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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 11, Summer 1946

Page 286

286     FANTASY COMMENTATOR

Wollheim, Donald A., editor

The Portable Novels of Science

New York: The Viking Press, 1945. 737pp. 17cm. $2.00.

Further information: This omnibus volume reprints four novels, unabridged: "The Shadow out of Time," by H. P. Lovecraft; Odd John, by Olaf Stapledon; Before the Dawn, by John Taine (Eric Temple Bell); and The First Men on the Moon, by H.G.Wells.

Synoptic review: Leading newspaper critics got to this anthology first and gave it such a thorough hiding that science-fiction fan circles, perhaps overawed by the sophisticated air of the professionals, have put up but a weak defense. It is therefore a pleasure for me to state emphatically that The Portable Novels of Science is the best book of science-fiction to appear in 1945. Indeed, it would be an important book in any year.
One critic went so far as to call Wollheim a "literary pretender." If this phrase carries its usual innuendo, it is a telling tip-off to the state of mind of the literary elite. For the closest the editor came to offending this class was the mild remark in his opening introduction: "These lines must also serve to introduce a branch of literature which has been curiously neglected by anthologists and other students of world literature." More than a little disconcerted when Arkham House brought to light first-class supernatural fiction previously unknown to them (and having begrudgingly to admit that at least H.P.Love- has "something on the ball"), professional reviewers are in no frame of mind be shown up a second time. Rather than admit their almost complete ignorance of the field, they prefer to deny the fact that science-fiction can be literature by descrediting its 1945 representative, The Portable Novels of Science.
In point of fact Wollheim has assumed no authoritative tone in his excellently composed editorial material on any subject but science-fiction. He claims specialized knowledge of but a single branch of the world's diverse literature. Leading critics, on the other hand, tacitly claim well - rounded backgrounds of all types of writing; yet they have shown themselves devoid of the qualifications needed to appraise accurately fantastic literature. Their footing is exceedingly precarious when they cry "Literary pretender!"
It is not so much that the quality of material in this collection is being directly attacked; no, the critics would have a very rough time of proving that these efforts of Wells, Stapledon, Lovecraft and Taine are trash. Indirectly, however, the same effect can be brought about by discrediting the compiler. It was inevitable that Wollheim should be made a whipping-boy when he nonchelantly remarked that the superman mutation theme was rare, even for pulp writers, and then to say, "About the only major worth-while efforts from that sector have been ...Philip Wylie's Gladiator,...Stanley G. Weinbaum's New Adam, Norvel Page's "But Without Horns" and A. E. Van Vogt's Slan. Nearest to the Odd John quality is J. D. Beresford's Hampdenshire Wonder...." Our "experts" had probably never heard of any of these novels. They were scarcely aware that the theme itself existed in literature. But they knew that if it did, and to any degree of quality or quantity, that it would be too important to disregard. The easiest way out of the dilemma, of course, was not to admit their own ignorance, but to label Wollheim a literary pretender.
That narrow-minded prejudice should blind people to the praiseworthy qualities of The Portable Novels of Science is deplorable. The book is an admirable addition to the Viking portable library: its selections are sound, and the introductory material well written and thought out. In short, it is a must for every collector's shelf.
---Sam Moskowitz.

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286 FANTASY COMMENTATOR Wollheim, Donald A., editor The Portable Novels of Science New York: The Viking Press, 1945. 737pp. 17cm. $2.00. Further information: This omnibus volume reprints four novels, unabridged: "The Shadow out of Time," by H. P. Lovecraft; Odd John, by Olaf Stapledon; Before the Dawn, by John Taine (Eric Temple Bell); and The First Men on the Moon, by H.G.Wells. Synoptic review: Leading newspaper critics got to this anthology first and gave it such a thorough hiding that science-fiction fan circles, perhaps overawed by the sophisticated air of the professionals, have put up but a weak defense. It is therefore a pleasure for me to state emphatically that The Portable Novels of Science is the best book of science-fiction to appear in 1945. Indeed, it would be an important book in any year. One critic went so far as to call Wollheim a "literary pretender." If this phrase carries its usual innuendo, it is a telling tip-off to the state of mind of the literary elite. For the closest the editor came to offending this class was the mild remark in his opening introduction: "These lines must also serve to introduce a branch of literature which has been curiously neglected by anthologists and other students of world literature." More than a little disconcerted when Arkham House brought to light first-class supernatural fiction previously unknown to them (and having begrudgingly to admit that at least H.P.Love- has "something on the ball"), professional reviewers are in no frame of mind be shown up a second time. Rather than admit their almost complete ignorance of the field, they prefer to deny the fact that science-fiction can be literature by descrediting its 1945 representative, The Portable Novels of Science. In point of fact Wollheim has assumed no authoritative tone in his excellently composed editorial material on any subject but science-fiction. He claims specialized knowledge of but a single branch of the world's diverse literature. Leading critics, on the other hand, tacitly claim well - rounded backgrounds of all types of writing; yet they have shown themselves devoid of the qualifications needed to appraise accurately fantastic literature. Their footing is exceedingly precarious when they cry "Literary pretender!" It is not so much that the quality of material in this collection is being directly attacked; no, the critics would have a very rough time of proving that these efforts of Wells, Stapledon, Lovecraft and Taine are trash. Indirectly, however, the same effect can be brought about by discrediting the compiler. It was inevitable that Wollheim should be made a whipping-boy when he nonchelantly remarked that the superman mutation theme was rare, even for pulp writers, and then to say, "About the only major worth-while efforts from that sector have been ...Philip Wylie's Gladiator,...Stanley G. Weinbaum's New Adam, Norvel Page's "But Without Horns" and A. E. Van Vogt's Slan. Nearest to the Odd John quality is J. D. Beresford's Hampdenshire Wonder...." Our "experts" had probably never heard of any of these novels. They were scarcely aware that the theme itself existed in literature. But they knew that if it did, and to any degree of quality or quantity, that it would be too important to disregard. The easiest way out of the dilemma, of course, was not to admit their own ignorance, but to label Wollheim a literary pretender. That narrow-minded prejudice should blind people to the praiseworthy qualities of The Portable Novels of Science is deplorable. The book is an admirable addition to the Viking portable library: its selections are sound, and the introductory material well written and thought out. In short, it is a must for every collector's shelf. ---Sam Moskowitz.