These “classics” are mediocre at bestI’ve always been a big fan of the Library of America. Mostly I’m familiar with their volumes of classic literature in the black and white dustjackets. When it comes to that sphere of publishing, they put together the best-edited and best-produced books in the business. When I saw that this volume on American Science Fiction was being offered as a Kindle Daily Deal, I snatched it up, expecting that it would reflect the smart editorial choices and general excellence I’ve come to expect from the Library of America. American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1968–1969, however, proved to be a major disappointment. Although I enjoy reading vintage science fiction from this era, these selections did not impress me at all. Two of the books were terrible, and two were mediocre at best. The four authors featured are all well-respected in the genre, and these books have maybe won Nebula or Hugo Awards, but I don’t always agree with the arbiters of taste who hand out such accolades. If these four books are indeed regarded as “classics” of the genre, then they are vastly overrated.
Past Master is the debut novel by R. A. Lafferty. In the 26th century, an Earth colony on a far-off planet is facing unrest in their utopian community, so they reach back in time to abduct Sir Thomas More, author of the original Utopia, to rescue their government. The book is filled with bad ideas, nonsensical language, meaningless dialog, and silly attempts at humor that aren’t funny. Even worse is Picnic on Paradise by Joanna Russ. This novel is ostensibly a wilderness adventure, devoid of adventure, in which Alyx of Tyre (a recurring character for Russ) leads a band of frequently weeping idiots on a pointless trek through the mountainous terrain of a planet ironically named Paradise. Like Lafferty, Russ takes so many liberties with the English language that her prose reads like fruitless nonsense.
The other two selections in the volume fare better by at least being readable. Like the two aforementioned, both take place in a distant future after mankind has populated many worlds. Samuel R. Delany’s novel Nova has a decent story about interstellar voyagers aiming to fly through a star as it goes nova. It just gets too bogged down in an overly melodramatic space opera and a bunch of tangential digressions about Delany’s pet interests (tarot cards, for example) that in no way contribute to the main plot of the narrative. The best novel in the collection, and that’s not saying much, is Jack Vance’s Emphyrio. Man’s interstellar colonies are governed by a sort of medieval feudalism, which Vance uses to advance his libertarian theories of economics. Inspired by the legend of a Christ-like martyr named Emphyrio, a young hero decides to resist the ruling empire. Unlike the other showings in this collection, Vance is at least a good craftsman of the English language and a thoughtful storyteller who can write science fiction that doesn’t defy logic.
The Library of America has published at least three other volumes in this series of American Science Fiction collections, all edited by Gary K. Wolfe. I am familiar with a few of the novels included in those other volumes, such as the excellent Way Station by Clifford D. Simak in the 1960–1966 collection. After being disappointed by Wolfe’s selections in this 1968–1969 volume, however, I don’t have confidence that another volume of science fiction from the LOA would be worth my money or time.
Novels in this collection (all previously reviewed at Old Books by Dead Guys)
Past Master by R. A. Lafferty
Picnic on Paradise by Joanna Russ
Nova by Samuel R. Delany
Emphyrio by Jack Vance
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Nonsensical take on UtopiaR. A. Lafferty’s science fiction novel Past Master was first published in 1968. I encountered the novel when I purchased the Library of America’s collection American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1968-1969, in which Past Master is included. I’ve come to expect great things from the Library of America, editorially speaking, but in this case I was disappointed by their selection of this work. The editor of the collection talks about Past Master as if it were a seminal work of the science fiction genre, and the book was nominated for Nebula and Hugo Awards, but I just found it terribly annoying, tedious, and pointless.
In the year 2535, on the world of Astrobe, an Earth colony circling another star somewhere in space, a trio of political powerbrokers gather to discuss the fate of their civilization. Astrobe was meant to be a Utopia for humanity, but things aren’t quite working out that way. The prevailing regime on Astrobe faces rebellion from both human and “programmed” (android) inhabitants. What’s needed to save this society is a new leader, a man of honesty and integrity who can inspire Astrobe to keep the dream alive. The Astrobian illuminati have the power to reach back into time and summon forth historical figures from humanity’s past. It is decided that Thomas More, author of the original Utopia published in 1516, would be the best man to lead this new Utopia. Once More is brought to Astrobe, however, not all are in favor of his ascension to the throne, and he faces threats of assassination and enticements toward corruption.
That may sound like a clever premise for a novel, but the result is far less than satisfying. The plot involves some not-so-profound commentary on how Utopias are not all they’re cracked up to be. The drive to implement a universal perfection results in a totalitarian squelching of individuality. Lafferty merely tells us this, however, rather than really showing us through thoughtful narrative and imagery, as do better dystopian novels like George Orwell’s 1984 or Ayn Rand’s Anthem.
The bulk of the book is occupied by whimsical excesses. I guess because this is a science fiction universe, Lafferty thinks that anything goes, with no rules, so there’s no reason to make any sense. The book reads as if the fictional world he’s creating is just made up as he goes along. More is introduced to a motley crew of characters with goofy names, some of whom have special powers—witches, wizards, immortals, transmigrants—with no logical justification. The narration is a tapestry of nonsensical sentences, while the dialogue is a running banter of non-sequiturs. Although there are intentional moments of humor here and there, it doesn’t seem as if the novel is intended as satire. Instead, the prose simply comes across as silly without being funny. Much of the text just seems like unnecessary wordplay, which may have been more palatable in the era of beat poetry but now feels like a waste of time.
Perhaps critics and experts of the genre consider Past Master to be a classic of New Wave science fiction, but I found nothing in it to merit such praise. I prefer sci-fi that has some logic to it, even if it establishes its own logic, rather than just a willy-nilly stream of words that only add up to style without substance.
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