Posted by Michael Reynolds on November 12, 1996 at 12:06:44:
In Reply to: Re: "Anome" trilogy posted by David Luckhardt on November 10, 1996 at 10:08:39:
: I'd like to start my reply with something I discussed with serveral fans at the November 9th book signing at Super Crown Books in Sunnyvale -- Jack (luckily!!) feels no requirement to be politically correct in any of his works, and that is part of the charm of his remarkably consistant style.
: Readers looking for PC material should stick to Joanna Russ, cause Vance is going to step all over their feelings. He deals with racial, and particularly cultural, issues in nearly every novel, and never backs down from a difficult call.
: Vance has come at cultural prejudice from many angles, and always deals with the issues from both sides of the equation. I personally think that his experiences as a Merchant Marine in WWII gave him some real insights into cultural paradigms - _Moon Moth_ springs to mind.
: Any "extended analysis" of his work will yield a goldmine of liberal PC incorrectness, but that is not his, or his readers, goals. He continues to deliver magnificent stories with fantastic style, and that's all that matters to me. By the way, I live near Berkeley, vote very liberal, and just don't read authors whose politics irritate me like Hogan and Pournelle (this is called Free Speach!!).
: - David Luckhardt
:
: : Am I way off base, or does the "Anome" trilogy have a racist subtext? It's a painful question, because I admire the heck out of Vance and his works (Why else would I be on this site, after all?), but think about: the red-skinned Rogushkoi, completely savage, unreachable by reason, who live only to eat, drink, kill, and breed with human women ( and the offspring are not human, or hybrid, but simply more Rogushkoi). Plus, they inhabit the "Wildlands", at the center of Vanc's continent--i.e., read "inner city" over which the civilized travelers pass by the baloonway. Anyway, the paralells are unfortunately numerous to ant-black racist ideology. I do hope that it's subsconscious on JV's part, and not deliberate. Still, one recalls "The Grey Prince" with its thinly-disguised parallel to the Rhodesia situation.....
: : Well, sorry to be the proverbial skunk at the garden party, but does anyone else out there (in there?) have any thoughts or comments on this? Refute me, please!