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Conference noted::sf

Title:Arcana Caelestia
Notice:Directory listings are in topic 2
Moderator:NETRIX::thomas
Created:Thu Dec 08 1983
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1300
Total number of notes:18728

1158.0. "Philip Wylie" by VERGA::KLAES (Quo vadimus?) Tue Aug 17 1993 16:38

Article: 324
From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews
Subject: REPOST: Belated Reviews #7: Philip Wylie
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: 11 Aug 93 21:37:15 GMT
 
		Belated Reviews #7:  Philip Wylie
 
Philip Wylie's writing career spanned half a century, with his best-known 
books (he is as well known for his non-fiction as for his fiction) appearing
in the thirties, forties, and fifties.  His science fiction was aimed as
much at mainstream audiences -- where it exerted a lasting influence -- as 
at science-fiction audiences.  Wylie's novels tended to come with a fairly 
large pot of message stirred in.  A problem with this is that the same message
about the status of women, for example, or about atomic warfare might seem 
controversial in the fifties, old hat in the sixties and seventies, and 
slightly regressive in the eighties and nineties.  His books include
 
The Disappearance (***).  One day all the women in the world vanish,
simultaneously.  One day all the men in the world vanish, simultaneously.
This novel follows the parallel stories of these two worlds.  The men's
world retains a functioning economy, but loses heart and disintegrates
socially.  In the women's world (1950) there aren't enough skilled people
to keep the wheels turning.
 
Gladiator (**) is generally acknowledged to be one of the main inspirations
for Superman -- not the later Superman who could fly faster than light and
toss worlds out of his way, but the early Superman who could leap tall
buildings and bend steel with his bare hands.  The hero of this book is
also more power than a locomotive and able to sneer at bullets, but he
never finds much of a use for the ability.  (There aren't many obvious
uses for it in every-day life, and the notion of putting on long underwear
and seeking out super-criminals doesn't seem to have occurred to him.)
 
Tomorrow (**+) is Wylie's story of two neighboring cities during a brief
nuclear war.  (If this sounds vaguely like a modern telefilm, I doubt that
that's coincidental.)  On the surface, it's an argument for civil defense:  
One of the cities is prepared and one is not, and the former fares better.  
Faring better, however, means that a little under a hundred-thousand lives
are lost there, as opposed to a little over a hundred-thousand across the
way.  Wylie's main purpose was to paint a vivid picture of what nuclear
warfare would entail.  (It's easier to paint such a picture when you're
thinking in terms of kilotons, rather than megatons.  In the latter case,
it makes more sense to describe the aftermath -- from the perspective of
people who were nowhere near -- than the actual attack.)
 
When Worlds Collide (***), coauthored by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer, is
the closest Wylie comes to 'standard' science fiction.  Astronomers
discover a rogue planet entering the solar system, and calculate that it
will collide with the Earth.  They also discover (though this remains a
better-kept secret) that the rogue planet has an Earthlike companion which
may survive and adopt a survivable orbit, and to which a few may escape.
The book bears some of the stigmata of pre-golden-age science fiction,
such as the tendency to equate Science with wisdom.  Unlike most of its
contemporaries, though, it focuses on people, in this case on how they react
to an astronomical death sentence.  The book spawned a competent sequel,
"After Worlds Collide" (**-), and a disappointing movie.
 
%A  Wylie, Philip
%T  The Disappearance
%T  Gladiator
%T  Tomorrow
%T  When Worlds Collide
%T  After Worlds Collide
%O  The last two are coauthored with Edwin Balmer
 
Standard introduction and disclaimer for Belated Reviews follows.

Belated Reviews cover science fiction and fantasy of earlier decades.
They're for newer readers who have wondered about the older titles on the
shelves, or who are interested in what sf/f was like in its younger days.
The emphasis is on helping interested readers identify books to try first, 
not on discussing the books in depth.
 
A general caveat is in order:  Most of the classics of yesteryear have not
aged well.  If you didn't encounter them back when, or in your early teens,
they will probably not give you the unforced pleasure they gave their
original audiences.  You may find yourself having to make allowances for
writing you consider shallow or politics you consider regressive.  When I
name specific titles, I'll often rate them using the following scale:
 
**** Recommended.
***  An old favorite that hasn't aged well, and wouldn't get a good
	reception if it were written today.  Enjoyable on its own terms.
**   A solid book, worth reading if you like the author's works.
*    Nothing special.
 
Additional disclaimers:  Authors are not chosen for review in any particular
order.  The reviews don't attempt to be comprehensive.  No distinction is 
made between books which are still in print and books which are not.
 
-----
Dani Zweig
dani@netcom.com
 
   Should 'anal retentive' have a hyphen? -- unidentified passing t-shirt
 
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1158.1DDIF::PARODIJohn H. Parodi DTN 381-1640Tue Aug 17 1993 16:5915
    
    This belated review has left out what I consider Wylie's best works:
    
     "The End of the Dream," an eco-disaster novel that makes Brunner's
                             stuff seem wildly optimistic.
    
    "A Generation of Vipers" -- not really SF but worth reading; it
    introduces the term "momism" and attacks the concept that "motherhood,"
    at least as practiced in the US, is a good thing.
    
    Oh, and I thought that "When Worlds Collide" was co-authored with E and
    O Binder rather than Edwin Balmer. Is my mind playing tricks on me
    (again)?
    
    JP
1158.2VMSMKT::KENAHThu Aug 19 1993 17:585
    >Oh, and I thought that "When Worlds Collide" was co-authored with E and
    >O Binder rather than Edwin Balmer. Is my mind playing tricks on me
    >(again)?
    
    It's playing tricks on you, again.  It was Balmer.