THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
11/06/09 -- Vol. 28, No. 19, Whole Number 1570
C3PO: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
R2D2: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Linda Buckley-Archer's Top 10 Time-Traveling Stories
Science Fiction and Philosophy
Culture (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Belated Happy 50th, TZ (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
This Week's Reading (WONDERFUL ALEXANDER AND THE CATWINGS
and MONSTER, 1959) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Linda Buckley-Archer's Top 10 Time-Traveling Stories
Children's author Linda Buckley-Archer picks her top ten time-
traveling stories (with comments) at http://tinyurl.com/kjm8cs:
1. THE TIME MACHINE by H. G. Wells
2. A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT by Mark Twain
3. ORLANDO by Virginia Woolf
4. DIRK GENTLY'S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY by Douglas Adams
5. THE HOUSE ON THE STRAND by Daphne Du Maurier
6. TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN by Philippa Pearce
7. VAN LOON'S LIVES by Hendrik Willem van Loon
8. TANGLEWRECK by Jeanette Winterson
9. MAKING HISTORY by Stephen Fry
10. HOW TO BUILD A TIME MACHINE by Paul Davies
==================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction and Philosophy
There is a review of SCIENCE FICTION AND PHILOSOPHY: FROM TIME
TRAVEL TO SUPERINTELLIGENCE by Susan Schneider at
http://tinyurl.com/yjuxzwg. It says, in part, "Each chapter
tackles a different philosophical question via essays by Schneider
and academic colleagues with titles like "Could I be in a Matrix or
a Computer Simulation?" and "Free Will and Determinism in the World
of MINORITY REPORT." These discussions draw parallels between such
sci-fi stalwarts as STAR TREK, BLADE RUNNER, and BRAVE NEW WORLD,
and philosophical classics like Plato's THE REPUBLIC and Descartes'
MEDITATIONS ON FIRST PHILOSOPHY."
==================================================================
TOPIC: Culture (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
In this country you can get away calling a food chain In 'n Out
Burger. You couldn't call a place In 'n Out Hot Dog. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Belated Happy 50th, TZ (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
I have to admit that this article should have come out early in
October, but it did not occur to me. We recently passed a very
important anniversary for science fiction, horror, and fantasy
fans. On Friday night, October 2, 1959, fifty years ago last
month, CBS television premiered a new weekly anthology series, "The
Twilight Zone". It is a hard to speculate how film and literature
of the fantastic would have advanced without the strong influence
of this television series. CBS was taking a chance on a young but
promising writer, Rod Serling. But he had already proved himself
on some early plays for television. At that time the networks
would produce live plays each week on various programs like
"Playhouse 90", "Kraft Television Theater", and "Climax". Serling
had written for TV non-fantasy plays like "Patterns" and "Requiem
for a Heavyweight"--plays that were powerful human dramas. But
Serling had decided he wanted to try his own show. He could put in
the drama plus political opinions, ethnic types, whatever he
wanted. Serling was well aware that if it were a fantasy show he
would be given much more latitude to express himself.
Serling put together a team of people to create a quality program.
Most of the stories and scripts he would write himself. Where he
had to share responsibilities he got some of the best people in the
business. He would cast established actors in the stories and gave
opportunities to newcomers like Robert Redford, Robert Duvall,
Peter Falk, and William Shatner. Rather than using library music
he had a score written for each program by such names as Jerry
Goldsmith and Bernard Herrmann. Serling wrote 92 of the 156
episodes. Where he could not do the writing himself, Serling got
some of the best people imaginable, people like Richard Matheson
and Charles Beaumont.
At the time there had been some science fiction and fantasy on
television. Two reasonable programs were "Science Fiction Theatre"
and "One Step Beyond". One told relatively simple science fiction
stories; the other dramatized supposedly true paranormal events.
They were mediocre, but after them the best science fiction was
from programs like "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger". With "Twilight
Zone" came stories that were well-written and well-acted. So much
so that people who did not care for fantasy would still watch the
program for its writing and the quality of the production.
The program ran for five seasons, four and a half seasons in a
half-hour format and a half season in an hour format. Some of the
most memorable stories were Jerome Bixby's "It's a Good Life",
Richard Matheson's "Little Girl Lost", and Serling's own stories
like "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street", "The Lonely", and
"Walking Distance".
When I was nine or ten, this program was the most important event
of the week. If we had to miss "The Twilight Zone" it was a
tragedy. We would talk about the programs endlessly with our
friends. And there is still much to discover in the old episodes.
I did not appreciate it at the time, but today when I look at the
show I can see dramatic acting as good as I can remember from any
film. Nobody does human despair as well as Jack Klugman did it in
"A Passage for Trumpet" and "In Praise of Pip".
With time the strain of producing the series showed on both Serling
and the program he was producing. Much of the series is mediocre
and some episodes are even of low quality. But the contribution
that the series made to both fantasy drama and writing in general
is undeniable.
So Happy Anniversary to "The Twilight Zone" after half a century
that the program made better. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
In the last couple of weeks, I haven't had as much opportunity to
read as before. In terms of well-known fantasy authors, all I can
point to is WONDERFUL ALEXANDER AND THE CATWINGS by Ursula
K. LeGuin (ISBN-13 978-0-439-55191-5, ISBN-10 0-439-55191-9),
apparently part of a series about the Catwings. This is a
children's book which my seven-year-old niece read to me last time
I visited Massachusetts. She was reading it for school, and I have
to say that it is a good sign that the school has books by authors
such as LeGuin.
MONSTER, 1959 by David Maine (ISBN-13 978-0-312-37302-3, ISBN-10
0-312-37302-3) is a re-telling of "King Kong", but set in the late
1950s on a radioactive island which has produced a monster with
some characteristics of King Kong, some of Godzilla, and some
original. It is an interesting combination of the two themes, but
parts are a bit predictable, and the ending is just, well, bizarre
(and also probably makes it unsuitable for young adult readers).
[-ecl]
==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
One of life's greatest mysteries is how the boy
who wasn't good enough to marry your daughter
can be the father of the smartest grandchild
in the world.
-- Yiddish proverb