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Chanticleer, v. 1, issue 3, December 1945
Page 2
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LANEY'S: MYFFSAW I shan't follow the exact classification of R. Bud Widner on this opus, as I am rather a fanatic on segregating my stories into run-of-the-mill commercial stuff, and what I lovingly call "literate". Thus, each of my categories will have at least one in each classification. Inasmuch as an article of this type is strictly filler, I should ramble on here for hours; but is is night, the shades of which have fell (damn that Degler influence, anyhoo!) some time since, so, without preamble, myffsaw. BOOK-LENGTH STF. Favorite commercial: GALACTIC PATROL. This, of course, is space opera...but what space opera! Commercial, not very artistic, this yarn still rings the bell with me. Not only is it the first EESmith I ever read, but the depiction of utterly alien entities and environments has rarely been surpassed anywhere. Favorite "literate": STARMAKER. For sheer, breath-taking magnificence and daring, this book stands in a class by itself. Not only is it a magnificent piece of philosophical reasoning and a lovely exposition of the insignificance of Homely Sap; but it creates a genuine atmosphere of alien-ness that makes 99% of other stf read like a comic book. STF SHORT STORY. Favorite commercial: BY HIS BOOTSTRAPS. Some may consider this tale to have an artistic slant; to me it is straight pulpuking, but is redeemed by the fact that it shows the utter idiocy of stories dealing with the mechanism of time travel. To my mind, BY HIS BOOTSTRAPS strikes an all-time high in satire. Favorite "literate": Without hesitation, MIMSY WERE THE BOROGROVES. Though this appeared in a pulp magazine, MIMSY is literature. The daringness of the underlying concept, the beautiful restraint with which the theme was handled, and the starkly realistic characterization all combine to make this the best single short story that has ever appeared in science fiction. (Which statement covers considerable territory.) BOOK-LENGTH FANTASY. Favorite commercial: DARKNESS AND DAWN. This stinks. This is corn. The characterizations creak, the dialog reeks, the development is infantile. Even so, there is something about this story that has made me re-read it at least a half-dozen times. I'll never forget the evening Rimel and I stayed up half the night figuring out what actually WOULD have rotted away and what WOULDN'T (you'll remember the heap of rust that had been a typewriter with the only recognizable parts being the rubber key tops!) Anyway, sift out all the chaff, and there is still enough left for me to idolize this old stinkeroo. Favorite "literate": THE METAL MONSTER. I realize that the trite plot and pulpy love-interest are almost enough to drag this tale down into the commercial bracket, but the tremendously alien atmosphere and the utterly novel ideas throughout save it for me. Old Abe was really in the groove with this one. FANTASY SHORT. Favorite commercial: THE WITCH (AEvanVogt). Something about the way this story was handled has made it stand out in my mind above all other commercials I've read before and since. Not meaning to sound too stupid, I must confess that I don't remember just what it was, but...it's stuck in my mind for well over a year now. Perhaps it is the wonderfully stark ending, with the old hag lying there, mouth agape, with a complete lack
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LANEY'S: MYFFSAW I shan't follow the exact classification of R. Bud Widner on this opus, as I am rather a fanatic on segregating my stories into run-of-the-mill commercial stuff, and what I lovingly call "literate". Thus, each of my categories will have at least one in each classification. Inasmuch as an article of this type is strictly filler, I should ramble on here for hours; but is is night, the shades of which have fell (damn that Degler influence, anyhoo!) some time since, so, without preamble, myffsaw. BOOK-LENGTH STF. Favorite commercial: GALACTIC PATROL. This, of course, is space opera...but what space opera! Commercial, not very artistic, this yarn still rings the bell with me. Not only is it the first EESmith I ever read, but the depiction of utterly alien entities and environments has rarely been surpassed anywhere. Favorite "literate": STARMAKER. For sheer, breath-taking magnificence and daring, this book stands in a class by itself. Not only is it a magnificent piece of philosophical reasoning and a lovely exposition of the insignificance of Homely Sap; but it creates a genuine atmosphere of alien-ness that makes 99% of other stf read like a comic book. STF SHORT STORY. Favorite commercial: BY HIS BOOTSTRAPS. Some may consider this tale to have an artistic slant; to me it is straight pulpuking, but is redeemed by the fact that it shows the utter idiocy of stories dealing with the mechanism of time travel. To my mind, BY HIS BOOTSTRAPS strikes an all-time high in satire. Favorite "literate": Without hesitation, MIMSY WERE THE BOROGROVES. Though this appeared in a pulp magazine, MIMSY is literature. The daringness of the underlying concept, the beautiful restraint with which the theme was handled, and the starkly realistic characterization all combine to make this the best single short story that has ever appeared in science fiction. (Which statement covers considerable territory.) BOOK-LENGTH FANTASY. Favorite commercial: DARKNESS AND DAWN. This stinks. This is corn. The characterizations creak, the dialog reeks, the development is infantile. Even so, there is something about this story that has made me re-read it at least a half-dozen times. I'll never forget the evening Rimel and I stayed up half the night figuring out what actually WOULD have rotted away and what WOULDN'T (you'll remember the heap of rust that had been a typewriter with the only recognizable parts being the rubber key tops!) Anyway, sift out all the chaff, and there is still enough left for me to idolize this old stinkeroo. Favorite "literate": THE METAL MONSTER. I realize that the trite plot and pulpy love-interest are almost enough to drag this tale down into the commercial bracket, but the tremendously alien atmosphere and the utterly novel ideas throughout save it for me. Old Abe was really in the groove with this one. FANTASY SHORT. Favorite commercial: THE WITCH (AEvanVogt). Something about the way this story was handled has made it stand out in my mind above all other commercials I've read before and since. Not meaning to sound too stupid, I must confess that I don't remember just what it was, but...it's stuck in my mind for well over a year now. Perhaps it is the wonderfully stark ending, with the old hag lying there, mouth agape, with a complete lack
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