Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Tachyon Publications (2004), Edition: 2nd, Paperback, 448 pages
Description
Contains a selection of short science fiction by Alice B. Sheldon written under the pseudonym of James Tiptree, Jr.
User reviews
LibraryThing member TadAD
First, a word about James Tiptree if you're not familiar. In the late 1960s, this author appeared on the science fiction scene, was prolific in his output of dark and compelling stories, received nominations for Nebula and Hugo Awards and won some of them—yet no one knew who this reclusive author
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever is a collection of her better-known stories compiled after her death into a single volume. It includes the story that first brought her to everyone's attention, "The Last Flight of Doctor Ain"; her Hugo-winning "The Girl Who Was Plugged In"; her Nebula-winning "Love Is the Plan the Plan is Death"; her Hugo/Nebula/Jupiter-winning "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" It also includes what I consider her best story, "The Screwfly Solution" (which won the Nebula and should have won the Hugo, in my opinion), as well as thirteen other tales.
While I don't think the stories in this collection are of equal caliber—some are quite good and some I'd term acceptable—Sheldon can really write. Her science is occasionally suspect but her words really make you feel what she is trying to convey. On that note, tackle this book when you're in a good mood because what Sheldon is trying to convey is not happiness and sunshine. Her universe is a dark and pessimistic place where Man's baser instincts hold sway and Fate is not waiting with a cookie. Some are cautionary tales; some are not simply because caution would be irrelevant in the face of "you are wired for your own destruction."
Sheldon's mark on the science fiction that came after is hard to ignore. "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" presages the coming cyberpunk movement. "The Last Flight of Doctor Ain" seems somewhat familiar simply because its central plot device has become the theme of many other books and movies. But, don't read her because of whom she influenced; read her because she was good, herself. In the short time span allotted by a demanding literary format, she reaches out and drags you willy-nilly into her own, particular view of what might be coming. Cherry-pick this if you must, but I recommend you give Sheldon a try.
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who refused all interviews really was. About the only thing that was certain was that he wrote well and had a knack for female characters, although in-the-know figures in the SF world such as Silverberg and Ellison declared that they knew he was a "he". Yes, well…Alice Sheldon might be excused had she stolen from Twain to say, "Reports of my masculinity are greatly exaggerated."Her Smoke Rose Up Forever is a collection of her better-known stories compiled after her death into a single volume. It includes the story that first brought her to everyone's attention, "The Last Flight of Doctor Ain"; her Hugo-winning "The Girl Who Was Plugged In"; her Nebula-winning "Love Is the Plan the Plan is Death"; her Hugo/Nebula/Jupiter-winning "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" It also includes what I consider her best story, "The Screwfly Solution" (which won the Nebula and should have won the Hugo, in my opinion), as well as thirteen other tales.
While I don't think the stories in this collection are of equal caliber—some are quite good and some I'd term acceptable—Sheldon can really write. Her science is occasionally suspect but her words really make you feel what she is trying to convey. On that note, tackle this book when you're in a good mood because what Sheldon is trying to convey is not happiness and sunshine. Her universe is a dark and pessimistic place where Man's baser instincts hold sway and Fate is not waiting with a cookie. Some are cautionary tales; some are not simply because caution would be irrelevant in the face of "you are wired for your own destruction."
Sheldon's mark on the science fiction that came after is hard to ignore. "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" presages the coming cyberpunk movement. "The Last Flight of Doctor Ain" seems somewhat familiar simply because its central plot device has become the theme of many other books and movies. But, don't read her because of whom she influenced; read her because she was good, herself. In the short time span allotted by a demanding literary format, she reaches out and drags you willy-nilly into her own, particular view of what might be coming. Cherry-pick this if you must, but I recommend you give Sheldon a try.
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LibraryThing member bunwat
This collection of stunningly wonderful short stories has been sitting on my currently reading for a month after I finished it, while I tried to figure out what I wanted to say about it. There are other reviews on GR that say that Tiptree is brilliant, harrowing, a story writing ninja, they are all
I had read a Tiptree story or two before. I read science fiction and you can't really read science fiction for any length of time and not hear about Tiptree. I knew she was good, but something about reading eighteen in a row just... it was like watching fireworks go off. Wow! Bang! Surely the next one wont be as good, well its pretty, I like it. Okay... But then here comes another one screaming up out of the darkness and ...ohhh wow! I wonder what will happen next wowie... oh that was a squib, no wait it's lighting up the whole sky!! Gasp!
At the end I'm left folding up my blanket in the dark and the chill and making my way back to the car a little sad, a little tired, sorry that its over, but ready to go home now.
What I'm left with after the light show is a set of pretty strong emotions. For all Tiptree is fiercely intelligent the emotions are what stay with me. Envy, because she writes so damn well that I want to be her for just a few hours to know what it would be like to be a virtuoso. But only a few hours because oh the Sorrow, my god that woman was in pain! And anger. Fury at the time, the mores, the people, the circumstances that made her feel so profoundly alienated and excluded.
She has written beautifully, intelligently, with craft and wit about that fury and alienation but oh it hurts. At the same time it feels like a clean anger because of the honesty with which she faces it, most of the time she refuses to demonize others or wallow in self pity - not always, but enough that what I'm left with is respect and affection and a wish that it could have been different for Alice, and for all the Alices who didn't possess her furious pen.
I hear she wrote some comic stories, I have to hunt them down now, because maybe that will help me feel less haunted. I would like to be able to imagine her laughing some of the time.
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absolutely correct. I had read a Tiptree story or two before. I read science fiction and you can't really read science fiction for any length of time and not hear about Tiptree. I knew she was good, but something about reading eighteen in a row just... it was like watching fireworks go off. Wow! Bang! Surely the next one wont be as good, well its pretty, I like it. Okay... But then here comes another one screaming up out of the darkness and ...ohhh wow! I wonder what will happen next wowie... oh that was a squib, no wait it's lighting up the whole sky!! Gasp!
At the end I'm left folding up my blanket in the dark and the chill and making my way back to the car a little sad, a little tired, sorry that its over, but ready to go home now.
What I'm left with after the light show is a set of pretty strong emotions. For all Tiptree is fiercely intelligent the emotions are what stay with me. Envy, because she writes so damn well that I want to be her for just a few hours to know what it would be like to be a virtuoso. But only a few hours because oh the Sorrow, my god that woman was in pain! And anger. Fury at the time, the mores, the people, the circumstances that made her feel so profoundly alienated and excluded.
She has written beautifully, intelligently, with craft and wit about that fury and alienation but oh it hurts. At the same time it feels like a clean anger because of the honesty with which she faces it, most of the time she refuses to demonize others or wallow in self pity - not always, but enough that what I'm left with is respect and affection and a wish that it could have been different for Alice, and for all the Alices who didn't possess her furious pen.
I hear she wrote some comic stories, I have to hunt them down now, because maybe that will help me feel less haunted. I would like to be able to imagine her laughing some of the time.
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LibraryThing member clong
This is a superb collection, eighteen of Tiptree/Sheldon’s finest short stories and novellas. The collection does not make for easy reading. Powerful, moving, and thought provoking, but not easy. As opposed to Up the Walls of the World, which I found to be a fundamentally optimistic work, most of
The collection runs from some of her earliest published work to some of her final published work, and in some ways you can see her mature as a writer as the stories progress. But even the earliest of the stories, “The Last Flight of Dr. Ain” (which by the way clearly must have been an influence on the script for the movie Twelve Monkeys) demonstrates a remarkable ability to establish an emotional connection to the reader in just a few short pages.
Most of the stories deal with gender issues either directly, or implicitly. With a few exceptions, men are pigs. For the most part, the characters in these stories are doomed by some combination of genetic coding and/or the crushing environment in which they try to survive. There is a fair amount of sex, some of which is fairly brutal. But there is nothing voyeuristic about these scenes. As reader, you feel the pain and trauma and violation of the victim.
My favorites were “The Last Flight of Doctor Ain,” “The Girl Who Was Plugged In,” “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?,” “We Who Stole the Dream,” and “Her Smoke Rose Up Forever.”
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these stories offer a very dark view of humanity and our destiny. The collection runs from some of her earliest published work to some of her final published work, and in some ways you can see her mature as a writer as the stories progress. But even the earliest of the stories, “The Last Flight of Dr. Ain” (which by the way clearly must have been an influence on the script for the movie Twelve Monkeys) demonstrates a remarkable ability to establish an emotional connection to the reader in just a few short pages.
Most of the stories deal with gender issues either directly, or implicitly. With a few exceptions, men are pigs. For the most part, the characters in these stories are doomed by some combination of genetic coding and/or the crushing environment in which they try to survive. There is a fair amount of sex, some of which is fairly brutal. But there is nothing voyeuristic about these scenes. As reader, you feel the pain and trauma and violation of the victim.
My favorites were “The Last Flight of Doctor Ain,” “The Girl Who Was Plugged In,” “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?,” “We Who Stole the Dream,” and “Her Smoke Rose Up Forever.”
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LibraryThing member Anelie
It is difficult to exaggerate the brilliance of James Tiptree Jr's science-fiction writing. Her sophisticated plots address profound issues in an absorbing way while not forsaking imagination or entertainment value. Read this anthology and discover why the best science-fiction stories have a
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greater claim to literary merit than most will ever give them credit for. Show Less
LibraryThing member suzemo
A collection of short stories & novellas from Alice Sheldon aka James Tiptree Jr.
There was not a story in this book I did not like. Don't get me wrong, I found some of them to be more intense, or thought provoking than others, but all of them made me think. All of them had some sort of intensity.
There was not a story in this book I did not like. Don't get me wrong, I found some of them to be more intense, or thought provoking than others, but all of them made me think. All of them had some sort of intensity.
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All of them were interesting. And the book, as a whole, is pure, fucking genius, and I wish I had read Tiptree years ago. Show Less
LibraryThing member kvrfan
This collection could be rightly subtitled, "The Best of Alice B. Sheldon," as the preface from Michael Swanwick explains that's exactly what it was meant to be.
Alice Sheldon was the true identity of the individual who wrote under the name of "James Tiptree, Jr.
And I came at this book backwards. To
I would say they contain the two things that draw me to good science fiction: 1) provocative ideas in an imaginative framework 2) written by someone who has a way with words, who approaches writing as an art. Tiptree was a great friend (through correspondence--they never met) with Ursula LeGuin, and their approaches toward science fiction are similar. This is not glib space opera.
But there are two common elements that can find in many of the stories, both approached straight-on. One is sex. The other is death. Tiptree doesn't deal much in happy endings. And the fact that they are such a recurring element makes a knowledge of Sheldon helpful. Suffice it to say her fiction reflected issues with which she herself engaged in near-constant wrestling.
I was glad to have read the biography as a companion volume. For those who read the stories first, I would recommend Phillips' biography assume a place near the top of their "To Read" lists.
P.S. One of the things revealed in the biography was how much Sheldon/Tiptree struggled to find the write titles for her stories. Just to read the titles in this volume--"And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side," "Your Faces O My Sisters! Your Faces Filled of Light!", "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever"--is to find that she elevated story-naming itself to something of an art form.
Alice Sheldon was the true identity of the individual who wrote under the name of "James Tiptree, Jr.
And I came at this book backwards. To
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my knowledge I have never read a Tiptree story before this book. However, because I had heard that Sheldon was such a interesting person, I first read the biography written of her by Julie Phillips. That biography put many of these stories within the context of her life, which added an extra dimension of understanding. How would the stories have seemed to me if I had come to them "cold" (as I presume most readers do)? I would say they contain the two things that draw me to good science fiction: 1) provocative ideas in an imaginative framework 2) written by someone who has a way with words, who approaches writing as an art. Tiptree was a great friend (through correspondence--they never met) with Ursula LeGuin, and their approaches toward science fiction are similar. This is not glib space opera.
But there are two common elements that can find in many of the stories, both approached straight-on. One is sex. The other is death. Tiptree doesn't deal much in happy endings. And the fact that they are such a recurring element makes a knowledge of Sheldon helpful. Suffice it to say her fiction reflected issues with which she herself engaged in near-constant wrestling.
I was glad to have read the biography as a companion volume. For those who read the stories first, I would recommend Phillips' biography assume a place near the top of their "To Read" lists.
P.S. One of the things revealed in the biography was how much Sheldon/Tiptree struggled to find the write titles for her stories. Just to read the titles in this volume--"And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side," "Your Faces O My Sisters! Your Faces Filled of Light!", "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever"--is to find that she elevated story-naming itself to something of an art form.
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LibraryThing member andreablythe
One of my goals this year was to start reading books that have won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, which is presented for stories that explore aspects of gender, primarily in SciFi and Fantasy. Since I was reading these award winners, I figured I should also read some of the work by the author after
Tiptree is a perfect namesake for this award because so many of her own stories explore gender and sexuality in challenging and innovative ways. These stories are intelligent, sometimes challenging, and often bleak.
"The Screwfly Solution," which is one of the best short stories I've read in years, involves increasing numbers of attacks by men against women. Bits of news clips, letters, and diary entries are placed alongside the main narrative of a man trying to make it home to his wife and daughter amid the mounting chaos. The ending is fatalistic and powerful, haunting.
In "The Women Men Don't See” a journalist on a trip into Mexico takes a flight on a small plane with a mother and daughter, whom he finds unsettlingly independent and not fitting into his expectations of how women should be. I can’t say much more about the story without giving too much away, but the exploration of gender roles becomes increasingly explicit.
“With Delicate Mad Hands” is the story of a woman with a facial deformity who has lived her entire life unloved by her fellow human beings who mock and abuse her. She perseveres through an inner secret drive to leave Earth’s solar system behind her, and she achieves this one day by stealing a ship and steering it solo to the stars. There is so much more to the story than that short description, but I don’t want to say anymore. Although as dark as any other of Tiptree’s stories, this was also sweet and romantic.
Another subset of stories explore sexual behavior through alien bodies and include stories such as “Love is the Plan the Plan is Death,” "On the Last Afternoon," and "A Momentary Taste of Being." The alien-ness of these creatures or beings is startling and often destructive to human existence.
Other stories reflect on moral complexities of human society. “The Last Flight of Doctor Ain,” for example presents bits and pieces of Doctor Ain’s last flight told through the points of view of the people who meet him along his journey (again, this tells too little, but it really is a thrilling story). In "We Who Stole the Dream" an alien race enacts a revolt against humanity which holds them captive, breaking free from slavery and suffering, only to find that the home they are returning to is not the dream-come-true they expected.
Although I didn’t necessarily love every story, reading this brick-thick collection was a fantastic experience. Tiptree was an amazing writer, a master of the genre. Her work is a must read for any science fiction fan.
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whom the award is named. James Tiptree, Jr. is a pseudonym for Alice Bradley Sheldon, who wrote hard science fiction for years without readers knowing she was a woman. Tiptree is a perfect namesake for this award because so many of her own stories explore gender and sexuality in challenging and innovative ways. These stories are intelligent, sometimes challenging, and often bleak.
"The Screwfly Solution," which is one of the best short stories I've read in years, involves increasing numbers of attacks by men against women. Bits of news clips, letters, and diary entries are placed alongside the main narrative of a man trying to make it home to his wife and daughter amid the mounting chaos. The ending is fatalistic and powerful, haunting.
In "The Women Men Don't See” a journalist on a trip into Mexico takes a flight on a small plane with a mother and daughter, whom he finds unsettlingly independent and not fitting into his expectations of how women should be. I can’t say much more about the story without giving too much away, but the exploration of gender roles becomes increasingly explicit.
“With Delicate Mad Hands” is the story of a woman with a facial deformity who has lived her entire life unloved by her fellow human beings who mock and abuse her. She perseveres through an inner secret drive to leave Earth’s solar system behind her, and she achieves this one day by stealing a ship and steering it solo to the stars. There is so much more to the story than that short description, but I don’t want to say anymore. Although as dark as any other of Tiptree’s stories, this was also sweet and romantic.
Another subset of stories explore sexual behavior through alien bodies and include stories such as “Love is the Plan the Plan is Death,” "On the Last Afternoon," and "A Momentary Taste of Being." The alien-ness of these creatures or beings is startling and often destructive to human existence.
Other stories reflect on moral complexities of human society. “The Last Flight of Doctor Ain,” for example presents bits and pieces of Doctor Ain’s last flight told through the points of view of the people who meet him along his journey (again, this tells too little, but it really is a thrilling story). In "We Who Stole the Dream" an alien race enacts a revolt against humanity which holds them captive, breaking free from slavery and suffering, only to find that the home they are returning to is not the dream-come-true they expected.
Although I didn’t necessarily love every story, reading this brick-thick collection was a fantastic experience. Tiptree was an amazing writer, a master of the genre. Her work is a must read for any science fiction fan.
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LibraryThing member bragan
A classic collection of stories by James Tiptree, Jr. (real name: Alice Sheldon), one of the more enigmatic and interesting figures in the history of science fiction. These stories feature such recurring themes as sex and gender, power and violence, and the poignant inevitability of death, and
I'm giving this one five out of five stars, not something I do very often. Even if not everything in here is entirely perfect, cumulatively... Wow. This is writing that does strange, memorable things to your brain, and it represents some of the best of what the SF genre has to offer.
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range from the vaguely unsettling to the deeply disturbing. Not all of them are created equal; one or two are a bit overlong for what they're trying to do, and the shock value of the first and oldest piece is significantly diminished by the fact that the ideas at the heart of it have become a little too familiar since it was written. But even the weakest of them are well-written, intelligent, and provocative, while the best are powerful enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.I'm giving this one five out of five stars, not something I do very often. Even if not everything in here is entirely perfect, cumulatively... Wow. This is writing that does strange, memorable things to your brain, and it represents some of the best of what the SF genre has to offer.
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LibraryThing member eaterofwords
James Tiptree (Alice Sheldon) is a grandmaster of sci-fi who has not received the full recognition she deserves. This collection of short stories written under both her pseudonyms is a testament to her talent. Her stories delve into the human condition and often chill the reader with possibilities
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strange and disturbing. Show Less
LibraryThing member isabelx
Death was the engine of their lives, death fueled their sexuality. Death drove them at each other's throats and into each other's arms. Dying, they triumphed. . . .That was human life.
There is a lot of death and killing in these stories in these stories, of individual men, women and aliens and of
And there is so much anger about the bad things happen to women (and aliens) in these stories at the hands of men, both human and alien, that I am not surprised that James Tiptree Jr. was suspected of being a woman well before her true identity was discovered.
Long hesitation. When she speaks again her voice is different. "Women have no rights, Don, except what men allow us. Men are more aggressive and powerful, and they run the world. When the next real crisis upsets them, our so-called rights will vanish like—like that smoke. We'll be back where we always were: property. And whatever has gone wrong will be blamed on our freedom, like the fall of Rome was. You'll see."
There is a lot of death and killing in these stories in these stories, of individual men, women and aliens and of
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the whole human race. I wonder if the author's age had anything to do with it - maybe someone who starts writing in their 50s is already facing up to the fact that Death 'waits for all men born', unlike the young who think that they will live forever.And there is so much anger about the bad things happen to women (and aliens) in these stories at the hands of men, both human and alien, that I am not surprised that James Tiptree Jr. was suspected of being a woman well before her true identity was discovered.
Long hesitation. When she speaks again her voice is different. "Women have no rights, Don, except what men allow us. Men are more aggressive and powerful, and they run the world. When the next real crisis upsets them, our so-called rights will vanish like—like that smoke. We'll be back where we always were: property. And whatever has gone wrong will be blamed on our freedom, like the fall of Rome was. You'll see."
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LibraryThing member dmarsh451
Deep, dark, and different.
LibraryThing member suzemo
A collection of short stories & novellas from Alice Sheldon aka James Tiptree Jr.
There was not a story in this book I did not like. Don't get me wrong, I found some of them to be more intense, or thought provoking than others, but all of them made me think. All of them had some sort of intensity.
There was not a story in this book I did not like. Don't get me wrong, I found some of them to be more intense, or thought provoking than others, but all of them made me think. All of them had some sort of intensity.
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All of them were interesting. And the book, as a whole, is pure, fucking genius, and I wish I had read Tiptree years ago. Show Less
LibraryThing member delphica
Well, this was brutal. I haven't read of a lot of classic SF short stories, so I don't have much basis for comparison, but I don't think I was expecting these to be so universally pessimistic. The stories are extremely well-written, and there are three in particular ("The Man Who Walked Home,"
Given that I have plenty of years of hindsight and was always vaguely aware that James Tiptree was a woman, I couldn't possibly say that I'm surprised people didn't know. I may go as far to say that I'm surprised that people were surprised once they knew, because WOW, this is a lot of loathing of both the patriarchy and biology bundled up in close quarters.
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"With Delicate Mad Hands," and "Love is the Plan the Plan is Death") that I found especially impactful, and I suspect are the kind of thing where, in the future, I will continue to have random images of ol' Moggadeet going about his business flash into my mind.Given that I have plenty of years of hindsight and was always vaguely aware that James Tiptree was a woman, I couldn't possibly say that I'm surprised people didn't know. I may go as far to say that I'm surprised that people were surprised once they knew, because WOW, this is a lot of loathing of both the patriarchy and biology bundled up in close quarters.
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LibraryThing member draconismoi
This collection of short stories by Tiptree will make you cringe with horror at the envisioned fates of the human race. "The Screwfly Solution" is the most powerful story in the book - a few pages that really cause you to cringe. Do not read it just before going to sleep though, you'll have
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freaking weird dreams for weeks. Show Less
LibraryThing member abycats
James Tiptree Jr's writing was unique. Her stories are otherworldly, creative, deep, and sometimes almost incomprehensible but achingly emotional. So much that's written is worth one quick read and done. Hers rewards you with more each time. I can be infuriated by my lack of understanding but also
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greatly rewarded. Not for everyone. Show Less
LibraryThing member iansales
When I first started reading Tiptree back in the late 1970s – it was Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home, originally published in 1973 but my edition was the 1978 paperback – I knew “he” was a woman, but from what I’d read somewhere I thought the pseudonym was in order to protect the
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author’s career with the CIA. It never occurred to me Ali Sheldon used it because she was a woman. Now I know better, of course. In the early 1980s I bounced out of Tiptree’s Brightness Falls From the Air, and never quite got back into reading her. Well, at least not with the same fervour as before. I’ve reread Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home over the years several times, not to mention the odd story in various anthologies, but it wasn’t until Her Smoke Rose Up Forever appeared in the SF Masterworks series – deservedly so, I might add – that I really decided to give her a reread in earnest. I would normally review this book for SF Mistressworks, but I’ve already got a review lined up by someone else; and besides, I’ve probably reviewed half of the contents in reviews of other anthologies anyway. For the record, not every story in here shines, but a number of them so do very brightly – ‘The Screwfly Solution’, personal favourite ‘And I Awoke And Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side’, ‘The Women Men Don’t See’, even ‘The Man Who Walked Home’ (a story which has haunted me since I first read it decades ago). There are stronger collections in science fiction out there, but not many. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheCrow2
I've mixed feelings after reading this 18 short stories because unfortunately there were one or two which were too 'artsy' or 'high-litereature-ish' for me but all the others were pure genius. If you are a fan of a bit more complex and harder-to-digest SF, give it a try you won't regret it.
LibraryThing member Ashles
Don't read the introduction before reading the rest of the book.
Only a few paragraphs into the introduction, Michael Swanwick nonchalantly spoils the first story: "And [this story] has a stinger in its tail, in the revelation that ... ."
The first two paragraphs of the introduction focus on details
I really want to read introductions. I enjoy learning more about an author and the background information of what I'm about to read. What I don't want is to read plot twists and speculation on the the meaning of a story's ending before I've ever read it.
This practice is very disrespectful to the readers, and I don't understand why it is so common.
Only a few paragraphs into the introduction, Michael Swanwick nonchalantly spoils the first story: "And [this story] has a stinger in its tail, in the revelation that ... ."
The first two paragraphs of the introduction focus on details
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about the author and her pen names. And the majority of it seems to be about the author as well, but peppered throughout it are short comments on the endings of this collection's stories.I really want to read introductions. I enjoy learning more about an author and the background information of what I'm about to read. What I don't want is to read plot twists and speculation on the the meaning of a story's ending before I've ever read it.
This practice is very disrespectful to the readers, and I don't understand why it is so common.
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LibraryThing member ScoLgo
A wonderful collection of bleak and twisty tales. Each of these stories exhibit their own spark of brilliance. In no particular order, the standouts for me were:
Houston, Houston Do You Read?
Sheldon had a strange and unique way of looking at things that comes through loud & clear in each story in this collection. A must-have addition to the library of any fan of science fiction and a new-found favorite for this reader.
- She Waits For All Men Born
- The Girl Who Was Plugged In
- The Screwfly Solution
- Love is the Plan the Plan is Death
- A Momentary Taste of
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BeingSheldon had a strange and unique way of looking at things that comes through loud & clear in each story in this collection. A must-have addition to the library of any fan of science fiction and a new-found favorite for this reader.
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LibraryThing member sturlington
This is a big book. I started off by reading "The Screwfly Solution," an excelled and chilling story about femicide that made NPR's 100 Best Horror Stories list. I will continue to dip into this from time to time. The writing is excellent, but I don't like reading a mass of short stories by one
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author all at once, as they tend to blend into one another. Show Less
LibraryThing member antao
It's a great question isn't it (and one I don't remember C.S. Lewis posing!) but I guess the 'kind of society' would be a ruling class one, whereas I doubt whether the same freedoms and female agency would be envisaged or countenanced for the rest of society. While the female in what Lewis saw as
Andreas Capellanus’ “The Art of Courtly Love” addresses the question concerning the separation of historical portrayals from social context. From what I can remember without going directly back to the essay, it's all to do with the structure of feudal society. What Capellanus is apparently saying is that it's ok for a knight to take a peasant girl by force if he wants to. Contrast with pining after the unobtainable lady. Secondly, because this was a feudal society, aristocratic men were often away at the wars, with their wives running things in their absence. So, women of a certain class could and did wield actual political power. Then there's something connected to Christianity and the redeeming power of love that I don't remember well (I’ve got to hunt down anther copy of the essay; mine vanished a long time ago). The Occitan women troubadours (such as Beatriz de Dia) are a good example, but their very existence goes to show that women, for their part, could and did elevate men in the courtly love lyric.
Courtly love’s legacy is still with us today, in what have bedded down to become largely unconscious relationship expectations among men of women and women of men; for my money, it's hardly very healthy for men to be pining after women because they have rather romantically and lyrically mistaken them for the embodiment of all that is good and pure and delightful in the universe - and nor is it especially great for women to be divested of their particularity in this way and idealised into something that barely corresponds to the living, fleshly, and flawed. It made for some beautiful - beautifully choreographed, as you say - writing several hundred years ago, but all power to those writers (and I might argue that Tiptree is one) who risked introducing a little more vulgarity and filthiness into their own narratives/allegories of love. My own take on Tiptree, after having read 500 pages of her stories contained in this volume, is that I applaud her for her desire to muddy the waters of sexuality and identity in her stories; and we can’t say she got bogged down by adherence to formal orthodoxies on the levels of the sentence and story construction when she wanted to have fun telling a story between Man and Woman in all their guises.
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the 'allegory of love' was attributed with powerful choice and discretion, I tend to see the elevated role of the woman in these traditions as operating a kind of chivalrous choreography, affording exercise of knightly qualities and an iconic object of knightly desire that doesn't quite sit comfortably with me (though I admit I love the concept of gentilesse).Andreas Capellanus’ “The Art of Courtly Love” addresses the question concerning the separation of historical portrayals from social context. From what I can remember without going directly back to the essay, it's all to do with the structure of feudal society. What Capellanus is apparently saying is that it's ok for a knight to take a peasant girl by force if he wants to. Contrast with pining after the unobtainable lady. Secondly, because this was a feudal society, aristocratic men were often away at the wars, with their wives running things in their absence. So, women of a certain class could and did wield actual political power. Then there's something connected to Christianity and the redeeming power of love that I don't remember well (I’ve got to hunt down anther copy of the essay; mine vanished a long time ago). The Occitan women troubadours (such as Beatriz de Dia) are a good example, but their very existence goes to show that women, for their part, could and did elevate men in the courtly love lyric.
Courtly love’s legacy is still with us today, in what have bedded down to become largely unconscious relationship expectations among men of women and women of men; for my money, it's hardly very healthy for men to be pining after women because they have rather romantically and lyrically mistaken them for the embodiment of all that is good and pure and delightful in the universe - and nor is it especially great for women to be divested of their particularity in this way and idealised into something that barely corresponds to the living, fleshly, and flawed. It made for some beautiful - beautifully choreographed, as you say - writing several hundred years ago, but all power to those writers (and I might argue that Tiptree is one) who risked introducing a little more vulgarity and filthiness into their own narratives/allegories of love. My own take on Tiptree, after having read 500 pages of her stories contained in this volume, is that I applaud her for her desire to muddy the waters of sexuality and identity in her stories; and we can’t say she got bogged down by adherence to formal orthodoxies on the levels of the sentence and story construction when she wanted to have fun telling a story between Man and Woman in all their guises.
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LibraryThing member grahzny
She's a bit savage and dark, but this book really delivered. I had only read one of these stories before, in an old anthology, but it had stuck with me--so it was nice to return to the accomplished style and craft of the woman behind the pseudonym.
Subjects
Awards
Chesley Award (Nominee — 2005)
Original publication date
1990
Physical description
448 p.; 9.06 inches
ISBN
1892391201 / 9781892391209