Day of the Moron by H. Beam Piper

An intriguing title, but a dull story
Day of the Moron, a novella by H. Beam Piper, was originally published in the September 1951 issue of the pulp magazine Astounding Science Fiction. It is considered one of three stories in a series known as the “Hartley Yarns,” which began with the 1947 story “Time and Time Again.” Outside of a brief mention of a President Hartley, however, there’s little or no connection to the other two tales. If you haven’t read any of the previous Hartley Yarns, don’t let that stop you from reading this book. On the other hand, what should stop you from reading this book is that it’s mediocre at best and not one of Piper’s better efforts.

The story is set in the near future of 1968. Engineer Scott Melroy is working at a nuclear power plant in Long Island, supervising the installation of a new cybernetic control system. A number of strict security measures have been put in place at the plant to prevent against sabotage. Melroy, however, is concerned about another deadly threat: idiot employees. He brings in a psychologist to examine everyone on his staff to determine if anyone is mentally deficient. This draws the ire of the Industrial Federation of Atomic Workers, a union which claims such intelligence testing violates the rights of their members. While this controversy heats up, can Melroy keep the reactor running safely and securely?

I can imagine the readers of Astounding Science Fiction being pretty disappointed with this offering from Piper, as I was. The only thing that qualifies it as science fiction is its setting at a nuclear power plant. Mostly it’s a series of legal arguments between Melroy and representatives of the union. Piper uses the story as a voicebox for his anti-union views. Another important issue at hand is nuclear security, a matter that’s still a concern today. Piper doesn’t mention the possible theft of radioactive materials for making weapons, but rather focuses on the possibility that a saboteur or a moron could wipe out the power supply to millions of people. He points out that the consolidation of electricity into giant grids managed by a few companies increases the chances for catastrophe. Along the same lines, he also briefly mentions food and water sabotage. These are all important topics, and holding forth on them is Piper’s prerogative, but in this case they don’t make for an interesting or entertaining story. Piper’s a great writer, and he handles this material in a competent manner, but it’s far from exciting. What’s missing is Piper’s wacky visionary audacity. The intriguing and unorthodox title promises more than this mundane novella delivers.

For Piper fans, pretty much everything he wrote is worth reading, but this is far from his best work. Day of the Moron may be a difficult title to resist, but unless you’re set out to tackle his complete works, you can safely avoid reading this one.
If you liked this review, please follow the link below to Amazon.com and give me a “helpful” vote. Thank you.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2PBSCOCI9K6OW/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Lillian Morris and Other Stories by Henryk Sienkiewicz

A Polish perspective on the American West

Lillian Morris and Other Stories is a collection of works by Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz, winner of the 1905 Nobel Prize in Literature. The volume contains a novel of about 150 pages, entitled Lillian Morris, and three short stories, each of 50 pages or less. It’s unclear if these works were ever published together in Polish. The English-language edition, consisting of translations by Jeremiah Curtin, was published in 1894. Two of the works, including Lillian Morris, are set in the American West, while one short story is set in Poland and another in Spain.

From 1876 to 1878 Sienkiewicz lived in America, mostly in California. During those years he explored the West, traveling through mountains and deserts and visiting mining camps and Native American villages. In a brief introduction to Lillian Morris, Sienkiewicz explains that the novel is based on a tale related to him over a campfire in the Santa Lucia Range. The narrator is Captain Ralph, a Polish immigrant charged with leading a wagon train from the East Coast to California. Along the way he meets Lillian Morris, a young woman traveling alone, and falls in love with her. Sienkiewicz’s literary style and the distinctly American subject matter make for a curious mix. At first his European Romanticism overpowers the narrative, resulting in a familiar two-lovers-in-a-Garden-of-Eden story that just happens to take place on the Great Plains. Once Sienkiewicz starts to get into the nitty gritty of Indian relations and the harsh reality of traversing rugged mountains and hellish deserts, however, the story makes a turn for the better into the type of Western lore one expects from Zane Grey or Owen Wister. Still, Sienkiewicz stays true to his Romantic roots. The final chapter is as emotionally intense as any of the military epics for which he’s primarily famous. Lillian Morris is a great read for fans of Sienkiewicz, or even anyone who just enjoys a great Western yarn.

Even better is the short story that follows, entitled “Sachem.” A small town in Texas is forced to confront its genocidal past when a traveling circus comes to town. The program’s headline act is a performance by an Indian chief of the very tribe they exterminated. Here Sienkiewicz expertly straddles the line between shameful tragedy and biting wit. The next selection, “Yamyol” (or “Angel”) doesn’t fare as well. A funeral takes place at a Polish village church on a snowy night. At the conclusion of the ceremony, an orphan girl, left behind by the deceased, departs for a nearby mansion where she will be housed as a servant. If you read enough about Polish literature on the web, you’ll find a fair amount of complaints about the work of Jeremiah Curtin, Sienkiewicz’s most prolific translator. Though I don’t read or speak Polish, it seems that this story in particular contains many awkward passages that were likely caused by too-literal interpretations of slang expressions or idioms. The final piece in the book, “The Bull Fight: A Reminiscence of Spain,” is exactly what the title indicates. Sienkiewicz describes in exquisite detail a bull fight in Madrid. Though there’s little storyline, it is a well-rendered, naturalistic evocation of its topic, at times exciting and always educational.

Though the subject matter of these works may be atypical for Sienkiewicz, for the most part the quality of the writing is what you would expect from this Nobel-calibre author. Lillian Morris and Other Stories is a testament to his versatility and a satisfying showcase of his short fiction.

Works in this collection

Lillian Morris

Sachem 

Yamyol 

The Bull Fight 

If you liked this review, please follow the link below to Amazon.com and give me a “helpful” vote. Thank you.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R16M94YPY996D2/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

An Antarctic Mystery, or The Sphinx of the Ice Fields by Jules Verne

Better than the book it pays homage to, but not much
Jules Verne’s novel An Antarctic Mystery, also known as The Sphinx of the Ice Fields was originally published in 1897 under the French title of Le Sphinx des glaces. It is a sequel to Edgar Allan Poe’s 1838 novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. If you haven’t read Poe’s novel, don’t worry. You don’t have to. Verne summarizes the entire narrative in chapter five of this book, and it’s far more entertaining than Poe’s original telling of the story. The whole time I was reading Poe’s book I kept thinking to myself that Jules Verne would have handled this material much better. After reading Verne’s homage to Poe’s work, it turns out I was right about the “better” but not right about the “much.”

Mr. Jeorling, the narrator, is an American geologist doing some research in the Kerguelen Islands, located in the Southern Ocean. Upon completing his study, he looks for a ride back home. The next ship to arrive in port is the Halbrane, an American schooner. The boat’s mysterious skipper, Captain Len Guy, is not willing to accept a passenger at first, but when he finds out that Jeorling is from Nantucket he welcomes him aboard. It turns out that Len Guy is the brother of William Guy, the captain of the Jane, a ship that disappeared in the Antarctic eleven years earlier. Among the passengers on board that vessel was Arthur Gordon Pym. Though Pym’s narrative made it back to Nantucket and into the hands of Poe, the captain and most of the crew of the Jane never returned. Captain Len Guy is heading toward the South Pole in hopes of finding survivors. Jeorling is shocked to find out that Poe’s fantastic novel has a factual basis. Like Pym, he possesses a curious nature and an adventurous soul. Intrigued by the mystery, he boards the Halbrane as it departs on its Antarctic expedition.

Like Poe, Verne makes the reader wait forever before the ship gets anywhere, but at least he keeps things interesting along the way. As in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Verne’s curiosity about natural phenomena is infectious. His descriptions of flora, fauna, and oceanic and atmospheric conditions provides a vivid travelogue for those with an enthusiasm for science. He also interjects suspenseful moments of conflict between crew members, some of whom have mysterious backgrounds and ulterior motives. Unfortunately, one story element involving secret identity is carried through most of the book, yet it’s painfully obvious from the very beginning who the person in question really is.

At the time this book was written, no one had yet reached the South Pole, and it was not yet clear whether there was even an Antarctic continent or just a huge sheet of sea ice. In his novel, Poe created an entire Antarctic civilization. The scientific-minded Verne seems uncomfortable with some of Poe’s flights of fantasy, so he ignores them altogether. The titular mystery is primarily concerned with the fate of the Jane’s crew. The people or creatures that Pym described in his narrative are of secondary importance. This grounds Verne’s story more firmly in reality, but it also unfortunately squanders some opportunities to delight in the weirdness of Poe’s vision. As a result, Verne’s novel ends up being mostly a book about ice. It’s a good example of 19th-century exploratory adventure literature, but there’s nothing remarkable about it that makes it stand out from Verne’s better-known science fiction works. If you enjoyed Twenty Thousand Leagues it’s a safe bet you’ll like this one too, but it’s not nearly in the same league, no pun intended.
If you liked this review, please follow the link below to Amazon.com and give me a “helpful” vote. Thank you.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R30KPC28UAVAKT/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

East Wind, West Wind by Pearl S. Buck

An unremarkable debut
East Wind, West Wind is the debut novel of Pearl S. Buck, winner of the 1938 Nobel Prize in Literature. It was published in 1930, just one year before Buck would become a literary superstar upon the publication of her second novel, The Good Earth. Though born in America, Buck was raised in China, where her parents worked as missionaries. She lived there for most of the first forty years of her life, departing in 1934. The story of East Wind, West Wind is narrated by a Chinese woman named Kwei-Lan, as told to an American woman (presumably Buck herself) whom she addresses as My Sister. The purpose of the novel is to contrast the traditional marriage customs and family life of the East (China) with those of the West (America). To that end, it is quite successful in educating Western readers about Chinese customs and values. As far as literary quality is concerned, however, it’s not quite up to the standard of Buck’s better-known works, but it does reveal some promise of great things to come in her future career.

Kwei-Lan comes from a family of relative wealth. Her mother and father are married, yet her father also supports three concubines and their children in the household. According to Chinese custom, Kwei-Lan’s parents arrange a marriage for her. She enters into this union with enthusiasm, willing to serve her husband and his family as tradition dictates. Her husband, however, has a different perspective on things. He was educated in America, where he experienced firsthand the Western way of life. He wears Western clothes, practices Western medicine, and favors Western attitudes toward relationships and family. He honors the obligation of his marriage to Kwei-Lan, but treats her more as a roommate than a wife. He refuses to let her assume the traditional subservient role towards his family and insists they get a house of their own. As a doctor educated in modern medicine, he considers the practice of foot binding barbaric, and urges Kwei-Lan to unbind her own feet. Each break with tradition is painful to Kwei-Lan, as her inability to fulfill the customary obligations of a Chinese wife makes her feel like a failure in her matrimonial duties. Her husband is alien to her, yet she resolves to win his love, even if she must adapt to his modern Western ideas.

East Wind, West Wind probably would have been a better novel if it were written in the third person. China has had some strong and powerful women in its history, but Kwei-lan isn’t one of them. Though the reader wants to root for her, Buck’s main purpose for the character is to portray her as a victim to China’s antiquated customs. The reader soon grows tired of her relentless obsequiousness and naiveté. The slightest deviation from the norm sets her off into a paroxysm of shock. “Oh, My Sister!” Buck seems to grow tired of it too, as she switches gears to a different story line in which Kwei-lan’s brother refuses to go through with his own arranged marriage and weds an American woman instead. Once again this makes for some fascinating culture clash, but the histrionics with which it is rendered becomes tedious at times.

East Wind, West Wind is an OK book, but not a great one. As in all her works, Buck’s humanity and optimism shine through, but stylistically this novel is much more melodramatic and contrived than classics like The Good Earth or Dragon Seed. It’s worth a read for diehard Buck fans, but if all of her novels were of this caliber she wouldn’t have won a Nobel Prize.
If you liked this review, please follow the link below to Amazon.com and give me a “helpful” vote. Thank you.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1UQ21J2XW5VWW/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe

Poe is out of his element here
Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his short stories and poems, but he did write one novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, published in 1838. The story is told in the first person by the title character, sometimes in the form of journal entries, other times not. Pym relates the details of a perilous and bizarre nautical adventure. The book begins as the sort of seafaring tale one might expect from Herman Melville or James Fenimore Cooper. About halfway through it takes a turn toward science fiction and evolves into something more reminiscent of Jules Verne. Unfortunately, neither of these genres is really Poe’s strong suit.

The most aggravating thing about the novel is how unbelievably slow it is. As a habitual reader of classic literature, I’m well aware that Poe was not writing for a 21st century attention span, but even when you compare this novel to the works of his aforementioned contemporaries, it’s like it was written in slow motion. Even Daniel Defoe’s plodding Robinson Crusoe, published more than a century earlier, seems positively frenetic by comparison. In the first chapter of Pym’s narrative, Poe describes a shipwreck scene in such extensive and minute detail that he manages to render it a tedious experience. Next, Pym’s pal Augustus gets a job aboard the ship Grampus. Pym, hungry for adventure, decides to accompany his friend as a stowaway. Pym gets trapped in the hold and seemingly forgotten by his friend. When Augustus finally reappears days later, it takes a flashback of three entire snail’s-pace chapters to get Pym and the reader up to speed on the story’s event. Like Melville’s Moby-Dick or Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, the novel is interspersed with nonfiction interludes, allowing Poe to discourse on topics like the stowage practices of ocean-going vessels, the history of Antarctic exploration, or the procedure for harvesting and processing sea cucumber. Yawn. With the exception of a gripping moment here or there, it’s surprisingly pedestrian. Finally in chapter 18 (out of 25) events begin to occur that distinguish the book from run-of-the-mill nautical genre fare.

Horror is really Poe’s forte, and the best portions of the book are the more macabre scenes in which he’s describing a corpse or a hideous death. The book does include a few memorably chilling moments. Poe is less successful with the sci-fi material, however. Science fiction is best when it’s based on science. Pym’s adventure really more accurately falls under the realm of fantasy, as it bears little grounding in reality. When a new animal species is discovered, for example, Verne would provide some evolutionary reason for the creature’s appearance. Poe, on the other hand, merely strives to envision something weird-looking. Red teeth? Sure, why not. No justification needed. Despite these complaints, the bizarre second half of the book is an improvement in entertainment value over its tedious beginning. Poe gives the reader another reason to dislike the novel, however, when he refuses to provide an ending. He merely truncates the tale at an awkward point of incompletion and tacks on a dull epilogue.

Poe is a great writer, but this is not a great book. In my opinion, it most likely would have faded into obscurity by now if it didn’t have Poe’s name on it. Jules Verne, on the other hand, liked The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym so much he wrote a sequel for it, entitled An Antarctic Mystery. I look forward to reading that one, as I’m sure Verne will handle this subject matter far better than his predecessor.
If you liked this review, please follow the link below to Amazon.com and give me a “helpful” vote. Thank you.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2NSZI8VOH2GY4/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Captain Burle by Emile Zola

A brief gem masterfully crafted

Captain Burle is a short novella in four chapters by Emile Zola. The title character is an army quartermaster whose best days are long behind him. A widower, he lives in a squalid hovel with his mother and son. In the early days of his military career, he showed signs of heroic promise, but these days he’s content to contribute the bare minimum to his nation in exchange for an adequate paycheck. Much of his income is squandered on gambling and a woman of ill repute. His mother, the stern widow of a distinguished colonel, is ashamed of her son and laments his lost potential. One stormy night, her son’s commanding officer shows up on her doorstep. Major Laguitte has discovered that Burle is stealing funds from the army coffers. In order to save his old friend from a court-martial and hanging, as well as cover his own hide, Laguitte looks for a way to quickly and discreetly resolve the matter before any of the military higher-ups find out the money is missing.

Captain Burle was originally published in 1882. This was the same year Zola published Pot-Bouille, the tenth novel in the Rougon-Macquart series. At this point in his career he was at the top of his game, and it shows in this brief but satisfying tale. From page one, Zola masterfully pulls the reader into the lives of his vividly drawn characters, skillfully manipulating the emotional tone of the narrative in any direction he chooses. There’s an underlying sense of humor throughout the piece. You laugh at Burle’s naughty shenanigans and Laguitte’s frustrating efforts to force him back onto the straight and narrow path. Ultimately the work does examine serious themes like respect, honor, dignity, and friendship. Anytime the story threatens to become too uplifting, however, Zola makes sure to throw in some pessimistic detail to bring it back down to earth, as if reminding the reader to “get real”. Captain Burle is a great example of Zola’s mature naturalistic style, injected with some Balzacian cheekiness. There’s nothing monumentally impressive about this short work, but if you’re a fan of Zola’s Rougon-Macquart novels then you’ll enjoy Captain Burle as well.

If you liked this review, please follow the link below to Amazon.com and give me a “helpful” vote. Thank you.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1NACGEBDZ39HM/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Genesis by H. Beam Piper

Two men, six women, and a whole lot of ammo
Genesis, a short novella by H. Beam Piper, was originally published in the September 1951 combined issue of the pulp magazines Future and Science Fiction Stories. Piper is perhaps best known for his Paratime series and his Terro-Human Future History series, but Genesis is simply a stand-alone story and a darn good one.

As the story opens, a spaceship is approaching the planet Tareesh. It has come from the dying world of Doorsha, and is loaded with colonists who intend to transplant their civilization to a new home. They are perhaps the final hope for the future existence of their species. On board the craft, army officer Kalvar Dard and Air Force lieutenant Seldar Glav are performing their routine duties, working and chatting with six attractive young women named Olva, Varnis, Kyrna, Analea, Dorita, and Eldra. Shortly before entering the atmosphere of Tareesh, the ship is struck by a meteor. The eight colleagues pile into an escape pod and aim for the surface of the planet. As the mother ship explodes behind them, they realize that they are the only survivors. It is up to them to perpetuate their race upon this new and unknown world.

Is this the ultimate male fantasy (circa 1950) or what? As in many of Piper’s books, the treatment of women is far from politically correct by today’s standards. Here the female characters aren’t even given last names. They are depicted in much the way women are treated in motion pictures of this era. Their main function is to be flirted with and seduced by the men, or vice versa. At least that’s true in the beginning of the story. To his credit, however, Piper does depict them as independent women who work and fight alongside their male counterparts.

Piper’s visionary science fiction tales of time travel and the future are often very intricate and complex. Genesis, on the other hand, is a rather straightforward adventure novel. Once the party touches down on the planet they fight for survival as hunters and gatherers, like some kind of outer-space Swiss Family Robinson. Tareesh is a brutal world, and to adapt they must themselves become brutish. Like many other castaway stories, all they’ve got to work with are the few items they managed to grab from the ship before departure. Piper, an inveterate gun nut, makes sure everyone is well-stocked with weaponry and keeps the reader constantly apprised of the ammunition inventory. The story is more than just action and violence, however. Piper is one of the most intelligent sci-fi writers of the pulp fiction era, and he definitely leaves the reader with ample food for thought.

I’m a fan of Piper’s work, but I don’t unconditionally love everything he does. Genesis grabbed my attention from paragraph one and held me riveted until the very end. It’s an exciting and memorable story, and more serious than his typical fare. Though it’s brief enough to easily read in one sitting, it may be one of Piper’s strongest works.
If you liked this review, please follow the link below to Amazon.com and give me a “helpful” vote. Thank you.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1VHID96EAF548/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm