Science Fiction Quotations: From the Inner Mind to the Outer Limits - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300108001 ISBN 13: 9780300108002

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2005

Synopsis

Thousands of memorable quotations from the best science fiction works of all time

In this unprecedented collection of science fiction and fantasy quotations, the reader revisits the stunning moment when Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein monster first comes to life; witnesses the transformation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde; is present when Bruce Wayne resolves to become Batman; and overhears the cosmic conclusions of The Incredible Shrinking Man. Drawing upon two centuries of the vast and provocative literature of science fiction and fantasy, this comprehensive book presents more than 2,900 quotations from wide-ranging sources, including science fiction and fantasy stories, novels, films, and television programs.

The quotations are organized by topic—alien worlds; darkness and light; robots, androids, and cyborgs; machines and technology; weapons; and more than one hundred others. The reader will encounter the wit and wisdom of renowned authors (H. G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin) along with definitive versions of such important statements as Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics and Star Trek’s Prime Directive.

With its thorough index, this book is both an invaluable resource for the writer or scholar and an irresistible page-turner for the curious browser.

About this title

About the Author:

Gary Westfahl teaches at the University of California, Riverside. He has published extensively in the field of science fiction and in 2003 received the Science Fiction Research Association’s Pilgrim Award for lifetime contributions to science fiction and fantasy scholarship.

From Booklist:

Westfahl defines a science fiction quotation as coming from novels, short stories, films, and TV programs (with some attention given to plays, radio dramas, and comic books) and being about works of science fiction or from science fiction writers. Organized under topical headings, more than 2,900 quotations offer the wisdom and wit of well-known authors like Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov as well as lesser-known personalities like J. O. Bailey and Stirling Silliphant and from titles as varied as The Strawberry Window, Cat's Cradle, and The Thing (from another World). Westfahl has published extensively in the field of science fiction and received the 2003 Science Fiction Research Association's Pilgrim Award for lifetime contributions to science fiction and fantasy scholarship.

Beginning with "Actions" ("What I do I do because I like to do," Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange[1962]) and ending with "Work" ("Even if one has been to the moon, one has still to earn a living," H. G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon [1901]), many well-known and some more esoteric quotations are identified. Among other categories are "Belief," "Death," "Freedom," "Nature," "Reality," "Space," and "Utopia." The "History" and "Religion" sections, in particular, provide large and stimulating collections of quotations. Within categories, quotations are generally arranged chronologically. Titles in quotation marks are short stories, and italicized titles are books and films. An index of authors and an index of titles provide additional access points for readers.

In this well-researched work, Westfahl shows how diverse the genre of science fiction has been and remains. Most public and academic libraries will want to purchase. Susan Awe
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0300108001
• ISBN 13: 9780300108002
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 488
• Editor: Westfahl Gary