{"id":1397,"date":"2010-03-19T05:10:22","date_gmt":"2010-03-19T09:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=1397"},"modified":"2018-08-06T21:09:11","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T01:09:11","slug":"18672-2-william-tenn-of-men-and-monsters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=1397","title":{"rendered":"18672. [2] (William Tenn) Of Men and Monsters"},"content":{"rendered":"

William Tenn was one of Sci\u00adence Fic\u00adtion\u2019s sharpest satirists in the fifties and six\u00adties. His short sto\u00adries bit like black\u00adflies. Of Men and Mon\u00adsters<\/em> was one of his only two nov\u00adels, and it was expand\u00aded from a short sto\u00adry. It shows it, as the core sto\u00adry is still vis\u00adi\u00adble, and the end shows a dis\u00adtinct falling off in qual\u00adi\u00adty, with the satire dis\u00adap\u00adpear\u00ading so that there can be a con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal, plot-dri\u00adven res\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion. But nev\u00ader mind that. SF<\/span> writ\u00aders in that peri\u00adod had no social pres\u00adtige, and very mod\u00adest incomes; it was stan\u00addard prac\u00adtice to inflate any suc\u00adcess\u00adful short sto\u00adry into a \u201cnov\u00adel\u201d that might pay the rent. But Ten\u00adn\u2019s tal\u00adent lay in beau\u00adti\u00adful, self-con\u00adtained minia\u00adtures that did not lend them\u00adselves to expansion. <\/span><\/p>\n

Any\u00adone who has par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00aded in a rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary under\u00adground will prob\u00ada\u00adbly find Of Men and Mon\u00adsters<\/em> delight\u00adful\u00adly amus\u00ading\u2026 or more like\u00adly wince with embar\u00adrass\u00adment. The set\u00adting is a future in which Earth has been con\u00adquered by an alien race of prodi\u00adgious size, and human beings have been reduced to the sta\u00adtus of rodents liv\u00ading in the walls of their hous\u00ades. While humans, now reduced to prim\u00adi\u00adtive tribes, make lame attempts to resist the aliens, they actu\u00adal\u00adly spend most of their time hat\u00ading and fight\u00ading each oth\u00ader, debat\u00ading absurd reli\u00adgious con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsies, sneer\u00ading at each oth\u00aders\u2019 tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal dress, burn\u00ading witch\u00ades and heretics, and betray\u00ading each oth\u00ader. The prose style in these pas\u00adsages is superb, with every word count\u00ading. Tenn delights in deflat\u00ading the main char\u00adac\u00adter\u2019s des\u00adper\u00adate efforts to under\u00adstand his own sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion\u2026 until the \u201cplot\u201d takes com\u00admand, and he becomes bor\u00ading\u00adly efficacious.<\/span><\/p>\n

I once met Tenn [his real name was Philip Klass], briefly. He was a qui\u00adet, imp\u00adish man with a twin\u00adkle in his eye. No sign of the lugubri\u00adous pom\u00adposi\u00adties that swirl around SF<\/span> writ\u00aders today. I\u2019m sad\u00addened to learn that he died about a month ago. He was one I would have enjoyed a long talk with.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

William Tenn was one of Sci\u00adence Fic\u00adtion\u2019s sharpest satirists in the fifties and six\u00adties. His short sto\u00adries bit like black\u00adflies. Of Men and Mon\u00adsters was one of his only two nov\u00adels, and it was expand\u00aded from a short sto\u00adry. It \u2026<\/p>\n

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