‘The Autobiography of Mr. Spock’ offers a fascinating look at Star Trek’s iconic Vulcan (exclusive excerpt)
[ad_1]
As we continue to celebrate the 55th anniversary of “Star Trek,” Gene Roddenberry’s visionary brainchild, Titan Books is shining the interstellar spotlight on perhaps the franchise’s greatest fictional celebrity … Spock.
Thanks to the masterful performances of Leonard Nimoy (and later Zachary Quinto and Ethan Peck), Spock is arguably the greatest character ever to emerge in modern pop culture history and his enduring popularity across generations is definitive proof. The logical Vulcan is at the very heart of “Star Trek” with his superior intellect, admirable humanity, and wry sense of humor.
While various elements of Spock’s early life and career path in Starfleet have been documented in numerous feature films, comics, and multiple TV series, there’s never been a full account of his fictional life put down on the page until now. Titan’s “The Autobiography of Mr. Spock” (which dropped last month) serves to satisfy that neglected corner of the “Star Trek” universe with a new detailed bio exploring some of the lesser-known specifics of the USS Enterprise’s legendary science officer.
Related: Star Trek movies, ranked worst to best
The Autobiography of Mr. Spock (Titan Books) was $24.99 now $20.99 at Amazon
Save 16% on the definitive life story of one of the most beloved Star Trek characters of all time with Titan Books’ The Autobiography of Spock edited by Una McCormack.
View Deal
Edited by Una McCormack, this 224-page hardback salutes one of the Federation’s most honored citizens by delving deeper into Spock’s troubled childhood on Vulcan with Michael Burnham, his unexpected enrollment at Starfleet Academy, adventures aboard the Enterprise with Captains Kirk and Pike, and his later shift to diplomatic and ambassadorial roles, including his secret mission to Romulus.
Fresh details of his life on Vulcan and the Enterprise are also explored, along with revealing insights into Spock’s relationships with the most influential figures in his life, including Sarek, Michael Burnham, Christopher Pike, Kirk, and Dr. McCoy, all presented in Spock’s inimitable vocal style and diction.
Live long and prosper with our exclusive excerpt for Titan Books’ “The Autobiography of Mr. Spock” in the preview below!
Related: Every actor who has ever played Spock on ‘Star Trek’
Excerpt from The Autobiography of Mr. Spock
It has long been my custom, before embarking upon a great voyage, to set my affairs in order. I am motivated, in part, by a desire to make this as straightforward and painless as possible for the executors of my will. But the practice is also—perhaps substantially—for my own benefit, providing an opportunity to reflect upon what has gone before. Nevertheless, although I began writing the story of my life once before, this was never completed, and I find that I contemplate resuming work on this with some trepidation. To revisit years and people long gone, to reflect upon what has been learned—who among us, even the most ascetic, after a long life filled with incident, would not find this task a challenge? Still, I leave very soon upon an uncertain mission, and I cannot leave this book unwritten.
If I were writing for a Vulcan reader, I would not need, I think, to explain the nature and the purpose of such a volume. And while I know you in particular, my reader, are a person not only of information but also of knowledge and wisdom, I must not assume that this tradition and ritual are known to you. What you hold in your hands is the product of a continuing series of rituals performed by Vulcans in old age. I will spare you the details of the rest—I suspect you can easily imagine the many and intricate meditations I have performed in recent years, with varying degrees of self-denial—but this one I shall explain to you in more depth. This book you hold is called the t’san a’lat, which translates (I give a rough translation here; certain nuances are, necessarily, lost) a “wisdom book.” It is the physical manifestation of the life-long practice of t’san s’at, the intellectual deconstruction of emotional patterns in which every Vulcan engages in order to turn impulse into considered action. We are often considered a cerebral culture, my friend, but we are wise enough to know that our minds are embodied and take physical form. It is with this knowledge that the wisdom book is best understood: the summation of an individual’s life and experiences, gathered together in one place to pass on to whomever comes afterwards.
Allow me to explain in a little more detail the form that the “wisdom book” takes. I should note, before giving this overview, that my version will, by necessity, stray from tradition in significant ways. I am not, after all, entirely Vulcan. But were you to examine the many volumes held in the vast echoing undercrofts of the many archives dotted throughout our cities, a man such as you would quickly identify the standard form. The t’san a’lat guides us through the three “ages” of a Vulcan life.
First, we have ro’fori, or the acquisition of information, that period of youth when the mind is most nimble and can seemingly learn an almost limitless number of facts. After that comes fai-tukh, the height of one’s life when this bedrock of information is operationalized as practical knowledge of the world, when we begin to see the patterns of life, and can draw upon what has happened before for each new challenge and dilemma. Last of all comes kau, that stage of life when our experiences become as rich as a tapestry wrought by the finest weavers of T’Paal, and the luckiest of us acquire a kind of wisdom—or, at least, continue to hold out the hope that wisdom might yet be acquired. Such a structure of life’s journey is not particular to Vulcan, of course. There are many similar ideas on Earth, of course, as I do not need to tell you. I am sure that you are thinking already of Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man, or the idea of the “late style” that emerges in writers beyond their hundredth year. I mention such things to evidence as early as possible in this text that my human education has not been lacking.
But my questionable half-humanity would soon become clear to any entirely Vulcan reader of this book. This is because I have deviated significantly from what one would expected to find in the t’san a’lat. Each section of a traditional wisdom book documents, meticulously, a situation in an individual’s life in which some dilemma or crisis or peril has been resolved through the application of logic. Logic must, after all, prevail. The intention is that by examining such situations, the reader steadily acquires a bank of wisdom upon which they may draw in their own life. In my time at the learning domes, I read over two thousand examples of the t’san a’lat, my friend, and while I did learn a great deal from them, not once did I find an example that reflected back my own hybridity. I have therefore broken substantially with this form. Much of what I have learned in the course of my long life has come through my encounters with others. My t’san a’lat reflects this. The individual sections of my t’san a’lat contain reflections upon the most significant people in my life. A “true” t’san a’lat would scorn such an approach as subjective and therefore worthless. I leave you, and any other reader to whom you choose to give this book, to decide. You will see, therefore, that each section bears the name of someone whom I loved. On one occasion, I have used the word “Enterprise”. I note that here I might well also have used the word “family”. I believe that you, my friend, of all people, will understand.
Let me turn to you now; any book must, after all, consider to whom it is addressed. The traditional t’san a’lat is most usually addressed to children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. I have no direct blood descendants. No child, or grandchild, or great-grandchild to remember me fondly or respectfully. Posterity is another audience, of course, and while I am prepared to admit that many of my actions have had significance—or that, at least, I have been lucky to play a part in great events and changes—it is not within my nature to address the world so publicly. I have chosen you, my friend, not least because I trust your judgment as to whether there is wider value in the experiences I have documented here. You will know what should or should not be shared more generally, and when we reach those parts of my life when secrecy has, hitherto, been necessary, I will alert you—and trust to your discretion as to what should be kept secret, and what can now be revealed.
But there are, if you will forgive me, other reasons for choosing you as my audience, my inheritor. You, surely, will understand the nature of the mission upon which I shall be embarking in the next few days. You, surely, better than most, understand the draw of Romulus, and the Romulan people, and the desire to bring succor. I believe I do not have to explain myself here to you, of all people, who sacrificed everything for this cause. But I also give this book to you, Jean-Luc, because I hope you might benefit personally from what I have written. The twists and turns of history have, I think, dealt you some hard blows in recent years, ones that are not just reward for the man that you are, and the work that you have done. If anything in this book resonates with you, then by this alone the writing will have been justified. If this book shows you a path forward, then I will have done more than I dared hope.
Two years ago, after your resignation, you invited me to visit you in La Barre. It is, and will be, one of the great regrets of my life that I never had the chance to take you up on this kind offer. As the great friends of my early life moved on or passed away, the opportunity to cultivate new friendships has been a most treasured aspect of this, my later life. To you, then, Jean-Luc Picard, my friend, I give the book of my wisdom, such as it is, and I leave it to your own considerable reserves of wisdom to judge its value, and to decide what to do with whatever value it contains. I do not believe that I shall be here to see what you decide. I am setting out on another mission, one last voyage, in a long life filled with many strange and wonderful journeys. I hope that when you learn of my intentions, you will understand. I hope that you will read with interest and compassion. That, surely, is what we all, in the end, most desire.
“The Autobiography of Mr. Spock” is available now from Titan Books.
Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
[ad_2]
Original Post
I am not rattling excellent with English but I get hold this real easy to translate.
Woh I like your posts, saved to fav! .
Hi there, You’ve done a great job. I will definitely digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I am sure they will be benefited from this site.
I think this site has got some rattling wonderful info for everyone. “Variety is the soul of pleasure.” by Aphra Behn.
Precisely what I was searching for, appreciate it for posting.
Hello. Great job. I did not imagine this. This is a excellent story. Thanks!
You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be actually something that I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!
As a Newbie, I am continuously exploring online for articles that can aid me. Thank you
You completed certain fine points there. I did a search on the subject matter and found nearly all persons will go along with with your blog.
Simply a smiling visitant here to share the love (:, btw great style and design. “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.” by Albert Einstein.
My coder is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on numerous websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it? Any help would be really appreciated!
Hello, i feel that i saw you visited my web site thus i came to “go back the want”.I’m trying to to find things to enhance my website!I assume its ok to use a few of your concepts!!
Just desire to say your article is as astonishing. The clarity in your post is simply great and i could assume you are an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please carry on the rewarding work.
You have brought up a very fantastic details, thanks for the post.
I have recently started a blog, the information you offer on this web site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work. “There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.” by Homer.
I think you have remarked some very interesting details, regards for the post.
I like what you guys are up too. Such intelligent work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my website :).
I regard something genuinely special in this internet site.
It is appropriate time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I desire to suggest you few interesting things or tips. Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article. I wish to read more things about it!
Thank you for all of the labor on this website. My mother take interest in getting into investigations and it’s really easy to understand why. Most of us hear all about the dynamic form you convey useful secrets through the web blog and even attract participation from some others on this concept and my daughter is undoubtedly discovering a great deal. Enjoy the rest of the year. You have been performing a fabulous job.
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your weblog? My website is in the exact same niche as yours and my users would truly benefit from a lot of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this alright with you. Thank you!
Generally I do not learn article on blogs, but I would like to say that this write-up very compelled me to try and do it! Your writing style has been surprised me. Thanks, very nice article.
I went over this internet site and I conceive you have a lot of excellent information, saved to fav (:.
I genuinely enjoy studying on this internet site, it contains good posts. “Dream no small dreams. They have no power to stir the souls of men.” by Victor Hugo.
Very interesting information!Perfect just what I was looking for!
whoah this blog is great i love reading your articles. Keep up the good work! You know, many people are looking around for this info, you can help them greatly.
I am not sure where you’re getting your info, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for great information I was looking for this info for my mission.
You are my aspiration, I have few blogs and rarely run out from to post : (.
F*ckin’ tremendous issues here. I’m very happy to look your post. Thanks so much and i am looking forward to touch you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
I must show my appreciation to the writer for bailing me out of this type of condition. As a result of exploring through the online world and getting ideas which are not beneficial, I assumed my entire life was over. Being alive without the answers to the difficulties you have solved as a result of your report is a crucial case, and ones which may have negatively affected my entire career if I had not discovered your site. Your main training and kindness in handling everything was tremendous. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t come across such a thing like this. It’s possible to at this moment look forward to my future. Thanks for your time so much for the skilled and sensible guide. I will not be reluctant to endorse your web page to any person who needs and wants counselling about this topic.
Hi there, simply turned into aware of your blog through Google, and located that it is really informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I’ll be grateful if you continue this in future. Many folks might be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!
great points altogether, you simply gained a brand new reader. What would you suggest about your publish that you just made a few days in the past? Any certain?
obviously like your web site but you have to check the spelling on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth nevertheless I will definitely come back again.
magnificent post, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of this sector don’t notice this. You should continue your writing. I’m confident, you’ve a great readers’ base already!
I really like your writing style, excellent information, thanks for putting up : D.
Nice blog here! Also your website loads up very fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my web site loaded up as quickly as yours lol
My brother suggested I might like this website. He was entirely right. This post truly made my day. You can not imagine simply how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
Yesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iphone and tested to see if it can survive a 40 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is totally off topic but I had to share it with someone!
Wow! This can be one particular of the most useful blogs We have ever arrive across on this subject. Actually Excellent. I’m also a specialist in this topic therefore I can understand your effort.
Some truly great content on this web site, regards for contribution. “Careful. We don’t want to learn from this.” by Bill Watterson.
It?¦s in reality a nice and useful piece of information. I?¦m satisfied that you simply shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
I’m still learning from you, but I’m improving myself. I definitely liked reading everything that is written on your site.Keep the aarticles coming. I enjoyed it!
Great post and straight to the point. I don’t know if this is actually the best place to ask but do you folks have any ideea where to get some professional writers? Thank you 🙂
Hi my loved one! I want to say that this article is awesome, nice written and come with approximately all vital infos. I would like to see more posts like this.
I’ve been browsing online more than three hours nowadays, yet I by no means discovered any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty value sufficient for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made just right content material as you probably did, the web will be much more useful than ever before.
I regard something truly interesting about your site so I saved to fav.
I am often to blogging and i really appreciate your content. The article has really peaks my interest. I am going to bookmark your site and keep checking for new information.
Great beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your website, how could i subscribe for a blog site? The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright clear idea
It¦s actually a cool and useful piece of info. I¦m happy that you simply shared this useful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
Some genuinely wonderful posts on this website, thanks for contribution. “Careful. We don’t want to learn from this.” by Bill Watterson.
Good day! I simply wish to give a huge thumbs up for the good info you have here on this post. I will be coming again to your blog for extra soon.
I have been checking out some of your posts and i can claim nice stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your blog.
Hello, Neat post. There’s a problem together with your web site in internet explorer, could test thisK IE still is the market chief and a good portion of people will miss your wonderful writing due to this problem.