When I was a child my mother was a librarian in our local college. Sometimes, when the exigencies of childcare demanded, I would join her at the library after school until it was time to go home. Here, it would be lyrical and fitting if I offered an abbreviated Kunstlerroman in which my youthful self discovered a lifelong love of literature and reading by exploring the library.
That didn't happen.
As far as I can recall I spent most of these evenings in the deserted library drawing WW2 aircraft. This was the 1970s and World War 2 was a much more proximate and socially relevant event than it is now. I had not particularly old relatives who had fought in it and their recollections were a strong cultural influence on me. So I whiled away those hours drawing Gloster Meteors and Messerschmitt 262s locked in combat over childish vision of war torn Europe under palls of HB pencilled smoke.
On one of these occasions, I did something different. Instead of drawing aircraft I pulled a book from the shelf and started reading it. I have no recollection of the selection criteria but I would be amazed if it were anything other than an attraction to the cover. The book was a science fiction novel and I was immediately captivated by it. In the callowness of youth I didn't realise that it was exemplar of the much derided Portal genre and should therefore have been hurled away with a snort of derision.
These are the salient facts about the book which I can recall:
That's it. That's what I can remember. I would dearly love to revisit this book now that I know I'm not supposed to like portal stories but I can't as I don't know the title or author. From the vague, and possibly incorrect, clues above does anyone have any ideas?
That didn't happen.
As far as I can recall I spent most of these evenings in the deserted library drawing WW2 aircraft. This was the 1970s and World War 2 was a much more proximate and socially relevant event than it is now. I had not particularly old relatives who had fought in it and their recollections were a strong cultural influence on me. So I whiled away those hours drawing Gloster Meteors and Messerschmitt 262s locked in combat over childish vision of war torn Europe under palls of HB pencilled smoke.
On one of these occasions, I did something different. Instead of drawing aircraft I pulled a book from the shelf and started reading it. I have no recollection of the selection criteria but I would be amazed if it were anything other than an attraction to the cover. The book was a science fiction novel and I was immediately captivated by it. In the callowness of youth I didn't realise that it was exemplar of the much derided Portal genre and should therefore have been hurled away with a snort of derision.
These are the salient facts about the book which I can recall:
- It concerned a group of people who had been abducted from Earth to a mysterious island for study by aliens.
- The method of abduction was a shiny object on the ground which transported the luckless finder to the island when picked up.
- The protagonist of the novel and principle abductee was a man from New York.
- One of the other abductees was a female television journalist.
- There was a single gun on the island possession of which was held to be a very big deal.
That's it. That's what I can remember. I would dearly love to revisit this book now that I know I'm not supposed to like portal stories but I can't as I don't know the title or author. From the vague, and possibly incorrect, clues above does anyone have any ideas?
