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Watchung Plaza
Montclair, NJ 07042
973.744.7177
Aloha,
Given
that the Beamers can spot a five-pointed snowflake in a blizzard,
tackling the baffling, ambiguous prose of Harlan Ellison can only bring
out the best in our abilities to argue ourselves over, around, and back
again. "Shatterday", a collection of Ellison's stories from the mid-
to late-70s, gave us ample opportunities to puzzle each other with our
differing critical takes. Overall, Ellison came away worse for wear,
but he gave us a tough struggle before we closed the covers.
One
reason for the struggle was the generally dark tone of the collection,
with only a few lighter pieces interspersed amid the tragedies and
vengeance that Ellison makes the central human condition, the "mortal
dreads" that we all share. Some Beamers found the reading to be more
of a chore due to the repeated unhappy outcomes of most of the tales.
Juliet and Eileen expressed their preference for reading material that
was less saddled with such doom-filled fates. Fran thought that the
constant atmosphere of gloom made it hard to read the stories in
sequence. I echoed her comment, noting that this collection has the
same, very strong "voice" that seems to be narrating each story,
clearly The Author, but in more of a monotone than other Ellison
collections seem to share. With Ellison, as Donna commented, the
reader has a charming and arrogant companion, which traits come as a
package and perhaps explain some of the biographical details (like his
frequently short romantic relationships) that Ellison provided with
each story.
Pacing
was another issue, as various Beamers complained about how and where
stories ended (or failed to end), though padding in the middle of tales
was also a problem for Rick, especially with "All the Lies That Are My
Life", the longest piece in the book. Jon was frustrated with the way
some stories seemed to fade out instead of end, leaving the reader
confused over the message or moral Ellison intended. (And Ellison
seems to want to make a moral statement, usually invoking a spirit of
retribution.) Characterization was faulted for being shallow, with
Beamers often struggling to remember names and personalities from story
to story. More troubling was the lack of strong female characters,
given that Ellison spoke of his advocacy for the Equal Rights Amendment
in the '70s. Given his coming of age in the '50s, the attitudes and
dialogue in most of his stories seem to fit that era better.
Conversely, his imagery could be wonderfully poetic, capturing a sense
of magic or nostalgia through the mention of tiny, perfect, if
improbable, details, like the contents of the mysterious emporium of
"Shoppe Keeper". 9mm silver cannon shells, suitable to stop a
were-stegosaurus? In stock. His polished craftsmanship sometimes does
not serve him well, though, as stories written in store windows or
during the 8 hours before a radio show appearance can show traces of
his need to write fast and take some obvious choices to reach the
deadline on time. Ellison is a consummate professional writer, but
being the "pro" can leave too many fingerprints on the prose.
Showing
that the first shall be last, we concluded with a long discussion of
"Jeffty is Five", the first story in the book and the most well-known
and well-awarded (Hugo, Nebula, and Locus magazine reader's poll). To
help underline his unreliability, Ellison's introduction emphasizes
that the story's ending is made "very clearly". We, however, had at
least three different interpretations of it, including a very
imaginative take by Liz on reading it as a "misdirection" ghost story a
la "The Sixth Sense". We struggled with how Jeffty dies, on the
believability of his parents' reaction, on the nature of outsiders'
reaction to Jeffty and the lack of notice of his permanent 5-year-old
age, on the reliability of the narrator's account given his own
attachment to Jeffty and the lost worlds that continue to live (new
episodes of cancelled radio dramas, new movies with long-dead stars)
through him. And just as Jeffty could raise some strong emotions by
insisting on living in the past and taking others back with him, this
story raised some strong responses from the Beamers, who debated whose
tragedy it was and how to understand the relationships and interactions
between the characters (supporters? enablers? abusers?
co-dependents?) and whether Ellison was a parent himself or not. In
the end, we found ourselves standing atop different peaks, claiming
different summits for the tale, wondering how the others had wandered
so far off course. Which confusion is not surprising, coming as the
story does from a man who calls his house "Ellison Wonderland". Love
him, hate him, he is always and truly Harlan, no matter what the rest
of us think of him.
Our
July book will be "Charmed Life" by Diana Wynne Jones, found in "The
Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 1". For August, we have "Old Man's
War" by John Scalzi. September will be a scavenger hunt, as we seek
out the out-of-print "Kiln People" by David Brin. Marina will be
helping us find copies, so please let her know if you need help. In
October, our Halloween treat (or is it a trick?) is the classic Austen
novel re-classified as "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", now with even
MORE brain-devouring zombie mayhem. Beamers who are members of JASNA
(the Jane Austen Society of North America) may wish to attend the
meeting in costume. Or disguise.
AND REMEMBER - the July meeting is postponed ONE WEEK to July 17!
- Eugene, always and truly hard to understand ...
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