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Acolyte, v. 2, issue 1, whole no. 5, Fall 1943
Page 32
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only fixed law in the universe is the law of "change"....I was delighted, on the other hand, with Mr. Banister's disposition of Mr. Warner on the subject of sex. Personally, I can take sex or leave it alone; with me it's just sex of one and half-a-dozen of the the other. (All right, I'm sorry!) Regardless of what van Vogt may have told Mason, the fact remains that van Vogt does and must "slant" his stories for ASF and UW--perhaps not consciously, but he slants them. HENGRY HASSE ---o0o--- It was just a little put out by Paul Freehafer's well-meant letter. As a matter of fact, the total Lovecraft verse output would not by any means fill a book the size of The Outsider and Others. Moreover, the bulk of HPL's verse was 18th century imitation with some mimicry of a comic nature, etc., most of which would not interest fandom in the slightest. All HPL's weird or fantastic poetry, together with samplings of every other kind of verse he ever wrote, will appear in Beyond The Wall of Sleep. Such verse as may later appear will be culled from letters and will appear as part of such letters in the Selected letters, if and when. AUGUST DERLETH ---o0o--- Baldwin remarked that we need more beauty and less terror in modern fantasy, and on this count I heartily agree with him. We've been so thoroughly saturated with super-horror stuff in the past years (ever since Edgar Allan Poe) and we're getting so much of that in the newspapers and radio these days, that I firmly believe we need a little beauty, a little gayness, in our fantasy. Perhaps the tragic fantasy is easier to write, but we've had too much of that, too much of stuff that puts us in a sad an lonely mood. ANDY ANDERSON. ---o0o--- Lovecraft presents a picture of the essence of fantasy which is an unmatchable analysis. I particularly liked the phrase, "Better to write honestly for a non-remunerative magazine than to concoct worthless tinsel and be paid for it" It reveals a great deal about the man; he often practiced what he preached, in this respect and in others, which is one reason why I admire him. EDWARD C. CONNOR. ---o0o--- I don't agree that all we're getting is hackwork unfit for the so-called "elite". While it's true we get far too much hack, and that present-day editors require a certain type story for their magazines (though even Palmer denies this); it nevertheless is also true that we get a great deal of good stf. And even though most of the good writing appears in Campbell's twins, other mags also present good stuff; yes, even Amazing. For instance, The New Adam is one of the best things I've ever read anywhere, and I can't understand why the fans haven't commented more on it. Is it because it was printed in Amazing and because Smith and Wollheim and some others condemned it? Are fans afraid they'd be scoffed at if they praised it? Furthermore, I hardly think it was "slanted" toward the twelve-year-olds fans say Amazing caters to....And so fans don't care so much for Astounding any more either? I've often wondered how some of ASF's stories of today would have gone over 10-15 years ago. I'm pretty certain that they would have been acclaimed as "supreme examples of the great stf literature of the past. ARTHUR SAHA ---o0o--- Those who doubt that the stories in Unknown are slanted need only read about twelve from that magazine, and then read something by one of Wakefield's "little known fantaisistes". I have tried this test several times; each time reading secondly authors as recent as possible. While I read the UNK stories I was not particularly conscious of a sameness, only of a growing ennui. But when I turned to the other book, I -- 32 --
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only fixed law in the universe is the law of "change"....I was delighted, on the other hand, with Mr. Banister's disposition of Mr. Warner on the subject of sex. Personally, I can take sex or leave it alone; with me it's just sex of one and half-a-dozen of the the other. (All right, I'm sorry!) Regardless of what van Vogt may have told Mason, the fact remains that van Vogt does and must "slant" his stories for ASF and UW--perhaps not consciously, but he slants them. HENGRY HASSE ---o0o--- It was just a little put out by Paul Freehafer's well-meant letter. As a matter of fact, the total Lovecraft verse output would not by any means fill a book the size of The Outsider and Others. Moreover, the bulk of HPL's verse was 18th century imitation with some mimicry of a comic nature, etc., most of which would not interest fandom in the slightest. All HPL's weird or fantastic poetry, together with samplings of every other kind of verse he ever wrote, will appear in Beyond The Wall of Sleep. Such verse as may later appear will be culled from letters and will appear as part of such letters in the Selected letters, if and when. AUGUST DERLETH ---o0o--- Baldwin remarked that we need more beauty and less terror in modern fantasy, and on this count I heartily agree with him. We've been so thoroughly saturated with super-horror stuff in the past years (ever since Edgar Allan Poe) and we're getting so much of that in the newspapers and radio these days, that I firmly believe we need a little beauty, a little gayness, in our fantasy. Perhaps the tragic fantasy is easier to write, but we've had too much of that, too much of stuff that puts us in a sad an lonely mood. ANDY ANDERSON. ---o0o--- Lovecraft presents a picture of the essence of fantasy which is an unmatchable analysis. I particularly liked the phrase, "Better to write honestly for a non-remunerative magazine than to concoct worthless tinsel and be paid for it" It reveals a great deal about the man; he often practiced what he preached, in this respect and in others, which is one reason why I admire him. EDWARD C. CONNOR. ---o0o--- I don't agree that all we're getting is hackwork unfit for the so-called "elite". While it's true we get far too much hack, and that present-day editors require a certain type story for their magazines (though even Palmer denies this); it nevertheless is also true that we get a great deal of good stf. And even though most of the good writing appears in Campbell's twins, other mags also present good stuff; yes, even Amazing. For instance, The New Adam is one of the best things I've ever read anywhere, and I can't understand why the fans haven't commented more on it. Is it because it was printed in Amazing and because Smith and Wollheim and some others condemned it? Are fans afraid they'd be scoffed at if they praised it? Furthermore, I hardly think it was "slanted" toward the twelve-year-olds fans say Amazing caters to....And so fans don't care so much for Astounding any more either? I've often wondered how some of ASF's stories of today would have gone over 10-15 years ago. I'm pretty certain that they would have been acclaimed as "supreme examples of the great stf literature of the past. ARTHUR SAHA ---o0o--- Those who doubt that the stories in Unknown are slanted need only read about twelve from that magazine, and then read something by one of Wakefield's "little known fantaisistes". I have tried this test several times; each time reading secondly authors as recent as possible. While I read the UNK stories I was not particularly conscious of a sameness, only of a growing ennui. But when I turned to the other book, I -- 32 --
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