Transcribe
Translate
Acolyte, v. 2, issue 1, whole no. 5, Fall 1943
Page 31
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
need for me to expound on what I mean by a plotted story in the worst sense--all John need do is read any novel in Startling Stories! Excellent example of a story that had little plot in the conventional sense: Mimsy Were The Borogoves. It had of course what one book on writing calls the universals--suspense, a certain type of conflict, and other elements without which a story would be nothing more than an essay. But it did not have the children's transition to the future saving the world of the future, no were they kidnapped by a madman who wished to used their knowledge to grain control over the present-day world, nor did any of the toys fall into the hands of the Japs and turn out to be secret weapons, nor any of the ten thousand other stock situations that would ordinarily have been brought into such a story. HARRY WARNER, JR. ---o0o--- Koenig really caught me, didn't he? Come to think of it, Dr. Hesselius was a forerunner of Dr. Raymond and John Silence, but I was too dumb to see it. I only wonder he didn't see the connecting link between Le Fanu's Madam Crowl's Ghost, Onions' The Beckoning Fair One, and de la Mare's The Green Room--three great stories so similar in subject yet handled so differently by three masters. HAROLD WAKEFIELD ---o0o--- I'm afraid I can't agree with Bloch's nomination of Conjure Wife for the top of all top positions. I twas plenty good, but it was also plenty good and Campbellish. Therefore it may last for a day or for a decade, depending on the tastes of America in the coming years. For witchcraft yarns, Merritt's Creep Shadow and Steven's Serapion have it beaten all to pieces. But I will concede that it is probably the fantasy with the most original theme in a decade or more. VIRGIL UTTER, JR. ---o0o--- I have read Notes on Interplanetary Fiction several times, and although Lovecraft presents his points well, one cannot help but feel that he leans backwards in his views and is too hasty to condemn. The interplanetary story after the Lovecraft patter would soon become pretty monotonous stuff indeed. One must also remember that science-fiction is a comparatively new art form and hasn't yet come into its own. True, it probably never will until the current type of pulp slush is ploughed under once and for all. Much as Campbell may be admired for breaking clear away from the typical science-fiction pulp pattern, his type of science-fiction still leaves much to be desired; I find them in the main to be grandiose ideas backed by pseudo-thinking---monotonous in themselves---rather than stories with the plot and structure and characterization and atmosphere that the literary story demands. Nevertheless, I believe I should prefer Campbell's "stories" and even the typical pulp stf tale, to a steady diet of science-fiction walled in by the ideas HPL sets forth here. The sad fact is that Lovecraft's style and ideas and temperament simply would not lend themselves readily to the science-fiction type of story. This commentary is not to say that I take exception to Lovecraft's article, or even that I disagree with it in the main; I found a great deal therein with which I do and must agree. But reduced to its essentials, Lovecraft's point seems to be that what science-fiction needs are more sincere artists and true literary craftsmen, conscientious in their endeavors. And it is coming; slowly, but it is coming. I must disagree with almost every point in Banister's letter wherein he rants about "the sad case of science-fiction". A large group of us at the LASFS discussed this portion of the letter at some length, and punched most of his statements full of holes. "But ever to hope for a resurrection is beyond the bounds of possibility," huh? I think a concensus of opinion would show that Banister's "resurrection" is neither necessary nor desirable. Surely Banister is aware that the -- 31 --
Saving...
prev
next
need for me to expound on what I mean by a plotted story in the worst sense--all John need do is read any novel in Startling Stories! Excellent example of a story that had little plot in the conventional sense: Mimsy Were The Borogoves. It had of course what one book on writing calls the universals--suspense, a certain type of conflict, and other elements without which a story would be nothing more than an essay. But it did not have the children's transition to the future saving the world of the future, no were they kidnapped by a madman who wished to used their knowledge to grain control over the present-day world, nor did any of the toys fall into the hands of the Japs and turn out to be secret weapons, nor any of the ten thousand other stock situations that would ordinarily have been brought into such a story. HARRY WARNER, JR. ---o0o--- Koenig really caught me, didn't he? Come to think of it, Dr. Hesselius was a forerunner of Dr. Raymond and John Silence, but I was too dumb to see it. I only wonder he didn't see the connecting link between Le Fanu's Madam Crowl's Ghost, Onions' The Beckoning Fair One, and de la Mare's The Green Room--three great stories so similar in subject yet handled so differently by three masters. HAROLD WAKEFIELD ---o0o--- I'm afraid I can't agree with Bloch's nomination of Conjure Wife for the top of all top positions. I twas plenty good, but it was also plenty good and Campbellish. Therefore it may last for a day or for a decade, depending on the tastes of America in the coming years. For witchcraft yarns, Merritt's Creep Shadow and Steven's Serapion have it beaten all to pieces. But I will concede that it is probably the fantasy with the most original theme in a decade or more. VIRGIL UTTER, JR. ---o0o--- I have read Notes on Interplanetary Fiction several times, and although Lovecraft presents his points well, one cannot help but feel that he leans backwards in his views and is too hasty to condemn. The interplanetary story after the Lovecraft patter would soon become pretty monotonous stuff indeed. One must also remember that science-fiction is a comparatively new art form and hasn't yet come into its own. True, it probably never will until the current type of pulp slush is ploughed under once and for all. Much as Campbell may be admired for breaking clear away from the typical science-fiction pulp pattern, his type of science-fiction still leaves much to be desired; I find them in the main to be grandiose ideas backed by pseudo-thinking---monotonous in themselves---rather than stories with the plot and structure and characterization and atmosphere that the literary story demands. Nevertheless, I believe I should prefer Campbell's "stories" and even the typical pulp stf tale, to a steady diet of science-fiction walled in by the ideas HPL sets forth here. The sad fact is that Lovecraft's style and ideas and temperament simply would not lend themselves readily to the science-fiction type of story. This commentary is not to say that I take exception to Lovecraft's article, or even that I disagree with it in the main; I found a great deal therein with which I do and must agree. But reduced to its essentials, Lovecraft's point seems to be that what science-fiction needs are more sincere artists and true literary craftsmen, conscientious in their endeavors. And it is coming; slowly, but it is coming. I must disagree with almost every point in Banister's letter wherein he rants about "the sad case of science-fiction". A large group of us at the LASFS discussed this portion of the letter at some length, and punched most of his statements full of holes. "But ever to hope for a resurrection is beyond the bounds of possibility," huh? I think a concensus of opinion would show that Banister's "resurrection" is neither necessary nor desirable. Surely Banister is aware that the -- 31 --
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
