WEBBER@RUTGERS.ARPA (06/27/85)
From: Bob Webber <WEBBER@RUTGERS.ARPA>
The Writer's Quotation Book: A Literary Companion edited by James Charlton
(Penquin Books, 1981) contains the following quote by Theodore Sturgeon:
A good science-fiction story is a story with a human problem,
and a human solution, which would not have happened without
its science content.
Unfortunately, none of the quotes in book have references. I am, of course,
curious as to where it was written first. I have a strong suspicion that
it was written just after reading Nolan's Cold Equations short story and
then immediately forgotten. On the other hand, i guess it could be said of
many of his writings (e.g., Maturity [in The Worlds of Theodore Sturgeon]
or Microcosmic God [in Caviar]; so maybe he did believe it.
There are other quotes that are possibly related to the recent bickering
over what is good and what is bad in sf:
In literature, as in love, we are astonished at what is chose
by others. -- Andre Maurois
A book is a mirror; if an ass peers into it, you can't expect
an apostle to peer out of it. -- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
No man understands a deep book until he has seen and lived at
least part of its contents. -- Ezra Pound
I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for
which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down
our particular path than we have yet gone ourselves.
-- E. M. Forester
And always keeping in mind:
A good writer is not, per se, a good book critic. No more than
a good drunk is automatically a good bartender. -- Jim Bishop
we can turn to The Book of Insults: Ancient and Modern, An Amiable History
of Insult, Invective, Imprecation & Incivility (Literary, Political, &
Historical) Hurled Through the Ages & Compiled as a Public Service by
Nancy McPhee [Nancy McPhee, Penguin Books, 1980] and find that even
quality [in the traditional sense of anthologizers] can't recognize
itself, so what hope have we.
It is hard to figure out what one gains by not being able to enjoy a
particular book. However, it is still possible to make meaningful
comments about books. For example:
If you like Peter S. Beagle's A Fine and Private Place, then
you will probably enjoy Linda Haldeman's The Last Elf in
Elvinwood.
If we keep this up, we could develope an almost telegraphic style and
produce messgaes like:
Clifton Fadiman's The Mathematical Magpie; Clifton Fadiman's Fantasia
Mathematica; Edwin Abbott's Flatland; Dionys Burger's Sphereland;
D. E. Knuth's Surreal Numbers; A. K. Dewdney's The Planiverse;
Norman Kagan's The Mathenauts [Judith Merril's 10th Annual Edition
The Year's Best S-F]; Stanislaw Lem's Cyberiad.
or
Olaf Stapledon's Odd John; Stanley G. Weinbaum's The New Adam;
Oscar Rossiter's Tetrasomy Two; Theodore Strugeon's Maturity
[see above]; Wilmar H. Shiras's Children of the Atom; Daniel
Keyes' Flowers for Algernon; David R. Palmer's Emergence.
or
James P. Hogan's The Genesis Machine; Fred Hoyle and John Elliot's
A for Andromeda; David Brin's Startide Rising; Paul Preuss's The
Gates of Heaven.
or
L. Sprague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt's The Compleat Enchanter;
Christopher Stasheff's The Warlock in Spite of Himself; Vernor
Vinge's Grimm's World; Ursula K. LeGuin's The Earthsea Trilogy.
or for subtler relations:
[Gordon Dickson's] The Final Encyclopedia - The Tactics of Mistake
= [Ayn Rand's] Atlas Shrugged - The Fountainhead
or
Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossed = Paul Preuss's Broken Symmetries
+ F. Paul Wilson's An Enemy of the State
While doubtless there are many who would take issue with the content of the
above groupings/equations, those same people would probably have taken
issue with their longer version also.
Well, on my screen I only see 16 lines, but i suspect there are enough more
that it is time to stop.
---------------------------------- BOB (webber@rutgers)
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