Re: CAS in Penguin Modern CLassics
Posted by:
jdworth (IP Logged)
Date: 16 January, 2013 03:35PM
Well, he is a member of a choir....
I've never met Joshi, but I have had dealings with him over the years, via correspondence, from early debates on various points to submitting essays for possible publication. In all my dealings with him, he has been unfailingly cordial and friendly. Sometimes rushed, as he is almost always pushed for time, but never anything less than thoroughly kind, even when we were completely at odds in our views. In fact, at those times, he would urge me to develop my ideas and examine my contentions in a rigorous way, to build my case as soldily as possible. So, for my money, any timidity on someone's part where Joshi is concerned comes from a serious misconception, or a confusion of the intense tone of his scholarly works with the actual person. The one is necessary to convey his point of view clearly and firmly, but it is not how the man interacts with others in other spheres of endeavor.
On the volume itself... I, too, was a bit surprised to not see "The Abominations of Yondo", which I think would make a very good addition; but I also think "Sadastor" is actually, in many ways, a very good introduction to Smith, with its adumbration of some of his favorite themes and the very manner of the prose. It lets the reader know right off that here is a man who makes the language sing; a writer with the eye of the poet, whatever the chosen medium; and a truly unique and powerful voice. It may take some getting used to; but, then, so does the work of, say, Mervyn Peake, David Lindsay, Theophile Gautier, Lafcadio Hearn, or James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon); yet all have proved popular enough to gain a rather solid following, and to continue to be published and enjoyed by new generations....