- Paperback: 136 pages
- Publisher: St Martin's Press (8 Sep 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 031215514X
- ISBN-13: 978-0312155148
- Product Dimensions: 19.1 x 12.7 x 1.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,134,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"This novella brims with an intellectual vitality..."The Dechronization of Sam Magruder "is a small gem, and readers who prize elegance over bombast will be rewarded by seeking it out." --"San Francisco Chronicle"
"The late George Gaylord Simpson's short novel is an amazing little discovery." --"Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered"
"Excellent physical descriptions of dinosaurs and their various adaptations...[But][ amid the sauropods and hadrosaurs is a flesh-and-blood man, aching with total and irreversible loneliness." --"Alan Lightman, The New York Times Book Review"
"The late George Gaylord Simpson's short novel is an amazing little discovery." --"Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered"
"Excellent physical descriptions of dinosaurs and their various adaptations...[But][ amid the sauropods and hadrosaurs is a flesh-and-blood man, aching with total and irreversible loneliness." --"Alan Lightman, The New York Times Book Review"
Product Description
This lost novella by the century's most renowned paleontologist has been called the greatest time-travel story in more than one hundred years.
Vanishing from Earth on February 30, 2162, while working on a problem of quantum theory, research chronologist Sam Magruder is thrown back 80 million years in time. Endowed with the intelligence of a twenty-second-century man, Magruder struggles to survive, feeding on scrambled turtle eggs and diligently recording his observations on a stone-slab diary, even as menacing tyrannosaurus try to gnaw off his limbs.
Filled with magnificent descriptions of the dinosaurs as only Simpson himself could render them, "The Dechronization of Sam Magruder "is not only a classic time-travel tale but a philosophical work that astutely ponders the complexities of human existence and achievement.
Vanishing from Earth on February 30, 2162, while working on a problem of quantum theory, research chronologist Sam Magruder is thrown back 80 million years in time. Endowed with the intelligence of a twenty-second-century man, Magruder struggles to survive, feeding on scrambled turtle eggs and diligently recording his observations on a stone-slab diary, even as menacing tyrannosaurus try to gnaw off his limbs.
Filled with magnificent descriptions of the dinosaurs as only Simpson himself could render them, "The Dechronization of Sam Magruder "is not only a classic time-travel tale but a philosophical work that astutely ponders the complexities of human existence and achievement.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is such a great little story! The bright pink cover is at odds with the storyline but don't let that put you off, I actually quite like it...it's 'quirky'. A very quick read and therein lies it's only flaw....it ended too soon. I hung on every word and would have liked to see many, many more of them.
The book was only ever intended as an amusement for the author, but by chance was it found after his death and published, and lucky for us that it was.
Short synopsis would be that an academic (Sam McGruder) from the far future (the year 2162), travels back in time to a place in prehistory where dinosaurs roamed, with no chance of ever getting back. Now, it's not JUST the story that hooks the reader, it's all the thought provoking ideas that the story presents too. What would 'I' do? How would 'I' cope? Would I cope?!
I wanted it to go on and on and on......
It's very short so any details I give are likely to be spoilers but suffice to say it's a great book and one not to be missed. From the moment you pick it up it will draw you in. Even if it's not your usual type of reading material, it's still worth the read.
Remember....don't let the pink cover put you off!
The book was only ever intended as an amusement for the author, but by chance was it found after his death and published, and lucky for us that it was.
Short synopsis would be that an academic (Sam McGruder) from the far future (the year 2162), travels back in time to a place in prehistory where dinosaurs roamed, with no chance of ever getting back. Now, it's not JUST the story that hooks the reader, it's all the thought provoking ideas that the story presents too. What would 'I' do? How would 'I' cope? Would I cope?!
I wanted it to go on and on and on......
It's very short so any details I give are likely to be spoilers but suffice to say it's a great book and one not to be missed. From the moment you pick it up it will draw you in. Even if it's not your usual type of reading material, it's still worth the read.
Remember....don't let the pink cover put you off!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An excellent book, even though it has its flowing horribly compromised by old-fashioned theories (e.g. Simpson says dinosaurs are cold-blooded), for it was written on the last decade. I'd give two reasons for you to read it : the explanations concerning chronology (a future discipline) are very neat; and it has a highly philosophical content. Stephen Gould's posface is nearly undispensable while understanding the text.
Worht reading; specially for fans of the so-called "hard SF"...
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In the year 2162, the eminent chronologist Sam Magruder mysteriously disappeared while running an experiment. Some years later, while arguing about the possibility of being totally alone, the evidence is produced that Sam Magruder did not die in 2162, but was transported back in time some 80 million years! Engraved upon sandstone slabs, found in a bed of shale, is found the story of Sam Magruder's existence in the late Cretaceous period. Alone, with no hope of ever seeing another human being again, Sam survived, and this is his story.
The famous paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson penned this short story, apparently for his own amusement, but it is a masterpiece. Considering Dr. Simpson's field, I would have assumed that this story would be entirely about what Sam found in the Cretaceous, but that's only part of the story. As the opening chapter tells, this is the story of a modern (OK, future) man's coming to grips with his situation, one containing only danger and isolation.
I am sure that my words do not do justice to this story. This work is complex and fascinating beyond some lengthy works produced by noted authors. I recommend it to everyone.
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