Vanishing Point by C. C. Beck

"Vanishing Point" by C. C. Beck is a science fiction short story published in the late 1950s. The narrative explores themes of perception, reality, and the nature of art through the lens of an artist's perspective machine. The story delves into philosophical questions about the essence of reality and challenges the boundaries between illusion and existence. The plot follows an artist and his friend Carter, who is obsessed with understanding perspective and the true nature of reality. Carter constructs a perspective machine that he believes will reveal the authentic essence of the world. Upon its completion, he asserts that reality is merely a fabric of illusions, a concept that terrifies him and leads him to flee in panic. The protagonist, observing the peculiar effects of the machine, decides to keep it, contemplating its potential as an attraction at a county fair while reflecting on the nature of reality and perception. This engaging narrative ultimately challenges readers to consider whether what they perceive as reality is simply an illusion crafted by their senses and societal conditioning. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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About this eBook

Author Beck, C. C. (Charles Clarence), 1910-1989
Illustrator Martinez
Title Vanishing Point
Series Title Produced from Astounding Science Fiction July 1959.
Credits Produced by Greg Weeks, Bruce Albrecht, Stephen Blundell
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
www.pgdp.net
Reading Level Reading ease score: 84.3 (6th grade). Easy to read.
Language English
LoC Class PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature
Subject Science fiction
Subject Short stories
Category Text
eBook-No. 23868
Release Date
Copyright Public domain in the USA.
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