Dragaera

3000 words on Roger Zelazny

Thu Jul 24 08:59:17 PDT 2003

I think I'd be tempted to wing it and write something from the heart.  I 
don't like poetry but I loved poetic Sci-Fi from Zelazny.  He wrote better 
>from the First Person than most anybody I can think of.  I loved the way he 
could give a compelling picture of someone with only three descriptive bits. 
  He was somebody fascinated with power and humanity and really pushing the 
envelope.

Instead of planning something, I'd just spend a couple of days writing some 
free-form thoughts and see what comes out.  Zelazny was the one who really 
*got* To Reign In Hell and I suspect there is some reverse insight among 
common thinkers.

While this appears to be daunting, I think SKZB has a better shot than most 
of pulling this off (with apologies to Gaiman).

johne (phy) cook
wisconsin, usa

blog: http://breezeway.blogspot.com
forum: http://forum.instagiber.com/index.php?h=1&pf=268
stormfort list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stormfort/

>Three thousand words in praise of RZ - all SKZB has to do is write the
>truth for 10 pages (I assume the editor isn't looking for, Here's the
>first ten pages of A Rose For Ecclesiastes:
>   I was busy translating one of my _Madrigals Macabre_ into Martian
>on the morning I was found acceptable.  The intercom had buzzed
>briefly, and I dropped my pencil and flipped on the toggle in a single
>motion.
>   "Mister G," piped Morton's youthful contralto, "the old man says I
>should `get hold of that damned conceited rhymer` right away, and send
>him to his cabin.  Since there's only one damned conceited rhymer..."
>    "Let not ambition mock thy useful toil."  I cut him off.
>etc. - taken from a Russian site on the web that's probably violating
>copyright - but presumably just this much is fair use...)
>
>In SKZB's boots, I think I'd say: RZ gave me a huge push at the beginning
>of my career and I'm saddened but honored to assist in a small way in the
>completion of his career, the more so because he was interested in closure
>(citing _Isle Of The Dead_, _Eye Of Cat_, "24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by
>Hokusai").  I'd find a better word than "closure" because I'm SKZB. I'd
>riff on his views of fate and destiny and recurrence.  I'd write about the
>influence of Dumas in his work - how well he could describe a duel and how
>colorful his worlds are - how entertaining his work is.  I'd then turn to
>how interested he was in religion and philosophy.  I'd assert that the
>above two points make him one of the most important SF writers of last
>century.  Then I'd try to put his short stories into some context in terms
>of his novels, because the random reader is more likely to know the
>latter, and maybe I'd write briefly about the concerns of the stories in
>this collection.  I'd quote him a lot, because it's scholarly, because it
>takes up space, and because it's RZ.  I certainly wouldn't pay attention
>to what random fans of RZ think I should write, because my insight's
>deeper, as shown by my successful integration of RZ's influence into my
>work.
>
>
>Anyway, aside from maybe Tom Disch (whose book of criticism, _The Castle
>of Indolence_, I heartily recommend to anyone who reads contemporary
>poetry), or possibly the Dean of Pamlar University, if gya reads English,
>I can't conceive of anyone better to write about RZ than SKZB, and it
>suits my sense of justice.
>
>
>
>
>On Wed, 23 Jul 2003, David Silberstein wrote:
>
> > Steve Brust, in his weblog for 2003-07-17, says:
> >
> > ] I've been asked to do an introduction to a collection
> > ] of short stories by Roger Zelazny.  I'm more than a little
> > ] flattered and honored.  But I have no bloody clue what to
> > ] say.  No one wants to read three thousand words of, "But. like,
> > ] he's really good!"  I have this terrible urge to call Neil
> > ] Gaiman and say, "Here.  You write it."
> >
> > Well, you could, perhaps, describe some of the tropes that run
> > through his works, like his heros possessing near-supernatural
> > strength, in many of the stories.  Or you could point out that
> > there will be all of this action-adventure stuff going on, but
> > suddenly there will be transitions to these paragraphs of near
> > lyric beauty.  Or you could talk about the playfulness that is
> > in even his serious stories, or his way of taking a silly idea
> > and just *running* with it, spinning out a story like a stage
> > magician who will just keep pulling scarves from nowhere.  Or,
> > you could channel Zelazny, and write what *he* might have said
> > about his own works.
> >
> > Hmm.  Who is the publisher?  What stories are in this collection?
> > I am curious to know if there is something I haven't read.

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