THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
05/02/14 -- Vol. 32, No. 44, Whole Number 1804
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Free SF Classics and Adaptations Thereof
The Underrated, Universal Appeal of Science Fiction
New Book (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
I Ate A Tarantula (And Other Creepy Crawlies) (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
THE QUIET ONES (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
Two Views of Free-Space Settlements: ELYSIUM and THE 100
(film and TV reviews by Dale L. Skran, Jr.) (film and TV reviews by Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
THE MADONNA AND THE STARSHIP by James Morrow (book review
by Joe Karpierz)
Hugo Thoughts (letters of comment by Andy Leighton,
Alan Woodford, and David Goldfarb)
This Week's Reading (book sales and THE POSSESSED)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Free SF Classics and Adaptations Thereof
Open Culture has links to SFF Audio's selection of free audios and
PDFs of hundreds of stories by such authors as Asimov, Bradbury,
Clarke, and Dick at http://tinyurl.com/void-free-sf-classics.
"Sci-Fi Radio" was a 1989-1990 anthology of magazine short story
adaptations, and is available at
.
It is similar to "Mindwebs", which ran from 1976 to 1983 on WHA in
Wisconsin and is available at
.
==================================================================
TOPIC: The Underrated, Universal Appeal of Science Fiction
THE ATLANTIC has and article titled "The Underrated, Universal
Appeal of Science Fiction" at http://tinyurl.com/void-underrated.
==================================================================
TOPIC: New Book (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
A few years ago I mentioned in the notice my book WHEN GOOD THINGS
HAPPEN TO PEOPLE YOU CAN'T STAND. Publish that has been held up,
but in the meantime I have a new magnum opus. My new book is DON'T
SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF AND I'LL TELL YOU WHAT THE SMALL STUFF IS.
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: I Ate A Tarantula (And Other Creepy Crawlies) (comments by
Mark R. Leeper)
Reading up on Cambodia for our recent trip to there (and to
Vietnam) I saw references to a place called "Spiderville." That is
certainly not a name in Cambodian. Did some visitor have a bad
experience there and give the place a warning nickname? And how
bad could a spider attack be on a tourist to nickname a whole town
on it. Little did I realize that far from being insulted by the
name, Spiderville is proud of the nickname and wants the town to be
associated with spiders--not just any spiders but the king of
horror movie spiders, the tarantula.
You remember the film TARANTULA. This was where Leo G. Carroll was
breeding a giant tarantula AS A FOOD SOURCE. He was growing other
giant animals too, but the title animal was a spider food source.
Well, as it happens there are places in the world where tarantula
spiders are part of the diet. Tarantulas are bred for food. And
the best known of such places is Skuan in Cambodia. That is a
little town in Cambodia which has been nicknamed "Spiderville."
Regular in their diet are tarantula, caterpillar, cricket, and
cockroach. Apparently they can breed tarantulas for food and there
is a fair amount of meat on that little furry body. They grow
underground and when the spider is ready (well, the spider would
not say he is ready) they pop them into a fryer and season them and
eat them. It also has become a cottage industry selling fried
little critters to tourists. I don't know what proportion of those
sold actually get eaten.
Now normally I don't want to eat a cracker if I know an ant has
walked on it. But I don't mind eating honey which has been in a
bee's mouth. Human tastes do not obey logic. Humans are highly
selective but inconsistent. And it should be remembered that
lobster is a very close relative to spiders and is considered a
delicacy.
Armed with that knowledge I decided while in Spiderville to eat
(some of) a tarantula and some other small critters as prepared for
visitors.
For one dollar American in Spiderville Evelyn and I got one really
big fried spider, some caterpillar, some cricket, and some
cockroaches, all uniformly fried. They are there in black shiny
mounds looking like they were made from lacquerware.
So what was it like to eat a tarantula? As with many actions that
sound sensationalist, the actual action is a lot less memorable
than one would expect. I took a leg--for people who like the
drumstick this beastie comes with eight--and bit down on it
progressively squeezing the meat toward the open end. You squeeze
out the meat like you squeeze a tube of toothpaste. The leg is
crunchy and a little bit spicy, both due more to the preparation
technique than to the meat itself. The meat can only be a little
filament. I only felt the meat between my teeth on maybe two or
three of the bites. There is not much to eat on a spider after
all. There is the tail end like a lobster but you do not want to
eat anything near the abdomen. The Lonely Planet guide to spider
eating in Cambodia says the big bulb is full of a vile brown fluid
that you really must avoid. I restricted myself to eating only
legs. Meh.
Of the other animals the caterpillars were the most tasty. They
seemed to have an innate sweetness and were slightly juicy.
Crickets did not have a lot of flavor except for the frying. My
wife tried a cockroach, but found the shell had a sharp edge to
protect it. The defense did nothing to help the cockroach any
more; it was already dead.
One reason I ate these thing in spite of the idea being naturally
repugnant is that with fish reserves running out we need new
renewable sources of protein. A very practical solution would be
to go after land arthropods. But most people have an aversion to
them. I have just such an aversion. I cannot say I overcame my
aversion, but for a little while I could ignore it and that was a
step in the right direction. [-mrl]
[Coincidentally, the Time Literary Supplement just ran a review of
THE INSECT COOKBOOK; the review if available at
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1402627.ece.
==================================================================
TOPIC: THE QUIET ONES (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: The latest release from the new Hammer Films is an obscure
horror thriller about a psychiatrist's strange experiment to prove
that what appears to be paranormal activity is actually a naturally
occurring brain function. The film has some engaging new ideas but
suffers from some old ones like that the soul of a horror film is
sudden loud noises. Actor Jared Harris has the potential to be the
new Hammer's Cushing and Lee. The film is directed by John Pogue
and written by four writers (not a good sign), one of which is
Pogue. Rating: 0 (-4 to +4) or 4/10
Hammer Films, for those who don't know, was a British production
company famous for their horror films in the 1960s and 1970s and
has since been revived. Certainly one of the best films of the old
Hammer was QUATERMASS AND THE PIT in which a scientist explores a
scientific explanation for what are usually considered to be
supernatural and paranormal phenomena. Hammer's new film THE QUIET
ONES returns to this theme of looking for science at the root of
the supernatural.
In a story set something like forty years ago Oxford psychology
professor Joseph Coupland (played by Jared Harris, son of Richard
Harris and already well-known from "Mad Men") believes that mental
illness can be cured and at the same time supernatural phenomena
can be explained rationally. Coupland plans an experiment to
liberate a mentally ill patient Jane Harper (Olivia Cooke) from
telekinetic forces in her head. He believes the previously assumed
powers can be removed from Jane, curing her illness in the process,
if he can rev up those supernatural powers.
When Oxford finds out Coupland is doing these weird experiments he
is banished. Not to be thwarted, Coupland finds a suitably creepy
old house for his work and continues with a small team of student
assistants including a cameraman, Brian (Sam Claflin), to record
the work. As Brian compiles a cinematic record of the proceedings
he becomes more and more leery of the extreme abuses of apparently
willing test subject Jane.
This film has a concept that could make for a very effective horror
film, in different ways reminiscent of THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE,
THE HAUNTING, and PRINCE OF DARKNESS. Sadly the execution becomes
badly muddled. Frequently it is not well explained why people are
doing what they are doing. Any horror director can rather easily
get an audience to jump by having a long quiet section ending in a
sudden, loud, sharp bang. But it is a cheap effect, not really
what real horror is about. Real horror is chilling, not sudden and
done for a physical reaction. Another easy shot is to use a hand-
held camera with a lot of shaking. This reaches more for the
viewer's stomach than for his mind. Here director John Pogue uses
video to simulate a 16mm camera with from the film's 1970s setting,
but it is the modern effect of a handheld. Pogue excessively
overuses both effects. The darkness of the photography and the
frequent bangs and bashes make this film less than totally pleasant
to watch, but to Pogue's credit the story pulls the viewer along.
Most of the older Hammer films generally did not waste time
establishing that the threat was real. THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, for
example, does not slowly establish that Satanism is valid; it pulls
the viewer right into the fight against the Devil. THE WITCHES a
few years earlier does start from a point of view of skepticism,
but it is an exception. Much of the best of the old Hammer films
start assuming the supernatural element had been established:
Frankenstein, vampires, and the Devil, were all real from the
beginnings of their films. THE QUIET ONES starts with a skeptical
point of view. Coupland does not believe in the paranormal, just
as Quatermass was a skeptic until the paranormal fits his
scientific model. Of course Coupland finds more than he bargained
for.
Discussion on the Internet of this film is saying that the new
Hammer films are just not of the style of the older ones. True,
but they have a style of their own. I have seen the three major new
Hammer films so far: LET ME IN, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, and now THE
QUIET ONES. Each seem to have the subdued feel of a dismal day
punctuated by sharp shocks. That is not a bad canvas on which to
paint a scary picture. They don't have the blood and the breasts
that were a hallmark of later old Hammer, and that omission is all
to the good. It still is too early to tell if the new Hammer will
be a major force in horror films. But Hammer is already doing far
better than the slice, dice, zombies, and sadism films that
currently are typical of most horror film. If THE QUIET ONES is
not a classic, at least it fails gracefully and the genre is better
for its effort. I rate THE QUIET ONES a 0 on the -4 to +4 scale or
4/10.
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2235779/combined
What others are saying:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_quiet_ones_2013/
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Two Views of Free-Space Settlements: ELYSIUM and THE 100
(film and TV reviews by Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
Last year Hollywood 'gifted' SF fans with perhaps the best
visualization of a possible free-space future space settlements to
date in the film ELYSIUM. This was followed this year with a new
CW television show, THE 100, which although focused on Earth-bound
action, has many scenes placed in a free-space settlement. These
efforts, perhaps the first to attempt to portray large numbers of
humans living in free-space settlements could not be more
different.
A brief historical introduction is required. In the early days of
space exploration, humans were often envisioned as living in domed
cities or underground bases throughout the solar system. Although
such settlements are certainly possible, they have a variety of
shortcomings, including less than one G of gravity. In the 1976
book THE HIGH FRONTIER by Gerard K. O'Neill, a vision of free-space
settlements built from lunar and asteroidal materials was
developed. However, until recently such free-space habitats have
been limited to written fiction, anime, or video games.
The habitat in ELYSIUM appears to be a very large torus, so large
that the top is open to space and centrifugal force holds the
atmosphere in place, rather like in Niven's RINGWORLD. Designed in
large part by the legendary Syd Mead, ELYSIUM is a wonder to
behold, although possibly either too large (or not large enough) to
be realistic. Also, ELYSIUM seems to hover in space relatively
close to the Earth, but not at any of the L-points, which is not
that likely. In any case, realism and science are not that
important to the makers of ELYSIUM, who by their own admission are
trying to re-tell the tale of modern-day class warfare.
The impoverished proles that inhabit the Earth represent the lower
classes of modern Western society, and the super-rich inhabitants
of ELYSIUM represent the top 1% of the top 1% of that same society.
In this vision, the rich live lives of ease and cancer-free luxury
in orbit, while the average folk are forced to slave in massive
factories building humanoid robots. This vision makes very little
sense--with so much slave labor, why are they building highly
capable humanoid robots? It appears that since the proles are
untrustworthy, the inhabitants of Elysium prefer robot servants.
But why don't robots build the robots? The answer appears to be
not economic logic but that this is just another way of showing the
evil of the upper classes. However, logic is not the point here,
and neither is the plot, which features Matt Damon as a radiation-
poisoned but cybernetically enhanced Max Da Costa, a former car
thief turned factory worker, who seeks salvation in the med-bays of
ELYSIUM. He is opposed by the Elysian Secretary of Defense
Delacourt (Jodie Foster) who provides a cartoon-like performance as
she manages an utterly unbelievable set of ELYSIUM defenses.
Because ELYSIUM is not intended to make much sense as a story,
economically, as a future history, or even on a human level, it's
not worth spending my time writing about it, or your time in
watching it. It reminds me a great deal of the 1959 novel LEVEL 7
by Mordecai Roshwald, which is mainly written as a propaganda piece
to show that NUCLEAR WAR IS BAD. LEVEL 7 has a certain emotional
heft, and is professionally written, but is basically nonsense on
every level. The same is true of ELYSIUM.
You might not expect much from THE 100, since it comes from the CW,
which specializes in any show that can be populated by large
numbers of hot young people fighting and having sex. However, the
CW has developed a strong affinity for fantasy and SF, and a number
of the best SF shows running currently, including ARROW, THE
ORIGINALS, and VAMPIRE DIARIES appear there. THE 100 combines
TUNNEL IN THE SKY, LOST, LORD OF THE FLIES, and WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
into one big swirling mass of teenage SF action and romance.
Set 97 years in the future after a world-destroying nuclear war,
the back story is that the residents of twelve space stations then
existing banded together to build a single massive settlement they
call "The Ark." The Ark appears to consist of a number of crude
Von Braun ring space stations tied together with a large amount of
repurposed equipment to create in industrial looking facility. To
allow for the expansion of our current one space station to twelve,
this might set the nuclear war anywhere from 50 to 100 years in our
future.
Unfortunately, the Ark is breaking down, and the leadership decides
to send 100 young criminals back to Earth to see if humans can
survive on the surface. This scenario is about 1000x more
plausible than that of ELYSIUM. The inhabitants of the space
station are a mix of blue-collar sorts and highly trained
professionals, but far from leading a life of ease, are under
constant pressure to maintain the equipment, which is failing.
This is hardly surprising since there is no reason to suppose that
the original twelve stations were designed to be self-sufficient
space settlements. The entire scenario of THE 100 is the
justification of space settlement as a means to human survival in a
nutshell.
There is some silliness in THE 100, and much of the plot revolves
around the decision to equip each prisoner with a bracelet that
allows the Ark to monitor only the vital signs of the folks on the
ground, but does not provide any means of communication to the Ark.
There is a scene in which a giant water snake grabs someone in its
mouth but they escape with only minor injuries. Some of the changes
that have occurred on the Earth (acid storms!) seem dubious as
well, but on the whole these problems don't detract that much from
the story. I don't plan to spend any time relating the various
plot points, except to say that things unfold pretty much as you
would expect for any situation with 100 teenagers isolated from
adult supervision.
There are also continuing plot threads on the Ark itself as those
who remain struggle to survive. The crew of the Ark (with the
exception of one character who is pretty obviously the bad guy) is
on the whole a noble and self-sacrificing lot who are faced with
some very difficult choices. THE 100 does not flinch from the
harsh reality of what may be needed to survive.
I'm not sure I strongly recommend THE 100. I don't know where it's
going, and it may be going somewhere stupid. ORPHAN BLACK and
CONTINUUM are much better SF shows, and both are running right now.
However, THE 100 is fun to watch, and I have an interest in how the
space technology is portrayed. And it is 1000x better than the
empty-headed and manipulative propaganda of ELYSIUM.
ELYSIUM: Rated 0 on the -4 to +4 scale, but not recommended unless
you are an SF completist or you just want to admire the Syd Mead
art design. Too violent for kids and too stupid for adults. It
is particularly silly as a tale of military action. The defenses
of Elysium appear to have been planned by a twelve-year old whose
military background consisted of Saturday morning cartoon shows.
THE 100: If it sounds interesting to you, watch it. As a tale of
survival, THE 100 is too dark for kids, but okay for teens and up.
[-dls]
==================================================================
TOPIC: THE MADONNA AND THE STARSHIP by James Morrow (copyright
2014, Tachyon Publications, $14.95, 179pp, ISBN 978-1-61696-159-6)
(book review by Joe Karpierz)
When I reviewed Peter Watts' short story collection BEYOND THE
RIFT, I mentioned that the one and only work of his that I had read
was the Hugo-nominated BLINDSIGHT, and that I decided to reread my
review of that novel in preparation for the review of the
collection.
I will start *this* review by saying the one and only work by James
Morrow that I have ever read was his Hugo-nominated novel TOWING
JEHOVAH. That novel was nominated in 1994, and thus was published
in 1993. I do remember reading that book and not caring for it
very much. I went hunting for my review of TOWING JEHOVAH, but
couldn't find one. It's possible I wasn't even doing reviews back
then. But I do remember thinking that I probably won't ever read
anything by James Morrow again.
I really should stop doing that.
Kurt Jastrow is a science fiction writer of short stories that have
been published in the magazine Andromeda. But like so many other
things in life, that source of incoming mostly dried up. So,
Jastrow turned his talents to the blossoming medium of television.
As we open our story in the New York City of 1953, Jastrow is
writing a thrice-weekly children's television show entitled "Brock
Barton and His Rocket Rangers". After each episode, he himself
plays a scientist/inventor who, along with his young sidekick,
explains some of the science in the episode by performing an
experiment.
Well, don't you know that aliens are watching. One day, out of the
blue--as it were--blue alien lobsters appear on the television
screen in the studio to announce to him that the "people" of their
planet want to give him an award for his show. It seems that they
are impressed with his logical and rational approach to the stories
in his show. They are, to coin a term, "logical positivists". So,
could he please be ready in a few days when they will appear with
his award?
And so they did, and that's where the problems began. The
Qualimosans, as they called themselves, wandered by another studio
in which a rehearsal was taking place for a religious program
broadcast by the same network--NBC--called "Not by Bread Alone"
that was to be broadcast on Sunday morning. The aliens heard
enough of the rehearsal to be extremely upset about it, as in their
eyes the show was supporting superstitious ideas. In fact, they
called it "televised irrationality". In fact, to show their
displeasure, they say they will harness the signal broadcast
through the televisions to kill the two million viewers of the show
(not bad ratings, according to one character in the novel) on
Sunday morning if the show does indeed broadcast the irrational
ideas they think it will.
Thus Jastrow and the writer for "Not by Bread Alone", Connie
Osborne--on whom Jastrow has something of a crush, maybe even more,
I suppose--must race against time to save two million viewers by
rewriting the original episode "Sitting Shivah for Jesus", and
instead presenting the episode--you guessed it--"The Madonna and
the Starship".
Let me tell you folks, this novel is a real hoot. It harkens back
to those "golden days of science fiction", where it wasn't about
characterization and literary merit, but good old fashioned
invading aliens--in this case blue lobsters (I wanted to make
reference to space squids, but I really couldn't figure out a good
way to do it)--and unrealistic weapons (really, a death ray through
a television??). This book was *fun*.
Morrow has made a living satirizing organized religion, and this
book joins the club in that regard. It is funny and irreverent, of
course, but it is also spot-on in a lot of its views on both sides
of the fence. I laughed at its situations as well as its one
liners--would *you* ever ask an alien blue lobster if it wanted to
go out for seafood?--but at the same time nodded to myself as I
recognized many of the things Morrow was poking at. The resolution
to the problem--never mind the wacky stuff Osborne and Jastrow go
through to get there--is a surprise, one which I appreciated.
And I really did like both Jastrow, Osborne, and the rest of the
cast of characters, even the aliens. They were well written and
engaging. I found myself rooting for Kurt and Connie as the novel
went on, and I certainly was hoping they'd find a way to save two
million human beings.
This book was a lot of fun to read, and it's been a lot of fun to
describe to people when they ask me, "What *are* you reading?" when
they see the Madonna, the Starship, and the blue lobsters on the
cover. Twenty years ago I may not have thought I would ever again
read anything by Morrow, but I'm glad I read this. [-jak]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Hugo Thoughts (letters of comment by Andy Leighton, Alan
Woodford, and David Goldfarb)
In response to Evelyn's comments on the Hugo Awards in the 04/25/14
issue of the MT VOID, Andy Leighton writes:
[The on-line campaign] is the real controversy. Partly because it
was an organised campaign (with suggested nominations) rather than
just the "oh here's what I have got which is eligible" post that
most authors do. But also because of the political beliefs (some
of them rather odious) of some of those people who are part of the
campaign, and who have been nominated.
None of this will be new (although the titles of the works were) to
those who follow certain blogs (scalzi) or who consume other online
sources of information (twitter, and even The Guardian).
I think it may be a year where "No Award" finishes ahead of some of
the nominees. [-al]
Alan Woodford adds:
There was quite a bit of discussion of that at Eastercon,
particularly for the Retros.... [-aw]
David Goldfarb writes:
I assume that the three [novel authors you have heard of] are
Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson, Charles Stross, and Mira Grant?
For myself, I'd heard of Larry Correia from mentions on some blogs.
Ann Leckie and ANCILLARY JUSTICE are new to me, although if the
book lives up to what people are now saying about it, it will
probably be my first-place vote.
I was willing to read the existing "Song of Ice and Fire" (four
tomes of a thousand pages each) in order to judge A FEAST FOR
CROWS, but I'm drawing the line at ["Wheel of Time'].
Some people have suggested reading online summaries of the first
thirteen volumes and then just reading A MEMORY OF LIGHT. I'm
atleast considering that.
[Re formats:] In the past, Tor (unlike most other publishers) has
made their nominees available in multiple formats, including both
MOBI and EPUB. What I've heard doesn't make it sound like this
will be different.
Haven't read ["Wakulla Springs"] yet, but if a related work such as
APOLLO 13 can get nominated in Best DP, then why not one in Best
Novella? Ultimately it's up to the nominators and voters to decide
whatthey think is eligible.
Consider that last year was Doctor Who's 50th anniversary year, and
that this year's convention is taking place in the UK. I'd think
it only to be expected that "Doctor Who" would have more
representation than normal. [-dg]
Andy Leighton replies:
[ANCILLARY JUSTICE] is very good indeed. Also nominated for the
Nebula, the PKD Award, and the Clarke and shared the BSFA win.
Not sure [reading online summaries of the first thirteen volumes
and then just reading A MEMORY OF LIGHT] is the best thing to do as
it might not give you an accurate impression of the series. The
difference in authorship might make a difference. So maybe a
sampling approach might be better. I have even heard "Wheel of
Time" fans say the series does sort of bog down in the middle and
become too slow-moving but you just have to stick with it.
Personally I think the nomination makes a bit of a mockery of the
award. But I do appreciate Sanderson's comments on his blog.
Also to be fair of the dramatic presentation noms only two are for
episodes of ["Doctor Who"] (fewer than recent years). [-al]
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Well, my spring book sale report is longer than last year's, but
shorter than previously. Last year I broke my hip the day before
the grand opening of the new Cranbury Bookworm, the week before the
Bryn Mawr book sale, and two weeks before the East Brunswick
Friends of the Library book sale, so I missed all those, *and* the
$5-a-box Cranbury Bookworm close-out sale and the "we-have-to-get-
the-books-out" Cranbury Bookworm give-away day. This year, I had
no problems, but Mark had a severe sciatica attack a week before
the Bryn Mawr sale, and while he was able to get around the house,
he decided spending two hours walking around a book sale was
definitely out. However, I went with a friend, and did find a fair
amount (including half a dozen books on math for Mark).
I also found something I had been seeking for a long time: an
unabridged edition of Edward Gibbon's THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE
AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, at a reasonable price, and preferably
in a reasonable size. Well, I found a three-volume Modern Library
edition from the 1950s with no dust jackets for $6 for the set.
Usually the full work is at least $15, so I was pretty pleased.
Yes, I can get it free on-line, but who wants to read something
3000 pages long on a computer?
I also found a shorter and more focused work, Sallust's
"Jurgurthine War" and "The Conspiracy of Catiline", and a
historical novel of the Roman Empire, JUSTINIAN by H. N.
Turteltaub. Turteltaub is the pen name that Harry Turtledove uses
for his historical fiction, and since he has his Ph.D. in Byzantine
history, I am assuming this novel is fairly faithful to history.
In addition I got two "overlay" books, "Pompeii-Herculaneum" and
"Rome Past and Present". These are apparently very popular for
Roman (and Greek?) archaeological sites. They consist of pictures
of the ruins as they currently are, and then an acetate overlay
which adds details that show what it looked like when it was new.
I already had "Rome Then and Now", which is *not* "Rome Past and
Present" (different authors, for one thing). These seem like the
sort of book kids would love--at least back when kids loved books.
Benedict Anderson's IMAGINED COMMUNITIES is about what creates a
sense of community, nationhood, solidarity, and so on. Alas, it
was someone's textbook and has all sorts of underlining and
circlings in it. (At least it is not full of yellow highlighting!)
There were three "travel" books, though not in the traditional
sense. BAGHDAD WITHOUT A MAP is journalist's Ton Horowitz's
account of his travels through the Middle East, and A PASSAGE TO
ENGLAND is Narad C. Chaudhuri's story of his first visit to England
from India at the age of 58. Bruce Chatwin's WHAT AM I DOING HERE?
by Bruce Chatwin is the closest to traditional travel writing.
And another dozen or so miscellaneous books rounded out the haul.
Mark and I also went to the Cranbury Book Worm a couple of weeks
earlier, and while (as I have said) it is a mere shadow of its
former self, it is a bigger shadow than it was when it first
opened. However, we still get only a few books when we visit,
partly due to its smaller size, and partly to an effort to buy
fewer books (the Bryn Mawr book sale notwithstanding). We did find
a couple of interesting items, though. There was THERE'S MORE TO
NEW JERSEY THAN THE SOPRANOS by Marc Mappen, a series of stories
from New Jersey's history (and pre-history). Many of the chapters
are debunking oft-repeated myths. For example, almost the whole
story of Molly Pitcher seems to have been made up, although there
probably was a woman bringing water to the troops. Even more, the
story of Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson eating a tomato on the State
House steps to prove it was not poisonous is completely bogus:
plenty of cookbooks before the date cited contained recipes with
tomatoes.
The other book of interest was THE GOLEM by Joachim Neugroschel.
Neugroschel is probably best known as the editor of YENNE VELT: THE
GREAT WORKS OF JEWISH FANTASY & THE OCCULT, a massive collection of
Jewish folklore and legend. ("Yenne velt" means "the other
world".) THE GOLEM includes a new translation of H. Leivick's
play, as well as several golem stories.
I recently read (or skimmed) THE POSSESSED; ADVENTURES WITH RUSSIAN
BOOKS AND THE PEOPLE WHO READ THEM by Elif Batuman (ISBN 978-0-374-
53218-5), which turned out to be less about Russian books and more
about a graduate student's adventures in Turkey, Uzbekistan, and
Stanford. While she was studying Uzbek language and literature,
she discovered the bizarre history of the Uzbek language. In 1921
the Soviets codified one of the regional dialects as Uzbek; in 1926
they replaced the Arabic alphabet in use with a Latin alphabet.
During Stalin's time they eliminated "vowel harmony" (never
explained in this book), and replaced the Latin alphabet with a
Cyrillic alphabet. In 1995, the Soviets passed a bill saying that
within ten years the Cyrillic alphabet would be replaced by a (new)
Latin one. The same chaos reigned in the definition of Uzbek
literature. As Batuman said, she felt like "a character in a
Borges story, studying a literature invented by a secret cabal of
academicians." Later she wrote:
"It was all just like a Borges story--except that Borges stories
are always so short, whereas life in Samarkand kept dragging
obscurely on and on. In Borges, the different peculiar languages
yield up, in a matter of pages, some kind of interesting
philosophical import: the languages of the northern hemisphere of
Tlon have no nouns, a circumstance that immediately turns out to
represent an extreme of Berkeleyan idealism whereby the world is
perceived as a sequence of shifting shapes; the Chinese
encyclopedia has different words for animals drawn with a fine
camel's-hair brush and animals who have just broken a flower vase,
which dramatizes the impossibility of devising any objective system
of classifying. By contrast, whatever it was that you learned
about Uzbeks when you studied their language, it was something lone
and difficult to fathom. What did you know about Uzbekistan once
you learned that Old Uzbek has a hundred different words for
crying?"
[-ecl]
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Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Any fool can know. The point is to understand.
--Albert Einstein