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Fantasite, v. 1, issue 5, September 1941
Page 34
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prose-poem manner, to accompany and supplement it. The excellent mimeoing and cleanly-drawn illustration of my story make the thing seem almost good, until you start to read it. ((Tsk, tsk, Sam, don't be so modest!)) Donn Brazier's "Bluebeard" is written with fine succinctness, but I'm afraid I don't care for clever "let-down" endings such as are the fashion among light fan fiction today. The articles, as usual, are the best things in the issue. L. R. Chauvenet's "Some Notes on the Immortals" is excellent literary criticism and just the sort of thing that ought to be featured in every issue of The Fantasite. ((How do you like the second article in this series?)) Chauvenet classifies the various types of science-fictional immortality soundly and clearly and discusses them very intelligently; moreover, his article is solidly and logically constructed in its form -- something that most fans forget when they write. The only major fault in it is the absence of footnotes giving the source of the stories mentions. One purpose of such an article should be to stimulate the reader to read the stories -- at least the good ones, or perhaps one night light to know how many of them one has in his collection. Also I disagree with Chauvenet's opinion that "any immortality which left the immortals feeling unhappy...must be...defective." Such a dissatisfaction with the tedium of immortality would be a purely psychological condition, perhaps cyrable by medical treatment but certainly not caused by the physiological operation or elixer that produced immortality. It is not comparable to an inefficient cure for insomnia, since there the craving for sleep has always a physiological basis. Physiological and psychological nervous disorders are two different things, even though they overlap somewhat and are both based ultimately on the physical structure of the nervous system. Attempts to cure psychological maladies by physiological means have hardly begun at the present time. (Incidentally, the current movie, "Shining Victory," which should be seen by everyone interested in scientific research, deals quite clearly with these interesting recent experiments to find chemical remedies for psychological disorders.) Now, let's see, where were we? Ah, yes, The Fantasite. Gerry de la Ree's article on the Newarkon admirably describes without punch-pulling the infamous machinations of the Unholy Three and is the second-best piece in the issue. "Scientification -- Specialized" is rather slight, and although what Martin says about Astounding and Amazing each filling a specialized field is correct. It does not justify Amazing's moronic level (after all, there are good children's stories and bad, and Amazing's are just plain stinky). The biographies of Dollens and Blakely are, as usual, well done and thorough, though I tremble at what will be said about me if Squanchfoot ever sniffs in this direction. Gilbert's and Jenkins' magazine reviews can be criticized only for their brevity; there is too much white space among them, even though, of course, some of the mags don't deserve extended treatment. "MFS Notes" is perenially interesting to a participant in the escapades there -- in recorded, and I am happy to see that the letters in "Fantascripts" are doing right by our mag. --------- Sam's new address: 3236 Clinton Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota. ----------------------------------- The popular editor of "Southern Star" winds up the letter selection: JOE GILBERT The July FANTASITE came, was seen, and conquered. That five color front cover was a lovely job. Or was it three color? ((Yes, three colors were employed. Like the cover this ish?)) It was still a lovely job. The second sheet contents page was a good idea, but it didn't work. The paper is too light to make a good impress-
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prose-poem manner, to accompany and supplement it. The excellent mimeoing and cleanly-drawn illustration of my story make the thing seem almost good, until you start to read it. ((Tsk, tsk, Sam, don't be so modest!)) Donn Brazier's "Bluebeard" is written with fine succinctness, but I'm afraid I don't care for clever "let-down" endings such as are the fashion among light fan fiction today. The articles, as usual, are the best things in the issue. L. R. Chauvenet's "Some Notes on the Immortals" is excellent literary criticism and just the sort of thing that ought to be featured in every issue of The Fantasite. ((How do you like the second article in this series?)) Chauvenet classifies the various types of science-fictional immortality soundly and clearly and discusses them very intelligently; moreover, his article is solidly and logically constructed in its form -- something that most fans forget when they write. The only major fault in it is the absence of footnotes giving the source of the stories mentions. One purpose of such an article should be to stimulate the reader to read the stories -- at least the good ones, or perhaps one night light to know how many of them one has in his collection. Also I disagree with Chauvenet's opinion that "any immortality which left the immortals feeling unhappy...must be...defective." Such a dissatisfaction with the tedium of immortality would be a purely psychological condition, perhaps cyrable by medical treatment but certainly not caused by the physiological operation or elixer that produced immortality. It is not comparable to an inefficient cure for insomnia, since there the craving for sleep has always a physiological basis. Physiological and psychological nervous disorders are two different things, even though they overlap somewhat and are both based ultimately on the physical structure of the nervous system. Attempts to cure psychological maladies by physiological means have hardly begun at the present time. (Incidentally, the current movie, "Shining Victory," which should be seen by everyone interested in scientific research, deals quite clearly with these interesting recent experiments to find chemical remedies for psychological disorders.) Now, let's see, where were we? Ah, yes, The Fantasite. Gerry de la Ree's article on the Newarkon admirably describes without punch-pulling the infamous machinations of the Unholy Three and is the second-best piece in the issue. "Scientification -- Specialized" is rather slight, and although what Martin says about Astounding and Amazing each filling a specialized field is correct. It does not justify Amazing's moronic level (after all, there are good children's stories and bad, and Amazing's are just plain stinky). The biographies of Dollens and Blakely are, as usual, well done and thorough, though I tremble at what will be said about me if Squanchfoot ever sniffs in this direction. Gilbert's and Jenkins' magazine reviews can be criticized only for their brevity; there is too much white space among them, even though, of course, some of the mags don't deserve extended treatment. "MFS Notes" is perenially interesting to a participant in the escapades there -- in recorded, and I am happy to see that the letters in "Fantascripts" are doing right by our mag. --------- Sam's new address: 3236 Clinton Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota. ----------------------------------- The popular editor of "Southern Star" winds up the letter selection: JOE GILBERT The July FANTASITE came, was seen, and conquered. That five color front cover was a lovely job. Or was it three color? ((Yes, three colors were employed. Like the cover this ish?)) It was still a lovely job. The second sheet contents page was a good idea, but it didn't work. The paper is too light to make a good impress-
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