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Acolyte, v. 2, issue 1, whole no. 5, Fall 1943
Page 30
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FANTASY FORUM Every reader of The Acolyte is requested to send ratings and comments on each issue, as reader reaction is an invaluable guide to me. In composing your ratings, remember the best item in the issue counts 5; second best, 4; third best, 3; favorable mention, 2; unfavorable mention -3. There may be only one "5" on any single set of ratings; but any number of "4's", "3's", "2's", or "-3's". The following figures are the cumulative totals on the Summer Issue: Prose Pastels.....79 Return By Sunset.....69 Notes on Interplanetary Fic..62 Front Cover.....59 Tales of the Elder Days.....57 Continuity.....50 Little-Known Fantaisites....48 HPL As An Illustrator.....43 1/2 Fantasy Forum.....41 Through The Dragon Glass.....40 Within The Circle.....38 Across The River.....36 Book Reviews.....33 Checklist of Bram Stoker.....16 Pseudonyms of HPL.....15 Back Cover.....10 Ratings through the courtesy of: Child, Wakefield, Cook, Warner, Edwards, Ebey, A. Anderson, V. Anderson, Saha, Dunkelberger, R. Wright, Coger, Utter, Hasse, Lamb, Taylor, Honig, Ashton, Holby, Connor, Conner, Banister, Wilimczyk. ---o0o--- The battle royal on the rise and fall of pulp fantasy still rages. I think that after this next issue, we should taper off on it; as otherwise we will begin to repeat ourselves. An allied subject for debate has been suggested by Bob Hoffman: Fantasy/Weird/Science-fiction vs. ordinary fiction. All fans have had to put up with stupid chaffing and inane remarks from their non-fan friends, and The Acolyte would like to publish a symposium of come-backs and arguments suitable for use on such occasions. I should also welcome serious and analytical articles in which the literary standing of fantasy is compared with that of other forms of writing. I'm sure all Acolyte readers have ideas on this subject. But now to this issue's crop of letters...... ---o0o--- As for Banister's letter, aside from his use of the standard platitudes that every "defender of sex" makes (that sex is here to stay and that we wouldn't be here if it weren't for sex) he builds up a whole world of inferences from my single sentence in which I mention Jack Woodford. I don't see that the question of whether I do or do not understand the fine points of writing which he expounds has anything to do with it. (I think I do understand them, though I'm not able to put them into action; any more than I'm able to play Brahm's piano concertos, even though I understand precisely how they are to be played merely by looking at the music.) But it is ridiculous for us laymen to argue about whether or not every human endeavor stems from the sexual impulse, when psychologists who should know are unable to get together. If one wants to argue that all desire for beauty comes about through the urge to reproduce, I have no objections whatever, and in fact, heartily concur. It is only when someone claims that Sex is All, and negates the existence of the impulse for survival, fears that are inherent in us, hunger for food, and certain other basic impulses, that I become vexed. About Mason's request for a definition of plotless stories, I was of course thinking of "plot" in the sense that hack writers use plot robots. Campbell is one of the lesser offenders in this way, but occasionally he publishes something that very obviously would be much better without the conventional heroine, save-the-world complex, or something of that sort; and i don't see why he shouldn't return a story for deplotting when necessary just the same as he'd send one back for building up the plot, when a strange plot really is necessary. There is no -- 30 --
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FANTASY FORUM Every reader of The Acolyte is requested to send ratings and comments on each issue, as reader reaction is an invaluable guide to me. In composing your ratings, remember the best item in the issue counts 5; second best, 4; third best, 3; favorable mention, 2; unfavorable mention -3. There may be only one "5" on any single set of ratings; but any number of "4's", "3's", "2's", or "-3's". The following figures are the cumulative totals on the Summer Issue: Prose Pastels.....79 Return By Sunset.....69 Notes on Interplanetary Fic..62 Front Cover.....59 Tales of the Elder Days.....57 Continuity.....50 Little-Known Fantaisites....48 HPL As An Illustrator.....43 1/2 Fantasy Forum.....41 Through The Dragon Glass.....40 Within The Circle.....38 Across The River.....36 Book Reviews.....33 Checklist of Bram Stoker.....16 Pseudonyms of HPL.....15 Back Cover.....10 Ratings through the courtesy of: Child, Wakefield, Cook, Warner, Edwards, Ebey, A. Anderson, V. Anderson, Saha, Dunkelberger, R. Wright, Coger, Utter, Hasse, Lamb, Taylor, Honig, Ashton, Holby, Connor, Conner, Banister, Wilimczyk. ---o0o--- The battle royal on the rise and fall of pulp fantasy still rages. I think that after this next issue, we should taper off on it; as otherwise we will begin to repeat ourselves. An allied subject for debate has been suggested by Bob Hoffman: Fantasy/Weird/Science-fiction vs. ordinary fiction. All fans have had to put up with stupid chaffing and inane remarks from their non-fan friends, and The Acolyte would like to publish a symposium of come-backs and arguments suitable for use on such occasions. I should also welcome serious and analytical articles in which the literary standing of fantasy is compared with that of other forms of writing. I'm sure all Acolyte readers have ideas on this subject. But now to this issue's crop of letters...... ---o0o--- As for Banister's letter, aside from his use of the standard platitudes that every "defender of sex" makes (that sex is here to stay and that we wouldn't be here if it weren't for sex) he builds up a whole world of inferences from my single sentence in which I mention Jack Woodford. I don't see that the question of whether I do or do not understand the fine points of writing which he expounds has anything to do with it. (I think I do understand them, though I'm not able to put them into action; any more than I'm able to play Brahm's piano concertos, even though I understand precisely how they are to be played merely by looking at the music.) But it is ridiculous for us laymen to argue about whether or not every human endeavor stems from the sexual impulse, when psychologists who should know are unable to get together. If one wants to argue that all desire for beauty comes about through the urge to reproduce, I have no objections whatever, and in fact, heartily concur. It is only when someone claims that Sex is All, and negates the existence of the impulse for survival, fears that are inherent in us, hunger for food, and certain other basic impulses, that I become vexed. About Mason's request for a definition of plotless stories, I was of course thinking of "plot" in the sense that hack writers use plot robots. Campbell is one of the lesser offenders in this way, but occasionally he publishes something that very obviously would be much better without the conventional heroine, save-the-world complex, or something of that sort; and i don't see why he shouldn't return a story for deplotting when necessary just the same as he'd send one back for building up the plot, when a strange plot really is necessary. There is no -- 30 --
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