John Campbell, American science fiction writer: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

John Campbell is a famous American writer of the 30s. John's work is still a success, despite the fact that in the books he described a completely different age with different technologies.

Writer's biography

John Wood Campbell was born on June 8, 1910 in a small town in the state of New Jersey.

John received his education at the University of Massachusetts. John Campbell did not stop at one education and continued his studies at Duke University. John Wood began writing as a student, so by the time he got his bachelor's degree in physics, he was already known as a science fiction writer.

About creativity

John was one of the first writers to write science fiction. Campbell's work is distinguished by the fact that they contain not only elements of the fantasy genre, but also the horror genre. Reviews of John Campbell's books are positive, even today there are many readers who are delighted with what the author wrote. In the writer's books, one cannot even find the prerequisites for modern technologies, because the author specifically described the 30s of the last century.

It is important that for a long time there was no translation from English to the books of the American writer. Only closer to the 50s did books begin to be translated.

Speaking of John Wood, it's important to note that for many people he has become a classic of the horror genre. Despite the fact that Campbell's works faded into the background literary in the 50s of the last century (a lot of scientific journals began to be published, the works in which were more literary than scientific, in nature), his stories and novels are still famous today.

Screenings

Many of John Campbell's works have been made into excellent films, although they fail to evoke the emotions that come with reading.

One of the most famous adaptations was the film "The Thing", released in 1951. The director who was the first to dare to take on this work was Christian Nyby. The film received a huge number of awards and prizes.

The work that formed the basis of the film was called "Who's Going?". There is more than one adaptation of this work. If for the first time a film was made based on the story, which was released in 1951, then the next one was a film in 1982. The second film adaptation of this work starred such a famous actor as Kurt Russell. Reading reviews of the second film, one can find statements that the film is excellently shot and leaves the same impression as the well-known movie "Alien". The second director who filmed this work was John Carpenter.

The work was filmed for the third time in 2001 by director Mattis van Heinigen Jr. One of the main roles was played by actress Mary Winstead, despite the fact that in previous adaptations only male actors played the main roles. Filming took place in British Columbia, as it is there that the landscape is most similar to the snowy and glacial nature of Antarctica. The new film, which was a remake of the 1982 film adaptation, earned high marks and was liked by the audience.

Awards

In 1968, John Wood is awarded the Skylark Award for his great efforts to make the literary genre of fiction the most developed.

In 1971, the story "Twilight" and the story "Who's Going?" became the two highest-rated short stories among small fantasy works of the 40s. The author deserves the first place. The winner was determined by the readers.

In 1996, the writer was included in the lists of writers included in the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Such an honor was presented to John Wood posthumously.

In the same year, the writer posthumously received the award for the best editor who worked in 1945.

In 2001, John was also posthumously awarded the Best Editor Award in 1950 and in 2004 the Best Editor Award in 1967.

Memory of the writer

In memory of creativity and contribution to the development of science fiction, awards were created. There were two in total: the first was called the JohnCampbell Award for Best Science Fiction Novel; the second is the John Campbell Award, which honors the best new writers in the science fiction genre.

The story "Who's coming?"

John Campbell's "Who's Coming?" became one of the most famous stories of the entire work of the writer. The story was published in 1938, and immediately gained immense popularity among readers. Despite the fact that the plot of the work does not contain any new technologies, to this day it is read, speaking about the story with enthusiasm.

The work is written in the genre of science fiction and horror. The story is deservedly called a literary classic of horror. The events that take place in the book create an eerie atmosphere, and the behavior of the characters only doubles the horror when reading. Despite this, the book remains in memory as something amazing, capable of creating unique impressions.

For a long time there was no translation from English of this work. However, today you can find a Russian-language version. It is abridged, making the work even smaller than it exists in the original. However, this does not become a hindrance for those readers who develop in the field of their literary experience.

Content of the work

At the center of the plot is a research team that went on an expedition to Antarctica. While doing research for a long time, one of the members of the group accidentally finds something strange and inexplicable right in the ice surface. Gathering other members of the group, he shows the find, and colleagues conclude that this is a living creature. Just what exactly this creation is remains a mystery to the entire research team.

A group of research scientists come to a decision: you need to unfreeze the creature and carefully study it. However, everything takes a completely different turn - the creature comes to life and inexplicable chaos begins. Trying to kill an alien creature, people realize that it is almost impossible to do this - this creature can take on the appearance of different creatures living on Earth. It takes the form of a man, the form of a dog, a cat, and many others. Fighting for their lives, will the research team be able to survive in Antarctica or will this creature still win?..