Answer to an Email

Yesterday a remark was made concerning Arthur C. Clarke's correspondence with C.S. Lewis. He had high praise for Lewis's Ransom Trilogy. He considered it true literature. Well, this needs clarification. During the early 1950s many Science Fiction writers were busy assembling their works into larger volumes by combining their short stories from the pulp fiction magazines that became popular a decade before during World War II. Most of the pulp fiction rags ran stories in a serialized manner.

At this time not a lot of people were writing SciFi in a finalized form. C.S. Lewis, a writer of Protestant Theology, wrote three books of beautiful allegory that centered around extraterrestrial themes and Christianity. It's a different concept, but it works. Mr. Lewis was one of the few of that era that wrote in depth, thought provoking novels in the genre. Since that era many great writers have published awesome pieces of literature. Read Frank Herbert's Dune, Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, Asimov's Foundation books, or Larry Niven, Piers Anthony, and many more.

They all gained credentials as great writers very soon AFTER Sir Arthur made the "true literature" remark. So, he was not saying great writers didn't exist in SciFi. He was pushing for publishers to create novels instead of pulp fiction stories. This meant more money in each author's pocket. During that period Clarke published many "Science" books while still writing SciFi in the background. Check his bibliograpphy and you'll see the point. He also started publishing more Science Fiction in novel form. Again, I'll refer to Isaac Asimov's autobiography. His take on this shift in the SciFi scene is far more astute than mine.

Anyway, many people don't care about Science Fiction. But us geeks? We're likin' some SciFi now! Hope this clarifies his timely comment and helps people understand he was certainly not putting anyone down. Enough I say! Maybe tomorrow the possum will be the central theme here at the beach house. Peace out!

"Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of science."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson