Transcribe
Translate
Rochester-American Patriot, Summer 1942
Page 8
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
WHERE THE READERS PLAY WITH STARS (Concluded) "By the ninth issue, Lylda was about perfect -- grown up, matured; not too much fiction, good meaty articles, and some of the best covers I've ever seen. (Editor's Note: I hope, by now, that the reason is clear why Lylda is indefinitely suspended. One has to turn his attention to the matter of earning a living, when one is grown up, and if possibly try for something more than mere existence at the same time. A deeper vision of life in this case is indispensable, and the reason why I've been thankful for the hobby. In my own case, I had been aware of the accepted facts and theories about the composition of matter, the expanding universe, the discoveries made possible by the spectroscope, and so forth, having, in fact, given talks on these subjects to university classes when a young boy. But science-fiction had a sense of wonder that I seldom found in people, a joyful sensation of life that seemed to be the jubilancy which is found nowhere except in dealing with the unexplored) "Stars is entirely different. Usually I don't like poetry ---- Masefield, Kipling, Sterling are a few exceptions -- but the material you've managed to assemble in Stars is different. It appeals to me. Most poetry leaves me cold -- I'm very much of a materialist -- but the poems you've included in Stars seem to touch a certain strain of feeling, cold and distant, but still something moving. It may be that fantasy poetry, as a whole, isn't quite as warm as ordinary verse, dealing as it does with the cosmos, and thus reaches farther into an intellectual person. Anyway, I like Stars. "I note...the 'Crystal Thoughts'...are just as good as the poetry, and some of them are better. Phrases such as these make a book worth reading. It's really surprising where they occur. Some time ago I was reading a mystery story when I came upon this passage -- which struck me as quite pertinent -- 'The only ethical principle which has made science possible is that the truth shall be told all the time. If we do not penalize false statements made in error, we open up the way for false statements by intention. And a false statement of fact, made deliberately, is the most serious crime a scientist can commit.' ('Gaudy Night' -- Dorothy L. Sayers) "I can't think of any more appropriate thing to say than that I said last time 'Ave, Lylda, atque vale' but not forever, I hope." From LOUIS RUSSELL CHAUVENET, President of the NFF Federation: "On the whole, Golden Atom was definitely worth while, and I am sorry that you don't feel able to issue it any more. As for 'Stars'...I am in complete disagreement with Walter Pitkin's quote on page four I hate the whole philosophy of perfectionism. I like to enjoy life freely, with an easy tolerance for the shortcomings, not only of others, but also of myself. I don't believe anything or anyone was, is, or will be perfect, and I am satisfied with an agreeable person or a serviceable object, not angered because neither is perfect...You see, Larry, the nearer you get to perfection, the greater is the further effort which must be expended for progressively small approaches to the ultimate. I am defending slipshod or careless work, but rather competent and adequate work, which does not pretend to be perfect. There is a law of diminishing returns -- after a certain point, the small extra approach to perfection is utterly unworth the labor and toil involved." ............................................ We must hang together if we are not to hang separately. (Old saying.)
Saving...
prev
next
WHERE THE READERS PLAY WITH STARS (Concluded) "By the ninth issue, Lylda was about perfect -- grown up, matured; not too much fiction, good meaty articles, and some of the best covers I've ever seen. (Editor's Note: I hope, by now, that the reason is clear why Lylda is indefinitely suspended. One has to turn his attention to the matter of earning a living, when one is grown up, and if possibly try for something more than mere existence at the same time. A deeper vision of life in this case is indispensable, and the reason why I've been thankful for the hobby. In my own case, I had been aware of the accepted facts and theories about the composition of matter, the expanding universe, the discoveries made possible by the spectroscope, and so forth, having, in fact, given talks on these subjects to university classes when a young boy. But science-fiction had a sense of wonder that I seldom found in people, a joyful sensation of life that seemed to be the jubilancy which is found nowhere except in dealing with the unexplored) "Stars is entirely different. Usually I don't like poetry ---- Masefield, Kipling, Sterling are a few exceptions -- but the material you've managed to assemble in Stars is different. It appeals to me. Most poetry leaves me cold -- I'm very much of a materialist -- but the poems you've included in Stars seem to touch a certain strain of feeling, cold and distant, but still something moving. It may be that fantasy poetry, as a whole, isn't quite as warm as ordinary verse, dealing as it does with the cosmos, and thus reaches farther into an intellectual person. Anyway, I like Stars. "I note...the 'Crystal Thoughts'...are just as good as the poetry, and some of them are better. Phrases such as these make a book worth reading. It's really surprising where they occur. Some time ago I was reading a mystery story when I came upon this passage -- which struck me as quite pertinent -- 'The only ethical principle which has made science possible is that the truth shall be told all the time. If we do not penalize false statements made in error, we open up the way for false statements by intention. And a false statement of fact, made deliberately, is the most serious crime a scientist can commit.' ('Gaudy Night' -- Dorothy L. Sayers) "I can't think of any more appropriate thing to say than that I said last time 'Ave, Lylda, atque vale' but not forever, I hope." From LOUIS RUSSELL CHAUVENET, President of the NFF Federation: "On the whole, Golden Atom was definitely worth while, and I am sorry that you don't feel able to issue it any more. As for 'Stars'...I am in complete disagreement with Walter Pitkin's quote on page four I hate the whole philosophy of perfectionism. I like to enjoy life freely, with an easy tolerance for the shortcomings, not only of others, but also of myself. I don't believe anything or anyone was, is, or will be perfect, and I am satisfied with an agreeable person or a serviceable object, not angered because neither is perfect...You see, Larry, the nearer you get to perfection, the greater is the further effort which must be expended for progressively small approaches to the ultimate. I am defending slipshod or careless work, but rather competent and adequate work, which does not pretend to be perfect. There is a law of diminishing returns -- after a certain point, the small extra approach to perfection is utterly unworth the labor and toil involved." ............................................ We must hang together if we are not to hang separately. (Old saying.)
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
