Caviar

Sturgeon is a master and is among the most flexible of authors. Prodigy is pure SF, and not apparently all that different from many good stories, until ... Let's just say this one really made me think.

Bright Segment, on the other hand, is truly unusual from the start, and for me so gruesome I had to skip several pages. When I got back on board I thought I was fine, and enjoying the slow exposition of characters and plot. In the end, though, a truly disturbing tale, one I regretted reading. I, however, have much more delicate reading tastes than anyone else I know.

Sturgeon is amazing. He may thrill, move, disturb, cause to think. But he seldom disappoints.

The copy. I read sports a lovely Richard Powers cover. My favourite cover show more illustrator of all time and space, by a long mile. Kilometre. Parsec. (Though it was a slow burn, being exposed to his covers for many years until I realized they had shaped my perception of SF and of art.) show less

Each story has its own appeal. Some charm, some terrify, some impress. It does help to be a fan of older/ classic SF, and willing to put up with a few scientific anachronisms and a bit of sexism. These aren't one-note adventures for teen boys, or gimmick 'Twilight Zone' episodes, but full-on stories for both male and female adults, and will be enjoyed more if read with care.

"Twink" especially is interesting. I note one GR reviewer said it was one the very best stories he'd read anywhere, and another said to skip it. I give it four stars myself, for the idea and the writing, with a star missing because I didn't feel the characters as authentic. I think part of the appeal of that one depends on how much the situation itself resonates with show more you. show less

Suffers from a certain amount of dated-ness (they’re from the ‘40s and ‘50s) that is characteristic of golden age sf. There is nothing prophetic in any of the stories. Gender roles are strictly stereotyped and therefore romance is mostly comical by today’s norms. One story is set in the distant future of 1973. The non-sf stories remain the most entertaining.

I do have to mention that The Cosmic God, in spite of its absurdity and clumsiness, has the most profound philosophical ideas of any of the stories revolving around Creation and evolution but Sturgeon fails to exploit these sufficiently and flesh out the ramifications and instead settles for an absurdly typical sf resolution. There is another story, about a planet that is an show more organism, that is likewise quarantined to a superficial conclusion.

Other, later writers like Harlan Ellison or Samuel Delaney, would take similar ideas to a more profound and satisfying conclusion. Still, without Sturgeon maybe those ideas would never have germinated. show less

Fun to take a trip into Sturgeon's uniquely odd world, reminding me of the the science fiction I was reading decades ago. The stories are uneven, but even some of the less successful ones hold narrative voices that stick with me. I found "Twink" to be one of those. Love the character and the insights offered.

Theodore Sturgeon fue uno de los grandes de la Edad de Oro de la ciencia ficción, aunque actualmente es un gran desconocido. Es más, está considerado como uno de los mejores escritores de relatos norteamericano. Estilísticamente no se le puede poner ningún pero, si bien es cierto que el contenido de las historias me ha parecido irregular.

Los ocho cuentos incluidos en ‘Caviar’ (1955), fueron escritos entre 1941 y 1955. Hay ciencia ficción, pero también suspense, terror y fantasía. Son estos:

-La claridad de una rendija. Un hombre recoge en la calle a una mujer gravemente herida y se la lleva a su casa. Pronto sabremos lo especial que es el individuo.
-Un dios microscópico. Un científico loco solo se dedica a inventar e show more investigar, mientras su banquero se va aprovechando.
-Fantasma por truco.
-Prodigio.
-Medusa.
-Chismosa.
-Sombras chinescas.
-Twink.

La antología empieza magníficamente con ‘La claridad de una rendija’, un relato de los que dejan huella. El que sigue, ‘Un dios microscópico’, es otro estupendo relato. show less

Per le raccolte di racconti Urania leggo i racconti in ordine sparso e li recensirò singolarmente.
Al momento ho letto:

- Piccolo grande dio (3/5) - L'idea c'è, è quella che molti anni dopo avrebbe ispirato anche un frammento di un episodio di Treehouse of Horros dei Simpson, ma lo svolgimento della storia è confuso e non molto interessante. Peccato perché con un incipit simile (uno scienziato che da vita ad un popolo di piccoli esseri, che si evolvono molto rapidamente) le possibilità erano molteplici. Come molti altri racconti di Sturgeon anche questo non porta da nessuna parte. Manca tensione perché manca un reale conflitto coinvolgente. Sufficiente.

LETTE 1 DI 8

The title is a sort of pun, of course. But the stories are quite good examples of 1950's Science fiction. The collected stories are: 1 · Bright Segment · nv *
28 · Microcosmic God · nv Astounding Apr ’41
59 · Ghost of a Chance [“The Green-Eyed Monster”] · ss Unknown Jun ’43
77 · Prodigy · ss Astounding Apr ’49
89 · Medusa · nv Astounding Feb ’42
112 · Blabbermouth · nv Amazing Feb ’47
138 · Shadow, Shadow, on the Wall · ss Imagination Feb ’51
149 · Twink · ss Galaxy Aug ’55