Nothing by Donald A. Wollheim
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"Nothing" by Martin Pearson is a science fiction short story published in the early 1940s. It explores themes of existence, reality, and the concept of matter versus nothingness, set against the backdrop of a bombed building where the main characters find themselves trapped. The narrative combines suspense and a philosophical exploration of the nature of reality through a dialogue between two characters in a dire situation. The story centers on a young
man and an old professor who become trapped in a collapsed cellar after a bombing. As they wait for rescue, the professor proposes a radical idea grounded in physics: if they visualize themselves and the surrounding rubble as “nothing” or energy, they can pass through the rocks and escape. Following the professor's hypnotic guidance, the young man experiences a surreal journey into the nature of matter, ultimately manifesting outside, while the old man remains trapped. Despite the protagonist's attempts to save the professor after his own escape, the stark reality of the situation hits hard when the rescuers find the professor deceased after two days of digging. The story raises profound questions about existence and the limits of human understanding. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Wollheim, Donald A., 1914-1990 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Musacchia, John B., 1916-2004 |
| Title | Nothing |
| Original Publication | United States: Fictioneers, Inc.,1942. |
| Series Title | Produced from Astonishing Stories, October 1942 |
| Credits | Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 84.0 (6th grade). Easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Bombings -- Fiction |
| Subject | World War, 1939-1945 -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 69139 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-69139-8 |
| Release Date | Oct 12, 2022 |
| Last Update | Oct 19, 2024 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 499 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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