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Vanguard Variorum, May 1946
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VANGUARD MAY, 1946 VARIORUM Published, but scarcely edited, by Larry Shaw A.E. VAN VOGT: 476 Hartford Ave. Los Angeles 13, Calif. February 15, 1946 Dear Larry Shaw: Damon Knight's criticism of my novel, WORLD OF A, interested me partly because he is an excellent writer but mainly because his analysis of the first paragraph, in which he calls WORLD OF A one of the worst science fiction stories ever published. This is a wild statement, and he makes many similar intemperate remarks apparently because such phrases sound more dramatic than would a more restrained and careful criticism. In themselves, such statements partly nullify his whole argument. A is not one of the worst "so-called" adult stf stories ever published. Because of its scope, its subject and because the author reached for the skies, it is of the "best" group, this in spite of its shortcomings. There are two kinds of stories being written in every field of writing. There are those in which the author aims low, and attains his objectives, and there are those in which the author sets himself an unachievable goal, and fails in part, but leaves with thousands of readers little glimpses of what might have been. It is these glimpses, these partial successes that justify science fiction. If they were not attainable, I would not be interested in writing for the field, and I am sure that thousands of readers who now wade through the mass of junk published every month, would long ago have turned away to greener pastures. I am not going to answer Knight's criticisms in detail. But I will touch on a few points. His synopsis of the plot seems too long-winded. To me, the story might be compared to a roughly drawn but complete circle. Gosseyn starts out looking for the answer to the riddle of himself. In the end he is back approximately where he began. This is out of life. Most men start out on the great adventure with a verve and excitement that slowly peters out as they discover that life offers only double meanings at best. Nothing is ever quite satisfactory, and in the end for most human beings there is only a coffin. Gosseyn is no agent of the Gosseyn. Once on his own, he makes up his own mind and runs his own life. He is a separate individual, strongly egoistic and quite determined not to be the fall guy for anybody. Surely, this was made clear by the extent and nature of his private fears as shown throughout the story. Gosseyn, in spite of his extra-brain, was an ordinary human being, and not a superman. The very nature of the ending proves that the Gosseyn was not a superman either, but a fairly ordinary individual who could be killed, and who had already attained his three score and ten.
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VANGUARD MAY, 1946 VARIORUM Published, but scarcely edited, by Larry Shaw A.E. VAN VOGT: 476 Hartford Ave. Los Angeles 13, Calif. February 15, 1946 Dear Larry Shaw: Damon Knight's criticism of my novel, WORLD OF A, interested me partly because he is an excellent writer but mainly because his analysis of the first paragraph, in which he calls WORLD OF A one of the worst science fiction stories ever published. This is a wild statement, and he makes many similar intemperate remarks apparently because such phrases sound more dramatic than would a more restrained and careful criticism. In themselves, such statements partly nullify his whole argument. A is not one of the worst "so-called" adult stf stories ever published. Because of its scope, its subject and because the author reached for the skies, it is of the "best" group, this in spite of its shortcomings. There are two kinds of stories being written in every field of writing. There are those in which the author aims low, and attains his objectives, and there are those in which the author sets himself an unachievable goal, and fails in part, but leaves with thousands of readers little glimpses of what might have been. It is these glimpses, these partial successes that justify science fiction. If they were not attainable, I would not be interested in writing for the field, and I am sure that thousands of readers who now wade through the mass of junk published every month, would long ago have turned away to greener pastures. I am not going to answer Knight's criticisms in detail. But I will touch on a few points. His synopsis of the plot seems too long-winded. To me, the story might be compared to a roughly drawn but complete circle. Gosseyn starts out looking for the answer to the riddle of himself. In the end he is back approximately where he began. This is out of life. Most men start out on the great adventure with a verve and excitement that slowly peters out as they discover that life offers only double meanings at best. Nothing is ever quite satisfactory, and in the end for most human beings there is only a coffin. Gosseyn is no agent of the Gosseyn. Once on his own, he makes up his own mind and runs his own life. He is a separate individual, strongly egoistic and quite determined not to be the fall guy for anybody. Surely, this was made clear by the extent and nature of his private fears as shown throughout the story. Gosseyn, in spite of his extra-brain, was an ordinary human being, and not a superman. The very nature of the ending proves that the Gosseyn was not a superman either, but a fairly ordinary individual who could be killed, and who had already attained his three score and ten.
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