@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society Club Notice - 07/26/91 -- Vol. 10, No. 4 MEETINGS UPCOMING: Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are on Wednesdays at noon. LZ meetings are in LZ 2R-158. MT meetings are in the cafeteria. _D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C 08/07 LZ: EARTH by David Brin (Hugo nominee) 08/28 LZ: QUEEN OF ANGELS by Greg Bear (Hugo nominee) 09/18 LZ: THE FALL OF HYPERION by Dan Simmons (Hugo nominee) 10/09 LZ: THE QUIET POOLS by Michael Kube-McDowell (Hugo nominee) 10/30 LZ: MINDBRIDGE by Joe Haldeman 11/20 LZ: EON by Greg Bear 12/11 LZ: MIRKHEIM by Poul Anderson _D_A_T_E _E_X_T_E_R_N_A_L _M_E_E_T_I_N_G_S/_C_O_N_V_E_N_T_I_O_N_S/_E_T_C. 08/10 SFABC: Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: TBA (phone 201-933-2724 for details) (Saturday) 08/10 Hugo Ballots due 08/17 NJSFS: New Jersey Science Fiction Society: TBA (phone 201-432-5965 for details) (Saturday) HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 834-1563 hocpa!jetzt LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell LZ 1B-306 576-6106 mtuxo!jrrt MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 957-5619 mtgzy!leeper HO Librarian: Rebecca Schoenfeld HO 2K-430 949-6122 homxb!btfsd LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 576-3346 mtunq!lfl MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 957-5619 mtgzy!leeper Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 957-2070 mtgzy!ecl All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted. 1. I have to tell you about this disappointing thing that happened to me. I had been hearing for months about the restoration of _S_p_a_r_t_a_c_u_s. I was licking my chops and looking forward to the release. Not that I hadn't seen the film. I actually have a very good copy on tape, stereophonic sound and overture and everything. I love a spectacular film with an overture. Somehow hearing five minutes of music before you see anything, then having the film actually start (if possible, with a curtain rise), just fills me with excitement and anticipation. I'm serious. I love it! THE MT VOID Page 2 Anyway, I really wanted to go see it on a wide screen. As the time grew near I really was sorely tempted to watch my copy, even without the "snails and oysters" scene. Big deal. One scene. And a few violent fight scenes that the censor cut. What is good about the film is Ustinov's performance, and Olivier's, and Douglas's. Well, a poster showed up at my local theater. I went away on vacation looking forward to seeing the film when I got back from vacation. When I got back the film was gone. "Pulled from circulation for lack of attendance." I should have watched my copy when I wanted to. 2. I am sort of looking forward to the next Leeperhouse film fest. On Thursday, August 1, at 7 PM, we will be showing one of the great historical epics. And if you make noise or distract me, I break your head. Spartacus SPARTACUS (1960) dir. by Stanley Kubrick What can one say about Stanley Kubrick's account of the Servile Rebellion against Ancient Rome? It is considered to be both intelligent and spectacular. It has a superb score by Alex North. What can you say about a cast like Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Tony Curtis, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov (a superb scene-stealer), John Gavin, Nina Foch, Herbert Lom, John Ireland, and Woody Strode? It won four Oscars. And it, together with _E_x_o_d_u_s, broke the Hollywood blacklist by openly giving screenplay credit to the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo. It could have easily been boycotted. When it wasn't, the blacklist was broken. Several moving scenes punctuate the film. If you have seen it, see it again. If you haven't seen it, you'd be stupid to miss it. Almost up to _L_a_w_r_e_n_c_e _o_f _A_r_a_b_i_a. 3. Does anyone have a copy of "Over the Long Haul" by Martha Soukup (which first appeared in _A_m_a_z_i_n_g, March 1990) that I could borrow? (Why is there always one Hugo nominee that's impossible to find?) If you do, send e-mail to mtgzy!ecl, or call me at 957-2070. Thanks. [-ecl] 4. I am told that in the last notice I referred to "Columbia." The current spelling is "Colombia." Yes, I know what you are thinking. It doesn't look right to me either. But that is the correct spelling of the country. Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 957-5619 ...mtgzy!leeper All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason. -- Immanuel Kant TALES OF NATURAL AND UNNATURAL CATASTROPHES by Patricia Highsmith Atlantic Monthly, 1987, ISBN 0-87113-341-5, $8.95. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1991 Evelyn C. Leeper Patricia Highsmith is primarily known as a mystery writer, yet in this collection she is well withing the bounds of "speculative fiction." I suspect it is her unfamiliarity with the genre that leads her occasionally to re-use well-worn plots, yet her style helps rescue them from mediocrity. The first two stories place more emphasis on style than on the actual events involved. "The Mysterious Cemetery" has an eerie quality that seems to be a cross between Poe and Lovecraft. "Moby Dick II; or The Missile Whale," on the other hand, while evoking Melville in the title, bears little stylistic similarity. Rather, parts of it reminded me of Richard Adams's "animal's-eye" view of things. From these two atmospheric stories, we go on to more plot-oriented ones. "Operation Balsam; or Touch-Me-Not" is a tale of what might be happening to the country's radioactive waste--not unlike other cautionary tales perhaps, but far more realistic in plotting and characterization than most (and far less optimistic than anything _A_n_a_l_o_g would print). "Naubuti: Warm Welcome to a UN Committee" may not be politically correct these days, but it probably reflects the reality of life in the newly independent states in Africa. ("Newly" here means in the last thirty years.) If Tor is looking for a thematic pairing of stories for their "Tor Doubles" series, I would suggest this and Mike Resnick's "Bully!" as excellent stories on the theme "Is Africa Ready for Independence?" (Boy, if that doesn't stir up discussion, nothing will!) (After writing this, I noted that "Bully!" has been paired with Resnick's "Bwana" so I suppose that puts an end to that. But there could still be a theme anthology....) Just what a "kinder, gentler" America could lead to is examined in "Sweet Freedom! And a Picnic on the White House Lawn." Or as a friend of mine is fond of quoting, "Be careful what you ask for, because you might get it." If you want a classic horror story a la the old E. C. Comics, try "Trouble at the Jade Towers." (It also reminded me of the episode "Beetles" from _T_a_l_e_s _f_r_o_m _t_h_e _D_a_r_k_s_i_d_e.) In "Rent-a-Womb vs. the Mighty Right" Highsmith points out the illogic in many of the positions of the "New Right." (Of course, that's just _m_y opinion. Your mileage may vary, as they say, in this case depending on your philosophy.) As "Rent-a-Womb vs. the Mighty Right" is about birth, so "No End in Sight" is about death, making a neat diptych in the center of this book. The yellowish-green glow of Naomi predates Stephen King's _G_o_l_d_e_n _Y_e_a_r_s Tales of Catastrophes July 12, 1991 Page 2 by four years, by the way, so I wouldn't rush to assume any influence here. Just because Naomi is over 200 years old and glows green could be a coincidence. (Then again, "No End in Sight" is right about the same time as _T_o_m_m_y_k_n_o_c_k_e_r_s, the original green glow story.) The politics of religion resurfaces in "Sixtus VI, Pope of the Red Slipper," as well as some older ideas as well. Does the Lord work in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform? Or is it all accident and happenstance? In any case, this extrapolation of liberation theology certainly stimulates thought. Unfortunately, the collection ends on a weak note with "President Buck Jones Rallies and Waves the Flag," heavily inspired (so far as I can tell) by Stanley Kubrick's _D_r.=_S_t_r_a_n_g_e_l_o_v_e. What isn't Kubrick seems pure Ron and Nancy, and it's a pity that an otherwise good collection finishes up on such a lame story. I haven't read other Highsmith books, and so can't comment on her work in general. But these speculative fiction stories are recommended as a way of seeing things from a different perspective.