Oh, that's not from the books; that's from the show! And the basics are actually shown in the new film. See, Sarek wanted Spock to enter the Vulcan Science Academy, and Spock decided to enlist in Starfleet instead. (His precise trigger reasons may have been different in the original timeline.) Sarek was Not Pleased, and the two men did not speak for, IIRC, eighteen years, until the Enterprise had to transport Sarek to a diplomatic summit, Sarek had a heart attack and needed a blood transfusion, and Spock was his donor. Their relationship remained somewhat fractured for the rest of Sarek's life, but at least they were talking to each other after that.
My reason for thinking TOS Spock's reasons for joining Starfleet were slightly different is that I did not get a sense, from the new movie, that Sarek had stopped speaking to him altogether -- possibly their relationship was strained (but it always had been), but I don't think it was cut off entirely. I am inclined to pick up some other people's meta and say that the destruction of the Kelvin and the decades-early revelation that Romulans and Vulcans are the same species, made the Vulcans more xenophobic than before. (Vulcans are kind of weird about cultural and racial purity. On the one hand, they honor diversity and respect all life. On the other hand, they really do think they're better than everyone else, and if you're Vulcan, you had damn well better be Vulcan, no dilutions allowed.)
So I suspect Spock's childhood was, if not vastly more difficult than in the original timeline, then difficult with a much uglier tone and motivations behind the insults and ostracism. (For example, I do not recall TOS Sarek ever being called a traitor for marrying a non-Vulcan woman. Peculiar and misguided, probably yes. Traitor, no.) And therefore, I think this new version of Sarek was probably more predisposed to understand just how insulting the Academy's reference to Spock's "disadvantage" was, and to understand (if not approve) Spock's choice to get out of such a poisonous environment.
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Date: 2009-06-06 09:48 pm (UTC)My reason for thinking TOS Spock's reasons for joining Starfleet were slightly different is that I did not get a sense, from the new movie, that Sarek had stopped speaking to him altogether -- possibly their relationship was strained (but it always had been), but I don't think it was cut off entirely. I am inclined to pick up some other people's meta and say that the destruction of the Kelvin and the decades-early revelation that Romulans and Vulcans are the same species, made the Vulcans more xenophobic than before. (Vulcans are kind of weird about cultural and racial purity. On the one hand, they honor diversity and respect all life. On the other hand, they really do think they're better than everyone else, and if you're Vulcan, you had damn well better be Vulcan, no dilutions allowed.)
So I suspect Spock's childhood was, if not vastly more difficult than in the original timeline, then difficult with a much uglier tone and motivations behind the insults and ostracism. (For example, I do not recall TOS Sarek ever being called a traitor for marrying a non-Vulcan woman. Peculiar and misguided, probably yes. Traitor, no.) And therefore, I think this new version of Sarek was probably more predisposed to understand just how insulting the Academy's reference to Spock's "disadvantage" was, and to understand (if not approve) Spock's choice to get out of such a poisonous environment.
Does that make sense?