Re: Eric Frank Russell

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Posted by willem on June 27, 1999 at 13:48:15:

In Reply to: Eric Frank Russell posted by Gabriele Guenther on June 27, 1999 at 13:01:15:

: A couple of people have asked me about Eric Frank Russell, and
: his racist & anti-racist short stories.
: 1) His deliberate anti-racist stories are in the EFR anthology
: "Somewhere A Voice". They are trite & banal, but well-meant,
: and quite moving.
: 2) His very racist short story is: "The Timeless Ones". You will
: find this in the EFR anthology "Far Stars".
: The story more or less claims that Chinese are driven
: (through fairly peaceful means) towards world-domination,
: accomplished through breeding with the enemy (illogicality
: number #1 --- do all the offspring then turn into little full
: Chinese?), and through simple plugging on (taking any job,
: no matter how lowly).
: The story seems to me to be based on the Jungian idea of
: a "race/racial-consciousness", i.e. in the racial subconsciousness.
: One person asked me why I thought this story was not deliberatey racist.
: It seems to me that EFR simply came across that Jungian idea,
: and made it into a short story (lots of other similar examples
: of him taking an idea and writing a story around it.
: I don't think he went out of his way to write a "Yellow Peril"
: story, and most people seem to think he was a nice person ---
: maybe he himself would have been horrified to have all the
: (very nasty, also illogical) aspects of his story made clear
: to him.
: LASTLY: may I recommend to everyone the following books by EFR:
: a) "WASP", still a great idea today
: b) "THE GREAT EXPLOSION", also still a great idea, an exploration
: of a society built upon Gandhian ethics. Way to go!
:

WASP: I read that one years ago, but I always confuse it with a story playing in the UK with carsize wasps from someone else.
what about something like 'men , machines & martians'
Gabrielle: do you intend to mean that EFR (nice next to each other) resembles JV? I don't think so and probably you don't as well. People passing by on the board might think so.

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Re: Eric Frank Russell Gabriele Guenther 13:55:05 6/27/99 (0)

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: : A couple of people have asked me about Eric Frank Russell, and : : his racist & anti-racist short stories. : : 1) His deliberate anti-racist stories are in the EFR anthology : : "Somewhere A Voice". They are trite & banal, but well-meant, : : and quite moving. : : 2) His very racist short story is: "The Timeless Ones". You will : : find this in the EFR anthology "Far Stars". : : The story more or less claims that Chinese are driven : : (through fairly peaceful means) towards world-domination, : : accomplished through breeding with the enemy (illogicality : : number #1 --- do all the offspring then turn into little full : : Chinese?), and through simple plugging on (taking any job, : : no matter how lowly). : : The story seems to me to be based on the Jungian idea of : : a "race/racial-consciousness", i.e. in the racial subconsciousness. : : One person asked me why I thought this story was not deliberatey racist. : : It seems to me that EFR simply came across that Jungian idea, : : and made it into a short story (lots of other similar examples : : of him taking an idea and writing a story around it. : : I don't think he went out of his way to write a "Yellow Peril" : : story, and most people seem to think he was a nice person --- : : maybe he himself would have been horrified to have all the : : (very nasty, also illogical) aspects of his story made clear : : to him. : : LASTLY: may I recommend to everyone the following books by EFR: : : a) "WASP", still a great idea today : : b) "THE GREAT EXPLOSION", also still a great idea, an exploration : : of a society built upon Gandhian ethics. Way to go! : : : WASP: I read that one years ago, but I always confuse it with a story playing in the UK with carsize wasps from someone else. : what about something like 'men , machines & martians' : Gabrielle: do you intend to mean that EFR (nice next to each other) resembles JV? I don't think so and probably you don't as well. People passing by on the board might think so.

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