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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 08/19/94 -- Vol. 13, No. 8
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are in Middletown 1R-400C
Wednesdays at noon.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
08/20 Movie: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (Saturday night, 8PM, RSVP)
08/24 Book: VIRTUAL LIGHT by William Gibson (Hugo Nominee)
08/27 Movie: *No film this week*
09/03 Movie: *No film this week*
09/10 Movie: WAR OF THE WORLDS (Saturday night, 8PM, RSVP)
09/14 Book: A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT by Mark Twain
(Classics)
09/17 Movie: INVADERS FROM MARS (Saturday night, 8PM, RSVP)
09/24 Movie: PHANTOM FROM SPACE (Saturday night, 8PM, RSVP)
10/05 Book: MINING THE OORT by Frederik Pohl (tentative)
10/26 Book: INTERVIEW IWTH A VAMPIRE by Anne Rice (movie tie-ins)
11/16 Book: FRANKENSTEIN (Classics *and* movies tie-ins)
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-536 908-957-6330 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. A reminder: Though the issue is mailed out by Evelyn Leeper, the
lead editorial is always written by Mark Leeper. Responses
regarding it will get to him faster if sent directly to
Mark.Leeper@att.com. Each review is labeled with the author's
THE MT VOID Page 2
name.
===================================================================
2. The next meeting will be to discuss the last of the Hugo
nominees, William Gibson's _V_i_r_t_u_a_l _L_i_g_h_t. This book is available
in paperback. After this, we will return to some more classic
titles (see schedule above). Note that some of the dates were
printed incorrectly in the last issue, and have been corrected
here.
===================================================================
3. If anyone in New Jersey can record WBAI (99.5 FM) from 4 AM to 6
AM on Tuesday, Aug 30, I would greatly appreciate it. I would like
to get parts 4-6 of a 6-part BBC science fiction series, "Aliens of
the Mind." The program actually runs alternate weeks from 3:30 AM
to 6 AM but they start with about 40-50 minutes of the most gawd-
awful music they can find. (Obviously unless you are a real night
owl, this would mean setting up a timer on Monday evening. If you
already have your VCR set up to do simulcast recording, that would
work.)
If anyone can do this, let Evelyn or me know before Tuesday, August
23, and we can provide you with the necessary blank tapes. And of
course, we can make you a copy of the first three parts if you want
to hear them.
===================================================================
4. When August with its sweet showers comes, Evelyn and I like to
go the Renaissance Festival. It is a ninety-minute drive each way,
but it is a sort of tradition. These festivals have themselves
become a tradition in many parts of the country. Novato,
California, had one we have gone to. it is sort of a literary
equivalent of a county fare, or at least should be. It is also a
place where all sorts of handicrafts venders show their wares,
where you can get a turkey leg to go, a glass of mead, cappuccino,
or even falafel.
The nearest Renaissance Festival I know of is in Tuxedo, New York.
It is a sort of a fair dedicated to English literature of the 16th
Century. Of course in the United States most people don't know
what exactly is and is not Renaissance or what literature is and is
not English. The result is the festival will have, along with its
enactment of Shakespeare, plays based on stories by Boccaccio or
Chaucer or anyone else they can get away with. The people working
at the festival dress in period clothing and talk in whences and
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forsooths. Generally it is a pretty good time.
The festival has one centerpiece for the literary-minded, another
for the sports-minded. The latter is a joust. I am sure it is not
a full-fledged with knights knocking each other off of horses, but
I have admittedly never attended the joust. The literary
centerpiece of the Tuxedo festival is a Shakespeare play. Last
year it was _A _M_i_d_s_u_m_m_e_r _N_i_g_h_t'_s _D_r_e_a_m and this year the play was
_T_h_e _M_e_r_r_y _W_i_v_e_s _o_f _W_i_n_d_s_o_r. I suspect it is always a comedy,
though do not have a large sampling. While much of the
entertainment is not all that well done--usually it owes more to
vaudeville than to classical drama--the Shakespeare play is
performed by members of Actors' Equity and they do a professional
job. Evelyn and I generally figure we are paying for the play and
consider the rest to be free warm-up act. Part of this warmup is
usually a ribald play, either based on a fabliau by Chaucer or some
sexy story by Boccaccio. Generally the sort of story they pick is
not all that different from the stories that cable shows every
month or so at midnight--the only difference is that the stuff on
the cable shows nudity and is a sort of pretentious soft-core porn.
At the festival the actors are content to let the works convey the
story, and that way they are not shut down.
This year the warm-up play was "The Merchant's Tale" by Geoffrey
Chaucer ... not a very good story. It involves an old knight who
marries a young woman who is more interested in the knight's
handsome young squire. Chaucer contrives to have the young two-
some in a tree with the knight looking on. Yet by guile the knight
is tricked into disbelieving what he has seen. Much of _T_h_e
_C_a_n_t_e_r_b_u_r_y _T_a_l_e_s is more on the level of dirty jokes than of
serious literature. There was one clever piece of set design.
There are two beds that have pictures painted on the upside where
the pictures cannot be seen. When the action moves out to the
orchard, the beds are turned on end to reveal paintings of trees in
the orchard. The prop becomes the backdrop. There even seem to be
steps hidden from the audience so that action can even take place
up in the tree. Even for the minor plays there are professional
actors who in this case are better than the material, in spite of
its classic sources.
There are all sorts of little skits going on throughout the
fairgrounds. There will be a procession of the Queen here or a
juggler there. They are less than careful to keep all the names
from the 16th Century. They have Robin Hood wandering around and
someone else will take a name from the Round Table. We seem to be
someplace where all of pre-18th Century English history has fallen
together to a single point in time, but you can still buy fajitas
and iced cappuccino. The idea that you can eat a fajita, paid for
with a Visa card, and watch Merlin rub shoulders with Robin Hood
gives the proceedings dubious Elizabethanality. In some ways they
would make it less authentic if they could, I am sure. With
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honest-to-gosh real horses wandering around, it is still necessary
to watch your step on some of the paths. But they do have someone
come around and clean up such messes.
Of course, there are many of the usual vendors one might expect.
One is selling historical-style hats, and many sell jewelry. There
is a vendor selling so-called "New Age" books, here with some sort
of tacit admission that New Age thought is really old, and in fact
old superstition. There is also a vendor devoted to face-painting.
I have my doubts about the authenticity of this particular
Elizabethan service. It strikes me as being neither Elizabethan
nor a service. Another vendor rents Elizabethan costumes or the
sort the staff wears. I wonder if McDonalds could make money
renting out aprons and hats. In any case at the fair, of course
you find some people coming in home-made costumes also. We passed
one woman who was trying to train others to repeat her motto, "I am
not half dead, I am half alive. Be optimistic." That was on our
way to see the second dramatic presentation, this one aimed at
children. It was the Bennington Puppets in "The Magic Ring." The
story is based on the _N_i_b_e_l_u_n_g_e_n_l_i_e_d, just like Wagner's "Ring of
the Nibelungs." In this case the ring gives immortality, but in
the short play it is stolen from "sea sprites" whose conversation
implies an intellect so light it is surprising their heads did not
go bobbing to the surface of the water. The fault is clearly not
the sprites' but whoever was foolish enough to entrust anything of
value to them. The ring is stolen by Alberich who is subsequently
eaten by a dragon in trying to hide his prize. Siegfried is then
called upon to get the ring back from the dragon. Alberich had a
problem with his puppet joints so his left elbow stuck up next to
his ear. It was clear the puppeteer was trying to untangle it but
it would not come un-kinked. So Alberich was a bit more deformed
than usual. The verbal part of the play was pre-recorded with
music (not Wagner), narration and dialog. The problem with this
was that they knew all too well in advance that the puppeteers
might have problems setting up scenes and so they left long musical
intervals between the scenes. That tended to slow the pacing down.
To make a long story short, they took a very short story and made
it seem long. While the puppets came recommended by a friend, the
presentation was lackluster and at times even dull with many false
moves. The presentation showed the kind of indifference one gets
when a rote task has been repeated too often.
Following the puppet show we went early to the Shakespeare play,
_T_h_e _M_e_r_r_y _w_i_v_e_s _o_f _W_i_n_d_s_o_r. At least two of the actors were
familiar from last year's production of _A _M_i_d_s_u_m_m_e_r _N_i_g_h_t'_s _D_r_e_a_m.
As far as the dignity of Shakespeare's plays, this one gets a sort
of mid-range respectability. It has no great themes and is not
wildly imaginative. It was written, it is thought, just to please
Queen Elizabeth who said she wanted to see a third play with
Falstaff. It is said to have the least poetry of any of the Bard's
plays. It is, in fact, just a sort of a situation comedy in which
THE MT VOID Page 5
Falstaff woos two rich women at the same time, but they have their
revenge on him. The plot gives plenty of opportunity for horseplay
on stage and comic histrionics. I was front row close to the
center which had the advantage of putting much of the action almost
in my lap. It had its downside, however. There is a scene in
which Falstaff is startled in the middle of a drink of ale. He
sprays it out. I and the woman across the center aisle took the
brunt of the action when the actor under-estimated his spray power.
And it wasn't just a drop or two either. There was no warning that
"this play gets you wet" but I certainly was.
Well, with that somewhat over-lusty entertainment over, we decided
to as usual forego the joust. and bid a fond farewell to this
unorthodox Elizabethan England, with a bit of Arthurian and Johnian
and Elizabeth-2ian England as well as Clintonian United States
mixed in.
===================================================================
5. I am sorry to say that Peter Cushing has passed away. He was a
British actor who specialized in fantasy and horror films, making
many films for Hammer Films of Britain. His best-known role was as
the Grand Moff Tarkin in STAR WARS. Cushing made a lot of good
films and he made a lot of films good. Even in bad films he always
gave the best performance possible. A partial filmography follows:
Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas, The (aka Abominable Snowman)
Alexander the Great [Memnon]
Asylum
At the Earth's Core
Black Knight, The
Brides of Dracula, The
Creeping Flesh, The
Curse of Frankenstein, The
Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (aka Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.)
Dr. Phibes Rises Again
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors [Doctor Schreck]
Dr. Who and the Daleks
Dracula A.D. 1972 (aka Dracula Today)
Evil of Frankenstein, The
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell [Baron Frankenstein]
Frankenstein Created Woman
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed! [Baron Frankenstein]
From Beyond the Grave
Gorgon, The
Great Houdinis, The (TV)
Hamlet (1948) [Osric]
Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues (TV) [Professor Charles Copeland]
Hellfire Club, The
Horror Express [Dr. Wells]
Horror of Dracula (aka Dracula (1958)) [Doctor Van Helsing]
THE MT VOID Page 6
Hound of the Baskervilles, The (1959) [Sherlock Holmes]
House That Dripped Blood, The
Howards of Virginia, The
Island of Terror
Island of the Burning Doomed (aka Island of the Burning Damned)
John Paul Jones
Legend of the Werewolf
Magic Fire
Man in the Iron Mask, The (1939)
Man Who Finally Died, The
Moulin Rouge [Racing Fan]
Mummy's Shroud, The (voice)
Mummy, The (1959)
Night Creatures (1962) (aka Captain Clegg) [Doctor Blyss]
Revenge of Frankenstein, The
Risk, The (1961)
She (1965)
Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death (TV)
Skull, The [Maitland]
Star Wars [Grand Moff Tarkin]
Sword of Sherwood Forest
Sword of the Valiant
Tale of Two Cities, A (1980) (TV)
Tales from the Crypt [Grimsdyke]
Torture Garden
Twins of Evil [Gustav Weil]
Uncanny, The
Vampire Lovers, The
===================================================================
6. OTHERNESS by David Brin (Bantam Spectra, ISBN 0-553-29528-4,
1994, 368pp US$5.99) (a book review by Evelyn C. Leeper):
This is Brin's second collection (his first being _T_h_e _R_i_v_e_r _o_f
_T_i_m_e. also available from Bantam), and contains thirteen stories,
five essays, and three articles entitled "Story Notes." The latter
are a departure from the usual "preface each story with an
introductory paragraph" approach. Instead, they combine the
commentary for all the stories and essays in each section
("Transitions," "Contact," and "Cosmos"; the sections "Continuity"
and "Otherness" have no story notes). For some reason, the notes
are in the _m_i_d_d_l_e of the sections. Maybe Brin wants to make his
comments after the reader has finished some of the stories but
before she has started others. However, it breaks the flow of
reading the book, sort of like heading down a straight road only to
discover it suddenly makes an abrupt ninety-degree turn. (Of
course, maybe the whole idea is that a collection _s_h_o_u_l_d_n'_t flow
the same way as a novel. After all, the stories were all written
at different times. Maybe they should be read that way too.)
THE MT VOID Page 7
But Brin (or someone) has gathered and grouped the stories here,
and so we have to look at what we have. The first section,
"Transitions," contains the stories "The Giving Plague" (nominated
for a Hugo), "Myth Number 21," "Mr. Pak's Preschool," and "Detritus
Affected," along with story notes and the essay "The Dogma of
Otherness." "Myth Number 21" is not even really a story, but a
250-word "drabble" from his novel _E_a_r_t_h. A "drabble" is supposedly
a super-short story. The problem is, this isn't a story. The
other stories are indeed about transitions, and Brin is a good
story-teller, if at times a bit preachy. The latter characteristic
comes through even more in the essays, of course, though he does
point out the interesting paradox in "valuing diversity" and
"cultural relativity." His focus reminds me of Kim Stanley
Robinson, although their approaches to the issues of
environmentalism and human relationships are very different.
(Robinson has more emphasis on history as a character and a force
than Brin has, for example.)
The second section, "Contact," contains the stories "Sshhhh,"
"Those Eyes," "Bonding to Genji," and "The Warm Space"; the essays
"What to Say to a UFO" and "Whose Millennium?"; and story notes.
All of these are alien contact stories, though not necessarily
first contact stories. "Sshhhh" seems inspired by something
similar to what produced "The Giving Plague"--a similar concept
underlies them both. "The Warm Space" reads like a story John W.
Campbell would have loved, but unlike most of Brin's other work.
It's also the oldest piece here, so the difference is
understandable. What "Whose Millennium?" is doing in the "Contact"
section is not clear unless Brin thinks of it as being about
human-God contact.
The next section, "Continuity," has no story notes, just two
stories--"NatuLife (R)" and "Piecework"--and the essay "Science
versus Magic." (The "(R)" would be an "R" in a circle if I could
do that in ASCII.) The stories are about the continuity of the
human race, but the essay seems to be here because (to paraphrase
the old joke) "everything gotta be somewhere."
In the "Cosmos" section, Brin seems to leave his story-telling
roots behind and move into concentrating on style in "Bubbles,"
"Ambiguity," and "What Continues ... and What Fails ...." I found
these less rewarding than the earlier stories, but your mileage may
vary.
The final article, "The New Meme," is in part an elaboration on his
earlier essay "The Dogma of Otherness" in which Brin proposes five
basic memes of civilization: feudalism, machismo, paranoia, the
East, and Otherness. (Brin is certainly not a slavish follower of
parallel constructions in English.) My major problem with this
essay is that it tries to cover two concepts, which are in large
part independent: that of memes, and that of the basic competing
THE MT VOID Page 8
world-views. Each should probably have its own separate essay.
Brin is a major author and his stories are usually worth reading.
But the confusing structure and spotty quality make it hard to
recommend this collection except to readers who are already Brin
fans.
===================================================================
7. SUMMER OF LOVE by Lisa Mason (Bantam Spectra, ISBN 0-553-37330-
7, June 1994, 400pp, US$12.95) (a book review by Evelyn C. Leeper):
Why is this a science fiction novel?
Yes, I know it's because a time traveler from the 25th Century has
come to San Francisco in the summer of 1967 to ensure that certain
events occur which will save the world from total ecological
catastrophe. But since this part of the plot is the worst executed
and most predictable aspect of the whole novel, and since it could
be removed entirely without hurting the rest of the novel--in fact,
probably improving it--one wonders why it's there. My guess is
that Mason tried to sell a straight "Summer of Love" novel and
couldn't find a publisher for it, so she added the science fiction
element to make it more marketable.
The result is an odd book, which is reasonably good as a look back
at the "Summer of Love" in both its good and its bad aspects (at
least as far as I can tell--I spent the summer of 1967 in Chicopee,
Massachusetts, doing volunteer work in the library), but fails
badly as a science fiction novel. It's full of references to "Star
Trek" and other science fiction, including references to all the
works it's imitating, so in case you didn't realize it was
predictable, it reminds you! Recommended if you want to read about
San Francisco in 1967 (and can ignore the science fictional
aspect), but _n_o_t as a science fiction novel.
===================================================================
8. CORE by Paul Preuss (AvoNova, ISBN 0-380-71182-6, August 1994,
394pp, US$5.99) (a book review by Mark R. Leeper):
It seems like a long time since I had seen a hard science book that
is about--predominantly about--geology. Paul Preuss's _C_o_r_e looks
from the blurbs to be an updating of _J_o_u_r_n_e_y _t_o _t_h_e _C_e_n_t_e_r _o_f _t_h_e
_E_a_r_t_h with an expedition to the fiery bowels of the earth. In fact
the exact words are "a reborn dream of an incredible expedition to
the center of the Earth. In fact, that is misleading. It is
really about digging a core hole deep into the Earth. (Preuss
obviously runs the risk of having his book reviewed with the phrase
THE MT VOID Page 9
"one long bore.") This project can only be completed with the
author inventing a substance strong enough to withstand the
pressures of the dig, Hudderite, named for Cyrus Hudder, the father
of Leiden Hudder, the main character. The use of geology rather
than physics or biology as a science to build the story around and
the introduction of new super-materials like "Hudderite" give the
novel a marvelous pulpish feel that somewhat compensates for not
being taken on a journey into the core.
What is not as well handled is the basic mystery of the father and
son relationship. It seems that Cyrus Hudder committed suicide
under mysterious circumstances and Leiden is as interested in
finding out what happened to Pop as he is in digging into the
Earth. The story keeps jumping around in time, telling the history
of both Leiden and Cyrus. The story is also artificially tied into
current event to add excitement that the author apparently assumes
would be missing from the scientific part of the story. There is
mystery here, but nothing greatly unpredictable. One suspects that
Preuss thinks that modern audiences are less interested in
scientific discovery than in pyrotechnics.
Another problem I had with the book was its setting of some events
in 1985 that clearly did not happen then. In specific there is a
lethal solar flare. The copyright date is 1993 with a first
printing in this edition in August, 1994. (Odd, as of this writing
it is still only July.) I suppose it is fashionable these days to
write alternate histories, but you would think the author would
have more alternation than that. In spite of that one small
problem _C_o_r_e is a lot more like novels written in the 60s than the
90s, which as far as I am concerned is not a bad thing.
Preuss seems to have done his homework and along with the basic
story the reader does get a small education in geology. He also
has given some thought as to the corollary application of a big
whole in the ground. The cover quotes "New York Newsday" as saying
that the book has believable characters. Personally I found them
to be just a bit pulpish, but recognize that I probably am willing
to sacrifice my demands for characters if I am entertained, learn
something, and have an imaginative science plot. To that end I
would say that _C_o_r_e, with its faults (no pun intended) is still one
of the more enjoyable books I have read in a while.
===================================================================
9. WEIRD TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE edited by Katharine Kerr and Martin
H. Greenberg (DAW, ISBN 0-88677-605-8, July 1994, 318pp, US$4.99)
and ALIEN PREGNANT BY ELVIS edited by Esther M. Friesner and Martin
H. Greenberg (DAW, ISBN 0-88677-610-4, June 1994, 319pp, US$4.99)
(book reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper):
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The idea of "theme" anthologies is certainly nothing new. But they
are usually on more mundane or predictable themes--first contact,
alternate Presidents, even cats and horses. And it used to be that
anthologies were of older stories culled from magazines, stories
that were written because the authors wanted to write them. Now
they're commissioned--twenty-three authors are told, "I'm looking
for stories on a Shakespearean theme." (Actually, it's more than
twenty-three--I forget the multiplier someone once said was needed
to get the right number of usable stories.) The result of this
newer mode of operation is often a collection of stories that would
not have sold in the open, undirected market. Not that the stories
are necessarily bad, mind you, but they are getting points for
being on-topic that get them accepted in anthologies but wouldn't
help otherwise. Resnick seems to do the best job of keeping the
story quality up in his anthologies (maybe that's why he is
nominated for the Best Editor Hugo this year).
Now I would have expected thirty-eight stories in _W_e_i_r_d _T_a_l_e_s _f_r_o_m
_S_h_a_k_e_s_p_e_a_r_e, but I guess Kerr couldn't get anyone to agree to write
a science fiction or fantasy story based on _C_o_r_i_o_l_a_n_u_s. Nor is
this "the alternate Shakespeare," though both Kerr's introduction
and the back cover blurb make that claim. The first section could
have gone that way, with its stories with the Bard as a character,
but none of them are alternate histories. These are among the best
stories in the book with Diana L. Paxon's "Augmentation of Dust"
especially worthy of note. (Nitpick to the editors: pick one
version of the author's name and stick to it. Is it "Diana Paxon"
or "Diana L. Paxon"?)
Section two deals with the tragedies: _H_e_n_r_y _I_V, _P_a_r_t _I_I from the
Welsh point of view, _H_a_m_l_e_t from Gertrude's point of view, _K_i_n_g
_L_e_a_r from the Fool's point of view, _K_i_n_g _L_e_a_r in a computer, _K_i_n_g
_L_e_a_r on an alien planet. After a while the pattern (either retell
the story from another point of view, do _L_e_a_r, or both) begins to
wear.
The introduction to the next section implies that the comedies are
being covered, but instead it's a selection of humorous stories
about non-comedies: _H_a_m_l_e_t from the point of view of the skull,
another story about William Shakespeare, _T_i_t_u_s _A_n_d_r_o_n_i_c_u_s done for
an alien audience, a vampiric _R_o_m_e_o _a_n_d _J_u_l_i_e_t, and Shakespeare in
general from the point of view of Hollywood. Of these only the
last--Mike Resnick's "The Summer of My Discontent"--tickled _m_y
funny bone.
Section four has unusual workings of Shakespeare's themes: _T_h_e
_T_e_m_p_e_s_t from Caliban's point of view, _t_w_o re-workings of the
Rosalind/Orlando theme, a genuine alternate _R_o_m_e_o _a_n_d _J_u_l_i_e_t, and a
look at _A _M_i_d_s_u_m_m_e_r _N_i_g_h_t'_s _D_r_e_a_m. Section five is a look at the
future (but several stories in other sections did that already):
another Shakespeare performed for aliens and two very good pieces-
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-Gregory Benford's "Not of an Age" and Adrienne Martine-Barnes's
"The Elements So Mixed."
You may have noticed that the only stories I thought worthy of note
were those with Shakespeare as a character (either on- or off-
stage)--stories about how he got started as a writer, his universal
appeal, etc. Whenever authors try to re-tell Shakespeare's
plays ... well, let's just say they're no Shakespeares. Authors
such as Barry Malzberg and Brian Aldiss don't turn in clunkers, of
course, but even their talent suffers by comparison to Shakespeare.
Some ideas sound better in the conception than they turn out to be
in their execution and _W_e_i_r_d _T_a_l_e_s _f_r_o_m _S_h_a_k_e_s_p_e_a_r_e may be one of
them. (If you are a specialist on Shakespeare your mileage will
almost certainly vary, though in which direction I cannot tell.)
And to coin a phrase, from the sublime to the ridiculous....
_A_l_i_e_n _P_r_e_g_n_a_n_t _b_y _E_l_v_i_s is an anthology of thirty-six stories
commissioned on the theme of tabloid journalism. The problem here
is that the tabloids are so bizarre that trying to top them is
pretty much an exercise in futility. (Anyone who has been reading
Mark Leeper's comments on various news stories knows that this is
rapidly becoming true of "real" news as well.) The best stories
here don't try. Lawrence Watt-Evans's "The Bride of Bigfoot" is
about what might happen if someone took these stories seriously
(with echoes of Kim Stanley Robinson and _H_a_r_r_y _a_n_d _t_h_e _H_e_n_d_e_r_s_o_n_s).
"Bob" Bes Shahar's "Is Your Coworker a Space Alien?" is a much more
serious look at the question than you'll find in the _W_e_e_k_l_y _W_o_r_l_d
_N_e_w_s. Thomas F. Monteleone's "Group Phenomena" could have been
written by Fredric Brown John DeChancie's "Hitler Clone in
Argentina Plots Falklands Reprise" has a definite "Twilight Zone"
feel, and Bruce Boston's "How Alien He Really Was" is the flip-side
of a well-known "Twilight Zone" episode.
I assume "Saving Sam's Used UFO's" (Kate Daniel) is right down the
road from Harry's All-Night Hamburgers. Greg Cox's "Danny's
Excellent Adventure" is cute, but Dan Quayle jokes are wearing a
bit thin. Of the rest--well, they ranged from unmemorable to
unreadable.
Well, as they say, it seemed like a good idea at the time....
===================================================================
10. DOOMSDAY GUN (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule review: Once again HBO's docu-dramas prove
that there are good films being made for cable. The
story of Gerald Bull and his attempts to build a
super-gun for Saddam Hussein's pre-war Iraq was
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under-reported in the press, in spite of the natural
fascination of the material. This film is a sort of
_T_u_c_k_e_r-meets-Tom-Clancy based on fact. Rating: +2
(-4 to +4)
I think I have a special fondness for HBO docudramas. They
generally have a good feel for how to make recent history
engrossing and dramatic. Whether they choose to base it on pre-
existing material, as they did in last years adaptation of Randy
Shilts's _A_n_d _t_h_e _B_a_n_d _P_l_a_y_e_d _O_n, or whether they write their own
story based on research as they did with _D_e_a_d _A_h_e_a_d, their quality
is generally more than a rival for what is playing in the theaters.
With _D_e_a_d _A_h_e_a_d they had their work cut out for them. This was the
story of the Exxon Valdez disaster and the politics of what
followed. It is not easy to make that material really engrossing,
and they managed. _D_o_o_m_s_d_a_y _G_u_n suffers from no such handicap. The
story of Gerald Bull and his super-gun already has the makings to
be Tucker-meets-Tom-Clancy. Add to that the fact that the story
was really was under-reported in the press and you have a fairly
engrossing piece of entertainment.
Frank Langella plays Gerald Bull, a child-man with a fascination
with large artillery pieces and the engineering intellect to build
the guns that he dreams about. His inspiration since boyhood has
been Jules Verne's _F_r_o_m _t_h_e _E_a_r_t_h _t_o _t_h_e _M_o_o_n with its cannon large
enough to send a shell and its passengers to the moon. The
Canadian has built guns for the United States and many of its
allies, including Israel, whom he helped to defend the Golan
Heights. After a falling out with the Americans he decides that he
will sell his services and that of his small organization to the
highest bidder ("except the Russians"). The highest bidder turns
out to be Saddam Hussein who is militarizing and fortifying Iraq.
Alan Arkin plays an Israeli intelligence officer with the
uncomfortable job of convincing a friend and former ally not to
built his gun and place it in the hands of Hussein. Meanwhile Bull
has to get the industrialized nations to build the parts he needs
under the noses of their own intelligence agencies. Then there is
the larger story of how much governments' intelligence agencies
knew and even had complicity in the arming of Iraq.
If you go into _D_o_o_m_s_d_a_y _G_u_n expecting _C_l_e_a_r _a_n_d _P_r_e_s_e_n_t _D_a_n_g_e_r, you
are sure to be disappointed. But if you are expecting a modest
little made-for-cable film, you will probably be very pleasantly
surprised. _D_o_o_m_s_d_a_y _G_u_n ranks very well with what is in release in
theaters. If you consider all the boxing matches and stand-up
comics ad nauseum that made-for-cable fare is becoming on the
"premium" services, _D_o_o_m_s_d_a_y _G_u_n at least shows that some quality
material is still being made. I would give _D_o_o_m_s_d_a_y _G_u_n a +2 on
the -4 to +4 scale.
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===================================================================
11. THE SLINGSHOT (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule review: This is the story of a very bright
boy growing up in Stockholm early this century. The
Socialist activism of both his parents and the fact
his mother is Jewish make him the butt of bullying
from all directions. Still he manages to survive
and bounce back. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4)
Roland is a boy growing up in Stockholm in the 1920s (or so) with
just about everything going against him. His father is a
Socialist, his mother is a Russian Jew fighting an illegal battle
for family planning. Roland's father is an autocrat with little
empathy for the boy. Roland's teachers are anti-Semitic and anti-
Socialist and have little use for the boy except as a bad example
and as a target for occasional sadistic corporal punishment.
Roland's schoolmates cheat, exploit, and play cruel tricks on young
Roland. And in spite of all this, Roland has an irrepressible
spirit. He sometimes does fight back, but chooses his fights where
he thinks they will do the most good. He also has an ingenious and
a creative mind. The story always has the feel of an autobiography
of somebody who achieved something great later in life. In fact,
it is the adaptation of a semi-autobiographical novel by Roland
Schutt, so we know he at least became a novelist. The book was
adapted for the screen and directed by Ake Sandgren.
_T_h_e _S_l_i_n_g_s_h_o_t takes its title from one of many applications young
Roland finds for the condoms that his mother illegally distributes.
Without understanding the actual purpose for the devices, he is
able to see in them and improvise several unexpected uses, each
only getting him into deeper trouble. One keeps expecting somebody
to notice the genius of the ten-year-old, much as the boy comes to
be appreciated in _M_y _L_i_f_e _a_s _a _D_o_g, but this is not a film with
simple answers and obvious scenes. Roland's rewards will be far
more abstract and not so dependent on others.
Jesper Salen stars as Roland and manages a better performance with
more depth than many better-recognized actors in this country give.
Many actors his age just read lines and go through some motions for
the camera. Jesper's acting is intelligent and convincing. You
always have a feeling that there really are intelligent mental
processes behind his actions. Stallen Skarsgard plays Fritiof, the
father who thinks himself a great liberal thinker but who runs his
family like a despot.
While the film leaves the character of Zipa (Basia Frydman) at the
stereotypical loving mother level, we do get to know a lot more of
Roland's father. He is harsh and demanding of his sons. He is
determined not to let a spinal condition, which is slowly taking
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away his ability to walk, undermine his control on his family. He
is a walking (or nearly so) contradiction trying to hold on to some
of the values of the past while trying to change the social order
of his country. He despises the government while envying the
trappings of being the king--trappings that he gets a chance to
sample for himself.
Roland is not a victim of the Holocaust and he lives in a country
not generally associated with discrimination and bigotry. But the
prejudice he faces is clearly a major part of forming his character
and his ability to remain strong and to rebound still makes for a
moving story which I give a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
===================================================================
12. THE SECRET FILES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by June Thomson (Otto
Penzler Books, ISBN 1-883402-36-0, 1993 (1990c), 224pp, US$20) (a
book review by Evelyn C. Leeper):
Many authors have turned their hands at writing stories to go with
the various passing references in the canonical Sherlock Holmes
adventures. The latest is June Thomson, who has taken seven
apocryphal stories and given them form. (Of course, she claims
that they were actually manuscripts by Watson found by his niece.)
"The Case of the Vanishing Head-Waiter" is based on a reference in
"The Problem of Thor Bridge": "A problem without a solution may
interest the student, but can hardly fail to annoy the casual
reader. Among these unfinished tales is that of Mr. James
Phillimore, who, stepping back into his own house to get his
umbrella, was never more seen in this world." Well, there was a
solution, which was suppressed (to protect the principals of the
case), but it is perhaps a bit pat and the trick of how someone
could so "vanish" has been used in previous attempts to elaborate
on the Phillimore reference. (In all these stories some reason is
given as to _w_h_y they are "secret" files.)
"The Case of the Amateur Mendicants Society" is based on a
reference in "The Five Orange Pips": "The year '87 furnished us
with a long series of cases of greater or less interest, of which I
retain the records. Among my headings under this one twelve months
I find an account of the adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the
Amateur Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower
vault of a furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the
loss of the British bark Sophy Anderson, of the singular adventures
of the Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the
Camberwell poisoning case." There isn't much mystery here--other
than a red herring. In this case, the case was kept secret to
protect the family honor of the principals.
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"The Case of the Remarkable Worm" is based on another reference in
"The Problem of Thor Bridge": "A third case worthy of note is that
of Isadora Persano, the well-known journalist and duellist, who was
found stark staring mad with a match box in front of him which
contained a remarkable worm said to be unknown to science." Again,
the mystery is minimal (except perhaps how a man got the female
first name "Isadora") and like many other renditions of this
apocryphal tale, ends up making Watson's canonical reference to it
totally inaccurate. This one was supposedly kept secret because it
was one of Holmes's failures, but other failures had been
published, so that is not entirely convincing.
"The Case of the Exalted Client" is based on yet another reference
in "The Problem of Thor Bridge": "Apart from these unfathomed
cases, there are some which involve the secrets of private families
to an extent which would mean consternation in many exalted
quarters if it were thought possible that they might find their way
into print. I need not say that such a breach of confidence is
unthinkable, and that these records will be separated and destroyed
now that my friend has time to turn his energies to the matter."
(Although apparently they were not.) This is perhaps the weakest
of the seven stories with apparent holes in logic that are never
explained.
"The Case of the Notorious Canary Trainer" is based on a reference
in "The Adventure of Black Peter": "In this memorable year '95, a
curious and incongruous succession of cases had engaged his
attention, ranging from his famous investigation of the sudden
death of Cardinal Tosca--an inquiry which was carried out by him at
the express desire of His Holiness the Pope--down to his arrest of
Wilson, the notorious canary-trainer, which removed a plague-spot
from the East End of London." Again, we have a story predictable
from almost the very beginning, due in large part to the
introductory explanation of why the story has been kept secret.
"The Case of the Itinerant Yeggman" is based on a reference in "The
Adventure of the Sussex Vampire": "'Voyage of the Gloria Scott,' he
read. 'That was a bad business. I have some recollection that you
made a record of it, Watson, though I was unable to congratulate
you upon the result. Victor Lynch, the forger. Venomous lizard or
gila. Remarkable case, that! Vittoria, the circus belle.
Vanderbilt and the Yeggman. ...'" This is another concealed
failure, though here at least Holmes says he doesn't want a certain
party to realize he's on to him, giving at least some reason to
hold back publication.
"The Case of the Abandoned Lighthouse" is based on a reference in
"The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger": "I deprecate, however, in the
strongest way the attempts which have been made lately to get at
and to destroy these papers. The source of these outrages is
known, and if they are repeated I have Mr. Holmes's authority for
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saying that the whole story concerning the politician, the
lighthouse, and the trained cormorant will be given to the public.
There is at least one reader who will understand." Here the reason
for secrecy is national security, yet by today's standards the
whole scenario is ludicrous and even then better methods to pass
information could have been employed.
One nice touch in the stories is that occasionally when Holmes asks
Watson if the latter can leave his practice for a day, Watson says
he cannot. On the whole, the characterizations are reasonably true
to the Canon and the settings have the right feel (though I
question if Watson would accompany a guest to Mrs Hudson's rooms to
get her some tea). But the thinness of the mysteries makes it hard
to recommend this book.
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
m.r.leeper@att.com
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity,
and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
-- Joseph Heller