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Fanomena, March 1948
Page 16
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KELLER AND THE AVON FANTASY READER I have always regarded such questions as "Who is your favorite writer?" and "What's your favorite story?" as essentially thoughtless and pointless questions--- and as questions no one in his right mind can expect to answer accurately. There are dozens of different styles, moods, approaches and speeds. Each may be perfect in itself andit is a sign only of literary myopia to try to claim one as better than others. Dr. Keller cannot be said to be the best writer in fantasy or in anything else, but in his way, for his style, and with his approach, there are few who match him. I like Keller for different reasons that I enjoy Edgar Rice Burroughs A. Merritt, Lovecraft or John Taine, but you may say that I like him contemporaneous- with these and a host of other top-notch authors. "The Thing in the cellar" is a point in question. It is a good example of Dr. Keller's simple, straight-forward, unadorned but essentially honest and human prose, The style fits the idea---which is a basic one. But it couldn't be adjusted to the plot of "The Moon Pool" or "scarlet Dream" for instance. When Keller hits on an idea that is suited to his style, and himself meets the mood, he can turn out a veritable gem of a tale. And perhaps the greatest fault of Doc Keller is that he often wrote when he was not fully in the mood or when the plot just wasn't fit for it. He wrote, I fear, too much in the wrong vein and too little in the right vein. Blanket praise of an author's total output is as silly as blanket condemnation. From time to time it is the intent of the AVON FANTASY READER to present such stories of Dr. Keller's as seem to stand out for literary excellence and mood. Stories in the FANTASY READER are not selected merely for the writer or for the story itself but are picked with regard to the rest of the material in the book. Each story must occupy a special place not only for itself but in relation to the moods and styles of every other story in the collection. "The Thing in the Cellar" will appear in the sixth number, in conjunction with stories by Jack Williamson, H. P. Lovecraft, A. Merritt, Thorp McClusky and others, stories as fine in their way as the Keller tale but in no sense competing with it; each in a different fantasy setting, making altogether a harmonious whole. That's the pattern of the AVON FANTASY READERS, a pattern in which Keller's unique tales often find an appreciative setting. --- Donald A. Wollheim PERSPECTIVE by Paul Spencer Perspective is a funny thing--fine for making mountains out of molehills, or vice versa. I have a theory that fandom sees David H. Keller from a false viewpoint, hence derives a false evaluation of his work. In fact I had the same trouble myself, until I read "The Sign of the Burning Hart". Oh, I read a lot of "Kelleryarns" in the old Amazing and Wonder, and I liked them--"The Human Termites", "Stenographer's Hands" and the rest. I agreed with the general opinionthat Keller was one of the better pulp-writers. Which, after all, isn't saying a great deal. Then I read "The Sign of the Burning Hart" (in the rare paper-bound edition published in France", and my whole viewpoint on Keller changed. For here is a story that spurns pulp (and "slick") cliches, and more than that, it has meat to it, the red meat of real life. In this novel Keller takes life and by some literary magic distills it into a story of thirty five or forty thousand words. Every work counts, every sentence packs a punch, every scene is gripping and startling. And though fashioned from the stuff of life, it has the strangeness and charm of fantasy. Stylistically, the story has the spell of masters like Dunsany and Cabell-- yet its technique remains uniquely Keller's. "The Sign of the Burning Hart" awoke in me new interest in Keller's work-- and by itself proved to me that Keller is not essentially a pulp writer at all, 16
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KELLER AND THE AVON FANTASY READER I have always regarded such questions as "Who is your favorite writer?" and "What's your favorite story?" as essentially thoughtless and pointless questions--- and as questions no one in his right mind can expect to answer accurately. There are dozens of different styles, moods, approaches and speeds. Each may be perfect in itself andit is a sign only of literary myopia to try to claim one as better than others. Dr. Keller cannot be said to be the best writer in fantasy or in anything else, but in his way, for his style, and with his approach, there are few who match him. I like Keller for different reasons that I enjoy Edgar Rice Burroughs A. Merritt, Lovecraft or John Taine, but you may say that I like him contemporaneous- with these and a host of other top-notch authors. "The Thing in the cellar" is a point in question. It is a good example of Dr. Keller's simple, straight-forward, unadorned but essentially honest and human prose, The style fits the idea---which is a basic one. But it couldn't be adjusted to the plot of "The Moon Pool" or "scarlet Dream" for instance. When Keller hits on an idea that is suited to his style, and himself meets the mood, he can turn out a veritable gem of a tale. And perhaps the greatest fault of Doc Keller is that he often wrote when he was not fully in the mood or when the plot just wasn't fit for it. He wrote, I fear, too much in the wrong vein and too little in the right vein. Blanket praise of an author's total output is as silly as blanket condemnation. From time to time it is the intent of the AVON FANTASY READER to present such stories of Dr. Keller's as seem to stand out for literary excellence and mood. Stories in the FANTASY READER are not selected merely for the writer or for the story itself but are picked with regard to the rest of the material in the book. Each story must occupy a special place not only for itself but in relation to the moods and styles of every other story in the collection. "The Thing in the Cellar" will appear in the sixth number, in conjunction with stories by Jack Williamson, H. P. Lovecraft, A. Merritt, Thorp McClusky and others, stories as fine in their way as the Keller tale but in no sense competing with it; each in a different fantasy setting, making altogether a harmonious whole. That's the pattern of the AVON FANTASY READERS, a pattern in which Keller's unique tales often find an appreciative setting. --- Donald A. Wollheim PERSPECTIVE by Paul Spencer Perspective is a funny thing--fine for making mountains out of molehills, or vice versa. I have a theory that fandom sees David H. Keller from a false viewpoint, hence derives a false evaluation of his work. In fact I had the same trouble myself, until I read "The Sign of the Burning Hart". Oh, I read a lot of "Kelleryarns" in the old Amazing and Wonder, and I liked them--"The Human Termites", "Stenographer's Hands" and the rest. I agreed with the general opinionthat Keller was one of the better pulp-writers. Which, after all, isn't saying a great deal. Then I read "The Sign of the Burning Hart" (in the rare paper-bound edition published in France", and my whole viewpoint on Keller changed. For here is a story that spurns pulp (and "slick") cliches, and more than that, it has meat to it, the red meat of real life. In this novel Keller takes life and by some literary magic distills it into a story of thirty five or forty thousand words. Every work counts, every sentence packs a punch, every scene is gripping and startling. And though fashioned from the stuff of life, it has the strangeness and charm of fantasy. Stylistically, the story has the spell of masters like Dunsany and Cabell-- yet its technique remains uniquely Keller's. "The Sign of the Burning Hart" awoke in me new interest in Keller's work-- and by itself proved to me that Keller is not essentially a pulp writer at all, 16
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