Did Arthur C. Clarke change the ending to Imperial Earth?
December 29, 2014 4:48 AM Subscribe
A Facebook discussion about good books by well-known authors passing into undeserved obscurity had me looking up reviews of Arthur C. Clarke's Imperial Earth. In the comments on Jo Walton's review there's a discussion about the ending, specifically whether he wrote two distinct endings, replacing the an earlier one in later editions. Did Clarke rewrite the ending? Spoilers below the cut.
The Wikipedia page mentions two different versions:
I've not been able to track down a discussion of the differences between the two editions. Even though I last read it in my twenties, I can't quite remember which ending it had (though I remember it holding up much better than most other Clarke novels I reread around that time). My battered old copy of Imperial Earth is in a box in a different country, so I can't check, but the "girl clone" ending makes much more thematic sense to me. I'd be interested to know if the original ending is the gender-switching one, and if anyone knows why Clarke made the change.
The Wikipedia page mentions two different versions:
The original UK hardcover edition (ISBN 0-575-02011-3) has the subtitle "A Fantasy of Love and Discord" and has 38 chapters and "Acknowledgments and Notes". The later US hardcover edition adds a quote from Ernest Hemingway, has 43 chapters, drops the subtitle, and expands the Acknowledgements and Notes. The later US paperback edition also features an "Additional Note" about a possible biological error in the plot.In the comments to Walton's review, user Hatgirl mentions owning two versions of the novel: "In one copy, Duncan's child is Karl's clone and in the other copy Duncan's child is a girl." From other comments it's clear that the "Karl's clone" ending is the common one.
I've not been able to track down a discussion of the differences between the two editions. Even though I last read it in my twenties, I can't quite remember which ending it had (though I remember it holding up much better than most other Clarke novels I reread around that time). My battered old copy of Imperial Earth is in a box in a different country, so I can't check, but the "girl clone" ending makes much more thematic sense to me. I'd be interested to know if the original ending is the gender-switching one, and if anyone knows why Clarke made the change.
Datapoint: US 1976 Hardcover edition (currently sitting in my parents' basement) has the Karl ending.
posted by Ryvar at 11:18 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Ryvar at 11:18 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Yeah, I guess it must be about tracking down that first UK edition. If the "girl clone" ending exists, then it must be there.
I know he changed the first chapter of Childhood's End late in life, so he has a history of messing about with his novels after publication.
As to finding out why Clarke made the change, I suspect it will be hard to find out definitely one way or the other.
posted by Kattullus at 11:29 AM on December 29, 2014
I know he changed the first chapter of Childhood's End late in life, so he has a history of messing about with his novels after publication.
As to finding out why Clarke made the change, I suspect it will be hard to find out definitely one way or the other.
posted by Kattullus at 11:29 AM on December 29, 2014
I read this as a library hardback when it first came out, so I'm confident that it was the original UK edition. (The cover of that ISBN 0-575-02011-3 edition is familiar). It definitely ended with the "Karl's clone" plot point. I remember noticing a problem with the genetics, so I assumed that was why he rewrote some of the book. My recollection is that the original Makenzie couldn't have children because of radiation damage in his lifetime, so while it made sense for him to clone a child, it didn't make sense (the way it was presented in the book) for his clone to have the same reproductive damage; I think the later version changed the details of the genetic problem.
posted by Azara at 5:46 PM on December 29, 2014
posted by Azara at 5:46 PM on December 29, 2014
Depending on how bad you want to solve this, should the hive mind fail, fourth one down is the cheapest listing I can find for the correct edition (1975 by Gollancz).
posted by Ryvar at 5:50 PM on December 29, 2014
posted by Ryvar at 5:50 PM on December 29, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Kattullus at 4:49 AM on December 29, 2014