https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-twinkling-of-an-eye-or-my-life-as-an-english...

One day, back in August 2015 I happened to be in London not too far from Forbidden Planet, and spotted that Brian Aldiss, then almost 90, was doing a signing that evening. I got there just in time to buy this book and get his signature on it before sprinting for the 1935 Eurostar; whew! I knew that there would not be many more chances, and indeed it was the second and last time that I met Aldiss in person before his death, two years later.

I realised on reading this now that I had read it before, around the turn of the century; I don’t know what happened to my previous copy, but it was great to come back to it again. Even if you have no interest in his work, Aldiss is very good at the self-perception of the various elements and experiences that go to make up a human soul. He goes in some detail into his childhood, school days and military service (much of which has been recycled in his novels). He is frank about his marital difficulties, in both of his marriages, and even goes a bit mystical on how he managed to unblock himself psychically to become healthier.

He was also devoted to making British science fiction an accepted part of British literature, pushing hard to find allies. This despite himself not being initially all that strongly moored in fandom – when he woke up one morning to find that the 1962 Hugo Award for Hothouse had been left outside his door with the milk, he did not actually know what it was. But this did not last long; by 1965 he was the guest of honour at the second London Worldcon, and in 2014 the massed members of the third London Worldcon sang “Happy Birthday” to him at the closing ceremonies.

One winces for Aldiss occasionally – he was the architect of most of his own romantic misfortunes (though not of his first love affair, with the matron of his boarding school); a crooked accountant’s bad advice meant that he had at one point to sell his house and, (one senses this was worse) his science fiction collection. But he is admirably devoted to his children and to his second wife, who died after this written but before it was published in 1998. His daughter Wendy returned that devotion.

Recommended. ( )

Brian W. Aldiss is famous in some circles as an award winning science fiction author. I feel sure that once upon a time I've read a book or two of his.

He grew up the son of a WWI vet. He went to boarding school as many English lads did. And went off to war when drafted into the British army for WWII. He spent his time in service in Asia. First in Burma and then into Singapore once the war ended. He was a radio Morse code operator and never shot any Japs but saw people shot and plenty of bodies after combat had occurred.

He speaks very frankly about childhood trauma. He came down with whooping cough as his mother was giving birth to his sister. He was bundled off to stay with cousins in a nearby town. In his memory his exile lasted for 6 months of abandonment. It wasn't until middle aged he could speak of it again and when he did he was shocked to find it had only been six weeks.

Aldiss was acquainted with both C.S. Lewis and Tolkien when he lived in Oxford but he speaks very briefly in passing about this.

Aldiss is frank in his story about things like sex, his war experience, and the traumatic events of his life (divorce included). Not always a happy read but it's clear Aldiss is an intellectual. Reading about him you experience his experience and have a chance to consider his musings on life and his adventures and decisions. ( )

484 pages. Very heavy book!

Intrigued by personal accounts of times gone that help me experience the social and small differences that make the past a foreign land. Also because it gives me an insight into the lives of my in-laws now in their mid-eighties and sadly fading fast. He in intensive care with perhaps days to live and she starting on a journey into dementia. They like Brian were once teenagers in love at the beginning of the war in a world that I can see dimly but has no resonance for my son who finds the 70's as ancient history. Its a reminder that one day he might be reading a biography of a man or woman of my world and understand me when I also long gone or fading ( )