Transcribe
Translate
Scientifictionist, v. 2, issue 2, whole no. 8, March-April 1947
Page 2
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
...ANOTHER MAN'S POISON by Thomas S. Gardner I was very much surprised to see Gerry de la Ree's article, "Agharti -- an Overlooked Classic" in the Scientifictionist, Vol. 1, #6. Here was a story that I could not like because of its political tenor even though it was well written. Is it possible that Gerry and I reached contrary conclusions because we read science fiction differently? I believe that it is impossible to read a story completely isolated from background, reality, and implications. However, even to assume that one can do so is contrary to fact, in that we live in a pattern of society that fixes to some extend our outlook. For example, most of us think that headhunting is wrong in the sense that it should not be condoned by society. If I read a story that praises the value of headhunting both to the individual and to society, then I am so suspicious of it that I could not consider it a good story even if the mechanics were well done. Thus I cannot read with pleasure nor appreciate stories, articles and polemics that glorify nazism, communism, fascism, or any other type of totalitatarianism. Thus, by knowing the background and theme of van Vogt's WORLD OF A, I enjoyed it more and felt it as a truly great force in fiction, than many other people. Critics dissected it line by line, page by page, for mechanics, and van Vogt's ever present confusion of continuity, and failed to see the true status of the novel. Perhaps I cannot see Hauser's AGHARTI for the same reason, as my mental viewpoint is antipathetic to the paranoid type of German mind that involves their god-persecution complex. Frankly I do not believe that anyone can judge van Vogt's story without a background broader than the average reader of science fiction has. This background would have to include General Semantics, and especially Korzybski's book, Science and Sanity. De la Ree stated that Hauser made a literary name for himself by his book, The German Talks Back. That is slightly incorrect, as Hauser was well known for years, and the 42nd St. Public Library in N.Y.C. lists 16 cards on Hauser. Some of his work was fictional and some non-fictional in type. The German Talks Back, Holt, 1945, should be read for the background of AGHARTI. Then see if you like AGHARTI? Hauser fled to this country to save his hide, made money here and was well received. However, he deeply resents the rest of the world protecting themselves from the "good" Germans, and by implication they are the same as made Belsen, Dachau, Polish atrocities, Greece, Lidice, and the whole gang who attacked their neighbors five times in 80 years! Even the publishers of The German Talks Back say this: "This book is not a document written in the spirit of fairplay .... he doesn't like us, he does like Germany, and the Spirit of Prussia... "When the author's ms was submitted...we read it with anger, revulsion,,, a book actually issued as a warning to the type of people in Germany, in words by a German who hates America and wants to go back to Germany...issued in the interests of free speech." We can draw the following conclusions from the book: 1.Most Germans loathe everything America stands for. 2. Germany must return to Pussianism, i.e., militarism and another bid for world power to bebuild their ego and feeling of superiority! Hauser throws in a lot of false and pseudo history. Hauser slants his statments to suit his thesis: no one should object to the pooor "good" Germans dominating the rest of the inferior breeds of man! He almost justifies the piracy, and looting of Europe! To the German mind, deliberate force, cruelty, etc., are expressions of their god-given ego! America is blamed for Germany not enslaving Europe, for the German depression after World War I, for everything in fac. Now, I am not exaggerating. Read the book for yourself. If you want to know the true status of the German mind, read Brickner's Is Germany Incurable?, Lippincott, 1943. Thus I earnestly suggest that you read Hauser's book, The German Talks Back, and then read AGHARTI. If you fail to read the other first, then the clver propaganda of AGHARTI will have succeeded, and you will have added another sucker to Hauser's list, in preparation for Germany's Third World War attack on the rest of page 2
Saving...
prev
next
...ANOTHER MAN'S POISON by Thomas S. Gardner I was very much surprised to see Gerry de la Ree's article, "Agharti -- an Overlooked Classic" in the Scientifictionist, Vol. 1, #6. Here was a story that I could not like because of its political tenor even though it was well written. Is it possible that Gerry and I reached contrary conclusions because we read science fiction differently? I believe that it is impossible to read a story completely isolated from background, reality, and implications. However, even to assume that one can do so is contrary to fact, in that we live in a pattern of society that fixes to some extend our outlook. For example, most of us think that headhunting is wrong in the sense that it should not be condoned by society. If I read a story that praises the value of headhunting both to the individual and to society, then I am so suspicious of it that I could not consider it a good story even if the mechanics were well done. Thus I cannot read with pleasure nor appreciate stories, articles and polemics that glorify nazism, communism, fascism, or any other type of totalitatarianism. Thus, by knowing the background and theme of van Vogt's WORLD OF A, I enjoyed it more and felt it as a truly great force in fiction, than many other people. Critics dissected it line by line, page by page, for mechanics, and van Vogt's ever present confusion of continuity, and failed to see the true status of the novel. Perhaps I cannot see Hauser's AGHARTI for the same reason, as my mental viewpoint is antipathetic to the paranoid type of German mind that involves their god-persecution complex. Frankly I do not believe that anyone can judge van Vogt's story without a background broader than the average reader of science fiction has. This background would have to include General Semantics, and especially Korzybski's book, Science and Sanity. De la Ree stated that Hauser made a literary name for himself by his book, The German Talks Back. That is slightly incorrect, as Hauser was well known for years, and the 42nd St. Public Library in N.Y.C. lists 16 cards on Hauser. Some of his work was fictional and some non-fictional in type. The German Talks Back, Holt, 1945, should be read for the background of AGHARTI. Then see if you like AGHARTI? Hauser fled to this country to save his hide, made money here and was well received. However, he deeply resents the rest of the world protecting themselves from the "good" Germans, and by implication they are the same as made Belsen, Dachau, Polish atrocities, Greece, Lidice, and the whole gang who attacked their neighbors five times in 80 years! Even the publishers of The German Talks Back say this: "This book is not a document written in the spirit of fairplay .... he doesn't like us, he does like Germany, and the Spirit of Prussia... "When the author's ms was submitted...we read it with anger, revulsion,,, a book actually issued as a warning to the type of people in Germany, in words by a German who hates America and wants to go back to Germany...issued in the interests of free speech." We can draw the following conclusions from the book: 1.Most Germans loathe everything America stands for. 2. Germany must return to Pussianism, i.e., militarism and another bid for world power to bebuild their ego and feeling of superiority! Hauser throws in a lot of false and pseudo history. Hauser slants his statments to suit his thesis: no one should object to the pooor "good" Germans dominating the rest of the inferior breeds of man! He almost justifies the piracy, and looting of Europe! To the German mind, deliberate force, cruelty, etc., are expressions of their god-given ego! America is blamed for Germany not enslaving Europe, for the German depression after World War I, for everything in fac. Now, I am not exaggerating. Read the book for yourself. If you want to know the true status of the German mind, read Brickner's Is Germany Incurable?, Lippincott, 1943. Thus I earnestly suggest that you read Hauser's book, The German Talks Back, and then read AGHARTI. If you fail to read the other first, then the clver propaganda of AGHARTI will have succeeded, and you will have added another sucker to Hauser's list, in preparation for Germany's Third World War attack on the rest of page 2
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
