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Diablerie, February 1944

Page 18

18                                                  diablerie
                  But wotthehell wotthehell
Art Kennedy continues: -- Laney's Action Vs. Atmosphere is well-written. However most of his points resolve into pure opinion with careful re-reading. F'rinstance he makes it clear that his favorite brand of fantasy is weird=-atmosphere in the Lovecraft manner. This type of Lovecraftian pothering is good, says Laney. He quotes Lovecraft to prove it. My judgement is that mood stories are not only extra-difficult to write--and write well—but a magazine composed of chunks of moods would be damn boring.

Then there was some poetry ...all pretty unexciting. Goldstone's piece was quite ordinary—both theme and handling were nothing I hadn't seen before. Kinge's To a Pagan God Just Dead just doesn't appeal tome—which is no criticism, of course. I object to the way he sacrifices sentence meaning to rhyme. "Fell then welcome here, O fallen God * Let your defiance once more be unshod." This is one of my own faults so it hurts to find it in other people's verse.

I believe Banks Mebane's two poems were the best. (You should—you rewrote one of them! Ha ha!)

From E. Hoffman Price came a four page missil. We would like to print it all, BUT FOUR PAGES!!: -- Thanks for diablerie. The copy is meaty and animated. In view of the general tone of the articles, I can not help but wonder whether Thoughts While Reeling might not be considered, by many of your readers, to be somewhat alien. (No. We rise to the defense with the answering holler that likker of any sort is indispensable to fans and their doings. Read this ish and you'll discover that!)

Francis Laney's essay I found stimulating and especially interesting because while I agree with much of what he sets forth, of the other hand, I feel that a few of his statements call for discussion. Not rebuttal in any sense, but rather, an amplification. He is broad minded enough in his condemnation of the story which gives excessive emphasis to plot, and just as broad minded in his admission that giving almost exclusive emphasis to mood might lead to difficulties. One can't call him dogmatic in any sense. I do however believe that while he has not been superficial by any means in his discussion of plot, he has nevertheless not given the plot-aspect the full consideration it merits. 

In adventure or western fiction, every known plot has been developed, and years ago. Yet the same stock plot can be used for a story of thematic importance, or striking portrayal of human interest; or, it can be used for the most wearisome of wearying mechanical repetitions. If a "plotty" yarn of complication flops, it's not because it has a plot, nor a hackneyed plot, but rather, because the author just couldn't write, and didn't build up his theme and his personalities into INDIVIDUALS, RATHER THAN RUBBER STAMPED TYPES, so that the skeleton framework, would, in a way of speaking, be decently concealed. (No comment here except that we voice agreement and groan at the remembrance of the thousands of stories of that type we've waded through. We moan.)

[box] this is an ad for a new fanzine published here in san francisco by harry honig, who lives at 256 - 26th avenue. the new fanzine, in case you're interested, is called ARCANA and has about twenty four pages with lots of color. first issue has material by laney, tucker, honig, crozetti, watson, and others. we suggest you try a copy. can't hurt y'know, and you may be surprised

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18 diablerie But wotthehell wotthehell Art Kennedy continues: -- Laney's Action Vs. Atmosphere is well-written. However most of his points resolve into pure opinion with careful re-reading. F'rinstance he makes it clear that his favorite brand of fantasy is weird=-atmosphere in the Lovecraft manner. This type of Lovecraftian pothering is good, says Laney. He quotes Lovecraft to prove it. My judgement is that mood stories are not only extra-difficult to write--and write well—but a magazine composed of chunks of moods would be damn boring. Then there was some poetry ...all pretty unexciting. Goldstone's piece was quite ordinary—both theme and handling were nothing I hadn't seen before. Kinge's To a Pagan God Just Dead just doesn't appeal tome—which is no criticism, of course. I object to the way he sacrifices sentence meaning to rhyme. "Fell then welcome here, O fallen God * Let your defiance once more be unshod." This is one of my own faults so it hurts to find it in other people's verse. I believe Banks Mebane's two poems were the best. (You should—you rewrote one of them! Ha ha!) From E. Hoffman Price came a four page missil. We would like to print it all, BUT FOUR PAGES!!: -- Thanks for diablerie. The copy is meaty and animated. In view of the general tone of the articles, I can not help but wonder whether Thoughts While Reeling might not be considered, by many of your readers, to be somewhat alien. (No. We rise to the defense with the answering holler that likker of any sort is indispensable to fans and their doings. Read this ish and you'll discover that!) Francis Laney's essay I found stimulating and especially interesting because while I agree with much of what he sets forth, of the other hand, I feel that a few of his statements call for discussion. Not rebuttal in any sense, but rather, an amplification. He is broad minded enough in his condemnation of the story which gives excessive emphasis to plot, and just as broad minded in his admission that giving almost exclusive emphasis to mood might lead to difficulties. One can't call him dogmatic in any sense. I do however believe that while he has not been superficial by any means in his discussion of plot, he has nevertheless not given the plot-aspect the full consideration it merits. In adventure or western fiction, every known plot has been developed, and years ago. Yet the same stock plot can be used for a story of thematic importance, or striking portrayal of human interest; or, it can be used for the most wearisome of wearying mechanical repetitions. If a "plotty" yarn of complication flops, it's not because it has a plot, nor a hackneyed plot, but rather, because the author just couldn't write, and didn't build up his theme and his personalities into INDIVIDUALS, RATHER THAN RUBBER STAMPED TYPES, so that the skeleton framework, would, in a way of speaking, be decently concealed. (No comment here except that we voice agreement and groan at the remembrance of the thousands of stories of that type we've waded through. We moan.) [box] this is an ad for a new fanzine published here in san francisco by harry honig, who lives at 256 - 26th avenue. the new fanzine, in case you're interested, is called ARCANA and has about twenty four pages with lots of color. first issue has material by laney, tucker, honig, crozetti, watson, and others. we suggest you try a copy. can't hurt y'know, and you may be surprised