Customer Reviews

The Best of C. M. Kornbluth

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One can certainly not fault Frederik Pohl's inclusions in this 'Best of C.M. Kornbluth' selection. Many of the great stories are here. "The Little Black Bag", known to many Twilight Zone viewers, is a classic. "The Mindworm" is a great sci-fi-cum-horror story(calling Cronenberg et al - why has no movie been made of this classic?). "Two Dooms" is a richly detailed alternative history novella. "Friend to Man" is a classic both of sci fi literature and of black humour - a personal favourite of yrs truly. "The Marching Morons" is a satirical great, reminding one (oddly) of Terry Southern in its manipulation of commerical and pop culture cliches. Priceless! And "The Advent on Channel 13" is still one of the best satirical pokes at the Disney empire. While one can't fault Frederik Pohl's inclusions, I do wonder about some of the stories he left out. Pohl seems dismissive of Kornbluth's teenaged work. I heartily disagree. Should we not listen to the string symphonies of the teenaged Mendelssohn because he later went on to write the Italian Symphony? "Three O'Clock" and "Mr. Packer Goes to Hell" are masterpieces of pure whimsy, containing moments that make me gasp in a Lewis Carrollish sort of way. Kornbluth's story "Crisis" is surely relevant in this age of tangled international politics. I love every bit of it and passionately think it belongs here. "The Golden Road" is, I think, a profound meditation on the human condition - it should be here, but isn't. I don't know where Kornbluth's hilarious "the Education of Tigress McCardle" fits into Kornbluth's work chronologically, but I think it surely belongs in any 'best of' selection of Kornbluth's work. In effect, I think Pohl's selection is too draconian, as it were. He tends to favour the tightly satirical over the whimsical in Kornbluth's imagination. Nevertheless, in spite of my reservations, this is a great selection. The famed novelist Kingley Amis once suggested that in the Frederik Pohl-Cyril Kornbluth collaborations, Kornbluth probably wrote the action sequences, leaving the satire to Pohl. Amis probably based his opinion on his reading of Kornbluth's novel "Not This August." "The Syndic", in spite of appearances, is not an action novel at all, but a strange and darkly satirical book(not at all the "merry jibe" the N.Y. Times called it). It is obvious Amis did not read any of Kornbluth's richly humourous short stories. Ah, high seriousness! Barry Maltzberg used to complain that Kornbluth's stories should be studied in literature classes - not just in the 'ghetto' of sci-fi lit 344 classes. I agree. Read Kornbluth's work and mourn the premature loss of this protean talent. If I might express an ideological reservation about Kornbluth's work, one can see a belief in eugenics in "The Marching Morons." One can also see this in Kornbluth's novel "The Syndic" and in some of his other stories. Alas, unpalatable opinions are to be found in the ouevres of many writers, great and otherwise. I suggest you recognize this element in Kornbluth's work and reject it. Then proceed to glory in his felicity of expression. Absolutely buy this book. And reflect on the darkly satirical content therein. Oh, and when are people going to start digging up Kornbluth's detective stories? I'd love to read them. Greg Cameron, Surrey, B.C., Canada

One of my favourite's is the Marching Morons. This short story has wit but a very strong theme: the balance between inclusiveness and elitism is a very delicate one and there are no simplistic solutions. However the warning to avoid a constant appeal to the lowest common denominator is loud and clear and one of which we should take cognisance. It seems a pity that Kornbluth's writing career was so short. A good read with much to think about.