An 1892 golf novel that predicted bullet trains, television, digital watches and driverless golf carts has been published online for the first time. The book made news when a collector paid more than $2,000 for a rare first edition. Now the text of the book is on the Web, where anyone may read it free.
(PRWEB) March 4, 2005 -- An obscure 1892 golf novel that predicted bullet trains, television, digital watches and driverless golf carts has been published online for the first time ever.
The book "Golf in the Year 2000; or, What We Are Coming To" made international news earlier this year when a collector paid more than $2,000 at auction for a rare first edition copy.
Although the book has been reprinted from time to time over the years, usually in facsimile form, no digital versions have been available until now. Steve Smith, a writer, editor and web site developer living near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has put the full text of the book online where it can be read for free. The web site is http://www.golf-in-the-year-2000.com.
"Golf in the Year 2000" was written by a 19th-century professional golfer named J. McCullough under the pen name "J.A.C.K." Little is known about McCullough, but the book is a curious blend of wry commentary on golf and the people who play it, and a vision of the future that is eerily accurate in many of its predictions. It foresees golf carts, bullet trains, digital watches and television--although the last is accomplished by a complicated arrangement of mirrors.
The novel chronicles the tale of one Alexander J. Gibson who falls asleep on March 24, 1892, and awakens on March 25, 2000. He learns that technology has radically transformed the game he loves.
Golf clubs automatically keep their user's score, and players are required to wear jackets that yell "Fore!" whenever they begin their swing.
Gibson's most astounding discovery, though, is that women have achieved full equality--sort of. They dress like men, run businesses and hold high government positions. They also do all of the work...while men play golf full time.
He learns, too, that wars have ceased, with international disputes being settled by golf competitions.
Gibson's adventures in 2000 also include traveling in an underground tubular railway, which people familiarly call the "tub," and reading about a new London-to-New York speed record of two hours and 32 minutes achieved by a bullet-type train traveling beneath the Atlantic Ocean.
Golf in the Year 2000 has an odd Victorian charm that appeals to general readers as well as golf enthusiasts. When Reuters reported in January that an American collector named James Espinola had paid $2,240 for a first edition at an auction in Edinburgh, many fans of both quirky literature and speculative--or perhaps "prophetic"--fiction learned about the book for the first time.
Smith read the book and was also taken with the book's style and its unusual theme. He decided to put it on the Web for others to enjoy, too.
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