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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 08/07/92 -- Vol. 11, No. 6
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are on Wednesdays at noon.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
08/26 HO: BONE DANCE by Emma Bull (Hugo nominee) (HO 1N-410)
09/16 HO: THE SILMARILLION by J.R.R. Tolkien (Alternate Mythologies)
(HO 4N-509)
_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.
08/08 SFABC: Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: Multi-media
astronomical presentation (phone 201-933-2724 for details)
(Saturday)
08/15 NJSFS: New Jersey Science Fiction Society: TBA
(phone 201-432-5965 for details) (Saturday)
HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 908-834-1563 hocpb!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell HO 1D-505A 908-834-1267 hocpb!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzy!leeper
HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 homxc!11366ns
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 908-576-3346 mtfme!lfl
MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzy!leeper
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
1. Well, we showed episodes 4 through 6 of "The Survivors" and as I
expected, there was a discussion afterward. Since these showings
seem to be getting a loyal following, I have decided to show the
whole series. We will move up the schedule to having film nights
every other Thursday and alternate between movies and episodes of
"The Survivors." To get around one member's schedule we will show
"The Survivors" next. So Thursday night, August 13, at 7 PM, we
will show episodes 7 to 9.
2. Last week I wrote about Elizabeth Fee's marvelous metaphor to
the New Jersey Curriculum Transformation Project that science was
essentially a masculine rape of a passive and feminine Nature.
What she said was:
"Mind was male. Nature was female, and [scientific]
knowledge was created as an act of aggression--a
THE MT VOID Page 2
passive nature had to be interrogated, unclothed,
penetrated, and compelled by man to reveal her
secrets."
It strikes me that Fee's belief that Nature is passive might just
possibly come from somebody who has never been caught unprotected
in a hurricane, who has never seen near-at-hand the ravages of
disease, who has never had to fight off a shark attack, and who has
been living with a very romanticized view of nature. (Or is it me
who has lived with a romanticized view of femininity?)
Ms. Fee might ask a chipmunk just how passive nature is. Humans
have the luxury of seeing Nature as a big, friendly Mother Nature
because of a number of factors, not the least of which is that we
have just about always been the biggest and meanest animal around.
I occasionally brush my tongue across my sharp teeth and think to
something like a chipmunk we must look like pretty scary fighting
machines. The truth is that those sharp teeth are each bigger than
the vast majority of animals on this planet. The world is a much
more terrifying place to a chipmunk than it was to Fee's pre-
technology ancestors.
But even these ancestors lived in a dangerous world. Even at their
tremendous, there were still other animals to prey on them. And
there was a constant threat of starvation. That was where came in
this technology and science that Ms. Fee characterizes as being
masculine and rapist. Science and technology kept away the animal
predators, kept away diseases, put food on her table. Nature is
anything but passive. It is an unending arena of life-and-death
struggles in which Fee had a distinct advantage because her
forbears were big and mean and had science to help them.
Fee strikes me as the maiden who, once saved from the dragon, turns
around and first says it wasn't much of a dragon, then criticizes
the knight for how he rescued her.
3. Well, the discussion of the Hugo-nominated short stories was
quite spirited, and went well over the official hour for the
meeting. I will not attempt to recount the entire discussion here,
but will give a few comments. Of "A Walk in the Sun" Rob Mitchell
said that he enjoyed stories about the indomitable human spirit, to
which Charlie Harris responded, "Unlike Rob, I dislike stories
about the indomitable human spirit, especially when they involve
long walks across rough terrain." Charlie also said he disliked
fantasy, then voted "Winter Solstice" first, saying it had a
"hopeless, relentless, driving urgency." People divided sharply on
whether "Buffalo" or "In the Late Cretaceous" were actually science
fiction, over whether they liked humorous stories, over whether
they liked fantasy, over whether they liked hard-science puzzle
stories, and over just about everything else--so it's all the more
surprising that the "winner" won by such a large margin as it did.
THE MT VOID Page 3
And yes, there is a winner. We had all read the stories, and so we
all voted. Since this is an AT&T science fiction club, I guess
these are the first annual "Alexanders." Given below are the raw
votes ("1" means first place, etc.; tie votes were averaged and are
indicated with decimal places), the total score per story, and the
rankings.
ECL RTM DLS NJS CSH TOTAL RANK TITLE
2 2 2 2.5 1 9.5 1 Michael Resnick: "Winter Solstice"
7 1 3 7 5 23 2 Geoffrey A. Landis: "A Walk in the
Sun"
3 7 1 5.5 7 23.5 3* John Kessel: "Buffalo"
6 4.0 5 5.5 3 23.5 3* Mike Resnick: "One Perfect Morning,
With Jackals"
5 8 4 1 6 24 5 No Award
4 4.0 6 2.5 8 24.5 6 Martha Soukup: "Dog's Life"
1 6 7 8 4 26 7* Connie Willis: "In the Late
Cretaceous"
8 4.0 8 4 2 26 7* Terry Bisson: "Press Ann"
* tie
4. Patrick Connolly in Columbus sends the follows announcement:
Context is a science fiction convention focusing on the written
word. Scheduled October 2 - 4, 1992, Context V will be held at the
Hilton Inn North in Worthington, OH (just south of intersection of
US 23 and I270 near Columbus). The Guest of Honor is George Alec
Effinger; the Editor Guest of Honor is Martin H. Greenberg; the Fan
Guest of Honor is Debbie Hoginson; special guests are Joan
Slonczewski, Buck & Juanita Coulson, and Dennis McKiernan (who used
to be a member way back when!). Events include a variety of
panels, presentations and seminars; a short story contest for best
original science fiction or fantasy; story; entries must be
received August 15, 1992, winning entry to be published in _L_a_n'_s
_L_a_n_t_e_r_n; childrens' programming for younger fans; art show and
auction; masquerade featuring costumes based on written SF/fantasy;
the finest hospitality suite in central Ohio; autographing;
babysitting; dealers' room; filking; and the SF limerick contest.
Membership rates are $30.00 until September 15, $35.00 thereafter
(payable to FANACO, Inc). For more information, contact Context V,
PO Box 2954, Columbus, OH 43216.
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
...mtgzy!leeper
All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately
unrehearsed.
-- Sean O'Casey
ENCHANTED APRIL
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: This is a light and _v_e_r_y
pleasant comedy that could be used as an ad for the
Italian Tourism Board. It starts like
E. M. Forster's indignant social dramas and then
unwinds under the warm Italian sun into a rich
romantic comedy. It features beautiful settings and
people you would love to meet. Rating: +2 (-4 to
+4).
I admit it. The reason I wanted to see this movie was because
I wanted to see more of Miranda Richardson. No, I wasn't taken with
her stunning beauty. I just saw her in one film clip in which she
had no lines. She was only reacting to a conversation between Josie
Lawrence and Joan Plowright. The conversation was funny but
Richardson's reactions were priceless. I admit it was a silly
reason to pay $7 to see a film but nothing else in the film appealed
to me. And this is a film that turned out to be well worth seeing.
This film seamlessly bridges the gap between E. M. Forster social
indignation and a Shakespearean romanticism.
It is a rainy, ugly winter in 1922 London. Lottie Wilkins
(played by Josie Lawrence) sees a stranger, Rose Arbuthnot (played
by Miranda Richardson) wistfully looking at the same newspaper ad
that she had. It offered a Northern Italian castle for rent for
April ... "wisteria and sunshine." Both women are unhappily
married, Lottie to a miserly businessman (played by Alfred Molina)
and Rose to a writer of sexy novels (played by Jim Broadbent). With
four women they might be able to swing the vacation. They find a
crusty old harridan, Mrs. Fisher, whose father knew every great
literary genius of his generation. Also there is a world-weary
heiress, Lady Caroline Dester. Soon the mousey Lottie and Rose find
why it is not good to travel with strangers. Mrs. Fisher is selfish
and nasty, Lady Caroline is cold and aloof. Then the warmth and the
beauty of Portofino begins to work a kind of magic on all.
Mike Newell, who previously directed the horror film _T_h_e
_A_w_a_k_e_n_i_n_g and later directed Richardson in _D_a_n_c_e _w_i_t_h _a _S_t_r_a_n_g_e_r,
here directs a surprisingly magnetic film. Peter Barnes adapted the
1922 novel by Elizabeth von Armin. The film was shot in the same
castle where von Armin wrote her novel. Each of the four actresses
has opportunities to stand out and Molina's half-serious, half-comic
role is also a positive pleasure. Watching this film is like taking
a pleasant vacation. This is one of the year's best films. I rate
it a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
A FIRE ON THE DEEP by Vernor Vinge
A book review by Dale L. Skran
Copyright 1992 Dale L. Skran
Vernor Vinge is one of the little heralded great pioneers of
modern SF. Several times a nominee for the Hugo, he has not caught
the fancy of the mass of SF fans, yet is recognized as a seminal
innovator by a tiny group. _T_r_u_e _N_a_m_e_s showed us cyberspace long
before Gibson started his career, but more than that, it opened the
door to a new generation of writers(including Gibson) that dealt in
human transcendence. The torch was taken up by Bruce Sterling in
his Shaper/Mech stories and novels, as well as by Gibson and others.
Yet still Vinge went unrecognized, relegated to the back pages of
_A_n_a_l_o_g.
With _M_a_r_o_o_n_e_d _i_n _R_e_a_l _T_i_m_e Vinge reached what may be the peak
of his form. He created a gripping murder mystery with fascinating,
engaging characters just for starters. He piled on a sweeping
vision of time and the human future with the "Singularity." Simply
put, Vinge posits an endpoint to human history, a moment of true
transcendence when, artificially boosted, human intelligence becomes
something unknowable, something akin to godhood.
Then Vinge stopped writing. He had stepped too close to
reality for his taste. In the not too distant future he could
foresee the end of knowable humanity, and the end of the time period
SF writers could honestly write epic stories of the future.
Now, Vinge returns with a sweeping tale of an unlikely, even
impossible future. He creates a gimmick to allow him to write the
kind of "super-science" stories he likes to read--the Slow Zone. In
some twisted fashion, the center of the galaxy inhibits thought,
both human and electronic, as well as faster than light travel,
which is apparently tied in some complex fashion to thought itself.
This gimmick is similar to that used by Poul Anderson in _B_r_a_i_n _W_a_v_e,
but with some significant differences.
In the "Unthinking Deeps" no civilization can arise; real
intelligence is simply impossible. Woe betide the ships that wander
here! In the "Slow Zone" thought is possible, as well as simple
computers, but faster than light travel is not. In the "Beyond,"
computers and minds work much better, and "ultra-drive" works.
Finally, in the "Transcend," it is possible to achieve transcendence
and vanish from the ken of lesser beings.
On this canvas Vinge spins a tale of pack-intelligences and
little boys, of a woman who survived the murder of billions and a
man who was godshatter, of a Power who learned too late that there
are always the greater and the lessor, of a hollowed-eyed crew
Fire on the Deep August 3, 1992 Page 2
lusting for vengeance the heroism of the tool of an ancient evil,
and of the courage of a young girl.
While reading _A _F_i_r_e _o_n _t_h_e _D_e_e_p_s, I kept saying to myself,
"This is pretty good, but aggh! what a gimmick!" Toward the end, I
came to the realization that by showing us this unlikely caravan of
miracles, Vinge is reminding us of just how strange the universe may
yet be! There are even those, such a Roger Penrose (_T_h_e _E_m_p_e_r_o_r'_s
_N_e_w _M_i_n_d), who believe that thought and consciousness may have a
quantum mechanical component. And if it did, is it impossible that
the subtle twisting of spacetime by the black hole at the center of
the galaxy might, just might have some effect on thought--human and
machine?
Recommended to fans of Vinge, Bear, Benford, Reed, Gibson,
Sterling, E.~E.~Smith, hard SF, and anyone who has a net address.
P.S.: To all those loyal readers of Skran reviews, this is the
first to be composed on a notebook PC while flying over the Atlantic
Ocean.
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS by James Fenimore Cooper
Bantam, 1981 (1826c), ISBN 0-553-21329-6, $3.50.
A book review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper
I guess the question arises, why review in 1992 a book
published in 1826 which has been in print most of the intervening
time? Does it even make sense to review an acknowledged classic? I
think it does make sense, as there is a film version coming up in
the near future and there may well be people made curious about the
novel by the film or, as in my case, by the coming attractions. I
do recognize that a number of literary people have already given up
on the film because 1) the main character's name was changed form
Natty Bumppo to Nathaniel Poe and 2) the film interpolates a love
interest. (I am not so ready to condemn these decisions since I
remember seeing the name Bumppo only once in the novel. The
character is always called Hawkeye in the novel. As for love
interest--well, that is one interpretation for what Hawkeye does in
the novel. It is never made explicit in the prose, but you might
find love interest if you choose to read between the lines. In any
case, how bad can a film be if it stars Daniel Day Lewis?)
_T_h_e _L_a_s_t _o_f _t_h_e _M_o_h_i_c_a_n_s manages by a strange coincidence to be
the second of the five Leatherstocking tales. It is the second
written, the second published, and the second by internal
chronology. I say this is a coincidence since, if I read my
Britannica correctly, the three orderings are fairly different from
each other. "Leatherstocking," incidentally, is another alias for
Natty Bumppo. (Actually elsewhere Indians call him "La Longue
Carabine.") Just why such an upstanding citizen as Bumppo needs
three aliases is a mystery to me unless it is just an effort to
escape that silly surname.
_T_h_e _L_a_s_t _o_f _t_h_e _M_o_h_i_c_a_n_s is an acknowledged world classic. The
same Britannica article talks about how Russian and Polish school
children know Natty Bumppo. Actually it is my suspicion today that
it is a novel that reads better in translation than it does in its
original. The plot leans much more to action than to deep
consideration of universal themes. I was, in fact, somewhat
surprised to find that this respected novel was so much an adventure
story with so little introspection. I would almost say this was a
thumping page-turner except for the usage of prose. The novel is
written in a stodgy early 19th Century prose that, at least for me,
ruins a lot of the impact of the story-telling. It is one thing in
a story set in a forest to be told that your enemy is creeping ever
closer. It is another thing to be told in a sixty-word sentence
that the varlet is drawing nigher. I am not sure if it is the
vocabulary that is out-dated or the lack of concrete prose. But the
language, I found, really distanced me from the action. I often got
Last of the Mohicans August 2, 1992 Page 2
through paragraphs with only a vague sense of what they actually had
said, and perhaps settled for that too easily out of laziness.
Part of what made this novel considered good was its treatment
of the Indians in the story. Only some of the description of their
lifestyle and practices really struck me as realistic. The Indians
often used the same stodgy language that the white men and the
author used. (Well, perhaps if the only English they heard was
stodgy, they would use stodgy language.) Somehow it just did not
sound like language that Indians would use. The Indians were also
not shown as paragons of tolerance either. There clearly was no
love lost between some of the tribes. Probably worst was the old
cliche that Indians lust after white women. But the Indians were
treated as full characters. Some were good, some bad, but all were
people. They were not just bright animals or vicious demons. They
were full-fledged characters and some had real nobility.
I have said a lot about the book without really mentioning the
plot. The story is set in what is now upper New York State during
the French and Indian Wars. An English party, led by Major Duncan
Heyward, is being guided to Fort William Henry by Magua, an Indian
scout. Little do they know that Magua is working for the French and
leading the party into a trap. Then, in the best tradition of
Tarzan, out of the wilderness comes the great white scout Hawkeye,
accompanied by his faithful Indian equal Chingachgook and
Chingachgook's son Uncas. Chingachgook and Uncas are the only two
survivors of the disaster that befell the noble Mohican tribe. Our
scouts chase away the treacherous Magua and agree to guide the party
themselves. But the evil Magua has more up his sleeve.
If this plot strikes you as being more characteristic of a
juvenile adventure film than of a towering classic, you are not
alone. Yet well into the 1800s, people were certain that the author
who would be best remembered from that century would be James
Fenimore Cooper and that Cooper's best work was _T_h_e _L_a_s_t _o_f _t_h_e
_M_o_h_i_c_a_n_s. And they were not entirely wrong. One hundred sixty-six
years later there are still people responding to this story. One
twelve-year-old saw the coming attraction for the new film version
and told his friend, "That's gonna be _a_w_e_s_o_m_e!"