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Scientifictionist, v. 2, issue 2, whole no. 8, March-April 1947
Page 7
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FOR 'EM AND AGIN 'EM Wherein the Reader Speaks Stfist on Downgrade After receiving and perusing Stfist #7, I arrived at the conclusion that the magazine has been on the downgrade for the past few issues, although still up there among the better ones. At the expense of enlarging Coslet's head, I'd like to say that he has been quite noticeably absent from your pages, detracting quite a bit from the general quality of the mag. The hectoed cover looks much better than the plain austere ones which adorned a coupld of issues. Since there is no other artwork in the mag, how about giving us a really good cover every time. Kennedy's Utopia article was pretty much on the beam. While many different plans for bettering humanity will be advanced, very few will get anywhere at all, while still fewer will achieve even a portion of their aims. At present, the Animist Party (not Animalist, JoKe) seems to be the most aggressive and active one, with some wide-awake ideals. Only time will tell what will come of them, but if they are realized, swell. Ackerman's book review makes me want a copy (not for five bucks, though). For a person who dislikes stories without plots as much as I do, Stapledon does an admirable job of keeping my interest. By his excellent review of the stories, Norman Stanley makes one wish that Wertenbaker could have written more. I trust that these magazine reviews of classics will remain a regular feature. And the contribution about Astonishing was just barely interesting. I see no point in listing a number of stories which appeared in a magazine, unless each story is analyzed in detail, which is not done here. Bob Stein's article was rather useless. He's just saying what any normal person of today is thinking. It's a changing world. The capitalist who is dumb enough to try to deal with labor 1907 style now, deserves to be in trouble. And it's a pretty stupid person who would attribute the characteristics of an individual to a whole race. If that were the case, a person would have a chip on his shoulder toward the whole world. Not that some people aren't this way. The biggest disappointment was the letter section. I can always find something of interest in it, but this time was an exception. Too few letters were included, with all of them much too long. Thanks to Searles for tipping me off about Escape on Venus. I was unaware that it was just a series of the Carson yarns which appeared in FA a few years back. I'm not enough of a completist to want to shell out a couple of bucks for a book which is a duplicate of a magazine sale. Horrible horrors! Hadley admits he didn't even read Skylark of Space. How could he be sure that it would be a hit? His opinion should have been representative. Poor Skylark -- battered from pillar to post. However, most opinion seems to agree that Skylark was a good yarn, just a little out-dated. One particularly irksome letter in the readers section was that by Russ Hodgkins. Having no desire to hinder any good advancement by any group, and also having no desire to endorse Technocracy, I think that I may speak impersonally now. Either Hodgkins wanted to reply to those he singled out, or he wanted to use the letter as a means of getting publicity. If the first were true, why couldn't he have written each of them a letter personally, instead of subjecting all the readers to his remarks. Or, if he were using the letter as a means to convert some of the non-Technos, it was a poor way to go about it; there is no surer way to turn a person against anything than to try to forcibly shove it down his throat, by making him read it when the person is not faintly interested. (Pardon, Henry-- I forgot that I was stepping on your toes, also). One more item: there was too much Elsner this issue. Hereafter confine your editorial remarks to the necessary business, instead of rambling on and on for 2 lines, as you did this time. Andy Lyon, 200 Williamsboro, Oxford, North Carolina page 7
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FOR 'EM AND AGIN 'EM Wherein the Reader Speaks Stfist on Downgrade After receiving and perusing Stfist #7, I arrived at the conclusion that the magazine has been on the downgrade for the past few issues, although still up there among the better ones. At the expense of enlarging Coslet's head, I'd like to say that he has been quite noticeably absent from your pages, detracting quite a bit from the general quality of the mag. The hectoed cover looks much better than the plain austere ones which adorned a coupld of issues. Since there is no other artwork in the mag, how about giving us a really good cover every time. Kennedy's Utopia article was pretty much on the beam. While many different plans for bettering humanity will be advanced, very few will get anywhere at all, while still fewer will achieve even a portion of their aims. At present, the Animist Party (not Animalist, JoKe) seems to be the most aggressive and active one, with some wide-awake ideals. Only time will tell what will come of them, but if they are realized, swell. Ackerman's book review makes me want a copy (not for five bucks, though). For a person who dislikes stories without plots as much as I do, Stapledon does an admirable job of keeping my interest. By his excellent review of the stories, Norman Stanley makes one wish that Wertenbaker could have written more. I trust that these magazine reviews of classics will remain a regular feature. And the contribution about Astonishing was just barely interesting. I see no point in listing a number of stories which appeared in a magazine, unless each story is analyzed in detail, which is not done here. Bob Stein's article was rather useless. He's just saying what any normal person of today is thinking. It's a changing world. The capitalist who is dumb enough to try to deal with labor 1907 style now, deserves to be in trouble. And it's a pretty stupid person who would attribute the characteristics of an individual to a whole race. If that were the case, a person would have a chip on his shoulder toward the whole world. Not that some people aren't this way. The biggest disappointment was the letter section. I can always find something of interest in it, but this time was an exception. Too few letters were included, with all of them much too long. Thanks to Searles for tipping me off about Escape on Venus. I was unaware that it was just a series of the Carson yarns which appeared in FA a few years back. I'm not enough of a completist to want to shell out a couple of bucks for a book which is a duplicate of a magazine sale. Horrible horrors! Hadley admits he didn't even read Skylark of Space. How could he be sure that it would be a hit? His opinion should have been representative. Poor Skylark -- battered from pillar to post. However, most opinion seems to agree that Skylark was a good yarn, just a little out-dated. One particularly irksome letter in the readers section was that by Russ Hodgkins. Having no desire to hinder any good advancement by any group, and also having no desire to endorse Technocracy, I think that I may speak impersonally now. Either Hodgkins wanted to reply to those he singled out, or he wanted to use the letter as a means of getting publicity. If the first were true, why couldn't he have written each of them a letter personally, instead of subjecting all the readers to his remarks. Or, if he were using the letter as a means to convert some of the non-Technos, it was a poor way to go about it; there is no surer way to turn a person against anything than to try to forcibly shove it down his throat, by making him read it when the person is not faintly interested. (Pardon, Henry-- I forgot that I was stepping on your toes, also). One more item: there was too much Elsner this issue. Hereafter confine your editorial remarks to the necessary business, instead of rambling on and on for 2 lines, as you did this time. Andy Lyon, 200 Williamsboro, Oxford, North Carolina page 7
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