I didn't start reading Clarke until after I'd read all Heinlein's juveniles starting around 3rd grade. Clarke was shelved in the adult section and, obviously, an elementary school library didn't HAVE an adult section.

But I got around to them eventually and enjoyed them.

Unfortunately, my memories of Clarke tend to be colored by the persistent accusations that he was a pedophile (which was never proven, but repeatedly alleged, including by British men who claimed to have been molested by Clarke when they were kids) and by the absolutely horribly atrocious stuff that came out bearing his name in the last years of his life. "Rendezvous with Rama" was so good, and the Clarke-authorized "sequels" written by Gentry Lee -- but with Clarke listed as a co-author -- were so mind-numbingly BAD, that it really dampened my spirits every time I saw a new Clarke work show up on bookstore shelves. I know it's petty of me, but it's a real peeve that some science fiction authors insist on putting stuff out long after the creative spark has gone, just to keep cashing in on their reputation. I guess that they're entitled to do whatever makes them money and all that, but I think you diminish your standing as an All-Time Great when we have to draw a bright line across your body of work and say "we're just going to pretend everything published after this point never existed."

jayfurr 3/28/2008 9:53am