Karel Thole (1914–2000)
Author of Logan's Run
About the Author
Image credit: Karel Thole at 1971 Worldcon (Noreascon One) By Jay Kay Klein - Original publication: Jay Kay Klein photographs and papers on science fiction fandom (MS 381). Special Collections & University Archives, University of California, Riverside.Immediate source: Title: DC in '74 party, Noreascon One Date: 1971 Collection: Jay Kay Klein photographs and papers on science fiction fandom Owning Institution: UC Riverside, Library, Special Collections and University Archives Source: Calisphere Date of access: October 10 2020 03:11 Permalink: https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/86086/n2p849qk/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65543505
Works by Karel Thole
Agonia Della Terra 4 copies
Il bambino nel forno — Illustrator — 1 copy
Com'era lassù e altri racconti — Illustrator — 1 copy
Droom mij dood — Illustrator — 1 copy
La stella della vita — Illustrator — 1 copy
Associated Works
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) — Illustrator, some editions — 39,848 copies, 726 reviews
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980) — Cover artist, some editions — 18,706 copies, 195 reviews
Life, the Universe, and Everything (1982) — Cover artist, some editions — 16,020 copies, 142 reviews
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984) — Cover artist, some editions — 14,599 copies, 119 reviews
The Dispossessed (1974) — Cover artist, some editions; Cover artist, some editions — 11,092 copies, 270 reviews
The Stainless Steel Rat for President (1982) — Cover artist, some editions — 1,510 copies, 11 reviews
The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted (1987) — Cover artist, some editions — 1,229 copies, 12 reviews
The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World (1972) — Cover designer, some editions — 918 copies, 5 reviews
The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues (1994) — Cover artist, some editions — 700 copies, 5 reviews
The Robot Who Looked Like Me [collection] (1978) — Cover artist, some editions — 155 copies, 4 reviews
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 16th Series (1967) — Cover designer, some editions — 71 copies
The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series I (1971) — Cover artist, some editions — 63 copies, 2 reviews
De gelaarsde kat : vertelling van een merkwaardige strafzaak (1949) — Illustrator, some editions — 11 copies
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazin I. (1978) — Cover artist, some editions — 10 copies, 1 review
Computer streiten nicht = Nebula award stories : Science-Fiction-Erzählungen (1973) — Cover artist, some editions — 10 copies
Ganymedes 8 — Cover artist — 8 copies
De moeder — Illustrator, some editions — 7 copies
Gogols Frau. Internationale Science Fiction Erzählungen. (1994) — Cover artist, some editions — 5 copies
Johann Sebastian Bach Memorial Barbecue. Internationale Science Fiction Erzählungen. (1992) — Cover artist, some editions — 4 copies
Un passo avanti e due indietro — Cover artist, some editions — 3 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Thole, Karel
- Legal name
- Thole, Carolus Adrianus Maria
- Other names
- Thole, C. A. M.
- Birthdate
- 1914-04-20
- Date of death
- 2000-03-26
- Nationality
- Netherlands
- Birthplace
- Bussum, North Holland, Netherlands
- Place of death
- Cannobio, Piedmont, Italy
- Places of residence
- Milan, Lombardy, Italy
- Education
- State Drawing School, Amsterdam
- Occupations
- illustrator
- Awards and honors
- Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis (Bester Graphiker/Künstler ∙ 1994)
Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis (Sonderpreis Lebenswerk ∙ 1997) - Short biography
- Carolus Adrianus Maria Thole wurde am 20. April 1914 in Bussum (ca. 20 km von Amsterdam entfernt) in Holland als zweites von elf Kindern geboren. Die Familie Thole gehörte dem Mittelstand an, sein Vater war als Handels-vertreter tätig, seine Mutter kam aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum. Karel Thole war in der Schule nur mässiger Erfolg beschieden, aber seine künstlerische Neigung war nicht zu leugnen. Nach der Mittelschule in Hilversum, besuchte er deshalb die staatlichen Zeichenschule in Amsterdam und kam so in den Genuß eines freien Eintritts in alle städtischen Museen. Im Sommer 1953 kam Karel Thole das erstemal nach Italien und finanzierte seine Reise durch seine Zeichnungen. Zurück in Holland begann er seine Arbeit als Titelbildillustrator, und im Laufe der nächsten Jahre arbeitete er teilweise für mehr als 20 Verleger. 1958 übersiedelte er ganz nach Italien, genauer gesagt nach Mailand. Karel Thole sprach Holländisch, Deutsch, Italienisch, Französisch und Englisch und sah sich selbst nicht mehr als Holländer, sondern als Europäer.
Karel Tholes Werke sind eindeutig vom Werk der Surrealismus geprägt, und unter seinen Vorbilder waren Max Ernst, Salvador Dali und Rene Magritte. Über viele Jahre hinweg prägten seine Titelbilder das Gesicht der SF in Europa und vor allem in Deutschland. Er wurde 1973 in Toronto beim damaligen WorldCon mit einem Spezialpreis ausgezeichnet, weitere Würdigungen folgten. Unter dem Titel "Visionen des Unwirklichen: Die phantastischen Bilder des Karel Thole" erschien 1982 eine Sammlung seiner besten Illustrationen in Deutschland. 1986 mußte Karel Thole seine Arbeit aufgrund eines Augenleidens fast komplett einstellen.
Karel Thole erhielt u.a. zweimal den Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis (wird seit 1981 im Bereich der Science Fiction im deutschsprachigen Raum vergeben): 1994 als bester Graphiker/Künstler und 1997 als Sonderpreis für sein Lebenswerk.
In der Nacht zum 26. März 2000 verstarb Karel Thole im Alter von 85 Jahren in seinem Haus in Cannobio am Lago Maggiore (Italien). Karel Thole war als SF-Illustrator weltweit bekannt, seine Werke zierten aber vor allem die SF&F-Ausgaben des Heyne-Verlags, Gruselheftromane (VHR + DämonenKiller) des Pabel-Verlages und von Mondadori in Italien.
(Quellen: Text: 18. April 2000 - Autor: Florian Breitsameter bei SF-Fan.de, Locus, Heyne SF-Magazin 1, Encyclopedia of Science Fiction)
Members
Reviews
An enjoyable short novel that moves fast, as you might expect from what is essentially a long chase. Significantly different from the film.
Though I was incredibly excited about the premise of this book, it ended up being centered around action and fighting instead of the dystopia.
This book was written in 1967, so for an entirely different audience than today, which made the writing style intriguing to look at.
As soon as the premise is established, Logan goes on the run and the book turns into an action story, with chases and racing, gypsies and monsters, various climates, and all types of things that are out to kill the pair. Though they were running because of their age, it really wasn't that different than if they'd been branded murderers or something and then had everyone come after them.
The history behind the premise was a little hard for me to digest. In the year 2000, the population of Earth had hit 6 billion and a movement had started to get everyone to die at 21. The youth eventually overthrew all politicians and city councilmen and took over. Nolan's optimism is cute--while there are a lot of youth, the likelihood of American politicians relinquishing power just like that is laughable. He hit the nail on the head with the population issue though.
Another problem I had with the story was in how society functioned. Kids from 14-21 were considered adults. While I think young adults often get a bad rep, it's hard to imagine them being mature enough for the jobs they needed to perform and to look after the other two-thirds of the population. I often found myself feeling like Logan was a lot older and more jaded than a mere 21-year-old.
It was extremely cool to see the technology that Nolan created for this book. While there's an elaborate transportation system to get people around, cell phones aren't a thing, showing how times have changed. Nolan didn't put much time into describing how this technology worked though, and I got kind of confused by how quickly they warped between scenarios.
My favourite scene was one in which he used a new technology to relive parts of his own life. This was a cool gimmick that allowed me to see what growing up in this world was like without having Logan recount it.
For what it was, this book was a good action story, but I thought the dystopian aspect could have been much stronger. I mainly enjoyed it for its age and different style, but I'm not much of a fan of chases and adventure, so I probably didn't appreciate it to its fullest extent.
Overall, though I won't be reading the sequels, I'm glad I did finally get my hands on a copy of this book.… (more)
This book was written in 1967, so for an entirely different audience than today, which made the writing style intriguing to look at.
As soon as the premise is established, Logan goes on the run and the book turns into an action story, with chases and racing, gypsies and monsters, various climates, and all types of things that are out to kill the pair. Though they were running because of their age, it really wasn't that different than if they'd been branded murderers or something and then had everyone come after them.
The history behind the premise was a little hard for me to digest. In the year 2000, the population of Earth had hit 6 billion and a movement had started to get everyone to die at 21. The youth eventually overthrew all politicians and city councilmen and took over. Nolan's optimism is cute--while there are a lot of youth, the likelihood of American politicians relinquishing power just like that is laughable. He hit the nail on the head with the population issue though.
Another problem I had with the story was in how society functioned. Kids from 14-21 were considered adults. While I think young adults often get a bad rep, it's hard to imagine them being mature enough for the jobs they needed to perform and to look after the other two-thirds of the population. I often found myself feeling like Logan was a lot older and more jaded than a mere 21-year-old.
It was extremely cool to see the technology that Nolan created for this book. While there's an elaborate transportation system to get people around, cell phones aren't a thing, showing how times have changed. Nolan didn't put much time into describing how this technology worked though, and I got kind of confused by how quickly they warped between scenarios.
My favourite scene was one in which he used a new technology to relive parts of his own life. This was a cool gimmick that allowed me to see what growing up in this world was like without having Logan recount it.
For what it was, this book was a good action story, but I thought the dystopian aspect could have been much stronger. I mainly enjoyed it for its age and different style, but I'm not much of a fan of chases and adventure, so I probably didn't appreciate it to its fullest extent.
Overall, though I won't be reading the sequels, I'm glad I did finally get my hands on a copy of this book.… (more)
This book is one of his better works.
Edmond Hamilton was a prolific SF writer of the 1920s-1960s He wrote dozens of short stories for the Pulp magazines and over 50 novels during his career. He was also the husband of the more famous writer Leigh Brackett. Most of his work was typical middle grade space adventures but he could churn them out like a machine. Once in a while he would write a really good one. This is one of the good ones. I really liked it.
Edmond Hamilton was a prolific SF writer of the 1920s-1960s He wrote dozens of short stories for the Pulp magazines and over 50 novels during his career. He was also the husband of the more famous writer Leigh Brackett. Most of his work was typical middle grade space adventures but he could churn them out like a machine. Once in a while he would write a really good one. This is one of the good ones. I really liked it.
Lists
Best Dystopias (1)
um actually (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 11
- Also by
- 145
- Members
- 1,513
- Popularity
- #16,995
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 41
- ISBNs
- 29
- Languages
- 5
Characters: 6
Setting: 7.5
Prose: 4
Themes: Old, obligation, youth, war, work