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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 5, Winter 1944-1945
Page 85
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 85 Little Men, What Now? by H. C. Koenig I started reading tales of science-fiction and fantasy long before most of the readers of this article were born. I was weaned on Jules Verne and H. G. Wells and brought up on the Frank Reade magazines, to say nothing of early Argosy-Allstory combinations and the later Weird Tales. Later still, of course, I read Amazing, Wonder, Astounding, etc., and now have complete collections of all these magazines. With such a background, I thought I had some idea of what science-fiction really was. But I find I have been sadly mistaken. For years I have been laboring under the delusion that science-fiction stories, like other tales of fantasy, were written for the readers' entertainment and pleasure. But modern high school freshmen and other intellectuals tell me such is not the case. They insist that if I read a science-fiction story for pleasure or relaxation without paying serious heed to the science (?) contained therein then I qualify for a first-rate moron. And they maintain that science-fiction should be written to stimulate a study of true science, and hence the science should be one hundred percent correct. To me, that's just wishful thinking. The earlier writers of science-fiction never had that in mind and I doubt very much if any of the present-day writers take such a serious view of their work. Most of them write for a living and I do not believe any of them pretend to be scientists, educators or promoters of science study. And, after all, what does it matter if the science is a bit faulty at times? What difference does it make so long as the story interests one? Coleridge, in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," placed a star within the crescent of the moon. Did that mistake detract from the quality of the poem? Poe committed some glaring errors in "The Descent into the Maelstrom." For instance, on the first of July in Norway a ship whirling about in the funnel of a maelstrom was said to be lighted by a full moon directly overhead. In actuality at this time of year the full moon is far south of the equator; an observer in Norway would see it rise but slightly above the southern horizon. Furthermore, Norway would see it rise but slightly above the southern horizon. Furthermore, Norway has no light in July, and thus moonlight would be superfluous. Also, a maelstrom does not form a funnel. Yet did the story prove less interesting because of these errors? H. Rider Haggard was guilty of a number of mistakes in King Soloman's Mines. He tells of a total eclipse of the sun which caused complete darkness for more than an hour. Actually such an eclipse cannot last more than seven minutes, and even then it is not very dark. Later, on the same day, the author speaks of a full moon. This is likewise impossible, for a solar eclipse can only happen at a new moon, and the full moon follows the latter phase only after a two-week period. King Soloman's Mines still remains a fine story even if its astronomy was a trifle faulty. And the same reasoning applies to numerous modern stories criticized by those who fail to see that the story is the thing. Science-fiction books and science-fiction magazines were never intended to serve as textbooks. No person in his sane mind would think of referring to them as such. If one wants to learn about the Heaviside Layer, the Fitzgerald-Lorentz contraction or the quantum theory does one search through the fantastic fiction magazines for such information? Certainly not. It would be as senseless as expecting to find a course in differential calculus in this source. Science-fiction is just one of the many branches of fiction writing. Do we insist that the "history" in a historical novel be absolutely true? Do we expect that this book will spur the readers into making a study of some particular phase of history? The answers are No and No. Then why should we insist on these things in science-fiction? We might just as well expect readers of detective stories to become sleuths.
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 85 Little Men, What Now? by H. C. Koenig I started reading tales of science-fiction and fantasy long before most of the readers of this article were born. I was weaned on Jules Verne and H. G. Wells and brought up on the Frank Reade magazines, to say nothing of early Argosy-Allstory combinations and the later Weird Tales. Later still, of course, I read Amazing, Wonder, Astounding, etc., and now have complete collections of all these magazines. With such a background, I thought I had some idea of what science-fiction really was. But I find I have been sadly mistaken. For years I have been laboring under the delusion that science-fiction stories, like other tales of fantasy, were written for the readers' entertainment and pleasure. But modern high school freshmen and other intellectuals tell me such is not the case. They insist that if I read a science-fiction story for pleasure or relaxation without paying serious heed to the science (?) contained therein then I qualify for a first-rate moron. And they maintain that science-fiction should be written to stimulate a study of true science, and hence the science should be one hundred percent correct. To me, that's just wishful thinking. The earlier writers of science-fiction never had that in mind and I doubt very much if any of the present-day writers take such a serious view of their work. Most of them write for a living and I do not believe any of them pretend to be scientists, educators or promoters of science study. And, after all, what does it matter if the science is a bit faulty at times? What difference does it make so long as the story interests one? Coleridge, in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," placed a star within the crescent of the moon. Did that mistake detract from the quality of the poem? Poe committed some glaring errors in "The Descent into the Maelstrom." For instance, on the first of July in Norway a ship whirling about in the funnel of a maelstrom was said to be lighted by a full moon directly overhead. In actuality at this time of year the full moon is far south of the equator; an observer in Norway would see it rise but slightly above the southern horizon. Furthermore, Norway would see it rise but slightly above the southern horizon. Furthermore, Norway has no light in July, and thus moonlight would be superfluous. Also, a maelstrom does not form a funnel. Yet did the story prove less interesting because of these errors? H. Rider Haggard was guilty of a number of mistakes in King Soloman's Mines. He tells of a total eclipse of the sun which caused complete darkness for more than an hour. Actually such an eclipse cannot last more than seven minutes, and even then it is not very dark. Later, on the same day, the author speaks of a full moon. This is likewise impossible, for a solar eclipse can only happen at a new moon, and the full moon follows the latter phase only after a two-week period. King Soloman's Mines still remains a fine story even if its astronomy was a trifle faulty. And the same reasoning applies to numerous modern stories criticized by those who fail to see that the story is the thing. Science-fiction books and science-fiction magazines were never intended to serve as textbooks. No person in his sane mind would think of referring to them as such. If one wants to learn about the Heaviside Layer, the Fitzgerald-Lorentz contraction or the quantum theory does one search through the fantastic fiction magazines for such information? Certainly not. It would be as senseless as expecting to find a course in differential calculus in this source. Science-fiction is just one of the many branches of fiction writing. Do we insist that the "history" in a historical novel be absolutely true? Do we expect that this book will spur the readers into making a study of some particular phase of history? The answers are No and No. Then why should we insist on these things in science-fiction? We might just as well expect readers of detective stories to become sleuths.
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