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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 11/26/93 -- Vol. 12, No. 22
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are in Holmdel 4N-509
Wednesdays at noon.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
12/08 STAND ON ZANZIBAR by John Brunner (Classic SF)
01/05 A MILLION OPEN DOORS by John Barnes (Nebula Nominee) (MT)
01/26 Bookswap (MT)
02/16 Demo of Electronic Hugo and Nebula Anthology (MT)
Outside events:
The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the second
Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call 201-933-2724 for
details. The New Jersey Science Fiction Society meets on the third
Saturday of every month in Belleville; call 201-432-5965 for details.
HO Chair: John Jetzt MT 2G-432 908-957-5087 holly!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell HO 1C-523 908-834-1267 holly!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper
HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 homxc!11366ns
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen HO 2C-318 908-949-4156 quartet!lfl
MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 mtgpfs1!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
1. Well, it is starting to happen. I knew it would happen shortly
after the elderly found their political voice, as they have. The
elderly have claimed that they are the minority that we will all
become, right? Well that may not be true, but there is another
pressure group that is not a minority and that we will definitely
all become part of with time. I am referring, of course, to the
Dead. I just heard on the radio a story about the newest political
pressure group, the Dead. Apparently in Italy there was a law that
citizens were responsible for some tax or other, even if they had
been dead for under a year. The law was just rescinded because
they decided that taxes against the Dead were unenforcible. This
sets a really bad precedent. This may well just give rise to new
resentments of the Dead. It is already legal to refuse to hire
someone just because he or she is dead. However, when people do
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discriminate against the Dead, often it is with better reason than
we would like to think. It isn't all racist reasons like "they
smell bad" or "they look funny" or "they don't pay their debts," or
"they are cliquish and don't mix with the rest of us." I find with
dead people that if you give them an inch, they take a mile. They
have had good press until now. They are considered to be a well-
behaved segment of the population that cause very little trouble.
Oh there have been the occasional films by far-sighted political
visionaries like George Romero suggesting that there was some
threat from them, but by in large their image in the media has been
a positive one. And people who you would expect would be dead but
have avoided joining their numbers, people like Dracula, the Mummy,
and Saddam Hussein, are getting worse press for refusing to become
part of the Dead.
However, I would like to point out that the numbers of the Dead
increase every day and some of the greatest political activists of
all time have joined their numbers. And some of the best military
strategists. Did you know, by the way, when people use the phrase
"the silent majority" it is usually misused? The phrase was first
used by some famous ancient Greek, probably Plato, and it referred
to the Dead. But how long can it be before spokesmen for the Dead
start lobbying congress? (Hey, didn't Orson Scott Card write a
book called _S_p_e_a_k_e_r _f_o_r _t_h_e _D_e_a_d?) There are those who think that
the Dead are already hell-raising (so to speak). Certainly in
Argentina they thought that the Perons are every bit as powerful
dead as alive. Imelda Marcos has said that the reason we have been
having all these climate disasters is that it is Ferdinand upset
about the fact that he cannot be buried in his own country. In
China leaping ghosts were thought to be used by the Communist
government. I tell you the Dead are a serious threat to all of us.
There are today something like twenty dead people for every man,
woman, and child alive. And when one of them comes knocking at
your door demanding his rights, are you going to tell him no?
===================================================================
2. TESTING by Charles Oberndorf (Bantam Spectra, ISBN 0-553-56181-
2, 1993, US$3.99) (a book review by Evelyn C. Leeper):
This is yet another in Bantam Spectra's excellent series of
novellas. In a future after the "Great Fall" (apparently an
economic _a_n_d social collapse), students undergo morality training
and testing. The training reminded me of the classes in Robert
A. Heinlein's _S_t_a_r_s_h_i_p _T_r_o_o_p_e_r_s; the testing reminded me of the old
Isaac Asimov story (at least I think it was Asimov) about a driving
test. This is not a bad thing--science fiction has a grand
tradition of building on and responding to what came before. One
thing that doesn't seem to have changed with the Great Fall is that
high school classes concentrate more on rote learning than on
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thinking, more on having the "right" answer, even when they pay lip
service to independent thought. If Oberndorf has a moral to his
story, it's that ethics and morality have to come from within
through self-examination; they can't be "taught" like geometry or
Latin. (Of course, that's just the moral I concluded through my
reasoning that he was proposing; your mileage may vary, and that's
probably the point as well.)
One touch I liked which may not have been intentional: The
headmaster if the school says, "... our Great Fall had deeper
meaning than a simple economic collapse. Although many in this
country are not Christian and worship God in their own way, our
tradition is Judeo-Christian. When we say _f_a_l_l, we think of Adam
and Eve and their fall from grace. And the Great Fall was our
nation's fall from grace." The seeming afterthought to make
"Christian" into "Judeo-Christian," especially since Judaic
tradition does not have the concept of the "fall from grace" that
Christianity has or the headmaster claims, is precisely typical of
using formulae instead of thinking about what is being said. I
hear it now, and it seems likely to continue, even after the "Great
Fall."
Oberndorf also postulates an interesting new family structure. I
don't think it particularly likely--especially in a society still
waving the flag of "Judeo-Christian tradition"--but I'm willing to
grant the possibility for the sake of the story. As in his first
work, _S_h_e_l_t_e_r_e_d _L_i_v_e_s, Oberndorf is examining society and morality
in a more direct way than one usually finds in science fiction, and
I recommend _T_e_s_t_i_n_g.
===================================================================
3. THE REMAINS OF THE DAY (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule review: Anthony Hopkins plays Mr. Stevens,
a butler whose carries his integrity and dedication
to his profession to such a degree that he has lost
himself in his job and his only ideals are serving
his master. Hopkins and Emma Thompson turn in good
performances, but this sad film is just not up to
all the buildup. Rating: low +2 (-4 to +4).
Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) is Lord Darlington's loyal butler. And
that is all that Stevens allows himself to be. Very old values
tell Stevens that every fiber of his being should be devoted to his
vocation. So he has strangled off every emotion and inclination
but those of loyalty and integrity as a butler. Lord Darlington
(played by James Fox) is, after all, a very important man. As a
diplomat he entertains other diplomats from all over Europe. As
Germany re-arms under Hitler, Darlington has strong sympathies for
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the German people and he holds international conferences in
Darlington Manor to convince other countries that Germany under
Hitler does not constitute a threat. Stevens does not so much
submerge his feelings about his master's politics as actually deny
himself the right to even hold any feeling or opinion but loyalty.
Into this house comes a new housekeeper, Miss Kenton, played by
Emma Thompson. At first there is friction between Stevens and Miss
Kenton, particularly over Stevens' father, who has come to work in
the same house. Eventually they learn to work together and to some
degree understand each other. Miss Kenton is even startled one day
to discover Stevens actually respects her. She responds by
developing affection for Stevens and is frustrated to realize that
Stevens does not allow himself the emotion to reciprocate her
feelings.
Stevens' loyalty is made all the more tragic by the shallowness of
the diplomats and friends of Darlington who feel they are the
saviors of Europe while steering it toward inevitable war.
Yet the story is a bit of a tear-jerker and seems to do less with
more than this year's similarly themed _U_n _C_o_e_u_r _e_n _H_i_v_e_r. The
screenplay is by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala based on the novel by Kazuo
Ishiguro. And there is something else here that is unexpected from
a British-born writer. European films often show Americans as
being brash dilettantes. While Christopher Reeve, as an American
congressman attending a conference, is an idealist, he also is
perhaps the only one of Darlington's guests to understand the
issues involved at the conference.
_T_h_e _R_e_m_a_i_n_s _o_f _t_h_e _D_a_y is impeccably directed by James Ivory and
Hopkins' acting is a joy to behold as he walks around the Manor
giving bulldog looks and overseeing his master's house. Hopkins is
always able to find something physical to do with a scene that
seems to go beyond the script. In one scene Thompson is trying to
pry an object from his hands. Hopkins resists, then relents. Most
actors would simply let go of the object cradled in their arms.
Hopkins flattens his hand giving an unexpected gesture of
surrender. Thompson is engaging also, but with much less of a
flair for the unexpected.
This is a solid film that may remind some of the TV series
_U_p_s_t_a_i_r_s, _D_o_w_n_s_t_a_i_r_s. The characters are well portrayed but it is
just a bit obvious in theme. I would give it a low +2 on the -4 to
+4 scale.
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
leeper@mtgzfs3.att.com
Society produces rogues, and education makes one
rogue cleverer than another.
-- Oscar Wilde