Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyle Connor
How big a difference are we talking here between the 1950 and 1997 version?
I read the earlier one and ya, you can enjoy it if you read it with the mindset of a person in the 50's.
|
Mainly the dates that the stories occur were shifted 31 years from 1999 to 2030 onward. Since the stories are just meant to take place "in the future" and the themes/takeaways deal with "universal truths" that could occur at anytime, then I don't think that matters. From that perspecitive it also probably doesn't matter where the stories occur - Mars, Jupiter or some newly discovered place on Earth.
I believe that regardless which version you read it is important to remember the time period it was written because of the social commentary within the stories. Post WWII, Cold War, pre-Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s, countries that were colonized by Western countries fighting for independence, etc.
Otherwise there are a few shifts to the stories contained within the collection. Most noticeably the 1997 version removes the story dealing with racism on Earth. I found a synopsis of it with a Google search. I wish it hadn't been removed. History is what it is however unpleasant some of it may be. It is replaced with a story about 2 women on their last night on Earth before they take a rocket to meet a boyfriend who is already on Mars. The 1997 version also adds a story which I really enjoyed that is about priests who have just arrived on Mars. They interact with Martians. They struggle with should they be missionaries to the Martians (what kinds of sins would they have, how would they relate to God and the Church) or should they help the settlers with their sins (which are common to Earth sins - think of Wild West saloons or Klondike gold rush towns!).