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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 07/22/94 -- Vol. 13, No. 4
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are in Middletown 1R-400C
Wednesdays at noon.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
07/23 Movie: THE THING (Saturday night, 8PM, RSVP)
07/30 Movie: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (Saturday night, 8PM, RSVP)
07/31 Deadline for having Hugo ballots postmarked
08/03 Book: MOVING MARS by Greg Bear (Hugo Nominee)
08/09 Movie: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (Saturday night, 8PM, RSVP)
08/24 Book: VIRTUAL LIGHT by William Gibson (Hugo Nominee)
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.
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 m.r.leeper@att.com
HO Chair: John Jetzt MT 2G-432 908-957-5087 j.j.jetzt@att.com
HO Co-Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 n.j.sauer@att.com
HO Co-Librarian: Lance Larsen HO 2C-318 908-949-4156 l.f.larsen@att.com
MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 m.r.leeper@att.com
Distinguished Heinlein Apologist:
Rob Mitchell MT 2D-536 908-957-???? r.l.mitchell@att.com
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 e.c.leeper@att.com
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
1. No man who knows aught, can be so stupid to deny that all men
naturally were born free.
Milton
Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.
Rousseau
One of the small mental games I play is to take some famous quote
that most people know and most people who know it believe it and
ask myself do I really believe it. Do I have anything that should
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be added to it? For example I have published as a quote in this
notice that those who remember the past are condemned to be misled
by it. In fact I find that very much true. People believe they
are reliving a past and often miss the fact that history really
rarely repeats itself. Any historical analogy is a flawed one for
that reason. You can get a feel for the principles of history by
studying the past, and that is valuable, but you can never really
understand the present by making analogies with the past. There
will always be differences that spoil any such analogy.
Oliver Sachs talking on PBS quoted the famous Rousseau lament on
freedom, itself, I think, a comment on Milton's quote. Both are
restated above. First let me get out of the way the requisite
political correctness. I am sure that these two dumb doozles were
thinking of all people, but made the paternalistic error of
referring to all people as "man."
But I guess the first question we must ask is how free is someone
being born? Well, in the actual process, you are about as far from
freedom as you are ever going to get in life. You are being pushed
down a tiny narrow passage about like forty layers of spandex
coming down to a tube as big around as your arm into a world very
unlike any you have known. This is not real freedom in any sense I
recognize.
And then what sort of freedom do you know? You probably cannot
move off of your back. As soon as you can open your eyes you see
you are on a bed surrounded by bars. During the day you are in a
boring flat place also surrounded by bars. Oh, the bars _a_r_e for
your own good, at least that is what your government says. Your
government is generally one or two mobile trees who stand around
you and make funny, incomprehensible sounds. They have it all over
you physically and so you make them your personal deities for the
time being. You probably do not get any real freedom for years, a
very long time to you. If you ever get this level of restriction
again, you call it tyranny. Being a baby is the antithesis of
freedom.
We like to say that people are born free, lions are born free, even
plants are born free, I guess. But the simple fact is that it is
generally human adults who make this claim. Generally speaking,
the very young don't get a vote on that interpretation. We decide
for the young that they are free, as governments always claim their
people are. Now, I am not saying that all this is necessarily a
bad thing, kids given their freedom would be a danger to themselves
and to others. I am only suggesting that we ought to give some
thought to the statement that man (uh ... or woman) is born free
and is everywhere in chains. It sounds good but does not bear
close scrutiny. Or perhaps as Milton would have it, I don't know
aught.
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===================================================================
2. THE BREATH OF SUSPENSION by Alexander Jablokov (Arkham House,
ISBN 0-87054-167-6, 1994, 318pp, US$20.95) (a book review by Evelyn
C. Leeper):
Major publishers, I am told, don't like to bring out single-author
collections. They don't sell well enough in most cases to satisfy
whatever profitability formula the publishers use. What single-
author collections one does see from major publishers are usually
from only the biggest authors--multi-Hugo- and Nebula-winners who
have the clout (and draw) to convince the publishers that an
occasional collection is part of the package if they want the
novels as well.
All this is by way of explanation as to why science fiction fans
should be thankful that there exist smaller publishers such as Mark
Zeising, NESFA Press, and Arkham House who bring out single-author
collections which may not be wildly successful, but serve to make
available the otherwise unavailable short fiction of noted authors.
Zeising has produced a Pat Cadigan collection, NESFA has done
Cordwainer Smith, and Arkham House has done Nancy Kress's second
collection. (Kress's first, _T_r_i_n_i_t_y _a_n_d _O_t_h_e_r _S_t_o_r_i_e_s, was from
Bluejay Books, a smaller publisher who, alas, went under--perhaps
validating the major publishers' concerns.)
And now Arkham House has come out with _T_h_e _B_r_e_a_t_h _o_f _S_u_s_p_e_n_s_i_o_n, a
collection of ten stories by Alexander Jablokov. All the stories
have previously appeared in _I_s_a_a_c _A_s_i_m_o_v'_s _S_c_i_e_n_c_e _F_i_c_t_i_o_n
_M_a_g_a_z_i_n_e, but if anyone without their own collection of magazines
has ever tried to find a six-year-old issue of a science fiction
magazine they will understand why I describe such stories as
unavailable.
The jacket blurb makes comparisons between Jablokov's work and the
stories of the "Golden Age," but this is deceptive. Some of the
concepts may have also been used in the Golden Age, but the
execution is far distant from the straightforward Campbellian prose
that the term "Golden Age" evokes for me. Jablokov is far more of
a stylist, a far more sophisticated author in some sense, than
those earlier writers were. (Many of those earlier writers are
still writing now, and they are also often more sophisticated than
they were then.)
"The Breath of Suspension," for example, is somewhat reminiscent of
_A _C_a_n_t_i_c_l_e _f_o_r _L_e_i_b_o_w_i_t_z, but told in a non-linear fashion
requiring more attention from the reader. Several other stories
also jump around in time. "Many Mansions" has parallels to Poul
Anderson's "Time Patrol" series, but also deals with the marketing
of religion. "The Ring of Memory" is almost a cross between a
"Time Patrol" story and a "Twilight Zone" episode, with the scope
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of the former and the personal touch of the latter. "A Deeper
Sea," with its intelligent cetaceans, was probably expanded into
Jablokov's novel of the same name, but stands perfectly well on its
own here, and again has the non-linear narrative that Jablokov
seems to like.
Some stories, of course, flow from start to finish in the normal
chain of events. "Deathbinder" is a horror story of the sort that
the "Twilight Zone" might have done, but not quite in this way.
"Above Ancient Seas" is about colonizing other worlds and seems to
draw from Ray Bradbury's "Mars" stories. "Living Will" deals in
part with the question of computer storage of personalities; "The
Death Artist" is about memory and memories. "At the Cross-Time
Jaunters' Ball" is a parallel worlds story; "Beneath the Shadow of
Her Smile" is definitely alternate history, but the alternate
history aspect is secondary to Jablokov's examination of war and
what drives us to it.
Arkham House, like many other small-press publishers, takes pride
in the book as object as well as a conveyer of text. So the
collection is illustrated by J. K. Potter, who uses a photo-montage
technique to achieve striking, and often disturbing, effects. And
the books feels like something physically well-made. (I admit this
may be even more subjective than my opinions of the stories.)
Do I recommend this book? I tend to shy away from recommending
hardcover books, since rare is the science fiction reader who
isn't working with a budget. But most libraries won't get this
(mine will, because apparently the acquisitions person loves
science fiction--she also buys Zeising books), and the chance of it
being reprinted in paperback are slim indeed. If you've liked
Jablokov's novels (_C_a_r_v_e _t_h_e _S_k_y, _A _D_e_e_p_e_r _S_e_a, and _N_i_m_b_u_s) and
haven't had a chance to read these stories before, or want to read
them again (the stories bear reading more than once, one measure of
quality writing), then this book is worth the price.
(If your bookstore doesn't carry this and can't order it, you can
order it directly from Arkham House Publishers, P. O. Box 546, Sauk
City WI 53583.)
===================================================================
3. MINERVA WAKES by Holly Lisle (Baen, ISBN 0-671-72202-6, January
1994, 273pp, US$4.99) (a book review by Evelyn C. Leeper):
The blurbs described this as taking place "in an alternate
universe," but it is not an alternate history. The alternate
universe is one filled with satyrs, dragons, and other mythical
creatures. And what does Lisle do with this universe? Alas, not
much.
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Minerva and Darryl Kiakio have three children and a failing
marriage. Then the bad guys kidnap the children and Minerva and
Darryl have to rescue them by working together, finding their inner
talents, following their dreams, and satisfying several other
self-improvement cliches. I mean, really, the whole book reads
like "Ten Steps to a More Fulfilling Life." Fiction can teach us
lessons, but a bit of subtlety is desirable.
And if that weren't enough, the story is full of contrivances. For
example, when Minerva goes through to the other universe, neither
her clothes nor her eyeglasses pass through. But since it's been
established that she's blind without her glasses, she is able to
grope through the leaves on the ground and find her glasses--though
none of her clothes. (And when she does get clothes, they are
clearly described on page 62--and look nothing like what Clyde
Caldwell has painted on the cover.)
It's conceivable that this book is targeted at young mothers who
read fantasy, a category I miss on all three counts. The blurb
reads, "Three rules govern life. Never give up on your dreams.
Always stand up for what's right. And _n_e_v_e_r mess with the mommy."
Inside, this is rendered as "Never screw with the mommy," so maybe
the outside was toned down so mommies could leave the book lying
around the house. All I know is that it didn't do anything for me.
===================================================================
4. TRUE LIES (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule review: This is a mindless situation comedy
crossed with an even more mindless action film aimed
at an undemanding audience. Some of the gags work,
more often the improbabilities make one yearn for
the comparative logic, maturity, and subtlety of
even _T_h_e _M_a_n _f_r_o_m _U._N._C._L._E. Rating: high -1 (-4
to +4). Spoiler section following the review
discusses about some improbabilities.
Back when I was in second grade I had fantasies of leading a double
life as a seven-year-old and as a secret crime-fighter. Boy, it
would really surprise my teacher when she found out who I was when
my alter-ego rescued her from certain death at the hands of evil-
doers! Today I compliment myself by saying my fantasies were more
intelligent than _T_r_u_e _L_i_e_s. But deep in my heart I have to be
honest. I know the my childhood fantasies were childish on only on
a par with the new Schwarzenegger film.
Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a James Bond style spy
(undoubtedly because he is so inconspicuous, particularly among
Austrian body-builders.) He spends his days having shoot-outs with
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terrorists and discretely engaging in wild chases all over
Washington DC. His wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) never seems to
notice the cuts, scrapes, bruises, and occasional gunshot wounds he
must be getting. She thinks he is a boring computer salesman. His
daughter Dana (Eliza Dushku) thinks the old man is pretty dull
stuff too. Boy, are they in for some surprises when they find out
who he really is! Meanwhile there are terrorists called the
Crimson Jihad, headed by Aziz (Art Malik) and assisted by Juno (Tia
Carrere) who plan to hold up the United States to nuclear
blackmail. And boy, are they in for some surprises too! Boy, what
a whiz-bang plot!
Somewhere there was the seed here for what might have been a good
comedy--in fact, it is loosely based on a French farce called _L_a
_T_o_t_a_l_e. But like Schwarzenegger himself, the film was over-powered
by an excess of excess and just has too many scenes that require
the audience to turn down its thought processes and go along for
the ride. I found my mind did not have a setting low enough for
some of the shenanigans. On a spy film credibility scale from Matt
Helm to George Smiley, this one weighs in on the dumb side of
Maxwell Smart. The spy story is just the most rudimentary "get
captured by baddies and fight your way out" plot.
And just being stupid might be forgivable, but this film is also
mean-spirited and sadistic. The film asks us to believe that when
Helen knows Harry's secrets she will love him more. In fact, Harry
has revealed himself to be a vicious sadist toward both his wife
and an acquaintance of hers in ways that also abuse his position as
a spy. Harry is just not a very likable person. And frankly at
times this is just not a very likable film. When it is at its best
it is at the mediocrity level of _C_o_m_m_a_n_d_o--the sort of film where
entire ammo dumps can be fired at the hero and he never gets a
scratch. But when it also takes a light-hearted view of its hero
terrorizing his wife and others, _T_r_u_e _L_i_e_s can get unintentionally
ugly.
This is not to say there are not a few funny moments in the film
and a few nice stunts. Production design is by Peter Lamont who
worked on fourteen different James Bond films and this film borrows
more than a few little touches from Bond films. Our first view of
Tasker, taking off a wet-suit to reveal neatly pressed evening
clothes, is a touch lifted directly from GOLDFINGER. Much of the
Bond wit is present here. But Schwarzenegger is nowhere near the
actor that Connery or Dalton is. Curtis can act a little, but does
not get a chance in this film that reduces her to the status of
"dumb broad" and "victim."
This is a film with impressive effects work, the usual jaw-dropping
stunt work, and some fairly witty scenes. At 141 minutes it can
fit that in and still have room for a lot of very childish
storytelling. The trailer for the film give away free just about
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everything worthwhile that this film has to offer. It certainly
seems to be pleasing some people, including some I respect, but I
can give it no better a high -1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Last May there was a national scandal about someone on the
President's staff using a helicopter for a quick trip to a golf
course. In _T_r_u_e _L_i_e_s Harry, without authorization, calls assault
forces to intimidate people he doesn't like and to demolish
personal property. He borrows high-security facilities to play a
vicious practical joke on his wife. I have to believe that the use
of these interrogation rooms would be closely monitored and that
this sort of irresponsibility would end his career right then. The
situation then continues with that ridiculous scene in the hotel
room. Helen does not recognize that the silhouette looks like her
husband of fifteen years. It is a little hard to mistake that
Schwarzenegger torso. Meanwhile Harry has guessed in advance
exactly what words his wife would say and with what timing and has
it recorded on a little tape recorder with such perfect fidelity
that Helen cannot tell it isn't the man in front of her speaking.
For a heroic character to be of any interest he has to in some way
be vulnerable. How exciting is it really to see crooks shooting at
Superman? Harry Tasker goes through the whole film and his worst
injury is getting socked by Helen. Helen wipes out a dozen
terrorists by accidentally dropping a machine gun down a flight of
about twelve stairs. In the time it takes to fall three or four
waves of terrorists arrive at the stairs, are mowed down and have
time to fall down. Helen also makes it through the film uninjured.
Even the worst of the Bond films do not resort to contrivances this
absurd.
Admittedly some of this is intended as parody but it is hard to mix
scenes of mental torture with light parody and make it work. This
is just not a film that works.
===================================================================
5. GO FISH (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule review: This halting and spotty first
production for director Rose Troche is the story of
two very dissimilar lesbians who finally fall in
love after much effort by friends. The portrait of
a lesbian subculture is not always flattering and
often not even very interesting, but there are
moments of clever wit. Rating: 0 (-4 to +4).
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_G_o _F_i_s_h is the long, slow story of the meeting, slow romance, and
eventually getting together of two lesbians. One is the attractive
and energetic Max (played by Guinevere Turner); the other is the
more introspective and almost masculine Ely (V. S. Brodie). They
seem mismatched in looks, in tastes, and in temperaments. But
their friends are determined to bring them together.
Along the way we get a look at their lives and the lives of their
circle of friends in the lesbian sub-culture. Superficially the
women in this small circle are witty and affable, in some ways like
the men in _L_o_n_g_t_i_m_e _C_o_m_p_a_n_i_o_n. But as time wears on they appear to
have less and less in their lives beyond tracking who in their
group is sleeping with whom. The lesbians are shown to be aimless
and self-absorbed and fixated on the sex-lives of themselves and
their friends. Just occasionally there is an on-target piece of
sly if self-deprecating wit, like a minutes-long conversation on
what is just the perfect anatomical euphemism to replace "honey-
pot." This neuron-numbing conversation is both exasperating and
funny, much like some of the writing in _T_h_i_s _I_s _S_p_i_n_a_l _T_a_p or _F_e_a_r
_o_f _a _B_l_a_c_k _H_a_t. Another pointed sequence shows the women who daily
had been the objects of bigotry bringing the same bigotry to bear
on one of their numbers who had experimented with bisexuality.
With similar intolerance, Max's first reaction to Ely is insulting
rejection simply because Ely is unattractive.
Perhaps part of the inspiration for this film was _S_h_e'_s _G_o_t_t_a _H_a_v_e
_I_t, though Rose Troche simply does not move the plot along and does
not engage the viewer nearly as well as Spike Lee does. This is a
first film for director Troche who co-produced, co-authored with
actress Turner. In many ways the unevenness of the production
betrays Troche's inexperience. The cinematography is crude and in
black and white to save costs. Acting is very often at the high-
school play level. The film is salted with odd visual images,
apparently symbolic but usually obscure or perhaps meaningless. A
device that is perhaps over-used to give us the thought of the
characters is to have them lie on the floor head-to-head and
discuss their innermost thoughts. It is a crude device, albeit
occasionally useful to the script. In Spike Lee's first film he
had characters talking directly to the camera as if being
interviewed and he used it for much the same purpose.
Early in the film, one of the characters complains about "touchy-
feely, soft-focus, sisters-of-the-woodlands" sort of lesbian films
and this is clearly intended to be an alternative. Whether it is
intended to be as self-critical of the urban lesbian subculture is
questionable. But even at its short length much of this film drags
and is in need of a tuning. I rate this on a 0 on the -4 to +4
scale.
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
m.r.leeper@att.com
I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education.
-- Wilson Mizner