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En Garde, whole no. 17, April 1946
Page 38
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page 38. strange condition of having brains, and at the same time being handicapped by the cultural levels of the world in which she was forced to live. In fact she almost depicts the futility of the intellectual in any age. The introduction of Lakshmi, the immortal turtle, is sheer sarcasm of a delicious sort. The contrast of Lakshmi and man is so apparent, that man loses stature to the turtle! For good adventure of a sensuous, physical, and partly mystical nature these two books should satisfy any one. Arnold played on such a canvas, in Phra the Phoenician. (The story was cut one fourth in the Famous Fantastic reprint.) Arnold built a fighting man, simple, but one to be admired. Viereck and Eldridge wallow in pleasure, where Phra, except with the Roman lady, lived an austere life for hist times. Arnold was a missionary and naturally would describe his character in such a mold. On the other hand, Van Vogt in his immortal man of the Weapon Shops makes a stronger character, a powerful integrating force in history. Van Vogt's immortal man has an intellectual outlook comparable to the best known, and utilized his immortality to direct history for the good of the human race at every point possible. Neither Van Vogt, Arnold, nor Viereck were able to capture the charm, the thrill, and the sensitive personality of Winters of Laurence Manning's immortal series, Man Who Awoke. Winters thought of himself as a spectator, but his appearance subtly altered history because of his inherent optimism, belief in mankind, and goodness of intellect. For an intellectual feast, read one after the other, Phra the Phoenician, Manning's Winters, then go back and read Viereck's books, followed by the Weapon Shop and the following three or four stories of the Empire of Van Vogt. The contrasts are startling! The canvases in each case are painted with a broad sweep, and in each case, with the same matrix of man, different viewpoints are obtained. Now after such a build-up, one can casually ask, who is this fellow Gardner that could find anything to say against Viereck's books after such enthusiasms. Whoa, not so fast. How does one read a book? Simply for the story, then on to greener pastures, or by thinking and putting together the philosophy, ethics, and pattern of the author in a coherent picture to see what it is all about? If we read Viereck for the story alone, then it is superb for its type, but if we think about it, then we discover some things. For example, throughout there is shown a battle between the author in admiration of the characters of Cartaphilus and Salome, and his beliefs, preconceived, and which he develops in the stories. Thus a curious monomania typical of the Teutonic mind, which will be apparent from a study of the past ten years in history, is seen. A worship of primitive sex, chaotic nature, and antagonism to Christianity. Now don't get me wrong, I am not overly religious myself, nor consider Christianity any better as a religion than a dozen others, but at least I don't run away from it to submerge myself in the practically defunct nature religions of Greece, Rome, and the Norsemen. Throughout the book the worship of the nature religions is favorable compared with Christianity, etc. The nature religions satisfied mankind when he had developed an imagination and had so little to satisfy it, just as Christianity satisfies those willing to sublimate
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page 38. strange condition of having brains, and at the same time being handicapped by the cultural levels of the world in which she was forced to live. In fact she almost depicts the futility of the intellectual in any age. The introduction of Lakshmi, the immortal turtle, is sheer sarcasm of a delicious sort. The contrast of Lakshmi and man is so apparent, that man loses stature to the turtle! For good adventure of a sensuous, physical, and partly mystical nature these two books should satisfy any one. Arnold played on such a canvas, in Phra the Phoenician. (The story was cut one fourth in the Famous Fantastic reprint.) Arnold built a fighting man, simple, but one to be admired. Viereck and Eldridge wallow in pleasure, where Phra, except with the Roman lady, lived an austere life for hist times. Arnold was a missionary and naturally would describe his character in such a mold. On the other hand, Van Vogt in his immortal man of the Weapon Shops makes a stronger character, a powerful integrating force in history. Van Vogt's immortal man has an intellectual outlook comparable to the best known, and utilized his immortality to direct history for the good of the human race at every point possible. Neither Van Vogt, Arnold, nor Viereck were able to capture the charm, the thrill, and the sensitive personality of Winters of Laurence Manning's immortal series, Man Who Awoke. Winters thought of himself as a spectator, but his appearance subtly altered history because of his inherent optimism, belief in mankind, and goodness of intellect. For an intellectual feast, read one after the other, Phra the Phoenician, Manning's Winters, then go back and read Viereck's books, followed by the Weapon Shop and the following three or four stories of the Empire of Van Vogt. The contrasts are startling! The canvases in each case are painted with a broad sweep, and in each case, with the same matrix of man, different viewpoints are obtained. Now after such a build-up, one can casually ask, who is this fellow Gardner that could find anything to say against Viereck's books after such enthusiasms. Whoa, not so fast. How does one read a book? Simply for the story, then on to greener pastures, or by thinking and putting together the philosophy, ethics, and pattern of the author in a coherent picture to see what it is all about? If we read Viereck for the story alone, then it is superb for its type, but if we think about it, then we discover some things. For example, throughout there is shown a battle between the author in admiration of the characters of Cartaphilus and Salome, and his beliefs, preconceived, and which he develops in the stories. Thus a curious monomania typical of the Teutonic mind, which will be apparent from a study of the past ten years in history, is seen. A worship of primitive sex, chaotic nature, and antagonism to Christianity. Now don't get me wrong, I am not overly religious myself, nor consider Christianity any better as a religion than a dozen others, but at least I don't run away from it to submerge myself in the practically defunct nature religions of Greece, Rome, and the Norsemen. Throughout the book the worship of the nature religions is favorable compared with Christianity, etc. The nature religions satisfied mankind when he had developed an imagination and had so little to satisfy it, just as Christianity satisfies those willing to sublimate
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