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Vanguard Boojum
page thirteen
(En Passant - continued)

Addenda to Stefantasy
     I've been trying to remember, since January, Bill, to remark that your "Something New Under the Sun" business is not quite new. The Hittites wrote a pictographic script -- one line from left to right and the next from right to left. And since they disappear from history circa 717 BC, you can see that the principle isn't exactly the latest discovery. 

Tumbrils
      The long quotation dealing with the down-going of the Roman lands is quite interesting; however, you should have given some indication as to what period fo that decline Spengler referred to.
     Irrespective of my own non-filler use of "squibs" and "little gems from the Classical Era", I dissent strongly from the position taken in this article. A Vanguardif who took Dante as the paramount figure in his cosmos doubtless would cause "annoyance ... anger ... insult" to some of our more tender-minded bretheren, but I should find his parallels and equations most interesting. Since my own position (whatever it shall be when I arrive at it) is (will be) strong enough for me, I would feel no necessity for attempting to shake our eminent Tuscan into a satellite position relative to my own; arguments? disagreement? satire? perhaps:  but in an association like Vanguard where no individual is in a position to write his own bias into any law affecting the rest of us (I mean in relation to our lives outside the mailings, of course) what have I to fear? Certainly we could argue with such a member and the flying fur would make a winsome sight, it would. And while (under the conditions stated) none of us might obtain the egoboo of vanquishing our opponent, in the process we could certainly obtain various amounts of data from the Dante World which would be useful translated into our own language. 
     The one source of genuine objection would be the case of an individual who merely quoted the Tuscan at length without showing any comprehension of his position or what it involved -- But then, a phony is intolerable no matter what his basis of charlatanism.
     "Worksheet for a Better World" strikes me as being the least pretentious, least contrived (in the Emden sense), and most convincing fiction I have seen by Lyons in the mailings. 
     Criers of "obscure" might have a shred of justification in regard to the excerpt from the "Cristobal colon", as this work (which has brought forth the invevitable adjectives, such as "monumental" etc, from the inevitable quarters) has seen only one private printing. I don't know where Blish saw a copy, from which to jot down the excerpt (which falls toward the close of the disintegration section dealing with the hero's experiences among the fakers who were trying to ride high on the crest of the "Finnegans Wake" wave). I haven't read the whole book (had uddatingadowinbrooklyn) but, curiously enough, this was the section that was pointed out to me at the time -- probably because of Jim's interest in Joyce.

Fan-Tods
     What with Knight's interesting analysis, and Gardner's typically stupid mouthing, I suppose I'll eventually have to read "The World of A" and find out, first-hand, what the yelling's about. My position on the Van Vogt is that the gentleman has had many enjoyable stories to tell, but that his inevitably inept writing manages to botch the works almost every time. Certainly the thick texture of the plot is not a bad thing in itself (remember Dickens?) but I'm constantly astounded at what Campbell lets slip by.

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Vanguard Boojum page thirteen (En Passant - continued) Addenda to Stefantasy I've been trying to remember, since January, Bill, to remark that your "Something New Under the Sun" business is not quite new. The Hittites wrote a pictographic script -- one line from left to right and the next from right to left. And since they disappear from history circa 717 BC, you can see that the principle isn't exactly the latest discovery. Tumbrils The long quotation dealing with the down-going of the Roman lands is quite interesting; however, you should have given some indication as to what period fo that decline Spengler referred to. Irrespective of my own non-filler use of "squibs" and "little gems from the Classical Era", I dissent strongly from the position taken in this article. A Vanguardif who took Dante as the paramount figure in his cosmos doubtless would cause "annoyance ... anger ... insult" to some of our more tender-minded bretheren, but I should find his parallels and equations most interesting. Since my own position (whatever it shall be when I arrive at it) is (will be) strong enough for me, I would feel no necessity for attempting to shake our eminent Tuscan into a satellite position relative to my own; arguments? disagreement? satire? perhaps: but in an association like Vanguard where no individual is in a position to write his own bias into any law affecting the rest of us (I mean in relation to our lives outside the mailings, of course) what have I to fear? Certainly we could argue with such a member and the flying fur would make a winsome sight, it would. And while (under the conditions stated) none of us might obtain the egoboo of vanquishing our opponent, in the process we could certainly obtain various amounts of data from the Dante World which would be useful translated into our own language. The one source of genuine objection would be the case of an individual who merely quoted the Tuscan at length without showing any comprehension of his position or what it involved -- But then, a phony is intolerable no matter what his basis of charlatanism. "Worksheet for a Better World" strikes me as being the least pretentious, least contrived (in the Emden sense), and most convincing fiction I have seen by Lyons in the mailings. Criers of "obscure" might have a shred of justification in regard to the excerpt from the "Cristobal colon", as this work (which has brought forth the invevitable adjectives, such as "monumental" etc, from the inevitable quarters) has seen only one private printing. I don't know where Blish saw a copy, from which to jot down the excerpt (which falls toward the close of the disintegration section dealing with the hero's experiences among the fakers who were trying to ride high on the crest of the "Finnegans Wake" wave). I haven't read the whole book (had uddatingadowinbrooklyn) but, curiously enough, this was the section that was pointed out to me at the time -- probably because of Jim's interest in Joyce. Fan-Tods What with Knight's interesting analysis, and Gardner's typically stupid mouthing, I suppose I'll eventually have to read "The World of A" and find out, first-hand, what the yelling's about. My position on the Van Vogt is that the gentleman has had many enjoyable stories to tell, but that his inevitably inept writing manages to botch the works almost every time. Certainly the thick texture of the plot is not a bad thing in itself (remember Dickens?) but I'm constantly astounded at what Campbell lets slip by.