wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (01/30/86)
I recently had the opportunity to read both editions of Philip Francis
Nowlan's ARMAGEDDON 2419 A.D. -- the newer edition (revised and updated
by Spider Robinson), and Nowlan's original work. ARMAGEDDON 2419 A.D.,
in case anyone is not aware, is the novel that inspired "Buck Rogers".
Aside from the descriptions of futuristic technology in the original
book which Robinson rewrote for a 1970's reading audience, there were
three significant differences between the two editions. I feel these
can be discussed freely without spoiling the book, so here goes . . .
(1) In Nowlan's original, Anthony Rogers (the main character -- the name
"Buck" was created for the subsequent comic strip and is not used in
the book at all) is routinely addressed as "Tony".
In Robinson's revision, the people of the 25th Century call him
"Rogers" (with an explanation that Wilma Deering -- the first person
of the new world to meet him -- had somehow gotten confused, thought
"Rogers" was his first name, and the mistake stuck).
Six of one, half a dozen of the other -- though I really didn't see
any reason why Robinson felt he had to make this change.
(2) In the last chapter of the book (labelled "Epilogue"), Nowlan's
original text has Tony Rogers refer to the "simple, spiritual Blacks
of Africa, today one of the leading races of the world -- although
in the Twentieth Century we regarded them as inferior."
Robinson replaced the word "simple" with "wise".
I am not suggesting that Nowlan's original phrasing was intended as
racist, but I can see how a reader of our day might be offended by
the original wording.
(3) Robinson totally changed the last few lines of the Epilogue. The
original ending (after the last double dash) reads as follows:
-- and that I am now a very tired old man, waiting with no
regrets for the call which will take me to another existence.
There, it is my hope and my conviction that my courageous
mate of those bloody days waits for me with loving arms.
Robinson substituted the following in place of the above:
-- perhaps at some future date you will have the opportunity
to read of my further and even more incredible adventures
both on earth and in the infinite void of space.
My own opinion is that this change was completely uncalled-for. The
original, I believe, expresses Tony Rogers's humanity much more than
does the revision. Whatever Robinson's personal views might be on
the question of a life beyond (I don't know for sure, but I can sure
make a good guess), I feel he should have left Nowlan's work stand
"as is" at this point.
As for the descriptions of futuristic technology, I suppose Robinson's
reworked versions jive *slightly* better with our current world than
Nowlan's original passages. But I really didn't find the original text
to be so bad as to demand a rewrite. I guess I'm used to the idea that
technological descriptions in SF often come across as pseudoscientific
doubletalk; I try to overlook this where possible and see through to the
real story the author is trying to tell.
In summary, if you have a chance to get a copy of the *original* version
of ARMAGEDDON 2419 A.D., I would suggest you go for it and bypass the
Robinson edition. If all you can find is the newer version, though, it
isn't really that bad (except as noted above).
As for the quality of the story itself, it is OK, but not outstanding.
The main thing the book has to recommend it is its place in the history
of science fiction.
--
Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department // +1 213-825-5683
3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA
ARPA: wales@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU -or- wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA
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