University of Nebraska Press

E.E. 'Doc' Smith's Triplanetary

Leave all feminist thought at the door.  For that matter, leave all modern thought at the door.  This is not a book for that.  This is a book from a simpler time.  A time when good was good, bad was bad, men were men, and women were emotional and threw themselves at the men, exclaiming, “Oh, Ted!” or whatever the current hero's name is.  I conducted an informal poll and so far no woman I talked to has ever thrown herself on a man exclaiming, “Oh, Whatsyerface!”.  No man has had this done to him.  And no one has ever seen it.  But by the number of women who do so in this novel, it apparently happened to Doc Smith on many occasions.  It was a time when saying, “What a gang!” was a good thing.

Triplanetary is the first of Smith's Lensmen series and is one of the beginnings of the space opera subgenre that would eventually be the precursor to Star Wars—lots of different planets and peoples fighting an intergalactic war for the betterment of all.  The series was written between 1928 and 1954 and was immensely popular in its day.  Smith was a pulp writer and it shows. The writing style is simultaneous too ornate and too simplistic to modern ears.  The characters don't even hit a second dimention.  They are a line.  The story is clearly set with good versus evil and of course Earth is good.  And it is also clearly sexist and racist.  The first female character to show up, on page 30, doesn't immediately faint.  But she almost immediately faints.  By page 36 she is dead, leaving the man to save the world.

And for all that, it is still a good read, and not only for the historical perspective. (At one point, having gotten the signal that nuclear bombs are headed towards America—which is on the good side, of course—he explains why America hadn't struck its enemy first even when they knew the enemy would eventually strike.  “Because America, being a democracy, could not strike first, but had to wait—wait in instant readiness—until she was actually attacked.”) 

Triplanetary is a good read for the sense of wonder and fun that it invokes. Smith was having a great time writing this book and he isn't concerned about bringing depth or subtlety to it.  He is out to give the reader a rip roaring good time with lots of explosions, escapes, and even a little romance (yes, first she faints, but she was poisoned, then she waits while he kills the poisoner, and then she throws her arms about him, exclaiming, “Oh, Conrad!”).  And after a slow beginning (slower, that is.  It still has explosions and fights and such) that sets up the premise of the entire Lensmen series, it does get down to just that.  A good tale.  Action and adventure from the 1930's.  An escape to a simpler time, when men were men and women were women and we knew who all the bad guys were and all their reasons for doing things were bad so it was okay to kill them all and get the girl who will throw her arms about you crying "Oh, Whatsyerface!".

Firsts

Greetings!  Welcome to my first post on the UN Press blog.  My name is Jason McIntosh and I'm here to write about sci-fi, dark fantasy, speculative fiction and other fantastic stuff.  There's another sci-fi blogger around here somewhere, probably above or below this post.  Hi Leigh!  Hopefully we'll get some cross-talk going.

So who am I and why am here?  Well, I'm a PhD candidate in the English department here at UNL.  I'm a teacher and writer, but not of science fiction.  Nope, I'm a fan, just like you. 

My love of fantastic stories began on Saturday afternoons during the early 80's.  I'm of that generation of kids who grew up on Saturday morning cartoons.  This was before Nickelodeon, Cartoon Central, and 24/7 children's programming.  Instead, our weekly dose of cartoons came during a six-hour block of sugar-packed animated goodness.  With bed heads and bowls of cereal, we sat and watched.  It was ritual.

I don't remember when it started - how old I was, which movie was the first, or any specifics of a particular day.  What I do remember is that at some point, Saturday morning cartoons turned into Saturday afternoon monster fests.  I probably lingered too long before going outside to play one day.  Mom probably changed the channel; she loves old movies.  But I do remember images of mad scientists and dungeon-like laboratories, wild-eyed gypsy fortunetellers, wolfmen, walking plants, and flying saucers.  It was a new world of gods and monsters, and I was hooked.

I've been a fan of the macabre, the mysterious, and the weird ever since.  Books, movies, comics, music – if it asks “what if?' and tells a story, I'm probably interested. Of course, I'd like to think that the reasons behind my interest in the fantastic are a bit more sophisticated now that I'm thirty one – that these stories teach me something about the human condition, that they help me consider the implications of technology for my life, that they are ultimately introspective.  But a part of me knows that I read and watch these stories in order to reclaim some of the wonder I experienced on those Saturday mornings.  And that's reason enough for me.

I'd like to get some conversation going on this blog.  Since this is a first post, let's start with beginnings, the experiences that got us interested in science fiction and such.

Cheers,

Jason

Cassoulet

I made cassoulet this week. The creation of cassoulet, the regional peasant dish of southwestern France is not something to be undertaken lightly. Most recipes recommend a two-day composition period. It is said that Anatole France’s favorite version tasted as if it had been cooking for twenty years—which I'm not so sure is a good thing. Cassoulet includes five kinds of meat, white beans, and a sauce rich in tomatoes, onion, garlic, and herbs. A duck and a pork shoulder are roasted; lamb, salt pork, and sausage are browned. (This is not a dish for vegetarians.) Then the whole thing is baked with a breadcrumb topping. The cook makes periodic visits to the oven to break the crust and to add additional stock as needed--and to sip a nice red. The breaking and re-breaking of the crust enables more diners to enjoy what some say is the crisp, best part of the dish. I made cassoulet once before about twenty years ago and felt like I didn’t need to do it again. But, when you have a whole duck taking up valuable freezer space and you've been reading Pampille's Table by Martha Daudet in a new Bison Books edition from the University of Nebraska Press's At Table Series, what can you do?

Pampille's Table, a gathering of more than 200 recipes from the author’s friends, relatives, and gourmands, and originally published in 1919, is still a highly regarded classic. Shirley King's translation and update is valuable to cooks and readers interested in the development of French cuisine and it's regional distinctions. More important and more fun, is Pampille's very personal literary style. She is completely unpretentious; she always prefers the simple to the complex. She champions the use of fresh, local, in-season ingredients and dispenses strong opinions, most of which you will agree with. Here are some samples. "Before divulging these secrets, I should add that a good recipe does not guarantee a perfect dish. There is a certain something called la tour de main--a special touch--that contributes to at least half the success of any dish. In general, fat cooks are endowed with this special touch more than thin cooks." In discussing the four most important soups of France, Papilla pronounces: "You have to be at least 30 years old to enjoy Pot-au-Feu. Before reaching this prophetic age, you cannot appreciate good things." (Willa Cather asserted a similar sentiment about the magical age of 30.) Perhaps only when one is well past thirty does this judgment not rankle. On the correct coarse salt to serve with Boiled Beef: "They should obtain this salt from the salt-marsh districts such as Piriac, at Mme Béchet's grocery shop. . . . They say that this salt is like no other, and that each grain contains a tiny piece of the landscape." Reading Pampille's Table is such a pleasure because these sentiments are included not only in recipe head and endnotes, but even more delightfully, within the recipes themselves. If you never cook a thing from this book, reading it will enchant you.

The cassoulet fed a small army of appreciative friends. None was saved for an Anatole France testing twenty years hence. After making and eating cassoulet, you’ll want to eat nothing more than a plain green salad with austere vinaigrette, maybe a slice or two of good bread and some fresh fruit for at least a week. I’m not finished with Pampille however. The Onion Tart and the Chocolate Savoy Cake look promising.

Most Beautiful Man in the World

Greetings to the blog world. I (Janis Londraville) am the co-author of THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MAN IN THE WORLD: PAUL SWAN, FROM WILDE TO WARHOL and am happy to entertain comments and questions about the book or Paul Swan, the man or the movie.

Additionally, I am beginning work on the biography of American artist Jon Corbino, called A MAN MADE MAD BY PAINTING: JON CORBINO, FROM RUBENS TO RINGLING. (More than one critic focused on Corbino's ability to draw the perfect horse, posterior highlighted.) Anyone having information about him, please feel free to get in touch with me.

UNP hosts literary salon for organic farming book

You are cordially invited to participate in a literary salon hosted by the University of Nebraska Press. Jim Bender, Nebraska organic farmer and author of Future Harvest: Pesticide-free Farming, and Chuck Hassebrook, University of Nebraska Regent and Executive Director of the Center for Rural Affairs, will lead a lively discussion of the recent book, Good Growing: Why Organic Farming Works by Leslie A. Duram.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

5:30-6:30 p.m.

Lincoln Woman's Club

407 South 14th Street (SW corner of 14th and L)

Off-street parking behind the Woman's Club and in the adjoining church lot

For more information, visit: http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/featureTopics/salonFeature.jsp

New in March from the University of Nebraska Press

New from the University of Nebraska Press: an accessible writing guide by U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser and lifelong editor and publisher Steve Cox, a Shiloh Civil War battlefield guide, a study on the lives of the wives and girlfriends of NFL players and coaches by Shannon O’Toole (an NFL wife), a Sports Illustrated top 100 sports book of all time covering the 1908 National League pennant race, an account of Jackie Robinson’s first spring training available for the first time in paperback, plus much more.

Browse our new March books here:

http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/special/newThisMonth.jsp