One thing I check in on, now and then, is New Wave science fiction. Which generally means from the sixties, although some examples are from a little earlier and later, and certainly not every writer from the era qualifies.
This week I'm on Thomas M. Disch's The Genocides. It's a plants gone wild story. Or rather a story of aliens sending an invasive plant species in order to irrevocably alter our environment and eliminate us from it. Disch is pretty clear that these developments mean the end of humanity and an ignoble end at that. It's not uplifting, but it weaves a kind of fascinating spell. Also it's short, about 150 pages.
Disch wasn't real sunny in general, as you might guess from his eventually committing suicide. So it's kind of funny that the one work of his that's been brought to a broader audience through the magic of film is a children's book about anthropomorphic appliances.
This week I'm on Thomas M. Disch's The Genocides. It's a plants gone wild story. Or rather a story of aliens sending an invasive plant species in order to irrevocably alter our environment and eliminate us from it. Disch is pretty clear that these developments mean the end of humanity and an ignoble end at that. It's not uplifting, but it weaves a kind of fascinating spell. Also it's short, about 150 pages.
Disch wasn't real sunny in general, as you might guess from his eventually committing suicide. So it's kind of funny that the one work of his that's been brought to a broader audience through the magic of film is a children's book about anthropomorphic appliances.
2 comments:
Thomas Disch's name was so familiar to me I was sure I must have read him at some point. Nevertheless, when I looked up his bibliography nothing at all rang a bell. The premise of the story does sound pretty cool, though - something akin to The Day of the Triffids?
I'm sure you remember me telling you I'd read a lot of early sci-fi back in the 60s. Of course at that point a lot of it was pretty recent. One of my favourites was Theodore Sturgeon - his novel 'More Than Human' might have been one of the strangest I ever came across.
It is weird Disch would be most well known as the author of The Brave Little Toaster. His work was worth far more than that.
I remember seeing the movie version of Day of the Triffids when I was a kid. In a B-movie way it was pretty intense. I can see a similarity, although these aren't attack plants. They just grow really fast.
With Sturgeon I've read some of his shorter stories. I also read a novel of his called To Marry Medusa. It was originally titled The Cosmic Rape, although for some reason that title didn't stick in later editions. I think Sturgeon meant the word in its nonsexual meaning, but with him who knows? More than Human does sound fascinating, though.
There's nothing wrong with being known for a kids' book, even if the premise is a little silly. It's just kind of jarring knowing what the rest of his life and work was like. (For example he was in a menage with Sturgeon and Sturgeon's wife. Although since Disch was mostly gay and Sturgeon wasn't I kind of doubt any of them were satisfied customers.)
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