I'm not sure I think this book is science fiction. It definitely has a SF premise - what happens if you're unstuck in time? Can you have relationships? Can you have a job? Can you have sanity? If you can't count on time working linearly, how does that work in this very linear world?
Spoilers!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Pulp Art
I started on a book yesterday called "Pulp Art: Original Cover Paintings for the Great American Pulp Magazines" by Robert Lesser, which includes full page reproductions of the oil paintings created to be pulp cover art. The basic thesis of the book is that pulp covers are legitimate art. The opening chapter is all about populist art and how that is a right of the American people because of a specific prohibition in the Constituion against noble titles, the bearers of whom are often forceful arbiters of taste. So pulp art is populist art, and just as much art as the contents of any art museum in the world.
When pulp art was being produced, most of the artists creating it did not believe that at all, let alone the public or the art elite. Many saw it as common at best, and certainly a commodity, and many artists were actively ashamed to have created it. For the most part you couldn't give the original oil paintings away. A lot of it is very sensational, especially as the industry matured and the subject matter of the magazines sometimes reached into the frontiers of popular taste in search of new audiences. Sensational enough that Mayor LaGuardia of New York spoke out against some of the trends, and newsstand owners would tear some of the covers off because they didn't want them on their stands. There was a gangster line that had two covers printed for different markets so as to not offend the wrong sensibilities in the wrong places - that could be dangerous. Some pulps were sold under the counter as much for the cover art as for the contents. The thing is, it took more and more eye-catching, i.e. extreme, covers to stand out on a newsstand, which is how most pulps sold. And it seemed to be the common concensus that the cover is what sold a pulp.
"Pulp Art" gives examples of the covers from certain genres of pulp magazines and then explains how to "read" them and gives background information on the artist and their techniques. Really interesting.
The art from some of the more sensational lines is really disturbing, however. From what I gather, the stories never lived up (down?) to the art, which is a good thing, but the art was enough to leave me with weird dreams, especially with the interpretations. Even though I can see the author's point that "on the edge" art is still art, I can see why some of it was censored, especially in the '30s and '40s and especially in public around children.
But I loved the science fiction covers - bright colors, often stylized, filled with the wonder of the future. The interior illustrations are in black & white and filled with detail and exciting technology and science. Many of the illustrations are optimistic, and a real spur to the imagination. This is the art that set the classic SF esthetic. And the best artists were obviously having fun with it and perhaps doing it partially out of love. (They sure didn't get paid very much!) This blog has a few articles filled with such art. I'd buy some of these magazines for the art - it put a smile on my face and a sense of wonder in my heart.
I enjoyed this book for the full-page, full-color reproductions of the paintings, and the essays written by folks involved in the pulps and their art. I also valued the insights into the artists, and, no matter how disturbing they may have personally been, the art. It did get a little preachy in places, but still interesting over all. Again the SF section is lovely. I recommend this book, especially if you have a stronger stomach than I do.
When pulp art was being produced, most of the artists creating it did not believe that at all, let alone the public or the art elite. Many saw it as common at best, and certainly a commodity, and many artists were actively ashamed to have created it. For the most part you couldn't give the original oil paintings away. A lot of it is very sensational, especially as the industry matured and the subject matter of the magazines sometimes reached into the frontiers of popular taste in search of new audiences. Sensational enough that Mayor LaGuardia of New York spoke out against some of the trends, and newsstand owners would tear some of the covers off because they didn't want them on their stands. There was a gangster line that had two covers printed for different markets so as to not offend the wrong sensibilities in the wrong places - that could be dangerous. Some pulps were sold under the counter as much for the cover art as for the contents. The thing is, it took more and more eye-catching, i.e. extreme, covers to stand out on a newsstand, which is how most pulps sold. And it seemed to be the common concensus that the cover is what sold a pulp.
"Pulp Art" gives examples of the covers from certain genres of pulp magazines and then explains how to "read" them and gives background information on the artist and their techniques. Really interesting.
The art from some of the more sensational lines is really disturbing, however. From what I gather, the stories never lived up (down?) to the art, which is a good thing, but the art was enough to leave me with weird dreams, especially with the interpretations. Even though I can see the author's point that "on the edge" art is still art, I can see why some of it was censored, especially in the '30s and '40s and especially in public around children.
But I loved the science fiction covers - bright colors, often stylized, filled with the wonder of the future. The interior illustrations are in black & white and filled with detail and exciting technology and science. Many of the illustrations are optimistic, and a real spur to the imagination. This is the art that set the classic SF esthetic. And the best artists were obviously having fun with it and perhaps doing it partially out of love. (They sure didn't get paid very much!) This blog has a few articles filled with such art. I'd buy some of these magazines for the art - it put a smile on my face and a sense of wonder in my heart.
I enjoyed this book for the full-page, full-color reproductions of the paintings, and the essays written by folks involved in the pulps and their art. I also valued the insights into the artists, and, no matter how disturbing they may have personally been, the art. It did get a little preachy in places, but still interesting over all. Again the SF section is lovely. I recommend this book, especially if you have a stronger stomach than I do.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Ralph 124C 41+ by Hugo Gernsback
Ralph 124C 41+ (one to forsee for many) by Hugo Gernsback was first published serially in "Amazing Stories" from 1911-2. It was edited in 1925 and published in novel form in a small print run, probably also by Gernsback. In 1950 it was printed again in a much larger print run. I'm not sure if he edited it at all then - I'd guess not. The edition I read is from 2000 and has a forward by Jack Williamson, a writer who wrote for Gernsback's story pulps. Published in 4 very different times; probably only edited once. It makes me wonder what people thought of it with every printing.
Probable spoilers ahead.
Probable spoilers ahead.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Financial Pulps
According to "Pulp Culture" there were two money pulps - pulps filled with stories about the adventure of making money - that debuted in 1929. Needless to say they didn't get vary far. Ouch!
Although, the adventure part was true enough, I suppose.
Although, the adventure part was true enough, I suppose.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
"Adventure," and Max Brand
"Pulp Culture" contains fascinating stories about the pulps. Here are two.
"Adventure," one of the earliest and best known pulps specializing in ... wait for it ... adventure stories, was more a phenomenon than a story magazine. First were its many interesting departments, including:
"Adventure" was also largely responsible for the creation of the American Legion. Many people were worried about America's lack of preparedness should they get involved in The Great War, so "Adventure" started the Legion. When readers joined, their membership cards listed their specialties and abilities, and those were also forwarded on to the War Department after America entered the war. Two regiments of aviation mechanics were formed based on that information. After the war it became a Legion of veterans - the American Legion.
The editor suggested that readers form Camp Fire Stations, clubs where they could meet other readers. By the middle of the 1920s hundreds of Camp Fire Stations had been formed all over the world.
"Adventure was no longer just a magazine; it had become a way of life. It was, as Richard Bleiler states in his "Index to Adventure Magazine, "the most important pulp magazine in the world." (Pulp Culture, p.33-36)
The other really interesting tidbit I've picked up so far is about Max Brand. I'm just going to quote the bit from the book.
"The most famous writer of westerns was a man who wasn't particularly proud of them, who lived lavishly in a rented Italian villa overlooking the city of Florence, and whom readers and editors alike loved: readers, for his narrative flow and ability to handle plot and action; editors, for his ability to turn out a needed short story overnight or a novel in a week.
""Max Brand" was the best known pen name out of the 22 he used, of Frederick Faust, a would-be classical poet and reluctant fiction factory. Faust was the true "King of the Pulps," a man who wrote for pulps and slicks alike but, all by himself, very nearly was "Western Story Magazine." He appeared in 622 issues from 1920 through 1935 under 11 pen names. He wrote 13 million words for this one magazine alone, at their top rate of five cents a word, for a total of nearly $15 million in 1998 dollars.
"No other writer of westerns - or any other genre, for that matter - even came close.
... "At his peak he wrote more than a million words a year and sold every one of them." (Pulp Culture, p.79,81)
Official Max Brand website:
http://www.maxbrandonline.com/
You can find public domain Max Brand - ebooks at Project Gutenberg and audiobooks at LibriVox.
"Adventure," one of the earliest and best known pulps specializing in ... wait for it ... adventure stories, was more a phenomenon than a story magazine. First were its many interesting departments, including:
- A letter column "The Camp-Fire" where readers extensively critiqued the stories for accuracy and detail. ("Adventure" was serious about accuracy - one reason Edgar Rice Burroughs' stories weren't accepted is that he erroneously put tigers in Africa in "Tarzan.")
- "Lost Trails" helped readers find lost loved ones.
- "Wanted--Men and Adventurers" positions wanted and adventurers needed for the "riskier side of life." (According to "Pulp Culture," "Adventure" had a serious soldier-of-fortune following!)
- "Ask Adventure" allowed readers to ask for and receive expert advice on practically anything.
- "Various Practical Services Free to Any Reader" told readers where they could send to for information to have their own adventures.
"Adventure" was also largely responsible for the creation of the American Legion. Many people were worried about America's lack of preparedness should they get involved in The Great War, so "Adventure" started the Legion. When readers joined, their membership cards listed their specialties and abilities, and those were also forwarded on to the War Department after America entered the war. Two regiments of aviation mechanics were formed based on that information. After the war it became a Legion of veterans - the American Legion.
The editor suggested that readers form Camp Fire Stations, clubs where they could meet other readers. By the middle of the 1920s hundreds of Camp Fire Stations had been formed all over the world.
"Adventure was no longer just a magazine; it had become a way of life. It was, as Richard Bleiler states in his "Index to Adventure Magazine, "the most important pulp magazine in the world." (Pulp Culture, p.33-36)
The other really interesting tidbit I've picked up so far is about Max Brand. I'm just going to quote the bit from the book.
"The most famous writer of westerns was a man who wasn't particularly proud of them, who lived lavishly in a rented Italian villa overlooking the city of Florence, and whom readers and editors alike loved: readers, for his narrative flow and ability to handle plot and action; editors, for his ability to turn out a needed short story overnight or a novel in a week.
""Max Brand" was the best known pen name out of the 22 he used, of Frederick Faust, a would-be classical poet and reluctant fiction factory. Faust was the true "King of the Pulps," a man who wrote for pulps and slicks alike but, all by himself, very nearly was "Western Story Magazine." He appeared in 622 issues from 1920 through 1935 under 11 pen names. He wrote 13 million words for this one magazine alone, at their top rate of five cents a word, for a total of nearly $15 million in 1998 dollars.
"No other writer of westerns - or any other genre, for that matter - even came close.
... "At his peak he wrote more than a million words a year and sold every one of them." (Pulp Culture, p.79,81)
Official Max Brand website:
http://www.maxbrandonline.com/
You can find public domain Max Brand - ebooks at Project Gutenberg and audiobooks at LibriVox.
Pulps
I'm reading "Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines." Really interesting. It's primarily concerned with the covers and their art - there are a great number of cover reproductions with the artist listed, and a value scale. Some of the art is very good, and a lot of it is violent and disconcerting. There are, of course, a plethora of underclothed damsels-in-distress, and, as the author points out, a great many large green hands reaching and grabbing.
The pulps (named for their cheap woodpulp paper) came after story papers and dime novels, and were printed along side mainstream books, comic books, and the "slicks," magazines printed on glossy paper. The first pulp was "Argosy" in 1896. "They [pulps] reached their peak in the '20s and '30s, declined in popularity after World War II, and finally died in the early'50s, their readership split among those preferring the even more sensational comic books, the convenience of paperbacks, or the soap operas, dramas, and comedies television provided for free." (Pulp Culture, p.17)
According to "Pulp Culture," the pulps overall were popular and wildly varied. "At it's heydey in the teens, "Argosy" had a circulation of 700,000, the high-water mark for any pulp." (p.21) "...[B]y the time the pulps finally died, more than 1200 different titles had appeared...." (p.30) They covered a huge range of topics from love to the railroad, and there was a pulp for every member of the family. Sort of like manga in Japan.
Big name authors (or authors who would become big names) wrote for the pulps - Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ron E Howard, Earle Stanley Gardner, Zane Grey, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Elmore Leonard (westerns first, then mystery), Louis L'Amour, Ray Bradbury, L. Ron Hubbard. The pulps were the trying ground for many authors who learned their craft there and then moved on to the slicks or books.
And, of course, science fiction as we know it was born in the pulps.
The pulps (named for their cheap woodpulp paper) came after story papers and dime novels, and were printed along side mainstream books, comic books, and the "slicks," magazines printed on glossy paper. The first pulp was "Argosy" in 1896. "They [pulps] reached their peak in the '20s and '30s, declined in popularity after World War II, and finally died in the early'50s, their readership split among those preferring the even more sensational comic books, the convenience of paperbacks, or the soap operas, dramas, and comedies television provided for free." (Pulp Culture, p.17)
According to "Pulp Culture," the pulps overall were popular and wildly varied. "At it's heydey in the teens, "Argosy" had a circulation of 700,000, the high-water mark for any pulp." (p.21) "...[B]y the time the pulps finally died, more than 1200 different titles had appeared...." (p.30) They covered a huge range of topics from love to the railroad, and there was a pulp for every member of the family. Sort of like manga in Japan.
Big name authors (or authors who would become big names) wrote for the pulps - Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ron E Howard, Earle Stanley Gardner, Zane Grey, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Elmore Leonard (westerns first, then mystery), Louis L'Amour, Ray Bradbury, L. Ron Hubbard. The pulps were the trying ground for many authors who learned their craft there and then moved on to the slicks or books.
And, of course, science fiction as we know it was born in the pulps.
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