ etc
_A Princess Of Mars_
Matthew Mooney
Bova _Star Conquerors_, _Star Watchman_

[Robert Carnegie]

Post by WolfFan

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

Hmm.
Tv tie-ins: Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, Voyage to the Bottom of the
Sea
Enid Blyton: her books were set in a not-quite-parallel universe
W.E. Johns: his books were in a somewhat different not-quite-parallel
universe; he also perpetuated a few books where the protags accidentally let
a kitten loose on Mars and it Grew. And was quite annoying.
Burroughs’ Mars and Venus books
RAH’s juvies, starting with Between Planets, Space Cadet, and The Rolling
Stones
Asimov’s robot and Foundation books.
A lot of Clarke, and Chandler, and E.E. Smith.
A ton of Tom Swift, by ‘Victor Appleton’ and ‘Victor Appleton II’;
the nuclear powered submarine helicopter made anything in Joe 90 and Captain
Scarlet look tame.

_Captain Scarlet_ was run from a permanently airborne
aircraft carrier. In the 2000s or so, there was one
in _Doctor Who_, exactly as a tribute to that, I assume.

[Kevrob]

Post by Robert Carnegie

Post by WolfFan

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

Hmm.
Tv tie-ins: Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, Voyage to the Bottom of the
Sea
Enid Blyton: her books were set in a not-quite-parallel universe
W.E. Johns: his books were in a somewhat different not-quite-parallel
universe; he also perpetuated a few books where the protags accidentally let
a kitten loose on Mars and it Grew. And was quite annoying.
Burroughs’ Mars and Venus books
RAH’s juvies, starting with Between Planets, Space Cadet, and The Rolling
Stones
Asimov’s robot and Foundation books.
A lot of Clarke, and Chandler, and E.E. Smith.
A ton of Tom Swift, by ‘Victor Appleton’ and ‘Victor Appleton II’;
the nuclear powered submarine helicopter made anything in Joe 90 and Captain
Scarlet look tame.

_Captain Scarlet_ was run from a permanently airborne
aircraft carrier. In the 2000s or so, there was one
in _Doctor Who_, exactly as a tribute to that, I assume.

The CS one was 2 years behind the S.H.I.E.L.D, Helicarrier.

https://www.comics.org/issue/19382/

https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Strange-Tales-1951/Issue-135?id=33247#12

August, 1965 issue, on sale in May

Not to take anything away from Cloudbase, which was pretty fab.

https://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/cloudbase.html later

https://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/skybase_central/skybase.htm

I was already familiar with the Sky City of the Hawkmen of Mongo, from watching
the "Flash Gordon" serials on kids' afternoon TV, shown in the early 1960s. WPIX,
Ch 11, transmitted those on shows hosted by the late Chuck McCann.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/obituaries/chuck-mccann-zany-comic-in-early-childrens-tv-dies-at-83.html

Re: 12, 13 or even 14:

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/10/14/golden-age/

My Golden Age would have been the tail end of 1968 and most of 1969.
That coincided with my being given access to the adult stacks in my
local; public library. Prior to `67 or `68 I was confined to the Children's Room,
which did have some juvenile SF, such as the Heinleins, Nortons, "Paul
French" Asimovs, John Christophers, etc. I remember reading SF in my
brother's copies of "Boys Life," the Scouting magazine.

See:

https://file770.com/finding-heinlein-in-boy%E2%80%99s-life/

for links, in both the article and the comments.

My comic book reading was heavily canted towards DC's "Superman"
family of mags, and the Julius Schwartz - edited superhero and SF titles:
FLASH, GREEN LANTERN, HAWKMAN, ATOM, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA,
and MYSTERY IN SPACE featuring "Adam Strange."† That strip didn't last through
1966, but by 1969 The Man of Two Worlds was appearing in reprinted form in,
aptly, STRANGE ADVENTURES. There were new stories in #222, and #226, the
last being a Gardner Fox text story, with illustrations by Murphy Anderson.

https://thedorkreview.blogspot.com/2012/01/adam-stranges-magic-maker-of-rann.html

Should this be added to Fox's isfdb page?

† Adam is a 1960s Gulliver Jones or John Carter, though his Mars is the planet Rann
in, originally, the Alpha Centauri system. Alanna, super-hot daughter of scientist Sardath
is his Dejah Thoris. Instead of astral projection, he visits Rann via trans-luminal teleport-
ray - the Zeta-Beam. Sleek art by Carmine (The Flash) Infantino.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Robert Carnegie

Post by WolfFan

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?

https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

Post by Robert Carnegie

Post by WolfFan
Hmm.
Tv tie-ins: Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, Voyage to the Bottom of the
Sea
Enid Blyton: her books were set in a not-quite-parallel universe
W.E. Johns: his books were in a somewhat different not-quite-parallel
universe; he also perpetuated a few books where the protags

accidentally let

Post by Robert Carnegie

Post by WolfFan
a kitten loose on Mars and it Grew. And was quite annoying.
Burroughs’ Mars and Venus books
RAH’s juvies, starting with Between Planets, Space Cadet, and The Rolling
Stones
Asimov’s robot and Foundation books.
A lot of Clarke, and Chandler, and E.E. Smith.
A ton of Tom Swift, by ‘Victor Appleton’ and ‘Victor Appleton II’;
the nuclear powered submarine helicopter made anything in Joe 90 and

Captain

Post by Robert Carnegie

Post by WolfFan
Scarlet look tame.

_Captain Scarlet_ was run from a permanently airborne
aircraft carrier. In the 2000s or so, there was one
in _Doctor Who_, exactly as a tribute to that, I assume.

The CS one was 2 years behind the S.H.I.E.L.D, Helicarrier.
https://www.comics.org/issue/19382/
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Strange-Tales-1951/Issue-135?id=33247#12
August, 1965 issue, on sale in May
Not to take anything away from Cloudbase, which was pretty fab.
https://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/cloudbase.html later
https://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/skybase_central/skybase.htm
I was already familiar with the Sky City of the Hawkmen of Mongo, from watching
the "Flash Gordon" serials on kids' afternoon TV, shown in the early 1960s. WPIX,
Ch 11, transmitted those on shows hosted by the late Chuck McCann.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/obituaries/chuck-mccann-zany-comic-in-early-childrens-tv-dies-at-83.html
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/10/14/golden-age/
My Golden Age would have been the tail end of 1968 and most of 1969.
That coincided with my being given access to the adult stacks in my
local; public library. Prior to `67 or `68 I was confined to the Children's Room,
which did have some juvenile SF, such as the Heinleins, Nortons, "Paul
French" Asimovs, John Christophers, etc. I remember reading SF in my
brother's copies of "Boys Life," the Scouting magazine.
https://file770.com/finding-heinlein-in-boy%E2%80%99s-life/
for links, in both the article and the comments.
My comic book reading was heavily canted towards DC's "Superman"
FLASH, GREEN LANTERN, HAWKMAN, ATOM, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA,
and MYSTERY IN SPACE featuring "Adam Strange."† That strip didn't last
through
1966, but by 1969 The Man of Two Worlds was appearing in reprinted form in,
aptly, STRANGE ADVENTURES. There were new stories in #222, and #226, the
last being a Gardner Fox text story, with illustrations by Murphy Anderson.
https://thedorkreview.blogspot.com/2012/01/adam-stranges-magic-maker-of-rann.html

Infra-yellow!

Though I rarely had money for comics, I liked all the DC heroes except
Superman & Batman for some reason. JLA was a go-to purchase when I had
a quarter. When I got money I shifted mostly to Marvel for some rason,
but fell out with them around Civil War.

Post by James Nicoll
Should this be added to Fox's isfdb page?
† Adam is a 1960s Gulliver Jones or John Carter, though his Mars is
the planet Rann
in, originally, the Alpha Centauri system. Alanna, super-hot daughter of scientist Sardath
is his Dejah Thoris. Instead of astral projection, he visits Rann via trans-luminal teleport-
ray - the Zeta-Beam. Sleek art by Carmine (The Flash) Infantino.
--
Kevin R

DC has been tearing down all it's old heroes and Strange got the treatment
recently. Apparently he's a war criminal now.

[Kevrob]

Post by Ted Nolan <tednolan>

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Robert Carnegie

Post by WolfFan

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?

https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

Post by Robert Carnegie

Post by WolfFan
Hmm.
Tv tie-ins: Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, Voyage to the Bottom of the
Sea
Enid Blyton: her books were set in a not-quite-parallel universe
W.E. Johns: his books were in a somewhat different not-quite-parallel
universe; he also perpetuated a few books where the protags

accidentally let

Post by Robert Carnegie

Post by WolfFan
a kitten loose on Mars and it Grew. And was quite annoying.
Burroughs’ Mars and Venus books
RAH’s juvies, starting with Between Planets, Space Cadet, and The Rolling
Stones
Asimov’s robot and Foundation books.
A lot of Clarke, and Chandler, and E.E. Smith.
A ton of Tom Swift, by ‘Victor Appleton’ and ‘Victor Appleton II’;
the nuclear powered submarine helicopter made anything in Joe 90 and

Captain

Post by Robert Carnegie

Post by WolfFan
Scarlet look tame.

_Captain Scarlet_ was run from a permanently airborne
aircraft carrier. In the 2000s or so, there was one
in _Doctor Who_, exactly as a tribute to that, I assume.

The CS one was 2 years behind the S.H.I.E.L.D, Helicarrier.
https://www.comics.org/issue/19382/
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Strange-Tales-1951/Issue-135?id=33247#12
August, 1965 issue, on sale in May
Not to take anything away from Cloudbase, which was pretty fab.
https://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/cloudbase.html later
https://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/skybase_central/skybase.htm
I was already familiar with the Sky City of the Hawkmen of Mongo, from watching
the "Flash Gordon" serials on kids' afternoon TV, shown in the early
1960s. WPIX,
Ch 11, transmitted those on shows hosted by the late Chuck McCann.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/obituaries/chuck-mccann-zany-comic-in-early-childrens-tv-dies-at-83.html
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/10/14/golden-age/
My Golden Age would have been the tail end of 1968 and most of 1969.
That coincided with my being given access to the adult stacks in my
local; public library. Prior to `67 or `68 I was confined to the
Children's Room,
which did have some juvenile SF, such as the Heinleins, Nortons, "Paul
French" Asimovs, John Christophers, etc. I remember reading SF in my
brother's copies of "Boys Life," the Scouting magazine.
https://file770.com/finding-heinlein-in-boy%E2%80%99s-life/
for links, in both the article and the comments.
My comic book reading was heavily canted towards DC's "Superman"
FLASH, GREEN LANTERN, HAWKMAN, ATOM, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA,
and MYSTERY IN SPACE featuring "Adam Strange."† That strip didn't last through
1966, but by 1969 The Man of Two Worlds was appearing in reprinted form in,
aptly, STRANGE ADVENTURES. There were new stories in #222, and #226, the
last being a Gardner Fox text story, with illustrations by Murphy Anderson.
https://thedorkreview.blogspot.com/2012/01/adam-stranges-magic-maker-of-rann.html

Infra-yellow!
Though I rarely had money for comics, I liked all the DC heroes except
Superman & Batman for some reason. JLA was a go-to purchase when I had
a quarter. When I got money I shifted mostly to Marvel for some rason,
but fell out with them around Civil War.

Post by James Nicoll
Should this be added to Fox's isfdb page?
† Adam is a 1960s Gulliver Jones or John Carter, though his Mars is
the planet Rann
in, originally, the Alpha Centauri system. Alanna, super-hot daughter
of scientist Sardath
is his Dejah Thoris. Instead of astral projection, he visits Rann via
trans-luminal teleport-
ray - the Zeta-Beam. Sleek art by Carmine (The Flash) Infantino.
--
Kevin R

DC has been tearing down all it's old heroes and Strange got the treatment
recently. Apparently he's a war criminal now.
--

Oh, Alan Moore did a job on Adam in the 80s.

V tbg qvfthfgrq jura ur jnf ghearq vagb, rffragvnyyl,
n fghq gb ervaivtbengr n zbevohaq Enaavna trar cbby.


https://www.cbr.com/adam-strange-alan-moore-swamp-thing/

Just, ick.

[Ahasuerus]

On 2/2/2024 3:48 PM, Kevrob wrote:
[snip-snip]

Post by Kevrob
My comic book reading was heavily canted towards DC's "Superman"
FLASH, GREEN LANTERN, HAWKMAN, ATOM, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA,
and MYSTERY IN SPACE featuring "Adam Strange."† That strip didn't last through
1966, but by 1969 The Man of Two Worlds was appearing in reprinted form in,
aptly, STRANGE ADVENTURES. There were new stories in #222, and #226, the
last being a Gardner Fox text story, with illustrations by Murphy Anderson.
https://thedorkreview.blogspot.com/2012/01/adam-stranges-magic-maker-of-rann.html
Should this be added to Fox's isfdb page? [snip]

Good question. I have posted about this story on the ISFDB Community
Portal to see what more comics-savvy editors have to say about it. Thanks.

[Dimensional Traveler]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I don't remember. Likely the original Baum Oz books, Mr. Popper's
Penguins, probably some others that had originally been my mother's books.

[Titus G]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I don't remember.  Likely the original Baum Oz books, Mr. Popper's
Penguins, probably some others that had originally been my mother's books.

I don't remember either but it wasn't science fiction because I first
discovered Gollanz in the library when 13. I am amazed at the detailed
memories of others in this thread.

[Jay E. Morris]

Post by Titus G

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I don't remember.  Likely the original Baum Oz books, Mr. Popper's
Penguins, probably some others that had originally been my mother's books.

I don't remember either but it wasn't science fiction because I first
discovered Gollanz in the library when 13. I am amazed at the detailed
memories of others in this thread.

Agreed. On a good day I can remember what I read last week.

[WolfFan]

Post by Titus G

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-
of/

I don't remember. Likely the original Baum Oz books, Mr. Popper's
Penguins, probably some others that had originally been my mother's books.

I don't remember either but it wasn't science fiction because I first
discovered Gollanz in the library when 13. I am amazed at the detailed
memories of others in this thread.

The local library had several shelves of Tom Swifts, Blyton, and Johns. And
lots of RAH, the very first RAH I read was Between Planets, from the library.
I spent lots of afternoons and weekends in the library. And I was inspired to
get my own.

[Titus G]

On Jan 29, 2024, Titus G wrote (in article

Post by Titus G

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-

of/

Post by Titus G

I don't remember. Likely the original Baum Oz books, Mr.
Popper's Penguins, probably some others that had originally been
my mother's books.

I don't remember either but it wasn't science fiction because I
first discovered Gollanz in the library when 13. I am amazed at the
detailed memories of others in this thread.

The local library had several shelves of Tom Swifts, Blyton, and
Johns. And lots of RAH, the very first RAH I read was Between
Planets, from the library. I spent lots of afternoons and weekends in
the library. And I was inspired to get my own.

I think my favourite books when 12 were _Robin Hood_ and _The Three
Musketeers_ and I had read many Secret Seven and Famous Five by Enid
Blyton but don't remember at what age. What did you mean by set in a
"not-quite-parallel universe"?

[WolfFan]

Post by Titus G

On Jan 29, 2024, Titus G wrote (in article

Post by Titus G

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinkin
g-

of/

Post by Titus G

I don't remember. Likely the original Baum Oz books, Mr.
Popper's Penguins, probably some others that had originally been
my mother's books.

I don't remember either but it wasn't science fiction because I
first discovered Gollanz in the library when 13. I am amazed at the
detailed memories of others in this thread.

The local library had several shelves of Tom Swifts, Blyton, and
Johns. And lots of RAH, the very first RAH I read was Between
Planets, from the library. I spent lots of afternoons and weekends in
the library. And I was inspired to get my own.

I think my favourite books when 12 were _Robin Hood_ and _The Three
Musketeers_ and I had read many Secret Seven and Famous Five by Enid
Blyton but don't remember at what age. What did you mean by set in a
"not-quite-parallel universe”?

Enid Blyton’s England was... related to, but not quite the same, as the
real England. The real England wasn’t nearly as English as Blyton’s
England.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Titus G

On Jan 29, 2024, Titus G wrote (in article

Post by Titus G

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?

https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinkin

Post by Titus G

Post by Titus G

Post by James Nicoll
g-

of/

Post by Titus G

I don't remember. Likely the original Baum Oz books, Mr.
Popper's Penguins, probably some others that had originally been
my mother's books.

I don't remember either but it wasn't science fiction because I
first discovered Gollanz in the library when 13. I am amazed at the
detailed memories of others in this thread.

The local library had several shelves of Tom Swifts, Blyton, and
Johns. And lots of RAH, the very first RAH I read was Between
Planets, from the library. I spent lots of afternoons and weekends in
the library. And I was inspired to get my own.

I think my favourite books when 12 were _Robin Hood_ and _The Three
Musketeers_ and I had read many Secret Seven and Famous Five by Enid
Blyton but don't remember at what age. What did you mean by set in a
"not-quite-parallel universe”?

Enid Blyton’s England was... related to, but not quite the same, as the
real England. The real England wasn’t nearly as English as Blyton’s
England.

My father used to hate "Noddy" with a passion, ensuring that my sister
forced him to read the books to her over and over.

[Titus G]

Post by WolfFan

Post by Titus G

On Jan 29, 2024, Titus G wrote (in article

Post by Titus G

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinkin
g-

of/

Post by Titus G

I don't remember. Likely the original Baum Oz books, Mr.
Popper's Penguins, probably some others that had originally been
my mother's books.

I don't remember either but it wasn't science fiction because I
first discovered Gollanz in the library when 13. I am amazed at the
detailed memories of others in this thread.

The local library had several shelves of Tom Swifts, Blyton, and
Johns. And lots of RAH, the very first RAH I read was Between
Planets, from the library. I spent lots of afternoons and weekends in
the library. And I was inspired to get my own.

I think my favourite books when 12 were _Robin Hood_ and _The Three
Musketeers_ and I had read many Secret Seven and Famous Five by Enid
Blyton but don't remember at what age. What did you mean by set in a
"not-quite-parallel universe”?

Enid Blyton’s England was... related to, but not quite the same, as the
real England. The real England wasn’t nearly as English as Blyton’s
England.

Thank you. Being a 12 year old in New Zealand, I knew no better.

[Paul S Person]

Post by Titus G

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I don't remember.  Likely the original Baum Oz books, Mr. Popper's
Penguins, probably some others that had originally been my mother's books.

I don't remember either but it wasn't science fiction because I first
discovered Gollanz in the library when 13. I am amazed at the detailed
memories of others in this thread.

Well, either that or extensive records.

I'm not sure what I was reading back then either. Perhaps still Hardy
Boys and similar series. Perhaps Heinlein juveniles. Perhaps Classics
Illustrated.

One problem is a certain ... jumbling ... of my memory timeline. Thus,
I am tempted to list the book version of /Sinbad and the Eye of the
Tiger/, but I was, in fact, 31 when the film came out!

OK, the book came out first (it was, if nothing else, a marketing tool
promoting the film), but still ...

[Jack Bohn]

Post by Paul S Person

Post by Titus G

Post by Dimensional Traveler

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I don't remember. Likely the original Baum Oz books, Mr. Popper's
Penguins, probably some others that had originally been my mother's books.

I don't remember either but it wasn't science fiction because I first
discovered Gollanz in the library when 13. I am amazed at the detailed
memories of others in this thread.

Well, either that or extensive records.
I'm not sure what I was reading back then either. Perhaps still Hardy
Boys and similar series. Perhaps Heinlein juveniles. Perhaps Classics
Illustrated.
One problem is a certain ... jumbling ... of my memory timeline. Thus,
I am tempted to list the book version of /Sinbad and the Eye of the
Tiger/, but I was, in fact, 31 when the film came out!

Yeah, 13, not 31!
Although,,, going back 19 years, the first Harryhausen Sinbad movie came out in 1958.
IsfDb doesn't list a novelization under either "Seventh Voyage" or "7th Voyage", and the entry for "Eye of the Tiger" doesn't have it as part of a series. (As you know, though, Harryhausen's Sinbad movies make no more of a series than any other movie or story with Sinbad in the title.) Maybe you made do with some standard Sinbad or Arabian Nights book.

[Paul S Person]

On Wed, 31 Jan 2024 08:05:01 -0800 (PST), Jack Bohn

Post by Jack Bohn

Post by Paul S Person

Post by Titus G

Post by Dimensional Traveler

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I don't remember. Likely the original Baum Oz books, Mr. Popper's
Penguins, probably some others that had originally been my mother's books.

I don't remember either but it wasn't science fiction because I first
discovered Gollanz in the library when 13. I am amazed at the detailed
memories of others in this thread.

Well, either that or extensive records.
I'm not sure what I was reading back then either. Perhaps still Hardy
Boys and similar series. Perhaps Heinlein juveniles. Perhaps Classics
Illustrated.
One problem is a certain ... jumbling ... of my memory timeline. Thus,
I am tempted to list the book version of /Sinbad and the Eye of the
Tiger/, but I was, in fact, 31 when the film came out!

Yeah, 13, not 31!
Although,,, going back 19 years, the first Harryhausen Sinbad movie came out in 1958.
IsfDb doesn't list a novelization under either "Seventh Voyage" or "7th Voyage", and the entry for "Eye of the Tiger" doesn't have it as part of a series. (As you know, though, Harryhausen's Sinbad movies make no more of a series than any other movie or story with Sinbad in the title.) Maybe you made do with some standard Sinbad or Arabian Nights book.

The problem is that I remember this book, or perhaps comic, as very
much including the Greek professor and his daughter and the Minoton.
Which is pretty specific to /Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger/.

[Jack Bohn]

Post by Paul S Person
On Wed, 31 Jan 2024 08:05:01 -0800 (PST), Jack Bohn

Post by Jack Bohn

Post by Paul S Person
One problem is a certain ... jumbling ... of my memory timeline. Thus,
I am tempted to list the book version of /Sinbad and the Eye of the
Tiger/, but I was, in fact, 31 when the film came out!

Yeah, 13, not 31!
Although,,, going back 19 years, the first Harryhausen Sinbad movie came out in 1958.
IsfDb doesn't list a novelization under either "Seventh Voyage" or "7th Voyage", and the entry for "Eye of the Tiger" doesn't have it as part of a series. (As you know, though, Harryhausen's Sinbad movies make no more of a series than any other movie or story with Sinbad in the title.) Maybe you made do with some standard Sinbad or Arabian Nights book.

The problem is that I remember this book, or perhaps comic, as very
much including the Greek professor and his daughter and the Minoton.
Which is pretty specific to /Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger/.

It either fell out of a time-traveling Delorean, or you have to fall back on the example of Doc Brown and say you felt like a boy again reading it!

[Paul S Person]

On Wed, 31 Jan 2024 09:54:45 -0800 (PST), Jack Bohn

Post by Jack Bohn

Post by Paul S Person
On Wed, 31 Jan 2024 08:05:01 -0800 (PST), Jack Bohn

Post by Jack Bohn

Post by Paul S Person
One problem is a certain ... jumbling ... of my memory timeline. Thus,
I am tempted to list the book version of /Sinbad and the Eye of the
Tiger/, but I was, in fact, 31 when the film came out!

Yeah, 13, not 31!
Although,,, going back 19 years, the first Harryhausen Sinbad movie came out in 1958.
IsfDb doesn't list a novelization under either "Seventh Voyage" or "7th Voyage", and the entry for "Eye of the Tiger" doesn't have it as part of a series. (As you know, though, Harryhausen's Sinbad movies make no more of a series than any other movie or story with Sinbad in the title.) Maybe you made do with some standard Sinbad or Arabian Nights book.

The problem is that I remember this book, or perhaps comic, as very
much including the Greek professor and his daughter and the Minoton.
Which is pretty specific to /Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger/.

It either fell out of a time-traveling Delorean, or you have to fall back on the example of Doc Brown and say you felt like a boy again reading it!

Or my memory of The Days of My Youth are a total hodgpodge of stuff,
including stuff seen later.

Things get easier once I started working. I know I first read LOTR
either in HS or the first two years at the UW because I read it during
the time I was working at the Seattle branch of the Library for the
Blind. Which was mostly about mailing/received Talking Book Records.

Although we had a small Braille collection, mostly for kids on a
school outing. The bulk of our customers (so to speak, we were funded
by the Feds) were older people who used to see just fine but didn't
any more who had no interest in Braille.

I also remember buying and reading every Ian Fleming novel I could
find locally in paperback after seeing /Dr. No/ at a drive-in.

[Garrett Wollman]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

So it occurs to me that the premise of this is a little bit off. I
looked at the sort of reviews accounted for in ISFDB, and the vast
majority seem to be SF magazine (sensu lato) reviews, which likely did
not have much of an effect on what was available in libraries or in
non-specialist bookstores. The publications that general-interest
librarians and booksellers read to make ordering decisions --
Publisher's Weekly, ALA Booklist, Kirkus, national newspapers -- are
not especially numerous and would certainly be overwhelmed by the
zines.

-GAWollman

[Chris Buckley]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

Looking at the ISFDB top reviewed list for 1968 (I turned 12), I have
read 41 of the top 50, and 74 of the top 100. But that says
almost nothing about what I read when I was 12!

I have no memory of having read any of them when I was 12. In all likelihood
I read 2 or 3 since the librarian would put aside any new SF for me, but
that happened rarely. This was a small town library in the middle of
nowhere (South Dakota) with a 4-5 shelf SF section.

I was pretty completely oblivious to science fiction authors; SF was
my favorite genre but I never ran into enough by any author for that
to be important. I remember I had a favorite publisher though: Avalon
books. There were a couple dozen Avalon SF books in the library and they
always had lists of more SF books at the end of each.

Fantasy children's books were shelved with general children's books so
I at least recognized some authors for their series. Lofting (Dr. Dolittle)
and Travers (Mary Poppins). Before age 12 I had read the fantasy that my dad
had around: _The Hobbit_ and _Lord of the Rings_ (which now surprise me that
he had) and _Gulliver's Travels_ and _Le Morte D'Arthur_.

My "Golden Age" would probably be ages 14 - 16 when I would go out to
Tulsa, OK for the summer and buy used SF books at 10 cents to 20 cents
each at the huge weekly flea market and used book stores (100+ books
per summer). That's when I would have read more of the 1968 books.

Chris

[John]

Post by Chris Buckley

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

Looking at the ISFDB top reviewed list for 1968 (I turned 12), I have
read 41 of the top 50, and 74 of the top 100. But that says
almost nothing about what I read when I was 12!
I have no memory of having read any of them when I was 12. In all likelihood
I read 2 or 3 since the librarian would put aside any new SF for me, but
that happened rarely. This was a small town library in the middle of
nowhere (South Dakota) with a 4-5 shelf SF section.
I was pretty completely oblivious to science fiction authors; SF was
my favorite genre but I never ran into enough by any author for that
to be important. I remember I had a favorite publisher though: Avalon
books. There were a couple dozen Avalon SF books in the library and they
always had lists of more SF books at the end of each.
Fantasy children's books were shelved with general children's books so
I at least recognized some authors for their series. Lofting (Dr. Dolittle)
and Travers (Mary Poppins). Before age 12 I had read the fantasy that my dad
had around: _The Hobbit_ and _Lord of the Rings_ (which now surprise me that
he had) and _Gulliver's Travels_ and _Le Morte D'Arthur_.
My "Golden Age" would probably be ages 14 - 16 when I would go out to
Tulsa, OK for the summer and buy used SF books at 10 cents to 20 cents
each at the huge weekly flea market and used book stores (100+ books
per summer). That's when I would have read more of the 1968 books.
Chris

I took a look at 1999 (yes, I know) and right there on top is "A
Deepness in the Sky", one of my favorite books to be sure but I didn't
read it at 12.

They say ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, and I'd say my science
fiction reading habits followed a similar path, beginning in the past
and slowly working my way forward. My uncle gave me a copy
of Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" when I was in
third grade; I moved on from there to other Verne stories and
H.G. Wells. By the time I was 12 I was probably well into the actual SF
Golden Age, reading Asimov and the like. Dune and LotR in 8th grade or
so, and finally getting into 90s science fiction by late high school.

I didn't know anybody else who read SF (until I joined an IRC server run
by a Vinge fanatic) so I was basically just discovering things on my
own. Inter-library loan is a great thing for a teenager who's just
discovered Pratchett, though!



john

[David Duffy]

Post by John

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

They say ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, and I'd say my science
[..] Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" when I was in
third grade; I moved on from there to other Verne stories and
H.G. Wells. By the time I was 12 I was probably well into the actual SF
Golden Age, reading Asimov and the like. Dune and LotR in 8th grade or
so, and finally getting into 90s science fiction by late high school.

Yes, I eventually read a big chunk of the reviewed books for 1973,
but lagged 4-20 years. It has been the same for music which I certainly
didn't hear contemporaneously (recently discovered _The Church of Anthrax_).
At the tender age itself I was reading a
I'm-not-sure-how-much-abridged-but-it-seemed-really-long-at-the-time
_20000 leagues_, Thea von Harbou's novel of _Metropolis_ (I think I
could choose 3 books for a birthday), and a couple of anthologies.
Only read juveniles later...

FWIW, David Duffy.

[David Duffy]

Post by David Duffy
_20000 leagues_,

PS Am I the only person who thinks branding stuff _Nobody_ is amusing to latin speakers -
camping gear, yachting paraphenalia...

[Robert Carnegie]

Post by David Duffy

Post by David Duffy
_20000 leagues_,

PS Am I the only person who thinks branding stuff _Nobody_ is amusing to latin speakers -
camping gear, yachting paraphenalia...

Spectacles... (wasn't Odysseus Greek?)

[Moriarty]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

Like others in the thread, I've read a number on my list (1980) but doubt I read any of them IN 1980. The closest was probably "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" but I don't think I caught the Hitch Hiker's Guide bug until 1982 or 1983. Or possibly "Master of the Five Magics" but that was probably a year or two later as well.

In 1980 I'd discovered Conan through the de Camp / Carter editions, and was also working my way through Moorcock. I also read my first Wyndham that year when my Year 7 English teacher gave me "Day of the Triffids".

-Moriarty

[Robert Woodward]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

My year was 1962. I think I have read about 30 of the top 100, almost
all years later. The only one that I might had read in 1962 was
_Triumph_ (I think I read a serialization of it in Saturday Evening
Post).

[James Nicoll]

Post by James Nicoll

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?

https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/
My year was 1962. I think I have read about 30 of the top 100, almost
all years later. The only one that I might had read in 1962 was
_Triumph_ (I think I read a serialization of it in Saturday Evening
Post).

I reread Triumph last year. Hours I will never get back...

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/your-world-will-melt-away

[Jack Bohn]

Post by James Nicoll
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I'd say 15 of the top 100 for 1976, including two non-fiction books, _Anatomy of Wonder_ and _Star Trek Concordance_ (not cover-to-cover, but dipped into most entries, I get the gist of it).

I think it was 13 when we were allowed to check books out of the adult section of the library, and 15-16 when we moved into town less than a dozen blocks from a used book store. A surprising number of my 15 were close to publication date -- not that I knew, they were books in a library, all about the same age as _Dune_ or _The Foundation Trilogy_.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I guess I turned 12 the fall of a school-year we spent in Switzerland,
so I was reading VERY LITTLE SF then (I had read a lot previously). The
only SF book I'm *sure* I had with me was EFR's Men, Martians, and Machines.

I had read lots of Heinlein, but hadn't gotten into Doc Smith yet (I
think I'd encountered Skylark but not followed up on it). Had read
Asimov and Clarke and Anderson and Dickson and Norton and Nourse. I
don't believe I'd read Tolkien yet.

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I have no idea what I read in 1972. I can barely remember what I read
yesterday (Jumper). Probably a bunch of Heinleins, Asimovs, and
Nortons. Maybe some Tom Swift Jr, Hardy Boys, etc.

I too am amazed that people can remember what they read 50+ years ago.

Lynn

[Garrett Wollman]

Post by Lynn McGuire
I have no idea what I read in 1972. I can barely remember what I read
yesterday (Jumper). Probably a bunch of Heinleins, Asimovs, and
Nortons. Maybe some Tom Swift Jr, Hardy Boys, etc.
I too am amazed that people can remember what they read 50+ years ago.

Some people read quickly and widely. Some people don't. Some people
have a strong memory for texts. And apropos of James's original post,
it can be vastly easier to remember the circumstances of having read
something (or not) when presented with a specific list than it would
be to enumerate unprompted. If I wanted to make a list of books I had
read, I'd probably need to consult the spines in my library, and that
would still leave me uncertain about a few titles (let alone
everything I read as a teenager in the library that I don't now own
copies of, from The Three Investigators to Alvin Fernald to Danny Dunn
to a bunch of forgettable Asimov. (But I still won't forget that the
library had very beat-up true first editions of both FOUNDATION and I,
ROBOT.)

There are a few books in the bookcase next to me right now that I can
look at and say, "Oh, yes, I bought that because James Nicoll
recommended it." I may not have read the book at all, but I remember
enough abou the circumstances in which I came to own it. But the same
bookcase contains a bunch of SFBC Pratchett omnibuses that, quite
frankly, all blend into one another: I'm pretty sure that I've read
them all but I couldn't say what they were about or whether I even
liked them.

-GAWollman

[r***@rosettacondot.com]

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

I have no idea what I read in 1972. I can barely remember what I read
yesterday (Jumper). Probably a bunch of Heinleins, Asimovs, and
Nortons. Maybe some Tom Swift Jr, Hardy Boys, etc.
I too am amazed that people can remember what they read 50+ years ago.

I have a much better chance of remembering whether or not I've read a book
than remembering when I read it. For example, most-reviewed in "my" year of
1975 is "The Forever War". I know that I've read it (several times) but have
no idea when the first time was. Almost certainly not 1975, since that's the
year of publication in hardcover. I see that Ballantine did the paperback
in 1976, so that's the most likely.

Robert

[William Hyde]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?

I'd read everything in the library by Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein, Norton, and
Bradbury. More than once. And was beginning to worry.

But I found a paperback by this guy called Vance about a planet where
everyone spoke in the passive voice, and my new school had a book
by this guy called Anderson involving this trio that traded in space.
My guess was that these young'uns might write more in the future.

Then "A treasury of great science fiction" landed with a thump
(two thumps, actually) on my desk. Apparently there were lots of
other writers of SF novels.

Ah, I now recall that I had read some Ballard. With zero comprehension.


JRRT dropped by eighteen months later.


William Hyde

[Jerry Friedman]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

OK, I lurk here once in a while, and I haven't posted in a decade or two, but
this one I couldn't resist.

I've only read about twelve of the top hundred for my year. However, I'm going
to change it to the /grade/ I turned twelve in, because I went to a new school,
so I can date some books by remembering reading them the school library or
talking about them with new friends.

So I read and reread all the Poul Anderson, Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein I
could get my hands on. And all the Retief. Also /Dune/ (for the first time that
year, I believe) and /The Lord of the Rings/ (for the first time the previous year).
/Watership Down/ (for the first time that year, definitely).

I'm pretty sure I read /The Chronicles of Prydain/ and the Gormenghast books
for the first time that year, but I didn't reread them that much. /Over Sea, Under
Stone/, /The Dark is Rising/, and /Greenwitch/. (I didn't read the last two
volumes till I was in my twenties or thirties, and was disappointed.)

We read /The Martian Chronicles/ in school, and I'm pretty sure I'd read /R
is for Rocket/ and /S is for Space/ by the end of that year.

I probably reread /A Wrinkle in Time/ at some point that year.

Pretty sure I had a copy of /Great Short Novels of Science Fiction/,
Robert Silverberg, ed., on permanent loan from the lady across the street.
A. Bertram Chandler, "Giant Killer"; C. M. Kornbluth, "Two Dooms"; Jack
Vance, "Telek"; De Vet and MacLean, "Second Game", Wyman Guin,
"Beyond Bedlam"; Roger Zelazny, "The Graveyard Heart". And I read
various other anthologies and stuff from the school library and the
two nearest public libraries.

I used to "assign" my mother to read books I liked. She liked or could
stand a lot of them, but not Retief.

One of those new friends and fellow SF fans (the two groups were
roughly coterminous) was highly amused when he saw the back cover
of my copy of /Starship Troopers/, which said COSMIC COMBAT in
big letters. "Platinum pumpernickel!" he said. "Subatomic fricassee!"
I'm still in touch with that guy--we exchanged some texts this morning.
What do you mean, pointless anecdote?

[Titus G]

Post by Jerry Friedman

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

OK, I lurk here once in a while, and I haven't posted in a decade or two, but
this one I couldn't resist.

snip

Post by Jerry Friedman
I'm pretty sure I read snip and the Gormenghast books
for the first time that year, but I didn't reread them that much.

You have an impressive reading list for that age. I didn't read the
Gormenghast trilogy until I was early twenties and have re-read the
first two often, not the third as I didn't understand it until a decade
or so ago after web searching reviews. At 12 and older, I doubt whether
I would have been able to enjoy Peake's long descriptive almost poetic
passages so wouldn't have completed a chapter.

[Jerry Friedman]

Post by Titus G

Post by Jerry Friedman

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

OK, I lurk here once in a while, and I haven't posted in a decade or two, but
this one I couldn't resist.

snip

Post by Jerry Friedman
I'm pretty sure I read snip and the Gormenghast books
for the first time that year, but I didn't reread them that much.

You have an impressive reading list for that age. I didn't read the
Gormenghast trilogy until I was early twenties and have re-read the
first two often, not the third as I didn't understand it until a decade
or so ago after web searching reviews. At 12 and older, I doubt whether
I would have been able to enjoy Peake's long descriptive almost poetic
passages so wouldn't have completed a chapter.

At that age I read everything, whether I understood it or not. I think I
also skipped more than I realized at the time. For instance, it was not
my first or second time through LotR that I realized Rohan and the
Riddermark were the same country. Maybe not the third.

I kind of guessed you liked the Gormenghast books.

Hm. I'll bet I read /The Worm Ouroboros/ that year and wasn't as
horrified by the ending as I was when I reread it twenty or so years
later.

[Paul S Person]

On Fri, 2 Feb 2024 20:08:40 -0800 (PST), Jerry Friedman

Post by Jerry Friedman

Post by Titus G

Post by Jerry Friedman

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

OK, I lurk here once in a while, and I haven't posted in a decade or two, but
this one I couldn't resist.

snip

Post by Jerry Friedman
I'm pretty sure I read snip and the Gormenghast books
for the first time that year, but I didn't reread them that much.

You have an impressive reading list for that age. I didn't read the
Gormenghast trilogy until I was early twenties and have re-read the
first two often, not the third as I didn't understand it until a decade
or so ago after web searching reviews. At 12 and older, I doubt whether
I would have been able to enjoy Peake's long descriptive almost poetic
passages so wouldn't have completed a chapter.

At that age I read everything, whether I understood it or not. I think I
also skipped more than I realized at the time. For instance, it was not
my first or second time through LotR that I realized Rohan and the
Riddermark were the same country. Maybe not the third.
I kind of guessed you liked the Gormenghast books.
Hm. I'll bet I read /The Worm Ouroboros/ that year and wasn't as
horrified by the ending as I was when I reread it twenty or so years
later.

It wasn't until I reached Dostoyevskii in my Great Re-Read that I
/finally/ understood why Raskalnikov did what he did and then turned
himself in.

This despite having read a Classics Illustrated version and the same
physical book I read when I figured it out at least twice before. And
studying it in (IIRC) High Schoo.

Either CI or the teacher or both pushed the theory that Raskalnikov
surrendered because the police inspector's psychological approach to
catching criminals wore him down. This is simply not the case.

[William Hyde]

Post by Titus G

Post by Jerry Friedman

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

OK, I lurk here once in a while, and I haven't posted in a decade or two, but
this one I couldn't resist.

snip

Post by Jerry Friedman
I'm pretty sure I read snip and the Gormenghast books
for the first time that year, but I didn't reread them that much.

You have an impressive reading list for that age. I didn't read the
Gormenghast trilogy until I was early twenties and have re-read the
first two often, not the third as I didn't understand it until a decade
or so ago after web searching reviews. At 12 and older, I doubt whether
I would have been able to enjoy Peake's long descriptive almost poetic
passages so wouldn't have completed a chapter.

At that age I read everything, whether I understood it or not. I think I
also skipped more than I realized at the time.

I did the same. I think that I felt it to be a crime not to finish a book, even
if I had no idea what was happening. Or liked what I was reading. I
didn't skip JRRT's poetry, but I didn't understand a word until a
later reading.

This had some good consequences. I detested Lafferty's "Past Master"
but made myself finish it. Two weeks later I read it again and loved it.
And I've been a Lafferty fan since then. Even if I had no idea what
"Arrive at Easterwine" was about, at first.

But that was age 14, and I didn't get to Gormenghast until age 16.

William Hyde

[Jerry Friedman]

Post by Titus G

Post by Jerry Friedman

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?
https://reactormag.com/the-golden-age-of-sf-but-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/

OK, I lurk here once in a while, and I haven't posted in a decade or two, but
this one I couldn't resist.

snip

Post by Jerry Friedman
I'm pretty sure I read snip and the Gormenghast books
for the first time that year, but I didn't reread them that much.

You have an impressive reading list for that age. I didn't read the
Gormenghast trilogy until I was early twenties and have re-read the
first two often, not the third as I didn't understand it until a decade
or so ago after web searching reviews. At 12 and older, I doubt whether
I would have been able to enjoy Peake's long descriptive almost poetic
passages so wouldn't have completed a chapter.

At that age I read everything, whether I understood it or not. I think I
also skipped more than I realized at the time.

I did the same. I think that I felt it to be a crime not to finish a book, even
if I had no idea what was happening. Or liked what I was reading. I
didn't skip JRRT's poetry, but I didn't understand a word until a
later reading.

I don't think I felt strongly that failing to finish a book was bad. I just
wanted to keep reading.

This had some good consequences. I detested Lafferty's "Past Master"
but made myself finish it. Two weeks later I read it again and loved it.
And I've been a Lafferty fan since then. Even if I had no idea what
"Arrive at Easterwine" was about, at first.

...

Nothing has made me a Lafferty fan, and I tried.

[Bice]

Post by James Nicoll
The Golden Age of SF (But Not the One You're Thinking Of)
What were you reading when you were 12?

My birthday is in the middle of summer, so I spent nearly an equal
amout of time as a 12 year old in 1979 and 1980. Like others have
mentioned, my memory's not good enough to know exactly what I was
reading back then, but looking at the top 100 for each year I came up
with these lists:

1979 - probably read within a couple years of publication:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Dead Zone
Empire of the East

1979 - read later:
The Fountains of Paradise
The Ringworld Engineers
Berserker Man

1980 - read close to publication:
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
The Wounded Land

1980 - read later:
The Snow Queen
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon
The Magic Labyrinth
Sundiver

There were a handful of other books on the lists where the title and
author sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure if I'd read them or not.

So out of the 200 books that were most reviewed when I was 12, I've
only read a dozen of them and only five "back in the day". I guess 12
wasn't the golden age for me.

-- Bob