cover art by Dean Ellis |
In contrast to Asimov, I grew up in the age of Star Trek and in the 1970s I was reading novels like The Gods Themselves, The End of Eternity, Level 7 and Dhalgren, so forgive me if I thought science fiction was the cutting edge of modern literature. I never read New York Times, so what did I care if science fiction novels were not routinely reviewed by that newspaper?
Sturgeon's review of Dhalgren, part 1 |
Back in the 1970s, I had no idea that Delany had written another novel (Hogg) that did not get published until 1995. Although that book is not Sci Fi, it did get reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction soon after it was published. Given the vast amounts of sickening violence that I saw around me while growing up in the 60s and 70s I imagined that there was no more censorship. The idea of self-censorship did not even cross my mind. I thought that if a writer wanted to write about a topic, they simply wrote and then what they had written simply got published or put on TV or on film. Yes, I was that naive.
Rockets and Rayguns. Okay, in all honesty, I never read all of Dhalgren. I simply lost interest and skipped over some parts. You know what it is like to turn to the end of a novel to see how it turns out. And I'll confess that I was tricked by the cover art for Dhalgren. When I bought my copy, I hoped that there would be a spaceship ride to a distant planet that was in orbit around a big red star.
Sturgeon's review of Dhalgren, part 2 |
Holography. Sure, in Delany's version of Earth there were holographic projectors that kids could play with in the streets, when all I got to do was ride my bicycle down the street, but I still wanted spaceships in my Sci Fi stories.
What's in a Name? Sturgeon asked, "Do you know who you are?" In the Exode Saga, I like playing around with multiple copies of people. For example, in Grean's Hack, a replicoid copy of Petra Nicholls is instantiated as a synpaz named Artep. When I perform these kinds of technological tricks of human duplication I often reverse the letters in the copied person's name, so in this case 'Petra' becomes 'Artep'. In Dhalgren, readers never learn the real name of the main character. Is it "Dhalgren" or "Grendal" or "Grendel" or "Grendhal" or none of the above? In the end, it really does not matter.
Here is a quote from Jack Vance's novel The Palace of Love: "Must she own a name? A name is a weight! A chain to a set of uncontrolled circumstances. To own no name is to own freedom! Are you so stolid then that you cannot imagine a person without a name?" The mad poet Navarth and Kirth Gersen are discussing a clone of Jheral Tinzy, a young woman who Navarth refers to by many whimsical names including Zan Zu and Drusilla. Drusilla tells Gersen, "I rather like not having a name. I am anyone I wish to be."
Sturgeon's review of Dhalgren, part 3 |
Sturgeon wrote about "hunger for stasis" and Asimov had a theory about the value of science fiction being that it was a literary genre that taught people how to deal with change.
For Sturgeon, Dhalgren was useful. "Having experienced it, you will stand taller, understand more, and press your horizons back a little further away than you ever knew they could go." I think this is one of the reasons that many people enjoy science fiction... that sensation of expanding perspective. Through fantasy we can step beyond the restrictions of our mundane existence, if only for a few hours while reading a book. And, inevitably, after being pushed towards new worlds and new ways of thinking, many people can never go back to their former existence; they have been transported to a new world and given a new way of living their life.
The 100 Club. Back in 2016, I began a tradition of reading old Sci Fi novels and blogging about science fiction writers 100 years after their birth. In 2017 it was Arthur C. Clarke who got the 100+ treatment and in 2018 it was Sturgeon's turn and I commented on his 1953 science fiction story, "The Wages of Synergy". I wrote: "I suppose Sturgeon may have been the only Sci Fi writer who could write about death by orgasm in 1953".
interior art for "The World Well Lost" by Malcolm Smith |
Here in this blog post I comment on another Sturgeon publication from 1953, his story "The World Well Lost". Sturgeon whisks readers off to a future Earth that features "orgasmic trivideo shows". This sounds like an alternative futuristic technology similar to the feelies. I can still remember my high school English instructor waxing poetic about the bearskin rug.
Sturgeon's future Earth in "The World Well Lost" is part of a galaxy-spanning civilization that links many exoplanets where various humanoid aliens reside.
in the Ekcolir Reality original cover art by Clyde Caldwell |
As told in "The World Well Lost", Dirbanu is the most mysterious planet in the known universe. That remote planet has always existed behind impenetrable force fields, so Earthlings know almost nothing about Dirbanu culture. Prior to the arrival of the "lovebirds", the only other person from Dirbanu who ever came to Earth was an official ambassador who, during a brief visit "showed a most uncommon disdain for Earth and all its works".
the "unique bond" in "The World Well Lost" |
At this point in "The World Well Lost" Sturgeon becomes quite mysterious himself, hinting at some sort of symbiotic relationship ("unique bond") between Rootes and Grunty. Rootes always insists on having Grunty as his crewman.
"necessity" in "The World Well Lost" |
1930 Queer People |
fleshpots in "The World Well Lost" |
telepathy in "The World Well Lost" |
During the journey to Dirbanu, poor Grunty discovers that the two "lovebirds" from Dirbanu can telepathically read his mind. Now Grunty is worried that his secrets might all be revealed by the "lovebirds". Things get dicey when Captain Rootes starts to get horny. It is left to readers' imaginations to imagine how Grunty has always been able to keep Rootes from getting horny during previous space missions.
interior art for "The World Well Lost" |
The drawings include images of naked humans and Dirbanites. Rather than kill the "lovebirds", Grunty lets them escape in the spaceship's lifeboat. When Rootes comes out of his space-jump induced blackout and sees the drawings, he realizes that the "lovebirds" were both male. Dirbanite females are significantly shorter and rounder than the males. Rootes is enraged and he exclaims, "Why, if I'da known that I'da killed 'em". Rootes concludes that Grunty let the Dirbanites escape so as to prevent Rootes from murdering the Dirbanites and getting in trouble with the authorities back on Earth.
the two "lovebirds" escape in the lifeboat |
Arriving in orbit at Dirbanu, Rootes reports to the Dirbanites that the "lovebirds" are dead.
fun at the |
From the perspective of 2021, it might seem strange that Sturgeon's tale about Dirbanu ("The World Well Lost") was labeled as Sturgeon's "most daring story". I imagine that 70 years from now, future generations will also look back on 2021 and marvel at the hangups and sexual taboos that still exist in our society.
Next: the Trysta Truce
visit the Gallery of Posters and the Gallery of Book and Magazine Covers |
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