They say the best place to hide is in the open, while I'm not totally in agreement with the premise this story a classic in the science -fiction genre is a clear example. In a remote section of Wisconsin where nothing ever happens until now. Enoch Powell is an ordinary farmer except he doesn't farm staying at home mainly and before I forget is a recorded Civil War veteran this set in 1963...which would make Enoch 124 years old.. and looks 30. The few neighbors keep away, his weird reputation the...

2.5

Hugo Award Best Novel 1964I like my sci-fi with a heavy helping of science, even better when a couple spoonfuls of philosophical musings are stirred in. Watered down sci-fi usually doesn't do it for me, so I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this one.It's about this 124-year old guy named Enoch. Despite his age, Enoch looks like a young man. His house, built before the Civil War, doesn't succumb to the years either. Enoch is a hermit, talking only to the mailman and occasionally the neighbors do...

I may have a new favorite classic sci-fi author – Clifford D. Simak. It’s a tragedy that I’m just discovering him now – a glitch that quickly needs to be rectified. I loved Way Station and Simak’s writing. I found it to be warm, unpretentious, and distinctly midwestern. Lately, I’ve been rereading Heinlein, Clarke, and Asimov and some of the luster of my youthful idolization has worn away. Simak might be just the one to restore the patina of my love of the golden age of Science Fiction.Way Stati...

Q:He needed sun and soil and wind to remain a man. (c)Q:We realized that among us, among all the races, we had a staggering fund of knowledge and of techniques - that working together, by putting together all this knowledge and capability, we could arrive at something that would be far greater and more significant than any race, alone, could hope of accomplishing. (c)Q:A man... must belong to something, must have some loyalty and some identity. (c)Q:A million years ago there had been no river he...

Charming. Way Station by Clifford Simak is a very good, classic science fiction yarn. A bit dated, just a little and not hurtfully so, similar to a more modern language than that used by Edgar Rice Burroughs. A great mix of hard science fiction and the softer social sciences cousin of the genre; like Heinlein, without the sexual aggression and with an almost Bradburyesque idyllic sentimentality. Way Station was first published in 1963 and won the Hugo Award for best Novel in 1964. This was certa...

Teenage Tadiana: YES! Way Station! All the stars! I love this story of Enoch Wallace, a Civil War veteran whose home is being used as an interstellar way station, a stopping point for alien travelers journeying from one part of the galaxy to another. As part of the deal, Enoch never ages while he is inside his home. For 100 years Enoch isn't bothered by anyone--he lives in the backwoods and the local people leave him alone--but eventually the government becomes suspicious of Enoch's agelessness ...

Four paragraphs:"And there she sat, with the wild red and gold of the butterfly poised upon her finger, with the sense of alertness and expectancy and, perhaps, accomplishment shining on her face. She was alive, thought Enoch, as no other thing he knew had ever been alive. The butterfly spread its wings and floated off her finger and went fluttering, unconcerned, unfrightened, up across the wild grass and the goldenrod of the field.""They would say he was a madman; that he had run them off at gu...

The first science fiction book I have ever read was All Flesh Is Grass by Clifford D. Simak. I was so astonished and entertained that I immediately looked for more sf to read and to this day I still prefer reading sf than any other form of fiction. Yes, I should broaden my horizon and read more literary fiction or classics which I do from time to time but I will always favor sf. So I owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Simak for helping me find my reading comfort zone. Anyway, All Flesh Is Grass is n...

Posted at Shelf Inflicted This spare little story is set in a small Wisconsin town. Despite the pastoral setting and the narrow-minded, clannish inhabitants of the town, Enoch Wallace, keeper of an intergalactic transport system known as the Way Station, is a very likeable and open character.This wonderful, thought-provoking book is a fast and easy read. There is no action, no alien battles in the stars, no government agents surrounding the Way Station and bundling Enoch off in an unmarked van. ...