Sign in to wowOwow

Enter the email address that you used when registering at wowOwow.
The password field is case sensitive. Click here if you have forgotten your password.

Please register for wowOwow

Newsletter subscriptions
Sign up to receive wowOwow's weekly newsletter and get our best picks delivered right to your inbox. Our newsletter content is hand-picked by the wowOwow editorial team and provides the top features, news, and commentary from our site. Subscribing to our newsletter is free and safe. We will never share your email or other information with a third-party without your direct consent.
By registering, you indicate that you have read and agree
with our privacy policy and terms of service.

Joan Juliet Buck | 06/11/2009 11:00 pm

Joan Juliet Buck on Katherine Mansfield’s Bliss, Arthur C. Clarke's Nine Billion Names of God

Joan Juliet Buck
Katherine Mansfield’s Bliss. Because she did it better than anyone. Or The Nine Billion Names of God, a 1953 science fiction by Arthur C. Clarke, in which a scientist is hired by a Tibetan lamasery to compute all the names of God on his "mark V" computer. The last line: "Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out."

2 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Laura Ward
Wow, if you try buying "The Nine Billion Names of God" it costs $115 on Amazon.com.
By Laura Ward on 06/12/2009 1:11 am
Kathryn Parke
That’s a lot of money to spend on a book of any length, now that Ms. Buck has chosen to spoil the story’s ending for those of us who have not read it.
By Kathryn Parke on 06/14/2009 10:56 pm