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Fan Slants, v. 1, issue 1, September 1943
Page 13
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FAN SLANTS..............................................................13 the human mind the "fifth dimension" is a particularly unnecessary and unfortu-nate choice of phraseology, since those terms already have scientific meanings wholly different from the ones Miss Kerruish arbitrarily assigns them. Her ob-viously orthodox religious views as expressed on page 220 do not increase the plausibility of her pseudoscientific treatment of the supernatural either. As for her writing style, I must confess that, though above average, it is far from perfect; she evidently has never learned the distinction between commas and semi-colons, for she constantly uses one where the other is called for, and she has a rather silly love of capitalizing all words that conceivably can stand capitali-zation, instead following the modern practice of being chary in the use of such ornaments. Moreover, her dialogue is sometimes apt to show surprising lapses into banality and sentimentality, though the love scenes are generally handled with commendable restraint. Despite these lengthy criticisms, my judgment of the book is definitely one of approval, chiefly because of the profusion and variety of its weird situations. To get the fullest enjoyment from the novel, I imagine one should be warned in advance of its flaws and be willing to discount them--to accept for the nonce the idea of ancestral memory, to get along with Miss Bartendale, and to slur over the other faults. If one can do that, he will certainly receive from [title underlined] The Undying Monster an immersion in the macabre that he will not soon forget. Incidentally, Widner once asked somewhere whether Miss Kerruish has written any other works of interest. Her only other piece of supernatural fiction I know is an excellent short story, "The Wonderful Tun," which appeared in [title underlined] Weird Tales around 1930 (I presume) and was reprinted by Christine Campbell Thomson in [title underlined] At Dead of Night, the sixth volume in the Not at Night Series, published in England by Selwyn & Blount. [line break] NEWS OF FORTHCOMING FANTASY BOOKS [title underlined] Tales of Terror, edited and with an introduction by Boris Karloff. A coll-ection of spine-chillers selected by one who should know a good thriller when he sees it. A forthcoming Tower Book, 49c in most department stores and dime stores. [title underlined] World's Great Mystery Stories, edited by Will Cuppy. This Tower Book has been out for several months, but get it if you haven't already, for it consists mainly of excellent supernatural horror yarns. [title underlined] The Conspiracy of the Carpenters, by Hermann Borchardt; New York: Simon & Schuster, 1943, 623 pp, $2.75. A novel by a scholarly refugee about a country that might have been Germany and a would-be dictator who faintly resembles Hit-ler. In other words, it's the story of Germany in another time-stream--one in which the Nazi movement was defeated by a conspiracy of conservative Christians, who established a medieval theocratic authoritarian government. The reactionary theme is hardly likely to appeal to science-fiction fans, although the book is interesting for its use of a fantasy technique to deal with realistic problems of our time, thus creating in a sense a new literary form fusing fiction, history, and allegory. [title underlined] I Am Thinking of My Darling, by Vincent McHugh; New York: Simon & Schuster, 1943, 292 pp, $2.50. A light bit of pure fantasy in the Thorne Smith manner, about a strange fever which sweeps over New York, making its victims act like exuberant and wholly uninhibited children. Frothy. [title underlined] Evidence of Things Seen, by Elizabeth Daly; $2.00. "Wakes chills and shud-ders when a ghostly visitant to a young bride convinces her that she has been guilty of murder." (Book-of-the-Month Club News, August 1943.) SDR
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FAN SLANTS..............................................................13 the human mind the "fifth dimension" is a particularly unnecessary and unfortu-nate choice of phraseology, since those terms already have scientific meanings wholly different from the ones Miss Kerruish arbitrarily assigns them. Her ob-viously orthodox religious views as expressed on page 220 do not increase the plausibility of her pseudoscientific treatment of the supernatural either. As for her writing style, I must confess that, though above average, it is far from perfect; she evidently has never learned the distinction between commas and semi-colons, for she constantly uses one where the other is called for, and she has a rather silly love of capitalizing all words that conceivably can stand capitali-zation, instead following the modern practice of being chary in the use of such ornaments. Moreover, her dialogue is sometimes apt to show surprising lapses into banality and sentimentality, though the love scenes are generally handled with commendable restraint. Despite these lengthy criticisms, my judgment of the book is definitely one of approval, chiefly because of the profusion and variety of its weird situations. To get the fullest enjoyment from the novel, I imagine one should be warned in advance of its flaws and be willing to discount them--to accept for the nonce the idea of ancestral memory, to get along with Miss Bartendale, and to slur over the other faults. If one can do that, he will certainly receive from [title underlined] The Undying Monster an immersion in the macabre that he will not soon forget. Incidentally, Widner once asked somewhere whether Miss Kerruish has written any other works of interest. Her only other piece of supernatural fiction I know is an excellent short story, "The Wonderful Tun," which appeared in [title underlined] Weird Tales around 1930 (I presume) and was reprinted by Christine Campbell Thomson in [title underlined] At Dead of Night, the sixth volume in the Not at Night Series, published in England by Selwyn & Blount. [line break] NEWS OF FORTHCOMING FANTASY BOOKS [title underlined] Tales of Terror, edited and with an introduction by Boris Karloff. A coll-ection of spine-chillers selected by one who should know a good thriller when he sees it. A forthcoming Tower Book, 49c in most department stores and dime stores. [title underlined] World's Great Mystery Stories, edited by Will Cuppy. This Tower Book has been out for several months, but get it if you haven't already, for it consists mainly of excellent supernatural horror yarns. [title underlined] The Conspiracy of the Carpenters, by Hermann Borchardt; New York: Simon & Schuster, 1943, 623 pp, $2.75. A novel by a scholarly refugee about a country that might have been Germany and a would-be dictator who faintly resembles Hit-ler. In other words, it's the story of Germany in another time-stream--one in which the Nazi movement was defeated by a conspiracy of conservative Christians, who established a medieval theocratic authoritarian government. The reactionary theme is hardly likely to appeal to science-fiction fans, although the book is interesting for its use of a fantasy technique to deal with realistic problems of our time, thus creating in a sense a new literary form fusing fiction, history, and allegory. [title underlined] I Am Thinking of My Darling, by Vincent McHugh; New York: Simon & Schuster, 1943, 292 pp, $2.50. A light bit of pure fantasy in the Thorne Smith manner, about a strange fever which sweeps over New York, making its victims act like exuberant and wholly uninhibited children. Frothy. [title underlined] Evidence of Things Seen, by Elizabeth Daly; $2.00. "Wakes chills and shud-ders when a ghostly visitant to a young bride convinces her that she has been guilty of murder." (Book-of-the-Month Club News, August 1943.) SDR
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