“For whatsoever from one place doth fall,
Is with the tide unto an other brought:
For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.”
~Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (Canto II.)
Some memories run deep. Do you have those? Memories that have an almost indescribable substance to them? Memories that exist not only in your head, but that you feel in your gut? I have some memories that manifest in a palpable ache for a time in the past. Memories do run deep. Regrets do as well.
One of my youthful regrets is the loss, through sheer immaturity, of those science fiction paperbacks which were firsts for me. My first copies of the Star Wars novelizations, my first copy of The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat, my first copy of Larry Niven’s book A World Out of Time. Some were new, others used. If you are like me, the emotional attachment you develop with a story can easily be tied to the very tangible three dimensional object–the book–that you first read it in, regardless of the condition of said book.
You may recall the influence of my uncle’s book collection on my science fiction origins. What I did not mention in that post, but have mentioned elsewhere, is that A World Out of Time happens to have the distinction of being the first science fiction novel I bought on my own, rather than borrowing from my uncle.
I have such vivid memories of being alone in the tiny bookstore in our local mall, hoping to find something that fueled my imagination the way that the aforementioned books had. I remember looking for a long time and finally happening upon a book with an intriguing cover: an embossed cat-headed snake surrounding a group of planets. “Happening upon”…humph, we all know it spoke to me, that it found me, as books often do.
I turned it over, and read:
When he came back from the dead…he wished he hadn’t.
Jaybee Corbell awoke after more than 200 years as a corpsicle–in someone else’s body, and under sentence of instant annihilation if he made a wrong move while they were training him for a one-way mission to the stars.
But Corbell picked his time and made his own move. Once he was outbound, where the Society that ruled Earth could no longer reach him, he headed his starship toward the galactic core, where the unimaginable energies of the Universe wrenched the fabric of time and space and promised final escape from his captors.
Then he returned to an Earth eons older than the one he’d left…a planet that had 3,000,000 years to develop perils he had never dreamed of–perils that became nightmares that he had to escape..somehow!
It was cheesy and melodramatic, as back cover book summaries usually are, but it hooked me. That memory is so tactile, I can almost feel the book in my hands. I remember struggling through the early science part of the book to come upon an adventure that read like a science fiction version of Lord of the Flies, or the sci-fi adventures of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I read it many times, and then one day, years later, I sold it, or gave it away, or left it behind. Who knows. The follies of youth.
I have since purchased several copies of the book and read it every other year, at least. But it isn’t the same as having that first edition, even if it was a bit well-loved. Owning a recent printing with the same cover image is not the same as being able to feel the raised lettering of the book title, the author’s name, and that strange cat-creature of the one I previously owned. It was lost.
Recently a number of the members of the Poppet Planet crew attended Balticon 41 where Larry Niven was one of the author Guests of Honor. I posted a request on the forum to please pass on to Mr. Niven the well wishes of a man who, since childhood, has been extremely attached to one of his earlier creations. I was assured they would and yet saddened by my inability to be there. That was back in May.
Flash forward to Friday afternoon, minutes before running off to see Paris, Je T’aime. I came home to change clothes and I had a package waiting for me in the mail. It was from Nora Wright, aka Ravyn, of Ravyn Multimedia, right-hand woman to Lisa Snellings-Clark and a talented artist in her own right. I was a bit confused as I didn’t think she would be sending my recently ordered Poppets and the package was just too flat. I opened the envelope to find this:
Please take my word that the following is not poetic license: As I pulled the book out, my hands literally started shaking. The words “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh” escaped my lips in breathless whispers as I rubbed my hands over the embossed cover. After what seemed like an eternity, but was mere nanoseconds, I realized what this might be. My “oh my gosh” turned to “No way, No WAY!!!” as I turned the first few pages to find:
Ravyn had purchased this for me at the show and had Dan take it to get it signed for me. The magnitude of this gift on me and the impression it has left cannot be understated. Nothing could have been more unexpected and I was…and frankly still am…positively beaming (and I did cry a bit too…I’m such a baby). I took it along with me to the movies to show Jeff and Mary because I was SO FREAKING EXCITED about it. I am a firm believer in the power of acts of kindness, and this act of kindness has struck me to the core. To have gone out of their way to do this, unasked, makes this gift so much sweeter.
“For whatsoever from one place doth fall,
Is with the tide unto an other brought:
For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.”
Sure, it is not my book. But I would like to think that my copy of A World Out of Time had been enjoyed by someone prior to me and that after me the tide of used books took it to someone else who cherished the story as much as I did. As I said, this isn’t my book…but it may as well be. It looks just like I remember it and is in the gently loved condition that mine was. This one is even more special than mine, as it has been touched by the man who gave me the story in the first place, and it was given to me out of love by people I have never met but hope to give big hugs to someday in the future. My, but the blog world is a wonderful place!
So this long rambling post is simply a “Thank You”, given with overwhelming gratitude. I appreciate you ever so much Ravyn and Dan for thinking of me, for taking the time to seek this book out, and for going the extra mile to have Larry Niven sign it for me. You both deserve the most heartfelt thanks I can convey over this often impersonal medium. Thank you, I am awestruck and giddy.
I hope all of you find the beginning of your week as fulfilling as I did the end of last week.
I also wish to pass along my thanks to Ravyn and Dan for doing such wonderful thing for Carl. I really wish you could have seen his face. It was sheer joy.
there’s no feeling that describes the sort of feeling you felt when you get such a great unexpected surprise like that one!
I was thrilled that I had “a time” when I could surprise some people by sending them autographed photo’s of DeForest, due to my friendship with him. And it’s a great feeling for the giver as well as the receiver!
Many times it’s the small things in life that make us the happiest.
oh, Carl, that’s fantastic!!! I did something similar for Zoot a couple years ago…went to the Boston Museum of Science for a book signing with Sean Astin and got him to sign a book for Zoot cause she had a crush on him from the Goonie days 🙂
That’s a wonderful story, Carl. It inspires me to pass along some acts of kindness, too.
What a beautiful post, Carl! Literally brought tears to my eyes. Maybe because I can tell that your friends were able to bring you the same kind of joy you so generously brought Annie. I have not a doubt that when they read your words, they will feel more than “thanked enough”.
Between Annie’s gift arrival the Friday before last and this Friday’s Niven surprise I am pretty much spoiled now and will expect things in the mail EVERY Friday!!! 😉
What friends! Treasure them as much as the gift itself.
How wonderful! What an incredibly nice gesture!
And I understand what you mean – I get quite attached to the “physical” aspect of a book as well.
Nora is a star (when she’s not being evil – I’ve met her and I know!)
What a great thing to do. I know how you feel about your original copy…
I can totally relate to the feelings of sadness and loss you have about those things from your childhood, things lost because you were a kid and “didn’t know any better.”
I was reading comic books before I ever started school. I had a huge collection but, sadly, those books were all lost over the years. As an adult I have been able to replace only a few of them. But the Internet has been a true blessing in that I have at least been able to find scanned pictures of numerous covers to those books I cherished so long ago. And, yes, there have been a couple of occasions where I chanced upon a comic cover I had completely forgotten about and tears did come to my eyes. That nostalgia, it’ll get ya.
Aww, that’s great Carl.
What an awesome thing to have happen to you. Thanks for sharing such a great experience with us!
What a thrilling surprise; I am so happy for you. I cherish gifts like that. They are so unexpected and I feel so cared about when I receive them. You did such a great job of conveying your reaction to this gift that I could almost smell the book.
I really ought to give myself a few minutes before hitting “submit”! I love your title.
oh – what a wonderful gift! doubly so because its signed by him! wow. that is too cool.
and the book is all the more special because it is the first one you bought by yourself. i know how special an occassion like that can be.
i love those memories that are so so vivid and tangible. i often wonder what makes them stick like that because quite often we don’t realiset the significance of the moment at the time. but then, perhaps we do on a level we don’t realise? perhaps we feel a stimulation and an excitement that we perhaps don’t comprehend but that resonates and thus leaves a greater imprint on our minds? either way, those are very cool moments.
i can also very much relate being attached to the physical aspect of the book. if its a book i like a lot i strongly attach the physical manifestation of the book that i have to what has been written – to the degree that i don’t even distinguish between the two concepts! i like getting other versions of the book, but the one i bought first generally remains the “real” one or the “original version”.
the description of the book sounds brilliant!! haha! i love it. i’ve been reading a lot of retro science fiction over the last year (heinlein, niven, poul anderson, blish) that had piled up on my to-be-read pile. because i read them all in the same timeframe they’ve left quite a strong impression on me. i really love those fun old school science fiction stories! 🙂
haha! and i love it that you took the book with you! that is something i’d do! 😀
by the way, i really like the way you’ve photographed the cover with the poppets for the top of the post.
oh, and i wanted to ask, where are you going to put it?!
How sweet!
Not sure where I’m going to put it. I will definitely be putting it in a plastic paperback sleeve to protect it and then I may put it either in my office or possibly in one of the many chests that we have littered around the house. I like putting treasures inside them even if I am the only one who knows they are there. Of course the idea is that maybe someone might look inside and enquire why it is there, thus giving an opportunity to tell a story.
I do the same thing when I buy multiple copies of books in different formats. I usually will only go back and read the one that is the ‘original’ one for me even though I want to have the other copies.
Pat, I can’t believe, after typing this yesterday morning, that I forgot to talk to you about it at lunch. Very weird, as I was certainly thinking about it all day!
That’s so lovely, Carl! Great post too. 🙂
you put them in chests! brilliant 🙂 i like that.
i actually rather fancy reading my different editions in the future – i half expect the experience to be slightly different, coloured by the different format, font and cover etc.
is your poisin ivy gone now? how long did it stay for?
how does one get “stung”?
Poison Ivy still has me in her (not so sweet) embrace. Poison ivy is a plant whose oils infect some, but not all, people causing an extremely unpleasant skin rash. There are as many theories about how it spreads, etc. as there are over the counter products to treat it. I tend to go with the ‘it gets in your system’ theory which is certainly in evidence by the fact that I continue to get new patches cropping up all over.
I like collecting interesting boxes, chests, etc. and it seems a shame to just have them sitting around the house empty!
…and I want to thank you for introducing me to Poppets. They appeal to me on some level beyond comprehension to my family.
What a wonderful gift!
What a wonderful gift! And such a great post!! See….all the wonderful giveaways from your challenge has brought good karma upon you!!
Carl, I just read your response. When I saw this blog I just thought you were keeping it as a surprise. What I wish I’d asked you about was what books you bought when you and Jeff went on your spree.
That’s incredible! What a great story you’ll have to tell behind that one now…you already had a great story to go with that book, now you have a great addition to it 😉
I know what you mean about certain editions and certain covers. I read A Wrinkle In Time when I was 10 and it was my favorite book. I don’t know what happened to it, but I love that cover and I ache for it sometimes. I’ve never been able to find it, but I know I’ll come across it one of these days. I’m so glad that this one found it’s way to back to you!
haha carl, you want believe it. i’m sorting through my slips on the range “sex – sexy” and what do i find but this quote:
“war between the sexes had always seemed silly to corbell. too much fraternizing with the enemy, ha-ha.”
😀
isn’t that brilliant!?
and, on top of that, its also a part of a note for revising the entry for “sex” so if the revision is considered that quote may appear in the oed!
I’m so happy for you, Carl! Your joy is contagious, and well deserved.
That is great, JP!!!
Glad my poison ivy isn’t as contagious as my joy, Bellezza! 🙂
So! Cool!
Aw. That’s so sweet.
And another thing, I never would have heard of Stardust (long before the movie) without you. Also, I’ve picked up the Princess Bride, which I’m going to try to read today around all the noise of cabinet installation, thanks to your Once Upon A Time Challenge. So, even if the kitchen isn’t beautiful, my reading world is!
What a great story! It just proves the point that friendship is one of the most valuable things you can possess…
It’s funny, but this Ballantine paperback edition was my introduction to modern hard sci-fi – it was a Christmas present when I was thirteen from an older cousin who had noticed me reading one of Heinlein’s juveniles (“Farmer in the Sky” I think)…
What a great coincidence, Ken. This was my first intro to ‘hard’ sci-fi as well. I have been encouraged by many to read some of Heinlein’s juveniles, and I have a few waiting on the shelves in my basement. I really need to get around to it. Plus I am really in the mood to re-read A World Out of Time…it has been a few years.
Thank you for reinforcing my desire to hang on to my Zelazny books, which were the first I personally paid for. I’ll have to make do without the possibility of signature.
This gift is wonderful; you are well spoken of by the quality of your friends.