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SFRuminations

@SFRuminations@wandering.shop

History PhD. Joachim Boaz maps the more esoteric inclines and declines of science fiction between 1945-1985. When SF tackles the greater morass of things and our oblique interiors he is happy. His website Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations charts these movements. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/

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SFRuminations, to scifi
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Ad in Astounding Science-Fiction (July 1942)

SFRuminations, to history
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From my Cold War primary source shelves: J. Edgar Hoover’s Masters of Deceit (1958) replete with high school student scholarship contest! #history #ColdWar #books #America #Communism

Contest rules for high school students
Essay question for high school student contest

SFRuminations, to books
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Reading while the cat watches “TV” from his new perch.

SFRuminations,
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And he has now joined me on the chair…

SFRuminations, to scifi
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Artist Bruce Pennington (1944-) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?25937

L, 1972; R. 1973

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SFRuminations, to scifi
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Sharon Baker (1938-1991) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?316

L, Wayne Barlowe, 1984; R, Paul Lehr, 1987

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SFRuminations, to scifi
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Wenzell Brown (1911-1981) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?17369

L, Ed Emshwiller, 1964; R, Jack Gaughan, 1965

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SFRuminations, to scifi
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Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?81

L, Arthur Hawkins, 1931; R, David Pelham, 1973

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SFRuminations,
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@contentcatnip For hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of reviews of the texts behind the covers (albeit not Stapledon, yet), check out my site. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/science-fiction-book-reviews-by-author/

My 2023 in review is probably the best place to start for my more recent review series and projects: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/01/01/my-2023-in-review-best-sf-novels-best-sf-short-fiction-and-bonus-categories/

SFRuminations, to scifi
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Artist Alex Schomburg (1905-1998) was born on this day. List of covers: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1306

L, 1952; R, 1965

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SFRuminations, to scifi
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Intriguing analysis of Asimov’s Foundation trilogy and its central flaw.

From M. Keith Booker’s Monsters, Mushroom Clouds, and the Cold War: American Science Fiction and the Roots of Postmodernism, 1946-1964 (2001)

SFRuminations,
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“In short, Asimov, via Seldon, seems unable to envision any real historical change: one reason why Seldon can presumably predict the future is that people in the future are no different from people in the present. Indeed, the one time Seldon’s predictions fail is when the Mule, whose mind does work differently, comes along…

SFRuminations, (edited )
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…Ultimately, then, Asimov’s psychohistory is neither an extension of Marxism to greater scientific validity, per Wollheim, nor reversion to the vulgar Marxism of the 1930s, per Elkins. It is, instead, a simplistic, essentially ahistorical mod that has nevertheless been influenced by grand historical meta narratives of the sort proposed by Marx…

SFRuminations,
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…Somw is this ahistorical simplicity might be attributed to Asimov’s own lack of sophistication. After all, he began writing the tales of the trilogy in his early twenties. By the time the volumes of the trilogy were published in book form, he had a doctorate in chemistry, but that is hardly the kind of education designed to give him a sophisticated understanding of the historical process.”

SFRuminations,
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@kiwi2002 he imagines a future in a perpetual state of stasis in which people have identical psychological makeups regardless of the era in which they live. Not sure how that’s explained by “what if.”

I am a historian who, while not terribly obsessed with Asimov, IS interested in studying SF takes on “how history works.”

SFRuminations,
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@kiwi2002 there’s a PDF of the book online — this is one small paragraph of a much larger argument. I posted this one because I got a laugh from the snark….

SFRuminations,
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@kiwi2002 Which the scholar discusses and mentions.

SFRuminations,
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@kiwi2002 As I explained to someone else, the scholar's argument is a bit different than the blurb represents -- he is partly responding to other scholars. He is trying to make an argument that Asimov departs from Marx in some substantial ways, and one way is to remove real historical change from the analysis of the future.

sff180, to random
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@SFRuminations Hi Joachim! Since you’re my go-to man for all things vintage, a question: I’ve recently been thinking about feuds between writers in the SF world, and was wondering if you were aware of any such that were enjoyably gossipy. I know of Wollheim’s feud with the first Worldcon committee. And Harlan Ellison seemingly feuded with everyone at one point or another. James Blish was embroiled in one, I believe. Just curious about this at the moment.

SFRuminations,
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@sff180 To be honest, I don't pay much attention to drama between authors when I read about them. That said, I know that Moorcock (and Aldiss) had a book burning of Brunner's works when he won the Hugo for Stand on Zanzibar. And of course, Christopher Priest had the long-running frustration, which he wrote about, with Ellison about Last Dangerous Visions.

frankboehmert, to sciencefiction German
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William Tenns 'Von Menschen und Monstern' zählt zu den frühesten SF-Lektüren, an die ich mich noch erinnere. Als Kind fand ich den Roman cool und gruselig - und weil das Autorenfoto auf der Rückseite schlecht gedruckt war, hielt ich Tenn noch jahrelang für meinen ersten schwarzen Autor, lol.

Der wurde dann Sam Delany.

(via @SFRuminations because birthday)

https://wandering.shop/@SFRuminations/112410657710116061

SFRuminations,
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@frankboehmert My review of the novel: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2013/09/10/book-review-of-men-and-monsters-william-tenn-1968/

SFRuminations,
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@Zuggaschnegge @frankboehmert I have also reviewed a TON of his short fiction on my site.

My most recent reviews: “Eastward Ho!” (1958) and
“Generation of Noah” (1951) https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2023/03/04/short-story-reviews-william-tenns-generation-of-noah-1951-and-eastward-ho-1958/

General review index with links to all my Tenn reviews: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/science-fiction-book-reviews-by-author/

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William Tenn (1920-2010) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?484

L, Boris Vallejo, 1975; R, Richard Powers, 1955

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SFRuminations,
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@futuriana also check out the reviews of McKenna, Neville, Cowper, and Tenn on my site!

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Richard McKenna (1913-1964) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?8013

L, Angus McKie, 1976; R, Ed Emshwiller, 1963

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SFRuminations,
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My review of McKenna's Casey Agonistes and Other Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories (1973) https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2021/10/31/book-review-casey-agonistes-and-other-science-fiction-and-fantasy-stories-richard-mckenna-1973/

Contains my favorite of his stories: “Hunter, Come Home” (1963)

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Richard Cowper (1926-2002) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?481

L, Don Maitz, 1979; R, Don Maitz, 1981

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SFRuminations,
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My review of Cowper's The Road to Corlay (1978) https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2019/04/01/book-review-the-road-to-corlay-richard-cowper-1978/

SFRuminations,
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@A_W_M Feel free to join the lovely community in the comment section on the site! That's my main forum for SF conversation :)

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