1. I want to read your unwritten exegesis on Miller’s Wandering Jew. It feels like this was a discernible cultural reference in the 1950s that is barely decipherable anymore. And yet I recently read Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman from 2012 where he obscurely shows up and gives a miracle girl who is part-Godhead the tip of the spear that pierced Christ. Probably the built-in readership for medieval fantasy gets the reference more than the general reading public though.
2. Really need to bump City up my list as a lover of both Simak and dogs. I like Simak because he has a very gentle touch. Also, e.g., his novel Time and Again posits that Wisconsin might exist in the future which is refreshing as most American SF struggles to imagine a world outside the coasts. It’s sort of interesting to think about how as American SF was taking off in the 30s, population-wise the US was mostly still agrarian. Simak might be the main guy in post-war SF reflecting this reality. Terry Bisson’s quasi-autobiographical alt history Any Day Now has a middle class kid in Western Kentucky in the 50s have his world expanded and transformed by reading paperback SF including Simak and a Beatnik moving to town. Much to consider. Anyway the idea of Simak having echoes in cli-fi and solar punk makes me more likely to investigate them.
3. On the theme of dogs, I finally read “The Faithful” by Lester del Rey which was rough hewn but fantastic. I like this recurring idea of humanity being survived by our intellectually ascendant pets. I think it is fair to say that they deserve a try.
4. It struck me recently that the granddaddy of all this stuff is the very dark take on it that H. G. Wells has in The Island of Doctor Moreau. I have review of a recent book about an intelligent chimp that is working its way through Strange Horizon’s editorial infrastructure right now that has another dark take so this stuff has been on my mind.
I recently stumbled across a copy of the novel The Wandering Jew (1844) by Eugene Sue and was tempted to buy it for its staggering antisemitism. (The Jew brings a plague of cholera everywhere he goes.) But it seemed too long and boring to bother with. I also recall learning in my youth about a plant called the Wandering Jew, although I think it has since been renamed. I'm pretty sure Canticle was my first introduction to the trope. I'll noodle on a Wandering Jew essay for you.
I just read "The Faithful." What a delight! I love the image of the dogs bribing the apes with cigarettes, lol.
I haven't read The Island of Doctor Moreau. The synopsis sounds pretty gruesome. I think you'll find City a refreshing tonic to the darkness of the theme of animal uplift. Simak's take is probably less sophisticated but it's just nice to read about the dogs living in harmony with the wolves and raccoons and squirrels. I'm into the darkness as much or more than anybody, but sometimes it's nice to read a nice story.
1. I want to read your unwritten exegesis on Miller’s Wandering Jew. It feels like this was a discernible cultural reference in the 1950s that is barely decipherable anymore. And yet I recently read Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman from 2012 where he obscurely shows up and gives a miracle girl who is part-Godhead the tip of the spear that pierced Christ. Probably the built-in readership for medieval fantasy gets the reference more than the general reading public though.
2. Really need to bump City up my list as a lover of both Simak and dogs. I like Simak because he has a very gentle touch. Also, e.g., his novel Time and Again posits that Wisconsin might exist in the future which is refreshing as most American SF struggles to imagine a world outside the coasts. It’s sort of interesting to think about how as American SF was taking off in the 30s, population-wise the US was mostly still agrarian. Simak might be the main guy in post-war SF reflecting this reality. Terry Bisson’s quasi-autobiographical alt history Any Day Now has a middle class kid in Western Kentucky in the 50s have his world expanded and transformed by reading paperback SF including Simak and a Beatnik moving to town. Much to consider. Anyway the idea of Simak having echoes in cli-fi and solar punk makes me more likely to investigate them.
3. On the theme of dogs, I finally read “The Faithful” by Lester del Rey which was rough hewn but fantastic. I like this recurring idea of humanity being survived by our intellectually ascendant pets. I think it is fair to say that they deserve a try.
4. It struck me recently that the granddaddy of all this stuff is the very dark take on it that H. G. Wells has in The Island of Doctor Moreau. I have review of a recent book about an intelligent chimp that is working its way through Strange Horizon’s editorial infrastructure right now that has another dark take so this stuff has been on my mind.
I recently stumbled across a copy of the novel The Wandering Jew (1844) by Eugene Sue and was tempted to buy it for its staggering antisemitism. (The Jew brings a plague of cholera everywhere he goes.) But it seemed too long and boring to bother with. I also recall learning in my youth about a plant called the Wandering Jew, although I think it has since been renamed. I'm pretty sure Canticle was my first introduction to the trope. I'll noodle on a Wandering Jew essay for you.
I just read "The Faithful." What a delight! I love the image of the dogs bribing the apes with cigarettes, lol.
I haven't read The Island of Doctor Moreau. The synopsis sounds pretty gruesome. I think you'll find City a refreshing tonic to the darkness of the theme of animal uplift. Simak's take is probably less sophisticated but it's just nice to read about the dogs living in harmony with the wolves and raccoons and squirrels. I'm into the darkness as much or more than anybody, but sometimes it's nice to read a nice story.
Adolescent favorite.
Many of the details have stuck with me ever since.
A few years ago I re-read it and still loved it.
I read it to my youngest kid when he was about 8 years old and he loved it. He still talks about the mood of it.
Oh, I can imagine how great it would be to read to a child. Maybe that’s the reason for all the “dadburns” 😂
Also I really have to read Sirius now. That’s 💯 my kind of story
Never had a pet, but if I did, I’d want a bernedoodle
There’s a pair of berners in my neighborhood and every time I see them it makes me so happy 🥹
Omg. I want to read this!
It’s goofy but worth it!