영어로 읽는 고전 _ 조지 O. 스미스의 세상을 움직이는 자
조지 O. 스미스의 "세계를 움직이는 자"는 20세기 중반에 쓰인 과학소설이다. 이야기는 무의식적으로 파괴적인 핵폭발을 일으켜 두 개의 평행 현실?그가 생존하는 현실과 실험의 결과에 직면하는 현실?사이에 갇히게 되는 과학자 레스 애커만을 중심으로 전개된다. 그가 이러한 기이한 상황을 헤쳐나가면서, 그는 자신이 두 세계의 갈등을 해결하는 열쇠를 쥐고 있다고 믿는 양쪽 세계의 세력들의 초점이 된다.
이야기의 시작에서 레스 애커만은 새로 발견된 초우라늄 원소인 X원소에 대한 연구에 깊이 몰두하고 있는데, 핵 사고가 그를 림보 상태로 밀어 넣어 자신이 일으킨 폭발로부터 비롯된 혼돈을 관찰하게 된다. 두 현실 사이에 갇힌 채, 그는 참사의 여파를 목격하며 다른 사람들이 자신을 죽은 것으로 인식한다는 사실과 자신의 존재를 조화시키려고 고군분투한다. 탄시 리의 등장은 추가적인 복잡성을 가져오는데, 그녀는 그에게 전개되는 사건들에서의 그의 중요한 역할과 그의 실험에서 비롯된 이중 존재 경로를 헤쳐나가기 위한 그의 개입의 필요성을 설명한다. 그가 새로 얻은 지위와 씨름하면서, 그는 또한 그의 운명과 두 세계의 운명에 관해 각자의 동기를 가진 다양한 인물들로부터의 외부 압력에 직면한다.
Classics Read in English _ The world mover by George O. Smith
George O. Smith's "The World-Mover" is a science fiction novel from the mid-20th century that centers on Les Ackerman, a scientist who inadvertently causes a devastating nuclear explosion, resulting in his entrapment between two parallel realities?one in which he survives and another where he must confront the consequences of his experimental work. As he attempts to navigate these extraordinary circumstances, he becomes the central figure for competing factions from both dimensions who believe he possesses the solution to their respective crises.
The narrative opens with Les Ackerman immersed in his research on a recently discovered transuranic element known as Element X, when a nuclear accident catapults him into a liminal state where he can observe the destruction and chaos resulting from the explosion he inadvertently caused. Trapped between these two realities, he witnesses the catastrophic aftermath while struggling to understand his own existence in light of others' perception that he has perished.
The introduction of Tansie Lee adds further complexity to the situation, as she reveals to him his crucial importance in the unfolding crisis and explains why his active participation is essential for navigating the bifurcated paths of existence that emerged from his experiment. While wrestling with his transformed status and identity, Ackerman also contends with external pressures from various individuals who harbor their own agendas concerning both his destiny and the fate of the two interconnected worlds.
Among the contents
To the present sitting, there were three hundred thousand words in the report on the new transuranic element that Les Ackerman was studying. This took months of painstaking work, but Ackerman viewed his results with satisfaction. To date, the report covered about all that was to be known regarding the physical and chemical properties of this new element; there remained only the nuclear properties to investigate.
Nuclear properties were always left to last. Nuclear bombardment defiled the element and rendered it unsuitable for the undestructive chemical analysis and physical investigations.
So Les Ackerman closed his notebook with a slam and checked the refrigerator. The deuterium-ice?frozen heavy water?for the cyclotron target was in fine shape. He could start at once.
