Ralph 124C 41 : a romance of the year 2660

by Hugo Gernsback

Paper Book, 2000

Status

Available

Call number

813/.54

Publication

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2000]

Description

By the year 2660, science has transformed and conquered the world, rescuing humanity from itself. Spectacular inventions from the farthest reaches of space and deep beneath the earth are available to meet every need, providing antidotes to individual troubles and social ills. Inventors are highly prized and respected, and they are jealously protected and lavishly cared for by world governments. That support and acclaim, however--as the most brilliant of scientists, Ralph 124C 41+, discovers--is not without its price. This visionary novel of the twenty-seventh century was written by Hugo Gernsback (1887-1964), founder of the influential magazine Amazing Stories. Marvelously prophetic and creative, Ralph 124C 41+ celebrates technological advances and entrances readers with an exuberant, unforgettable vision of what our world might become. This commemorative edition makes this landmark tale widely available for the first time in decades and features the prized Frank R. Paul illustrations from the rare first edition, a list of inventions and technological devices, and Hugo Gernsback's prefaces to the first and second editions.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member mikeandmelinda
It was worth reading this to get a sense of the origins of science fiction, but the story does not stand up well on its own merits. The story is very boring and fairly unimaginative when compared to other works of the day. Also, I assume that it was originally written in serial, as the story really
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doesn't have much flow to it, which is a negative when it is presented in book form.
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LibraryThing member drasvola
A somewhat unsatisfactory read at the present time given that this book was written in 1911. Nevertheless, it remains important for historical reasons. The Hugo Award in science fiction is named after the author of this book. The narrative is very basic and bare with hardly any nuance introduced in
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matters of psychological makeup of characters. Descriptions remain technical as matter-of-fact explanations of how devices, methods or procedures work or are used in what purports to be the world in the year 2660. Certainly, things have changed, yet politically the situation and outlook of international relations don't appear to have radically moved from well-established patterns of the past. Perhaps the most notable innovation is the way that space travel has developed, and galactic would be the adjective to use for world relations. Mars and Martians have become principal characters, the latter exhibiting very Earth-inhabitant features insofar emotions are concerned. In spite of all the technological advances achieved, the plot hinges on an error in communications.
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LibraryThing member wunder
My son loved this book, even though it was written nearly a hundred years ago and that shows in the style and vocabulary. Gernsback was totally caught up in the wonders of the year 2660 and that somehow connected. I have a soft spot for visions of the future written in the past, and this one is
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from 1911, so it is even more fun. It is mostly a travelogue of the future, but there is enough plot to keep it moving.

Be sure to get the edition from the Bison Books Frontiers of Imagination series because it has the cool illustrations. Sigh, that web site is a disaster, but the books are really nice. But if they could reissue the catalog of Sam Moskowitz’s Hyperion Press, I wouldn’t care if they wrote their whole site in PDF.
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Language

Original publication date

1911

Physical description

155 p.; 21 inches

ISBN

0803270984 / 9780803270985
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