Lets do the ...
Apr. 14th, 2009 07:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threemonkeysI'm getting a feeling of temporal dislocation.
I've just been watching an episode of Callan - an episode first broadcast in 1970. Callan itself is a time travel experience and a very down and dirty vision of toughness. But to counter that, who do I see but a very young Graham Crowden playing an eccentric doctor in a manner that very much foreshadows Jock McCannon in A very Peculiar Practice.
Then there is a short story series called Continuum edited by Roger Elwood (yes that guy) in the '70s. The reason I bought it was because I recognised the cover art of the second volume. It was by Ian Miller of Dragon's Dream fame. Not that it was credited anywhere in the book. I recognised it because a poster of that same art lived on my wall for many years. Actually, the art was derived from a rather mundane story in the collection by Poul Anderson. The mundane nature of the story had the rather unfortunate effect of tainting my appreciation of the artwork just a little. Did you every buy a book because of the cover art?
Then there is the matter of another one of those Asimov, Waugh and Greenberg collections - this one dedicated to the Short Novels of the 1960s. You would think the main area of interest in such a collection is the stylistic and subject changes that were happening in such a radical fashion in the genre - the "new wave". But what really stands out about this collection is the emphasis on war. The Vietnam war was the lead item in the news every day at that time. Its effect permeates every work in the book.
By way of perspective, I went to visit my 93 year old great aunt during the weekend. Her stories went a lot further back. True tales of being a solo parent as WW2 approaches gives you a different appreciation of toughness.
I've just been watching an episode of Callan - an episode first broadcast in 1970. Callan itself is a time travel experience and a very down and dirty vision of toughness. But to counter that, who do I see but a very young Graham Crowden playing an eccentric doctor in a manner that very much foreshadows Jock McCannon in A very Peculiar Practice.
Then there is a short story series called Continuum edited by Roger Elwood (yes that guy) in the '70s. The reason I bought it was because I recognised the cover art of the second volume. It was by Ian Miller of Dragon's Dream fame. Not that it was credited anywhere in the book. I recognised it because a poster of that same art lived on my wall for many years. Actually, the art was derived from a rather mundane story in the collection by Poul Anderson. The mundane nature of the story had the rather unfortunate effect of tainting my appreciation of the artwork just a little. Did you every buy a book because of the cover art?
Then there is the matter of another one of those Asimov, Waugh and Greenberg collections - this one dedicated to the Short Novels of the 1960s. You would think the main area of interest in such a collection is the stylistic and subject changes that were happening in such a radical fashion in the genre - the "new wave". But what really stands out about this collection is the emphasis on war. The Vietnam war was the lead item in the news every day at that time. Its effect permeates every work in the book.
By way of perspective, I went to visit my 93 year old great aunt during the weekend. Her stories went a lot further back. True tales of being a solo parent as WW2 approaches gives you a different appreciation of toughness.