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Farewell to the Master
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 1 hr and 29 mins
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Farewell to the Master
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Summary
This is a must-read for any science-fiction lover, for, as the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says, "the film lost the story's ironic ending." Now listeners can discover first-hand what Hollywood left out in this best-known novella of the legendary 1930s idea man, Harry Bates.
Bates's novella, published in 1940 under the title Farewell to the Master, with its poignant, haunting last line, posthumously brought him the coveted Balrog Award (1983). Long-time science-fiction fans rank it and its creator among the greats.
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What listeners say about Farewell to the Master
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Raymond
- 14-06-11
The day the Earth stood still
This is the story that 'The day the Earth stood still' is based on, try this and see what the last film got so wrong!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mini
- 21-09-23
Intrigued to listen to story which was behind on of the best science fiction films
Only a short book… so makes easy listening. Fascinating to hear the story which was used for the day the earth stood still. Can see the basis… but they’re different. For once, it’s not that the film or book are better… they’re just different.
Written in 1940… which is amazing… and with only hints at its age in the descriptions.
If u like science fiction… this must be on one of the lists of “must reads”.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Nephrite
- 30-06-20
A story with an interesting history well told
Farewell To The Master by Harry Bates
Hello again to all of my readers! I hope you are all well and now I shall explain today’s review. I’m sure that many of you have heard of or watched The Day The Earth Stood Still. Be it the classic 1950s version or the – much inferior – 2008 remake. Farewell To The Master by the (sadly lost to history) Harry Bates was the original short story from 1940 which proved the inspiration for the famous film. As such this review is going to be very similar to my review for Frozen Hell by John W. Campbell Jr.
Harry Bates is a figure which although he is not well remembered had quite the impact on the history of science fiction. He acted as the founding editor of Astounding Stories of Super Science which later became better known as simply Astounding Stories and was eventually edited by John W. Campbell Jr. For information on his tenure see my discussion of Frozen Hell. Bates often had his authors focus on exciting action with short bursts of plausible science when relevant. Bates himself did write a number of stories while acting as editor however there is no record of any published stories by Bates under any name after 1952. He eventually died in 1981 mostly forgotten.
Farewell To The Master is a story from 1940 which despite inspiring the 1951 classic is very different from its more well known children. The plot is as follows: A space-time ship suddenly appears in Washington D.C. unexpectedly. A large crowd gathers and waits for signs of any occupants. Eventually an humanoid looking alien leaves the ship known as Klaatu alongside a robotic thing known as Gnut. Klaatu is assassinated and to prove their sincere sorrow over the event a partial museum of the event of first contact and mausoleum for the remains of Klaatu is built. A journalist known as Cliff Sutherland becomes suspicious and believes that Gnut – who supposedly has not moved since the death of Klaatu – is secretly moving at night but I won’t give away any more of the story except to say that the famous ‘Klaatu barada nikto’ was an invention of the 1951 film.
I found Farewell to be an intriguing relisten. Cliff Sutherland proves to be an interesting character with slowly progressing intentions and motivations throughout the course of the short story while Gnut proves to be something of a puzzle. At least at first. Bates’s writing is enjoyable with enough going on to entertain the reader or listener and if you enjoy hearing the original versions of certain now world famous or ubiquitous stories I certainly recommend it.
The narration in the version which I experienced came from a Tom Weiner who I found a very good and enjoyable narrator. His various voices certainly seemed to capture the spirit of the 1940s and 1950s science fiction in which the story was created. In some ways it was similar to the narration done for The Luna Missile Crisis. Weiner also narrates a introductory miniature biography and history of Harry Bates and his involvement with the science fiction genre which also discusses some clear differences with The Day The Earth Stood Still.
On the other hand, despite enjoying Farewell to the Master, I would personally say that the 1951 Day is the superior experience. They tell different stories and have different messages so as a result you can certainly experience both and get a different result but Farewell (and I feel somewhat guilty saying this) simply feels more dated. It’s one of those rare examples where I find it difficult to define what ‘bothers’ me about a story (and in this case Farewell comparatively.)
As a result this is a story which I personally enjoy and has an intriguing ending but I wouldn’t recommend seeking out unless you are a big fan of classic science fiction or you consider The Day The Earth Stood Still as one of your personal favourite films. Otherwise the specific version I listened to is a three out of five story being elevated to four out of five by rather well done narration by Weiner and the mini biography prior to the story itself.
Hopefully you will all hear from me soon.
Sayonara!
Nephrite
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