It’s not that twilight!
" And I have told you that they were lonely? Their loneliness was beyond hope. For, you see, as man strode toward maturity, he destroyed all forms of life that menaced him. Disease. Insects. Then the last of the insects, and finally the last of the man-eating animals.” - John W. Campbell
This twilight is all about science-fiction and set in the far distant future. It is written by an American author John W. Campbell. I reviewed this in the past and it just gets more relevant today with the rise of AI (artificial intelligence). We’ve been buzzing to talk about AI and all the things it can do. To be honest, AI has been here for a very long time but now, it just evolved to be more usable for mass use. The short story itself was written a long time ago and it just gets more relevant these days. I don’t know where Campbell got his inspiration but that story was something brought up and discussed during one of my classes. It remained an interesting tale to me and that’s why I re-read it a couple of times and came up with several newest thoughts on it and newer understanding.
In his short story he mentioned that words will be shortened and we’re going there. I think that with recent generations, it’s even more apparent. I kid you not that even in exchange language, there’s a language called Emoji language option. Why the heck would anyone learn emoji language? But apparently it exists and we’re going to the point where words could even be shorter. More so, mmong Gen Z there are words like cap, bussin, yeet, etc that you probably don’t know the meaning of but those are used to express their thoughts. It’s the way they communicate with each other. You'd probably hear them at some point these days.
During my Uni class we were given a question to define the title meaning but now I understand what it meant that twilight doesn’t mean a good thing in this context. This could get you thinking that as the time goes, technology would erase the things that make us human. Sure there is imperfection here and there but I think that’s humane and what makes us human. I know there are many attempts to erase diseases and even reverse aging but will we feel fulfilled after all that is achieved?
The stranger wasn’t an ordinary man.
No, he wasn’t, I guess. I think he lived and died, too, probably, sometime in the thirty-first
century. And I think he saw the twilight of the race, too.
When I read it 5 years ago, I associated twilight with the way the sky changes before dusk but now, I discover it's another meaning that’s not even romantic at all. It’s all about the decline of the human race. I have to say that this is even more recommended, especially these days. It’s also pretty short and would only take about 3-4 hours of your time.You can find the story over here if you want to read it ;
Twilight by John W. Campbell
(first published in 1934, under the pseudonym “Don A. Stuart”
I really hope that younger generation and even anyone finds this work as I think that it's quite underrated and I have not seen it discussed often. This should serve as reminder that perhaps technological advancement has its own disadvantages too.
This book is also the end of my January Read and you can read the previous book journal below. I will discuss my challenges when finishing this but it certainly has to do with moving and things of that nature. I am looking forward to share my next reading journey this February!
Or see my reading list over here Reading List 2023 .
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
You're on track to hit the target I see 🙌🏾
Twilight is giving me Westworld sci-fi vibes and I'm so into it
Yeah, it gives you that vibe. It's also a time traveling and you have to write down the dates to understand the context haha. Since you like short reviews, I'd love to know your opinion on this one!
I Iove sci-fi a lot too and this one seems classic so yeah! I'm gonna read it when I can because at the moment, I have lots of novels to read and a presentation to make pertaining those books in school. I read six novels in January but haven't been able to get myself to write a review. Your book picks for January are all interesting ones. One that opens our eyes of understanding and fills one with knowledge of things even though it may seem supernatural. Thanks for sharing.
I am a bit late for my wrap up honestly but it's life, sometimes the unexpected happens. You should write the book reviews when you finished 😊 I am looking forward to read them all.
Yours motivated me and I just published one a few minutes ago
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Interesting, I've never heard of this one. It seems like Campbell is one of those few literary voices in the early 20th century who wasn't all that optimistic about the rise of modern technology. Many fiction-writers at the time (H.G. Wells comes to mind) had an almost utopian view on the future, because of the advent of technology. Few writers went against the grain; one who does come to mind is E.M. Forster, and his 'the machine stops', who posits that an over-reliance on technology will doom humanity.
Good luck on keeping up the 1-book-a-week tempo. I won't be able to manage, that's almost certain.
The only work I read form H.G Wells was time machine. It's interesting that I have heard a little about Campbell even after reading Twilight. Maybe he's that quiet voices among many famous authors at the time. One book a week is certainly challenging but so far, I can make a bit of time reading time.