Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
10/02/20 -- Vol. 39, No. 14, Whole Number 2139
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, *mleeper@optonline.net *
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Topics:
The Speckled Clue (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and the MT VOID (letter
of comment by Guy Lillian)
Translation (letter of comment by Gary Labowitz)
This Week's Reading (THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: The Speckled Clue (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Mark Leeper's Journal. November 19, 1999
Frequently the sacred cows of our society do not bear close
scrutiny, particularly in works of art. In art the same criteria
we apply to newer works of art if applied to the classics would
show them to be flawed in the same way. There are two film
versions of NOSFERATU. One is a classic of German cinema directed
by F. W. Murnau in 1922, one is a nearly identical remake made
almost as a silent film in 1979. The former is one of the most
chilling films ever made. The latter is and intentionally close
recreation using almost all of the same techniques and style is
ponderous and dull. The only major difference is that the remake
is in color. But watching it one knows it could have been made
with modern techniques so you are less likely to be impressed.
When you see a silent film you make allowances for its age. The
difference is not that the first is done so much better but that
one knows it is not a classic so one can be critical in the way one
would not be with the original. (Or one should. I do not know
what a young audience would make of the original NOSFERATU.)
I am listening to a radio adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's
story "The Speckled Band." By the way, SPOILER WARNING: IF YOU
HAVE NOT BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE STORY AND DON'T KNOW THE ENDING
AND DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE END, GO AWAY. I would be spoiling it
for you. Anyway this was what Doyle himself considered to be one
of his very best Sherlock Holmes stories. One of his best, mind
you. And most of his fans agree. If you remember Holmes's client
tells him about a woman who had spent a night alone in a particular
room. In the middle of the night the woman had screamed, staggered
from her room, gasped cryptically "the speckled band," and died.
The whole story is about Holmes trying to figure out the meaning of
these last words. These days most of us know that the murder
weapon is and title refers to a deadly swamp adder.
Now this is a classic, but it occurs to me that this story is
really a prime example of what is frequently called "the idiot
plot." That is a story where if one person did the logical thing,
the whole plot would fall apart. The plot works only because the
people are behaving like idiots. They are unrealistically doing it
as well. Now I am not going to try to second-guess the great
Sherlock Holmes. I will assume it was a brilliant piece of
deduction to figure out that the clues pointed to the murder weapon
being a deadly reptile. Even the clue that there was an indiscrete
saucer of milk left hanging around. How that points to swamp adder
I have no idea, because adders, being reptiles, are not partial to
dairy products. There are few swamps where any self-respecting
adder would get a taste for milk. But what is really foolish in
the plotting is the behavior of the victim. What kind of person
would feel herself dying, find a sympathetic sister, and say
something stupid like "the speckled band." And people in the story
think the words mean a speckled band of gypsies. Her last words
are poetic. They are picturesque language. But under the
circumstances it really is not the way the woman would express
herself. Does it not only seem more natural and at the same time
more intelligent for her to yell in the loudest voice she can
muster, "SNAKE!!"? [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and the MT VOID (letter of
comment by Guy Lillian)
In response to the MT VOID in general and Mark's comments on
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON in the 09/18/20 issue of the MT VOID
in particular, Guy Lillian writes in ZINE DUMP #50:
Every week a new edition of MT Void appears in subscribers'
inboxes, and I strongly, strongly recommend readers join their
number. The Leepers are excellent writers with broad interests
within the field, and fill their zine with entertaining and
readable--and varied--content. In this particular issue from late
September, for instance, Mark mulls THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK
LAGOON and Evelyn visits Jean Cocteau's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Both
films strike vivid memories for me. I was terrified of the Black
Lagoon trailer as a whelp, awed by its 3-D effects when I finally
viewed it in its intended form, amused when it inspired THE SHAPE
OF WATER, an Oscar-winning film. I first saw BELLE ET BETE at the
1976 Rivercon/DeepSouthCon, one of fandom's great events for me (I
mean, Muhammed Ali was at the hotel). The lettercol looks back at
a previous topic, Infomercials, which issue also covered this
year's NASFiC and THE AFRICAN QUEEN (the actual boat is on view in
the Florida Keys, and can be rented out). A contributor's long
review of the TV series DARK graces an issue from August; Mark
talked about kosher food earlier that month. What's next?
Subscribe and we'll both know! [-gl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Translation (letter of comment by Gary Labowitz)
In response to various comments on translation in the 09/25/20
issue of the MT VOID, Gary Labowitz writes:
When I worked the IBM exhibit at the 1964 World's Fair in New York
we had a display on "Mechanical Translation" which was a big deal
back then. It was computerized to do word (and I think some
phrases) lookup in dictionaries and produce a "translation." The
reports we got was that a sample translation, from Russian, no
less, was an input of "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is
weak" came out as "The vodka is good, but the meat is spoiled." I
doubt this was true, but we handed it out anyway.
One of my favorite jokes (which my wife will confirm that I have
told ad nauseam) goes as follows:
A British man is touring the USA by car. He is going through
Nebraska when he sees a local at a fence around a huge farm of corn
plants as far as he could see. He pulls over and asks the farmer
there, "What on earth do you do with all this corn?" The farmer
answers, "Well, we eat what we can, and what we can't, we can."
The Brit laughs, with a comment of "very good!" and gets back into
his car and drives off. When he returns to England he is telling a
group of his friends about his trip. He explains, "At one point I
stopped and asked a farmer there, "What do you do with these vast
quantities of corn? He gave me a most humourous reply." The
groups presses him with, "Oh, do tell us Clarence ... and "Yes,
do." and so forth. "Ah," Clarence says, "he replied to my question
by saying, "We eat what we're able, and what we're not, we put up
in tins." They all chuckle at this.
It's a clear case of mistranslation which in this case is a valid
translation but misses the "flavor" of the reply.
I could never figure out why they found any of this exchange
amusing. [-gl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE by V. E. Schwab (Tor, ISBN 978-0-
765-38756-1) is invisible because Addie has sold her soul for
freedom. But she discovers to her dismay that this freedom seems
to be more "freedom from" than "freedom to"--she leaves no trace
behind, not even memory.
The basic idea seems to be the same as a novel (novella? I seem to
think it was half of an Ace Double) in which the main character is
so non-descript that people simply don't see him. If he grabs
someone by the arm, they will see his hand and follow his arm up to
where they do see him, but as soon as he lets go, he fades from
their sight (and memory). (I don't think it is A GIFT FROM EARTH
by Larry Niven, which has a very similar idea.) Addie has to learn
to negotiate her way through life with this handicap, so though the
book is fantasy, it also has some of the feel of science fiction,
taking one premise and then examining all the ramifications of it.
As such, it has appeal for both fantasy and science fiction fans.
[-ecl]
===================================================================
Mark Leeper
*mleeper@optonline.net *
A saleslady holds up an ugly dress and says,
'This looks much better on.' On what? On fire?
--Rita Rudner