Cyril Kornbluth

Between the Detroit thread and the "Slots are for morons" thread, I came to recall Cyril Kornbluth, a very good writer from John W. Campbell's golden age of Science Fiction.

Why Detroit? Well, Detroit was the setting for the Robocop movies. In the first one there's a side reference to one of Kornbluth's best known short stories. The line is in a TV show the people in the movie watch: "I'll buy that for a dollar!" In Kornbluth's story there's a similar line in a radio show: "Would you buy it for a quarter?". The story's called "The Marching Morons." (As far as I recall, there were no slot machines at all in that story).

Kornbluth's science fiction falls in the soft variety. new science or technology may be an important factor in his stories, but the focus is on the societies the characters live in. His best novelette, "Shark Ship," even features very low-tech, but a very distorted pair of societies in the far future.

"The Marching Morons" is a dystopian short novelette set in the far future. A man gets himself frozen to avoid death (or for some other reason) and is revived, rather easily, in an amaznig future world full of conveniences and all sorts of neat stuff, but populated entirely by morons. Literally morons. Idiots who can barely make sense when they talk and can't focus on things. Except for...., well, that would be telling.

The man was attracted to dysopian stories before they were en vogue. To be sure such stories precede him (Brave New World, for one), but they went fashionable only after the publication and success of Orwell's 1984. Like all fashions, it comes and goes. In the 80s it was all about nuclear war, in the 90s it was asteroid strikes.

In Kornbluth's fiction it's always people. Stupid people as in "Morons," or wicked people as in "Shark Ship." The latter manages to present two dystopian futures, even if the ending is upbeat. Another very upbeat ending, along with a very uplifting climax, is also a bit dystopian: "His Share of Glory."

Alas Mr. Kornbluth died shortly after WWII at age 35.

Sounds interesting. I have never heard of this fella before, but will look into it now.

Same here! I love science fiction, and I have to admit I've never heard of him. Character-driven fiction is always more interesting to me, so this author sounds right up my alley.

Quote: Croupier

Sounds interesting. I have never heard of this fella before, but will look into it now.

Great.

Some years ago I found a collection of his short stories called "His Share of Glory." I looked up amazon uk, but it's only available through private sellers. his novels may be more easily avialable. I've read one so far, "The Space Merchants" co-written with Frederick Pohl (another of Campbell's geniuses). Or try second-hand bookstores online or off.

I originally found him while reading Asimov's memoir "I, Asimov," where he mentions how he knew him (BTW that's Asimov's least original title ever, and the only one possible for his last autobiography).

I've read a lot of the Golden Age authors, and also some of Campbell's short fiction. I'm chasing down more works by Clifford D. Simak, Lester del Rey and Kornbluth. I've already read most of asimov's fiction, Clarke, Heinlen and Pohl.

Quote: Nareed

Why Detroit? Well, Detroit was the setting for the Robocop movies..

There's also an excellent SF book called 'Dhalgren' by Samual Delaney. Its about a major city where everybody leaves and all thats left are pockets of people. I read it in the 70's and have reread it several times, its a hard to forget SF novel.

Quote: ElectricDreams

Same here! I love science fiction, and I have to admit I've never heard of him. Character-driven fiction is always more interesting to me, so this author sounds right up my alley.

Your nick's reminescent of Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

Quote: Nareed

I've read a lot of the Golden Age authors, and also some of Campbell's short fiction. I'm chasing down more works by Clifford D. Simak, Lester del Rey and Kornbluth. I've already read most of asimov's fiction, Clarke, Heinlen and Pohl.

Philip K Dick is my all time fave. I was reading his books as they came out when I was a teenager. As well as Heinlein's and a lot of others that are now classics. Ray Bradbury is also someone I used to like, but he sure has turned into a flaming Lib in his old age.

Quote: EvenBob

Philip K Dick is my all time fave.

All I've read of Dick is "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" which is the novel "Blade Runner" was based on. I can't say I cared for either one. I found Dick difficult to get through.

Quote:

As well as Heinlein's and a lot of others that are now classics. Ray Bradbury is also someone I used to like, but he sure has turned into a flaming Lib in his old age.

Heinlein's one of the best when he's not doing something weird (Stranger in a Strange Land). His last work, "Friday," is oen of my favorite novels.

As for Bradbury, I never cared much for him outside "Fahrenheit 451." The rest of his works are as much fantasy as SF, even if the setting is supposed to be SF (like The Martian Chronicles; I never figured it out). Speaking of "F451," though, a friend of mine once accidentally started a small fire on his desk while handling some solvents and paints. He grabbed the first thing within reach to beat the fire out. You guessed it, he grabbed his copy of "Fahrenheit 451." The cover was slightly singed.

My all-time favorite, though, is Isaac Asimov. In particular his lesser known novels, "The End of Eternity" and "The Gods Themselves." I also like his mystery short stories, particularly the Black Widower stories.

Quote: Nareed

All I've read of Dick is "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
.

Phillip Dick is a wonder. He was one of the most original writers of the genre. 8 of his works have been made into major movies.

Blade Runner (1982)
Based on "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

Screamers (1995)
Based on "Second Variety"

Total Recall (1990)
Based on "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"

Confessions d'un Barjo (French, 1992)
Based on "Confessions of a Crap Artist"

Impostor (2001)
Based on "Impostor."

Minority Report (2002)
Based on "The Minority Report."

Paycheck (December 25, 2003)
Based on "Paycheck."

A Scanner Darkly (July 7, 2006)
Based on "A Scanner Darkly"

Next (April 27, 2007)
Based on "The Golden Man"

You're really missing something not to read more of his stuff. 'UBIK' is amazing; in 2005, Time magazine listed it among the "All-TIME 100 Greatest Novels" published since 1923. Phillip Dick had a huge imagination and a huge talent and he died way too soon.

I read Heinlein when I was young and find it hard to read his stuff now. He's very hung up on sexual themes, which goes with the generation he was born in. Asimov was one of a kind, a quirky genius who at one time had more books in print than anybody in the world. He authored hundreds of books, the vast majority were science related. He found writing fiction difficult and time consuming and went thru long periods when he wrote none at all.

I saw Screamers and Minority Report. I liked them. I also saw Total Recall, which could have been done better <sigh>. I guess I'll try him again.

Quote: EvenBob

Asimov was one of a kind, a quirky genius who at one time had more books in print than anybody in the world. He authored hundreds of books, the vast majority were science related. He found writing fiction difficult and time consuming and went thru long periods when he wrote none at all.

He wrote on just about every subject imaginable. He wrote history books, books on the Bible, a book about Shakespeare, an annotation to "Alice," two joke books, two volumes of autobiography, and tons of science books (many essay collections from his monthly column in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction).

But he never gave up on fiction. Throughout the late 50s til the early 80s he wrote, if memory serves, just three novels (Fantastic Voyage, Death at the A.B.A., and The Gods Themselves), but he never quit writing short SF and mystery stories in those two and a a fraction decades (in his memoir he describes it as "There was some fiction in the non-fiction desert.") In fact in 1975 he wrote his very best novelette "The Bicentennial Man." (published in 1976, of course). During that time he also edited SF anthologies and wrote introductions to most stories.

Starting in the early 80s he retook the Foundation series, the Robot series and came up with a few stand alone novels, including his own version of Fantastic Voyage (the first one was a novelization of the 60s film).

There! I just finished hijacking my own thread!

Asimov had an IQ so high that some tests can't measure it. He kept 4 Selectric typewriters in his house because two of them would always be in the repair shop. He was loaded with quirks, one of them being he was totally convinced something bad happened to his wife everytime she left the house, like she fell into a manhole or something. He said that when he wrote, the information didn't feel like it was coming from him, but from over his left shoulder and down his arms and into the typewriter.

Quote: Nareed

Your nick's reminescent of Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

I like Assimov, but that reference wasn't on purpose... at least consciously ;-)

I like Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, especially when together: The Mote in God's Eye, Footfall, Lucifer's Hammer. Their Oath of Fealty deals with a failed (destroyed??) Los Angeles.

Lately for me it's been all Stephen Baxter. His stuff is hardly character-driven -- it's "hard" science fiction. I have to take his word for it on the physics, but he writes interesting stuff.

Quote: Calder

I like Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, especially when together: The Mote in God's Eye, Footfall, Lucifer's Hammer. Their Oath of Fealty deals with a failed (destroyed??) Los Angeles.

Mote is the best first contact novel I've read. The sequel's not half bad.

Have you read "The Integral Trees" and the sequel "The Smoke Ring"? They're Niven's ultimate novel: positively the strangest setting for humans to live in. I guess he ran out of weird planets and gigantic structures.

And just for the hell of it:

Q: How many Protectors does it take to change a light bulb?
A: 200. Stars are hard to move.

Ill have to look into these books. Lately I seemed to have overwhelmhed myself with crime dramas. Although I have just read "Night of the Living Trekkies" and very much enjoyed it. There are plenty of Star Trek in jokes to keep fans happy, and enough zombies for anyone else.

Quote: Croupier

Ill have to look into these books. Lately I seemed to have overwhelmhed myself with crime dramas.

You really should.

I've read a few straight mysteries, but overall I prefer to watch police procedural shows like Law & Order in its varied incarnations or CSI. I did read a few Mike Hammer and Perry mason novels.

Back to Kornbluth, one of his short stories is called "The Little Black Bag." Part of it is set in the "Morons" universe, but that part is just the plot device for the story. The story itself involves an alcoholic doctor and his ambitious nurse, plus a miraculous device. The ending is chilling, though not at all surprising.

When I first read it I thought "This would make a good Twilight Zone episode." I was almost right, as it was made by Rod Serling into a Night Gallery episode.