"Olaf Stapledon - Last And First Men" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stapledon Olaf)

generation circumstances may well change so unexpectedly and so radically that
this book may very soon look ridiculous. But no matter. We of today must
conceive our relation to the rest of the universe as best we can; and even if
our images must seem fantastic to future men, they may none the less serve
their purpose today.
Some readers, taking my story to be an attempt at prophecy, may deem it
unwarrantably pessimistic. But it is not prophecy; it is myth, or an essay in
myth. We all desire the future to turn out more happily than I have figured
it. In particular we desire our present civilization to advance steadily
toward some kind of Utopia. The thought that it may decay and collapse, and
that all its spiritual treasure may be lost irrevocably, is repugnant to us.
Yet this must be faced as at least a possibility. And this kind of tragedy,
the tragedy of a race, must, I think, be admitted in any adequate myth.
And so, while gladly recognizing that in our time there are strong seeds
of hope as well as of despair, I have imagined for aesthetic purposes that our
race will destroy itself. There is today a very earnest movement for peace and
international unity; and surely with good fortune and intelligent management
it may triumph. Most earnestly we must hope that it will. But I have figured
things out in this book in such a manner that this great movement fails. I
suppose it incapable of preventing a succession of national wars; and I permit
it only to achieve the goal of unity and peace after the mentality of the race
has been undermined. May this not happen! May the League of Nations, or some
more strictly cosmopolitan authority, win through before it is too late! Yet
let us find room in our minds and in our hearts for the thought that the whole
enterprise of our race may be after all but a minor and unsuccessful episode
in a vaster drama, which also perhaps may be tragic.
Any attempt to conceive such a drama must take into account whatever
contemporary science has to say about man's own nature and his physical
environment. I have tried to supplement my own slight knowledge of natural
science by pestering my scientific friends. In particular, I have been very
greatly helped by conversation with Professors P. G. H. Boswell, J. Johnstone,
and J. Rice, of Liverpool. But they must not be held responsible for the many
deliberate extravagances which, though they serve a purpose in the design, may
jar upon the scientific ear.
To. Dr. L. A. Reid I am much indebted for general comments, and to Mr.
E. V. Rieu for many very valuable suggestions. To Professor and Mrs. L. C.
Martin, who read the whole book in manuscript, I cannot properly express my
gratitude for constant encouragement and criticism. To my wife's devastating
sanity I owe far more than she supposes.
Before closing this preface I would remind the reader that throughout
the following pages the speaker, the first person singular, is supposed to be,
not the actual writer, but an individual living in the extremely distant
future.

W. O. S.
WEST KIRBY
_July, 1930_