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Fanfare, issue 9, 1942
Page 22
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22 detours Not long ago Larry Farsaci added a little note to a letter he wrote us, saying, "Could you write a poem giving in a nutshell your ideas on life, philosophy, hopes?" Alas, this was a feat far beyond our powers; yet the hopeful, naive request impressed us by the very carefree buoyancy of its staggering demands. Write a poem? Yes, but not to order, and seldom to express an idea. To write poetry is difficult mental labor, as those who have tried can best tell; the impetus must be strong. In our case, the driving force behind our poetry is the need to express an emotion, which cannot find outlet elsewhere. (you will remember that famous observation to the effect that if Dante's Beatrice had loved and married him, we would not have the Inferno!) Thus our poetry seeks either the direst expression of a mood, or the limning[[?]] of a scene which has deep emotional associations for us. To write on order, to express ideas in verse - this we have never done, & perhaps cannot do at all. And one's ideas on life? Who can compress these in any nutshell? One's philosophy? Can it be told in a sonnet? The clear, sharp rules and creeds and principles - these, it seems to us, deceive grossly in their simplicity. Life is manifold and various; the problem is not to fit it into the mold of your preconceptions, (Procrustean-wise, but rather to alter your own dreams and illusions) prejudices & principles, as your own experience of life grows broader, & your ideas (let us hope) less narrow. Finally, there is the demand for one's hopes( in that same nutshell!). Here Larry treads, all unheeding, on dubious ground. Freely indeed may multitudes lack courage even for this) yet when it comes to expressing one's secret and cherished hopes, who would speak freely save to the most intimate of friends? But tell us what a man truly hopes for in his inmost heart, and you have delivered up to us the ultimate secrets of his being; no man thus lightly reveals himself to others. Sometimes in moments of solitude he may not even wish to see himself for what he really is; 'tis thus, some psychologists hint, that man succeeds in retaining the bubble of his vanity unpricked. * What we admire most about Heinlein is not his writing style, which is undistinguished, if competent, nor his character-drawing, which is clearly mediocre, but rather his talent for making unfamiliar societies seem three dimensional, living affairs, and his positive genius for incorporating logical and accurate scientific discussions into his stories so that they not only "belong", but fit in without jar or jerk, and are both instructive and entertaining. Take as a case in point the first installment of "Beyond This Horizon". Here were included admirable treatises on economics and genetics; since we happen to be majoring in biology, none of the information in that field was new to us, but the presentation was exceptionally clear, and there was only one minor error of fact. (Page 47: "human children whose embryonic gills had been retained and stimulated") No vertebrate higher than the amphibian (that is, no reptile, bird or mammal) has gills at any stage. The embryonic respiration is carried on through the allantois[[?]], which is adequate to handle the same. On the other hand, gill slits, are present at some time during the embryonic development of all
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22 detours Not long ago Larry Farsaci added a little note to a letter he wrote us, saying, "Could you write a poem giving in a nutshell your ideas on life, philosophy, hopes?" Alas, this was a feat far beyond our powers; yet the hopeful, naive request impressed us by the very carefree buoyancy of its staggering demands. Write a poem? Yes, but not to order, and seldom to express an idea. To write poetry is difficult mental labor, as those who have tried can best tell; the impetus must be strong. In our case, the driving force behind our poetry is the need to express an emotion, which cannot find outlet elsewhere. (you will remember that famous observation to the effect that if Dante's Beatrice had loved and married him, we would not have the Inferno!) Thus our poetry seeks either the direst expression of a mood, or the limning[[?]] of a scene which has deep emotional associations for us. To write on order, to express ideas in verse - this we have never done, & perhaps cannot do at all. And one's ideas on life? Who can compress these in any nutshell? One's philosophy? Can it be told in a sonnet? The clear, sharp rules and creeds and principles - these, it seems to us, deceive grossly in their simplicity. Life is manifold and various; the problem is not to fit it into the mold of your preconceptions, (Procrustean-wise, but rather to alter your own dreams and illusions) prejudices & principles, as your own experience of life grows broader, & your ideas (let us hope) less narrow. Finally, there is the demand for one's hopes( in that same nutshell!). Here Larry treads, all unheeding, on dubious ground. Freely indeed may multitudes lack courage even for this) yet when it comes to expressing one's secret and cherished hopes, who would speak freely save to the most intimate of friends? But tell us what a man truly hopes for in his inmost heart, and you have delivered up to us the ultimate secrets of his being; no man thus lightly reveals himself to others. Sometimes in moments of solitude he may not even wish to see himself for what he really is; 'tis thus, some psychologists hint, that man succeeds in retaining the bubble of his vanity unpricked. * What we admire most about Heinlein is not his writing style, which is undistinguished, if competent, nor his character-drawing, which is clearly mediocre, but rather his talent for making unfamiliar societies seem three dimensional, living affairs, and his positive genius for incorporating logical and accurate scientific discussions into his stories so that they not only "belong", but fit in without jar or jerk, and are both instructive and entertaining. Take as a case in point the first installment of "Beyond This Horizon". Here were included admirable treatises on economics and genetics; since we happen to be majoring in biology, none of the information in that field was new to us, but the presentation was exceptionally clear, and there was only one minor error of fact. (Page 47: "human children whose embryonic gills had been retained and stimulated") No vertebrate higher than the amphibian (that is, no reptile, bird or mammal) has gills at any stage. The embryonic respiration is carried on through the allantois[[?]], which is adequate to handle the same. On the other hand, gill slits, are present at some time during the embryonic development of all
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