Project Gutenberg
2007-12-15
Public domain in the USA.
139
Beck, C. C. (Charles Clarence)
1910
1989
Beck, Charles Clarence
Martinez
Vanishing Point
Produced from Astounding Science Fiction July 1959.
Produced by Greg Weeks, Bruce Albrecht, Stephen Blundell
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net
"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.)
Reading ease score: 84.3 (6th grade). Easy to read.
en
Science fiction
Short stories
PS
Text
Science Fiction
Category: Short Stories
Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
37037
2025-07-10T05:16:20.193015
text/html
32907
2007-12-15T13:11:14
text/html
123072
2025-07-10T05:16:24.805997
application/epub+zip
121848
2025-07-10T05:16:22.804010
application/epub+zip
73468
2025-07-10T05:16:21.732007
application/epub+zip
260946
2025-07-10T05:16:26.245030
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
254106
2025-07-10T05:16:24.141996
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
153652
2022-09-11T07:30:38.529606
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
30976
2025-07-10T05:16:19.856008
text/plain; charset=us-ascii
30867
2007-12-15T13:11:14
text/plain; charset=us-ascii
559292
2007-07-08T15:24:04
application/octet-stream
39368
2007-07-08T15:24:04
application/octet-stream
75520
2007-07-08T15:24:04
application/octet-stream
72672
2007-07-08T15:24:04
application/octet-stream
69716
2007-07-08T15:24:04
application/octet-stream
32589
2007-07-08T15:24:04
application/octet-stream
19842
2025-07-10T05:16:26.472073
application/rdf+xml
13761
2025-07-10T05:16:22.209012
image/jpeg
3523
2025-07-10T05:16:21.969016
image/jpeg
51130
2007-12-15T13:11:14
application/octet-stream
application/zip
11736
2007-12-15T13:11:14
application/octet-stream
application/zip
127565
2025-07-10T05:16:20.202014
application/octet-stream
application/zip
Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at
https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog
en.wikipedia