don@allegra.UUCP (D. Mitchell) (08/13/84)
It is unusual for a top-class author to write Sci Fi (or murder
mysteries, westerns, romance novels, etc.). I can think of a couple
instances though.
C.S. Lewis wrote a strange trilogy of books "Out of the Silent Planet",
"Perelandra", and "That Hideous Strength". My impression is that these
books are not popular among Science Fiction fans. Lewis was an Oxford
theologian, I believe. He equated technology with satanism.
H. G. Wells is a highly respected author and one of the most powerful
political forces in England of this century. Of the hundreds of Sci Fi
novels I have read, I cannot think of any that contain such fine
writing. The plots of the books revolve around Wells' political and
social theories (i.e. Fabian socialism).
I should mention Tolkien. Lord of the Rings is fantasy, and I am sure
almost everyone has read it. No one of his literary stature (an Oxford
professor of philology) has since contributed to that genre. Like
Lewis (a close friend of his), Tolkien's books contain images of
industrial devastation and waste counterpoised against primeval natural
forces.
Burroughs classifies some of his novels as Sci Fi. In particular, "The
Soft Machine", and "Nova Express", and "The Ticket that Exploded".
These books are about as difficult to reads as Joyce's "Ulysses"
though. They describe how men addicted to power ("the boards and
syndicates of the world") control the masses through mind control and
the media.riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (08/13/84)
There are lots more "crossover authors". A few who come to mind:
G.K. Chesterton, the eminent British convert to and defender of
Catholicism, wrote a series of murder mysteries which won much praise
from Jorge Luis Borges, among others. The sleuth at the center of the
stories was a priest named Father Brown, and the solution of each
murder hinged on some metaphysical question (I guess you see why Borges
liked them).
Howard Fast, who may or may not be considered "top-notch", is best
known as a writer of historical fiction of better-than-supermarket
quality. He has also written a number of science fiction short
stories. I recall one collection called "The General Zapped an Angel."
The fine South African novelist Doris Lessing has turned to science
fiction in recent years. I haven't read any of it, though; would
anyone care to write a short review?
--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
--- {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddlehutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (08/14/84)
< I get cross over some authors, too! > | C.S. Lewis wrote a strange trilogy of books "Out of the Silent Planet", | "Perelandra", and "That Hideous Strength". My impression is that these | books are not popular among Science Fiction fans. Lewis was an Oxford | theologian, I believe. He equated technology with satanism. From Encyclopedia Brittanica: Clive Staples Lewis b. Nov 29, 1898, Belfast N.Ireland d. Nov 22, 1963, Oxford, Eng. Scholar, Novelist, and author of about 40 books, most of them on Christian apologetics, the most widely known being "The Screwtape Letters". He also achieved considerable fame with his stories for children, the "Chronicles of Narnia", which have become classics of fantasy. Lewis was educated privately and for a year at Malvern College. During WW1 he served in France in the Somerset Light Infantry and in 1918 went to University College, Oxford, where his record as a classical scholar was outstanding. From 1925 to 1954 he was a fellow and tutor of Magdalen College, Oxford, and from 1954 to 1963 he was professor of medieval and Rennaisance English at Cambridge University. Lewis always claimed to be an apologist and never a theologian. He was too honest a scholar to allow anyone to address him as a theologian; Theology was his hobby not his profession. Regarding assertions that Lewis equated satanism and technology, the following from a posthumous collection of his essays and lectures, published under the title "of other worlds": My chief criticism of [Professor Haldane's] article is that, wishing to criticize my philosophy (if I may give it so big a name) he almost ignores the books in which I have attempted to set it out and concentrates on my romances. He was told in the preface to "That Hideous Strength" that the doctrines behind that romance could be found, stripped of their fictional masquerade, in "The Abolition of Man". Why did he not go there to find them? The result of his method is unfortunate. As a philosophical critic the Professor would have been formidable and therefore useful. As a literary critic- though even there he cannot be dull- he keeps on missing the point. A good deal of my reply must therefore be concerned with removal of mere misunderstandings. His attack resolves itself into three charges. (1) That my science is usually wrong; (2) That I traduce scientists; (3) That on my view scientific planning 'can only lead to Hell' (and that therefore I am 'a most useful prop to the existing social order', dear to those who 'stand to lose by social changes' and reluctant, for bad motives, to speak out about usury). (1) My science is usually wrong. Why, yes. So is the Professor's history. He tells us in "Possible Worlds" (1927) that 'five hundred years ago ... it was not clear that celestial distances were so much greater than terrestrial'. But the astronimy textbook that the Middle Ages used, Ptolemy's "Almagest", had clearly stated (I.v) that in relation to the distance to the fixed stars the whole Earth must be treated as a mathematical point ... [more examples] ... In other words, the Professor is about as good a historian as I am a scientist. The difference is that his false history is produced in works intended to be true, whereas my false science is produced in romances. ... [more analysis] (2) I think Professor Haldane himself probably regarded his critique of my science as mere skirmishing; with his second charge (that I traduce scientists) we reach something more serious. And here, most unhappily, he concentrates on the wrong book - "That Hideous Strength" - missing the strong point of his own case. If any of my romances could be possibly accused of being a libel on scientists it would be "Out of the Silent Planet". It certainly is an attack, if not on scientists, yet on something which might be called 'scientism'- a certain outlook on the world which is causally connected with the popularization of the sciences, though it is much less common among real scientists than among their readers. It is, in a word, the belief that the supreme moral end is the perpetuation of our own species, and that this is to be pursued even if, in the process of being fitted for survival, our species has to be stripped of all those things for which we value it- of pity, of happiness, and of freedom. ... [ more exposition ] (3) Thirdly, was I attacking scientific planning? According to Professor Haldane 'Mr Lewis's idea is clear enough. The application of science to human affairs can only lead to Hell.' There is certainly no warrant for 'can only'; but he is justified in assuming that unless I had thought I saw a serious and widespread danger I would not have given planning so central a place even in what I called 'a fairy tale' and a 'tall story'. But if you must reduce the romance to a proposition, the proposition would be almost the converse of that which the Professor supposes: not 'scientific planning will certainly lead to Hell', but 'Under modern conditions any effective invitation to Hell will certainly appear in the guise of scientific planning' - as Hitler's regime in fact did. Every tyrant must begin by claiming to have what his victims respect and to give what they want. The majority in most modern countries respect science and want to be planned. And, therefore, almost by definition, if any man or group wishes to enslave us it will of course describe itself as 'scientific planned democracy'. It may be true that any real salvation must equally, though by hypothesis truthfully, describe itself as 'scientific planned democracy'. All the more reason to look very carefully at anything which bears that label. ... [ conclusion ] Presented for your edification. Hutch
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (08/15/84)
How about Ian Fleming? Chity-Chity Bang Bang and the Bond series? TCW
robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (08/16/84)
References: Barbara Paul (who is much less well-known than she should be) writes mysteries primarily, but has also written a good Sci-fi novel. Her books are quite imaginitave and most of them are unusual. She has a particular interest in people who take the law into their own hands, particularly after great provocation. Her best book is The Fourth Wall, an amazingly gripping mystery (the "gripping" starts at about page 50 or so). - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) allegra!eosp1!robison decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison
boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (08/16/84)
From: allegra!don 12-Aug-1984 12:00:53 > It is unusual for a top-class author to write Sci Fi (or murder > mysteries, westerns, romance novels, etc.). I can think of a couple > instances though. Please define "top-class author". Do you perhaps mean "mainstream author"? If so, does that mean that you think that mainstream authors *de facto* form a bet- ter class of writers than genre authors? If so, why? > C.S. Lewis wrote a strange trilogy of books "Out of the Silent Planet", > "Perelandra", and "That Hideous Strength". My impression is that these > books are not popular among Science Fiction fans. Lewis was an Oxford > theologian, I believe. He equated technology with satanism. As with any author's works, some sf fans like 'em, some don't. If you think he equated technology with satanism, you've misinterpreted him. And, of course, the books aren't so much science fiction as they are religious allegory disguised as sf. And leave us not forget that Lewis wrote the Narnia series of fantasies, which are *very* popular amongst fans. > H. G. Wells is a highly respected author and one of the most powerful > political forces in England of this century. > The plots of the books revolve around Wells' political and > social theories (i.e. Fabian socialism). I can't deny that Wells wrote a large number of mainstream novels and works of history, but I think you exaggerate his acclaim. he is far more well known for his sf than for anything else he's done. > I should mention Tolkien. Lord of the Rings is fantasy, and I am sure > almost everyone has read it. No one of his literary stature (an Oxford > professor of philology) has since contributed to that genre. Well, certainly no other Oxford professors have contributed to the genre, but I would hardly consider that significant. > Burroughs classifies some of his novels as Sci Fi. In particular, "The > Soft Machine", and "Nova Express", and "The Ticket that Exploded". While Burroughs' novels contain the trappings of sf, they're more avant garde indulgences than true sf. And he's only taken seriously by fans of avant garde literature. As such, I'd hardly call him a "top-class" author. As for other "crossover" authors, there is, in addition to the ones Prentiss Riddle mentioned, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mikhail Bulgakov, Isaac Bashevis Singer (would you believe that Singer's literary agent is Kirby McCauley, who also is agent for Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, Peter Straub, and many more genre authors?), Robert Nathan, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Edward Bellamy, Ambrose Bierce, Italo Calvino, Pierre Boulle, Robert Merle, Anthony Burgess, Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain, John Hersey, Madeleine L'Engle,... need I go on? And those are just in the sf field. And I'm not counting the "bestseller" authors such as Stephen King, Allan Drury, Clive Cussler, Jacqueline Susan, Jean Auel, Alfred Coppel, et al. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (08/19/84)
No Oxford dons contributing to the genre? Well, I don't know about science
fiction, but there is a standing joke around Oxford about how every professor
of Literature and Religion has, closeted away in his files, a murder
mystery, generally one taking place in Oxford. The remark is usually
followed (waggishly) by regret that a few of the buggers made it to
publication.
"Pfui. More people saying what they believe would be a
great improvement. Because I do I am unfit for common
intercourse" -- Nero Wolfe, "Blood Will Tell"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
UUCP:
{cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsrgv}!uw-beaver \
{allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty
ARPA:
fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPAbentson@csu-cs.UUCP (Randolph Bentson) (08/19/84)
John D. McDonald (Travis McGee series, Condominium, etc) has written
several science fiction pieces. "Ballroom of the Skies", "Wine of
Dreamers", and "The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything" come to
mind.
Randy Bentson
{hao,unmvax,hplabs}!csu-cs!bentson.UUCP
bentson@ColoState.CSnetrobison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (08/21/84)
References: Henry Green qualifies as both a firstclass author and a crossover. His credentials are excellent, although at the moment he is somewhat unknown, and more of an "author's author". (E.g., Updike was greatly influenced by him.) Most of his books are novels or farces about 20th century English life. One, "Concluding", is both a novel and a work of Science Fiction. The elements of Sci Fi are very subtle, and allow the work to appear largely realistic and belonging to the world of the present, or slight future. - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) allegra!eosp1!robison decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison