i was just about to get out for a cycle ride when i noticed a headline in the corner of my eye: arthur c clarke dies. i know it might sound silly but i do feel sad. i am not the type to care about celebrety death but arhutr c clarke is different. i grew up on his imagination, his books are the first books i have read in my life. only now that he is gone i realize how much he has influenced me.

one of the first books ever was the mysteries of the world, a big heavy book with the crystal skull on the cover. i reread that book maybe hundred times when i was a kid, i knew it by heart, and i could still read it and enjoy it.

another book that i never finished but enjoyed very much was his return of rama. i think it is good i never finished that book, it remained in my memory as a never ending exploration though the alien rama. i did not have a conclusion so in my mind it just continues. almost 20 years later i still sometimes remember and imagine those astronauts going through the strange rooms of in a huge alien spaceship or whatever it was.

and of course my life long obsession with stanley kubrick started with 2001: a space odyssey which would never be possible without the short story by arthurt c clarke and his work the script with stanley kubrick. 2001: a space odussey is probably the most influential film in my life and it would not have existed if it was not for arthur c clarke.

now both kubrick and clarke are dead and i can not help being a bit down.

i hope training makes me forget about it so i go back to the daily escapism routine in which there is no place for any such sudden changes like death etc.