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Vanguard Variorum, May 1946
13
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VANGUARD VARIORUM 13 better, although the fancy of the crime being that of preserving a clear-cut outline in a sea of shadows seems to me more poetic than accurage. Many of the writers of the liblab press, far from having melted into the anonymity of majority opinion, are the articulate, three-dimensional spokesman in the vanguard of same; they may be as objectionable as a dunghill, but they are just as solid. Since the victim of persecution is not necessarily great but only unortthodox, is not the true crime then that of variance in the midst of conformity? But this is a quibble with the way you say what you sat; the argument itself I endorse. While I do not find "Romanticism and Survival" a critical essay in any sense of the word, and would perhaps be disappointed in it were that all I was looking for, I am grateful to Sostman for some of the material here presented which was not previously available to me (I am unfortunately not a Columbia undergraduate -- or should I say: "I am fortunately not the typical Columbia undergraduate"?). In addition, since I consider Sostman an artist of some stature on the basis of "Four Poets" and what I have seen of his poetry, even the somewhat dubious "The Folded and the Quiet," I found this placing, as it were, by the artist of himself in what he conceives to be his millieu, to be of great interest. When the artist pulls himself up short and surveys his world (particularly his world as it may be affected by nuclear fission) the result is bound to be at least as interesting as and very likely better propounded than the ordinary writer's diagnosis and prognosis. [Systole-diastole, damon, systole-diastole. I said it, and I'm glad I said it.] Sostman has certainly not said anything new or even anything very brilliant, but he has clearly indicated that whatever direction the world is going in, HES chooses romanticism as his expression of his times. The department Recordia continues in great style. The 20th-century-music-only policy is a good thing, but leave me advise you not to be inelastic about this. There was music written before 1900 which, when reissued or unearthed for a first time, is well worth flinging a bone to. In fact, I should think inelasticity is the last thing on earth Renascence could indulge in, considering its policies and aims. Lowndes' preoccupation with silken cruelty is an interesting phenomenon to observe, but when he strikes the pose of so tawdry a Bluebeard as he does in "Desire", one stifles a yawn. At least this one does. I resent the easy punch line after the excellence of the opening five lines. Inception of Reports from the Field gives me a hell of a big kick; I have been trying to batter down the policy of non-reportage on current shows, showings, and musical performances for ever so long. Non-availability of such material to out-of-towners is no drawback whatsoever in my estimation; witness the avidity with which I devoured the New Yorker for years before I arrived in New Mecca - I mean New York. The Index is a fine thing, and I can attest to the amount of work that went into it. Including The Last Page! I find Science*Fiction to be not nearly so good as the long wait and the standards announced led me to expect. I quote, in its entirety, an item from 2-1-1: "Science*Fiction, as its name implies (although this is another case of a temporary name --- so who knows WHAT will happen to this one?), will be devoted to scientific literature. ... The frequency of its issue will be dependent entirely on the amount of time necessary to accumulate enough material of sufficiently high caliber to meet the minimum standards we are setting up for the magazine. ... We cannot promise a date for the first issue, except to say that it will appear as soon it is at all feasible...." Judging from my elipses (they must be mine, since Juddy practically never uses a three-dot elipsis) I am not quoting in its entirety, but if you want to see what I left out, look it up. I must not have been sufficiently interested, or I would have included it in the first place. [Quitcha gripin'. Yuh got a nice shiny new index, aincha?] This was March 1945. In 1946, we are presented with a cover which is distinguished only for its remarkable ugliness, Bloch doing a Little Knell, an optimistic editorial complete with signature. ... what point is there in going on? I would register also an objection which has been voiced somewhat differently else-
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VANGUARD VARIORUM 13 better, although the fancy of the crime being that of preserving a clear-cut outline in a sea of shadows seems to me more poetic than accurage. Many of the writers of the liblab press, far from having melted into the anonymity of majority opinion, are the articulate, three-dimensional spokesman in the vanguard of same; they may be as objectionable as a dunghill, but they are just as solid. Since the victim of persecution is not necessarily great but only unortthodox, is not the true crime then that of variance in the midst of conformity? But this is a quibble with the way you say what you sat; the argument itself I endorse. While I do not find "Romanticism and Survival" a critical essay in any sense of the word, and would perhaps be disappointed in it were that all I was looking for, I am grateful to Sostman for some of the material here presented which was not previously available to me (I am unfortunately not a Columbia undergraduate -- or should I say: "I am fortunately not the typical Columbia undergraduate"?). In addition, since I consider Sostman an artist of some stature on the basis of "Four Poets" and what I have seen of his poetry, even the somewhat dubious "The Folded and the Quiet," I found this placing, as it were, by the artist of himself in what he conceives to be his millieu, to be of great interest. When the artist pulls himself up short and surveys his world (particularly his world as it may be affected by nuclear fission) the result is bound to be at least as interesting as and very likely better propounded than the ordinary writer's diagnosis and prognosis. [Systole-diastole, damon, systole-diastole. I said it, and I'm glad I said it.] Sostman has certainly not said anything new or even anything very brilliant, but he has clearly indicated that whatever direction the world is going in, HES chooses romanticism as his expression of his times. The department Recordia continues in great style. The 20th-century-music-only policy is a good thing, but leave me advise you not to be inelastic about this. There was music written before 1900 which, when reissued or unearthed for a first time, is well worth flinging a bone to. In fact, I should think inelasticity is the last thing on earth Renascence could indulge in, considering its policies and aims. Lowndes' preoccupation with silken cruelty is an interesting phenomenon to observe, but when he strikes the pose of so tawdry a Bluebeard as he does in "Desire", one stifles a yawn. At least this one does. I resent the easy punch line after the excellence of the opening five lines. Inception of Reports from the Field gives me a hell of a big kick; I have been trying to batter down the policy of non-reportage on current shows, showings, and musical performances for ever so long. Non-availability of such material to out-of-towners is no drawback whatsoever in my estimation; witness the avidity with which I devoured the New Yorker for years before I arrived in New Mecca - I mean New York. The Index is a fine thing, and I can attest to the amount of work that went into it. Including The Last Page! I find Science*Fiction to be not nearly so good as the long wait and the standards announced led me to expect. I quote, in its entirety, an item from 2-1-1: "Science*Fiction, as its name implies (although this is another case of a temporary name --- so who knows WHAT will happen to this one?), will be devoted to scientific literature. ... The frequency of its issue will be dependent entirely on the amount of time necessary to accumulate enough material of sufficiently high caliber to meet the minimum standards we are setting up for the magazine. ... We cannot promise a date for the first issue, except to say that it will appear as soon it is at all feasible...." Judging from my elipses (they must be mine, since Juddy practically never uses a three-dot elipsis) I am not quoting in its entirety, but if you want to see what I left out, look it up. I must not have been sufficiently interested, or I would have included it in the first place. [Quitcha gripin'. Yuh got a nice shiny new index, aincha?] This was March 1945. In 1946, we are presented with a cover which is distinguished only for its remarkable ugliness, Bloch doing a Little Knell, an optimistic editorial complete with signature. ... what point is there in going on? I would register also an objection which has been voiced somewhat differently else-
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