02345cam a22003493u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000330011324500240014626400510017030000470022133600260026833700260029433800360032049000500035650000310040650801140043752012150055153400450176665300200181165300180183165300220184970000310187183000500190285600430195229446UtSlPG20260610133654.0mcr n260607r2009||||utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aSheckley, Robert,d1928-200510aBeside Still Waters 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2009  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier1 aProduced from Amazing Stories Oct.-Nov. 1953.  aRelease date is 2009-07-18  aProduced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net  a"Beside Still Waters" by Robert Sheckley is a science fiction novella written in the early 1950s. The book explores themes of isolation and companionship set against a backdrop of space exploration. It follows the story of a prospector named Mark Rogers who seeks solitude on a remote asteroid but finds companionship in a robot named Charles.  The narrative centers on Mark Rogers, who lives on a desolate slab of rock in the asteroid belt after years of fruitless searching for valuable resources. As the years pass, Mark transforms Charles, a standard robot, into a companion that reflects his own philosophies and feelings. Their conversations unfold against the vastness of space, revealing the contrasts between their personalities—Mark's cynicism and Charles's idealism. Ultimately, as Mark's health deteriorates and their environment grows increasingly inhospitable, their relationship deepens, leading to poignant reflections about companionship, loss, and the stars above. Charles’s final thoughts resonate with themes of love and friendship as he faces solitude once more, capturing the essence of what it means to seek connection amidst desolation. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  nOriginal publication data not identified  aScience fiction  aShort stories  aRobots -- Fiction1 aFinlay, Virgil,d1914-1971 0aProduced from Amazing Stories Oct.-Nov. 1953.40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29446