Prose fiction

“Frankenstein,” Son of “That Hideous Strength”

June 28, 2011
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“Frankenstein,” Son of “That Hideous Strength”

By Lars Walker “The pages reek with your bottomless self-pity so poorly disguised as regret, with the phoniness of your verbose self-condemnation, with the insidious quality of your contrition, which is that of a materialist who cares not for God and is therefore not true contrition at all, but only despair at the consequences of your actions. For centuries, I have been the monster, and you the well-meaning idealist who claims he would have undone what he did if only given the chance. But your kind never undoes. You do the same wrong over and over, with ever greater fervency, causing ever more misery, because you are incapable of admitting error.” “I’ve made no error,” Victor Immaculate confidently assures him, “and neither did your maker.” Looming, the giant says, “You are my maker.” Thus Frankenstein’s monster, now known as Deucalion, purified by suffering and made truly human, addresses Dr. Frankenstein, so corrupted by power and pride that he has ceased to be human at all, in Frankenstein: The Dead Town, the dramatic climax to Dean Koontz’ five-book deconstruction of Mary Shelley’s original narrative. As regular readers must be aware, I’m pretty much in the bag for

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The Mob Quells the Mobocracy: ‘The Syndic’

June 17, 2011
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The Mob Quells the Mobocracy: ‘The Syndic’

By Mike Gray They had what they called laissez-faire, and it worked for a while until they got to tinkering with it. They demanded things called protective tariffs, tax remissions, subsidies — regulation, regulation, regulation, always of the other fellow. But there were enough bankers on all sides for everybody to be somebody else’s other fellow. Coercion snowballed and the Government lost public acceptance. They had a thing called the public debt which I can’t begin to explain to you except to say that it was something written on paper and that it raised the cost of everything tremendously. Well, believe me or not, they didn’t just throw away the piece of paper or scratch out the writing on it. They let it ride until ordinary people couldn’t afford the pleasant things in life. — C. M. Kornbluth, The Syndic Jeff Riggenbach has an article on Mises Daily about a largely-forgotten science fiction writer of the ’50s whose political views gave every indication of sympathizing with Communism, and yet the philosophy found in one of his books marks him as a libertarian. Kornbluth’s The Syndic depicts events occurring . . . . about 150 years from now, sometime in the

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“Decent fellow, in his way. But not one of us” — Class Warfare in the Works of Agatha Christie

June 17, 2011
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“Decent fellow, in his way. But not one of us” — Class Warfare in the Works of Agatha Christie

By Mike Gray I have just been reading Agatha Christie’s short stories. But to enjoy her fully today, I suspect, you need to be a social historian — or a novelist. In everything she wrote, she employed one deep secret of her craft. But she may not even have been conscious of it. It took 70 years of cultural change to reveal it. That secret is, simply, that she shocks the reader with endless social transgressions. Her every story is coded with social prejudice and her characters are class-labelled on arrival. Whenever her characters are in conflict, it’s not simply a case of whodunnit? A little class war is also being played out. — John Yeoman According to Yeoman, the secret of Agatha Christie’s success lay in who comprised the bulk of her readership: Given that Christie’s readers were largely lower middle class, they must have gained great satisfaction in seeing their social betters unmasked as rogues. Xenophobia  and racial prejudice are everywhere in Christie, and provide rich opportunities for social conflict. Nobody born south of the English Channel can be entirely trusted. A rich American or ex-colonial might be admitted cautiously to one’s parlour but only once the ladies

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“The Magic of Words” – Prose & Poetry Update

June 14, 2011
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“The Magic of Words” – Prose & Poetry Update

In the 21st century science reigns. Some, however still believe magic exists in words. Computer scientist, Anu Garg is one of them. He’s fascinated by the magic of words and created a website dedicated to the “world of words.” He and hundreds others explore such questions “Where do words come from? Who made them up? Who dictated that a rectangular opening in a wall was to be called a window?” His love for words and belief in their magic led him to create Wordsmith.org. You can see a sample for “Wordsmith.org” below. A single word has a magic of its own. Words collected into a story or poem takes that magic to a whole new level. I hope you enjoy this weeks collection of writers whose work brings a bit a magic into a world dominated by science. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “The bad poet is usually unconscious where he ought to be conscious, and conscious where he ought to be unconscious. Both errors tend to make him “personal.” Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and

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A Preview of ‘The Days of Lamech’

June 14, 2011
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A Preview of ‘The Days of Lamech’

By Mike Gray Good news! Jon Saboe is offering advance previews of his upcoming novel, The Days of Lamech, available for purchase very soon. Read the excerpts here (PDF, 32 pages, 303 KB). There’s a The Days of Lamech Facebook page here. And Jon’s official website is here.

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Quote of the Day: Erich Fromm on the “Basic Question”

June 13, 2011
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Quote of the Day: Erich Fromm on the “Basic Question”

In comparing Zamyatin’s We, Huxley’s Brave New World, and Orwell’s 1984 Fromm notices that: . . . . there is one basic question common to the three negative utopias. The question is a philosophical, anthropological and psychological one, and perhaps also a religious one. It is: can human nature be changed in such a way that man will forget his longing for freedom, for dignity, for integrity, for love—that is to say, can man forget that he is human? Or does human nature have a dynamism which will react to the violation of these basic human needs by attempting to change an inhuman society into a human one? It must be noted that the three authors do not take the simple position of psychological relativism which is common to so many social scientists today; they do not start out with the assumption that there is no such thing as human nature; that there is no such thing as qualities essential to man; and that man is born as nothing but a blank sheet of paper on which any given society writes its text. They do assume man has an intense striving for love, for justice, for truth, for solidarity, and

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Book Review: ‘The Exploits of the Patent Leather Kid’

June 9, 2011
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Book Review: ‘The Exploits of the Patent Leather Kid’

By Mike Gray The Exploits of the Patent Leather Kid – By Erle Stanley Gardner – Edited and Introduction by Bill Pronzini – Crippen & Landru Publishers – Lost Classics Series: Number 30 – ISBN 978-1-932009-88-0 – Trade Paperback: 268 pages – 2010. When most people hear the name Erle Stanley Gardner, they immediately think of his most famous character creation, Perry Mason, but he was also an incredibly prolific pulp fiction writer. Kevin Burton Smith tells us: The fact is, before he’d even written a single novel, Gardner was one of America’s most successful writers. He was truly the king of the pulps, writing millions and millions of words, cranking out a steady barrage of characters in everything from Black Mask to Argosy. Most of his stories dealt with one side or the other of the law (and often, both). A contemporary of Carroll John Daly and Dashiell Hammett, Gardner had the longest run of any author in Black Mask, and wrote more stories for the magazine (more than a few under pseudonyms) than any other author. In fact, he probably created more characters, particularly continuing characters, for the magazine than any one else. Asked once why he wrote,

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Prose & Poetry Update

May 31, 2011
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Prose & Poetry Update

Memorial Day has come and gone, but we remember those who gave the last full measure of devotion on behalf of America. Inspired by those memories, this week’s Update includes two poems that would not be were it not for those who died fighting WWI. In 1915 the London Spectator published “In Flanders Fields,” written by Major John McCrae, a surgeon attached to Canada’s 1st Field Artillery Brigade. Its closing isn’t what one might expect from a combat surgeon, especially when viewed through lenses created by films such as M.A.S.H., A Bridge Too Far, and Apocalypse Now. Rather than simply lamenting lost lives, Major McCrae challenges future generations to continue fighting so as to honor the memory of those who sacrificed themselves in battle. In response to this, Moina Michael penned “We Shall Never Forget.” We shall never forget the sacrifice our brave military men and women made on our behalf. Neither shall we forget to pick up “from failing hands” “the torch” and “hold it high.” “In Flanders Fields” In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the

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Arnold Bennett Clobbers Poe — Lawsuit Pending

May 31, 2011
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Arnold Bennett Clobbers Poe — Lawsuit Pending

By Mike Gray Arnold Bennett’s lifespan straddled the divide between the 19th and 20th centuries. A prolific novelist, at one time he was as well-known—and almost as popular—as Charles Dickens. His wit was apt to swerve in unexpected directions, as for example in the following dispraise of Edgar Allan Poe which Bennett published fast on the heels of the Poe Centenary of 1909: The great Edgar Allan Poe celebration has passed off, and no one has been seriously hurt by the terrific display of fireworks. Some of the set pieces were pretty fair; for example, Mr. G. B. Shaw’s in the Nation and Prof. C. H. Herford’s in the Manchester Guardian. On the whole, however, the enthusiasm was too much in the nature of mere good form. If only we could have a celebration of Omar Khayyam, Tennyson, Gilbert White, or the inventor of Bridge, the difference between new and manufactured enthusiasm would be apparent. We have spent several happy weeks in conceitedly explaining to that barbaric race, the Americans, that in Poe they have never appreciated their luck. Yet we ourselves have never understood Poe. And we never shall understand Poe. It is immensely to our credit that, owing

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Moments with Father Aillil

May 28, 2011
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Moments with Father Aillil

By Mike Gray Here are just a few of the memorable moments found in Lars Walker‘s Father Aillil saga. From Erling’s Word: “You’re saying you’re dead?” I put in. He looked at me as if he’d forgotten my existence. “Of course I’m dead,” he said. “You mean you didn’t know? The last thing I ever saw on earth was the welcome spectacle of your back heading down the road and away from the monastery, before I fell into the apoplectic fit that killed me. You may add to your catalogue of sins the occasion of a good man’s death.” — Then was a time. The arrows rained on us until our shields were hedgehogs’ backs. One man after another screamed and lay screaming until the arrows finished him, for we were too busy to help. Aki’s men attacked on all sides, and we thrust at them with spears, and when one went down another took his place, and if he warded well with his shield he got in close to the parapet and we had to discourage him with axes and swords. I had thought my shield light at first. Now it weighed like an anvil, and my axe like

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Q & A with Lars Walker, Author of the Father Aillil Series

May 28, 2011
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Q & A with Lars Walker, Author of the Father Aillil Series

By Mike Gray Lars Walker has kindly consented to answer a few questions about his continuing saga of the adventures of an Irish priest among those tenth-century sea wolves, the Vikings: Q: What prompted you to write West Oversea? A. I’ve been a Viking enthusiast since I was a small boy (it has something to do with being bad at sports before video games were invented). I’ve spent a lot of time over the years with a wonderful old book called Heimskringla, the sagas of the kings of Norway. There’s a secondary character in that book who began to impress me more and more – Erling Skjalgsson of Sola, who was the most powerful man in southwestern Norway for most of his life, and at times the most powerful man in the country. The more I studied his life, and related it to what I’d learned about the times and the culture, the more I realized this was a man who was way ahead of his time, and who has been unjustly neglected – or even libeled – by the historians, though recently he’s started coming into his own again. Q: The American Culture weblog concerns itself primarily with issues

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Books Reviewed: The Saga of Father Aillil

May 28, 2011
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Books Reviewed: The Saga of Father Aillil

By Mike Gray “Norway is great because we’re wolves in a world of sheep!” The calendar says it has been nearly a thousand years since the advent of Christ. But for Father Aillil, the priest of a recently converted Viking lord, the news of the “White Christ” is only now penetrating into Norse culture — and it’s meeting considerable resistance. Erling’s Word (1997) Collected in The Year of the Warrior (2000) “I think you’re as fair as a summer morning with the sun rising over Lough Erne. The grass is dewy and fat, so a man could live on it, and the flowers open their mouths and praise God with a song of sweet odor, and the birds raise a hymn they learned from Solomon two thousand years since, and have passed on in secret to their children ever after. And far across the water you can see swans swimming, and the sunrise tints them pink, and the breeze is so mild and gentle it’s like the hand of your mother on your forehead when you’re a child, and sick, and she fears to lose you.” Father Aillil hasn’t always been a priest. He is pretty much minding his own

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"Culture is the expression of the guiding philosophy of the day."—Murray Rothbard
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