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11/6/2009 1:42:38 AM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1325
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(Subtitled: The Book of the People)
First published in 1961
I've got the 1963 Avon paperback
Uncredited cover art - intense, focused, slightly menacing farmer staring out at us from reddish-green nighttime pastoral, with Amishy woman hoeing in the background and an orange Hersey Kiss spaceship on stilt legs standing on the near horizon. Interesting though largely inapt. The People live in harsh, semi-desert canyon country, not the Great Plains. And their spaceships are all gone - destroyed at the end of the Crossing. Still - evocative and accurate enough for mass market work.
Six stories in this novelized collection. Novelized in that - from what I gather - the Lea vignettes may be after-market connectors - attaching People themed stories together artificially. Though I may be wrong about that - having read but one - the first - "Ararat."
ARARAT
By Zenna Henderson
First story I've ever read by this oft-maligned author. Not normally what I enjoy. All the usual touchy-feely soft SF red flags. Telepathy. Country living. Faintly Biblical plainspeech sprinkled with "meaningful" capitalizations - individuals have Gifts; the People made the Crossing; Old Ones make the Sign, etc. Miraculous psychic powers. Romance. Revealed nobility. Uh oh . . . .
But underneath all that is a something stronger. And better. A backbone of real humanity. Henderson does in fact have a good grasp of people, of emotions. The simplicity of her People is, in its own way, enthralling. No surprises here. I mean none. Everything's obvious from miles away. Yet it doesn't matter. This isn't hide-the-ball fiction. It's not elegant. But it's not supposed to be. It's sure-handed and heartfelt.
LATER ADDED: A two bit summary. Suidical young woman Lea takes bus into the middle of nowhere - a seemingly random wandering (uh-huh). Gets out at wide-place-in-the-road desert town. Stumbles out to a bridge and considers leaping to her death. Is intercepted by friendly, too-well-informed woman Karen - who stops her and takes her to a secret meeting place where her People are Gathering for some Important Reason. Karen's an alien - one of the People - a descendant of spacefaring psychically-endowed humanoid creatures who crash-landed here some decades or possibly centuries ago. What follows is a story-by-story narrative sequence - related in the form of pansensory dramatic presentations - for historiographic reasons - by members of the Group. Ararat is, I guess, the first People story. Told by Karen - from her late childhood - about the arrival in the People's protected desert canyon enclave of an Outsider (that is: regular human) teacher for the People's tiny school.
So far, better than expected.
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edited by John E. Rogers, Jr. on 11/6/2009
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11/6/2009 2:48:58 PM
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jimbraiden
Posts 1755
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John,
Now there is a blast from the past.
I remember coming across Henderson's People stories back in the early 70's and enjoying them very much.
And I recall being very impressed by her descriptions of the landscape of the South West US- I think the only person who could match her was Tony Hillerman.
There is a very, very bad movie version of one of her people stories featuring one William Shatner, late of this parish.
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11/6/2009 5:47:03 PM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1325
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jimbraiden wrote:
John,
Now there is a blast from the past.
I remember coming across Henderson's People stories back in the early 70's and enjoying them very much.
And I recall being very impressed by her descriptions of the landscape of the South West US- I think the only person who could match her was Tony Hillerman.
There is a very, very bad movie version of one of her people stories featuring one William Shatner, late of this parish.
Yes, I agree. Henderson's descriptions of the Southwest are superb. Hillerman certainly had it down, too - as did Edward Abbey.
Don't think I've seen the film - and - given the cast - don't plan on it!
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11/6/2009 5:55:40 PM
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WPreston
Posts 651
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jimbraiden wrote:
Now there is a blast from the past.
Just to give you some context, Jim: We had been discussing Henderson over on the Clingerman thread. Now John's seeing what the buzz—positive and negative—is about.
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http://wmpreston.blogspot.com
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11/6/2009 6:50:42 PM
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Marian
Posts 2178
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I think I saw a few minutes of the film and turned it off. Also, it was based on one of the, to me, weaker stories. Anyway, glad you're enjoying them, John. You hit the appeal. Underneath the obvious sentimentality, there's real strength and real humanity. I still say it's a mistake to read too many in a row. It becomes like eating a box of chocolates. The first ones are delicious but then they begin to cloy. When I read my first Henderson story (Captivity), it was in an anthology where all the others were run of the mill science fiction so her depth, her sense of writing about real people's lives just leapt out at you.
And yeah, the connecting story of Lea is an obvious and very flimsy device to have her sit down and listen to the various stories. It can't even be called a fix up novel. Luckily her story is interesting.
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"Know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."
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11/6/2009 7:14:24 PM
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jimbraiden
Posts 1755
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marion,
A wise decision.
William,
What's the Clingerman thread?- sounds a bit like a Robert Ludlum thriller 
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11/6/2009 7:17:00 PM
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WPreston
Posts 651
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jimbraiden wrote:
What's the Clingerman thread?- sounds a bit like a Robert Ludlum thriller
Ha! Good one. The thread is this.
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http://wmpreston.blogspot.com
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11/6/2009 7:34:40 PM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1325
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And the inevitable sequel "The Clingerman Post."
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11/6/2009 8:31:02 PM
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WPreston
Posts 651
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Culminating in The Clingerman Site.
Even dead, Ludlum keeps churning them out.
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http://wmpreston.blogspot.com
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11/6/2009 9:02:50 PM
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Marian
Posts 2178
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The Hunt For mildRed Clingermanedited by Marian on 11/6/2009
edited by Marian on 11/6/2009
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"Know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."
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11/6/2009 9:06:40 PM
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WPreston
Posts 651
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Okay. Now he's dead.
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http://wmpreston.blogspot.com
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11/7/2009 5:51:23 AM
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jimbraiden
Posts 1755
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Oh god, look what I started!
Thanks William, that's an interesting thread- and some beautiful artwork.
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11/11/2009 2:09:30 AM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1325
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GILEAD
by Zenna Henderson
Second story in this collection. Follows what is emerging as perhaps Henderson's default story structure. First person narrative of children growing through adolescence to young adulthood. Questioning their never-quite-revealed past and unusual skills. Taught to hide their Gifts. Epiphanic moments of passed-down familial memory - of Home - of soaring freedom. Struggles to rein in Powers that without adult guidance and training threaten to overwhelm their bearers. A slow coming together of the diasporized People. Stage One: growing wonderment. Stage Two: the introduction of fear. Stage three: danger and near-collapse. Stage four: brief wandering. Stage five: rescue and/or arrival.
Good but - as Marian has observed - already familiar.
The interesting element to this tale was the fact that the children were half-breed. Half human, half People.
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11/11/2009 5:03:43 AM
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StevenLP
Posts 498
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John E. Rogers, Jr. wrote:
GILEAD
by Zenna Henderson
Good but - as Marian has observed - already familiar..
John
I suspect you'll prefer Henderson's non-people stories in "The Anything Box" (see my comments on that collection under the Clingerman thread)
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11/11/2009 9:33:44 AM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1325
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Thanks for the bullet-synopses of the tales in The Anything Box over of the Clingerman thread, Steven. I'll definitely track the book down.
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11/11/2009 6:36:02 PM
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Marian
Posts 2178
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Personally, I find I prefer Henderson's People stories, but that's me. Her other stories seem more ordinary.
Nowhere is the influence of the Fifties more apparent than in the ability of humans and People to have children. After all, the Fifties gave us Mars Needs Women and before that we had John Carter marrying the egglaying princess of Mars and having eggs with her so I can't blame Henderson for not thinking through the implications.
Nonetheless, I can't help wishing she had. It would have opened up a whole new plotline as People and people realize the obvious implications that their races are cousins. She could have had a whole new series of stories on what happened in the distant past to make that possible.
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"Know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."
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11/13/2009 2:18:27 AM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1325
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POTTAGE
By Zenna Henderson
I'm beginning to understand the real reason why Henderson is disliked, or at least derided, in some quarters. And I don't think it's primarily the sentimentality - be it cloying or garden variety, though that's undoubtedly part of it. No, it's the strongly fanfictionish tone that emerges as you pass from one tale to the next.
What do I mean by that?
The stories share these fanfic traits: 1) there really isn't any question, from the very get-go, how the narrative will play out. 2) there is at best faux suspense - a flash of concern - a shadow of harm - or a threat - perhaps a page or less - a semi-crisis - something answered almost immediately by a ready-at-hand solution. The solution itself involves a challenge - but that challenge is easily surmounted - usually by joint action. 3) the repetitive usage of communal affirmation takes on a mary sue-like ring after a while, as if the author is writing for herself, imagining herself in her own romantic bliss-realm of pseudo-hardship, inhospitable but majestic countryside, and - in the end - joyous group friendship. 4) there is no confrontation - only, as with the "suspense" - blink-of-the-eye hostility - quickly overcome by love and truth-speaking.
"Pottage" is an excellent example. Unusually good opening. Superb imagery. Nice bleak setting. Interesting observations of the residents, the land. But then . . . .
Outsider teacher takes bus to assignment in remote desert mountain town (sound familiar?). Instead of finding bouyant, headstrong children, she is faced with lifeless, depressed feet-shuffling wet-blankets. Figures out what's going on. They're People - repressing their skills to fit in. Living gray half-lives. How does she know this? I don't want to say - not because it's a spoiler - because it'll hurt me to say it. Decides she'll try to rectify this tragedy all by herself. A laughable premise. Of course, things go "wrong." There is a tiny moment of semi-strife instantly mitigated and defused by a terrible accident - an event that forces everyone to "come together." A decision is made to take "desperate action" - the generations-repressed People of this town must try to use their Gifts to "reach out" to another group of the People for succor. It works. Everyone is okay. In fact, in supremely mary-sue-ish final scene, we learn that even the humble human narrator may be able to develop People-like psychic Gifts.
The problem with this format isn't that the writing is too sentimental. The sentimentality is mildly annoying, but Henderson's skills as a writer are more than enough to compensate. She's got good pacing. Her protagonists feel real. The setting and build-up are nicely constructed.
No, it's this unpleasant wishfulfilling quality. It cheapens the writing.
If only she could break away from it. Stay bleak. Stay tough.
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edited by John E. Rogers, Jr. on 11/13/2009
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11/13/2009 5:30:43 AM
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WPreston
Posts 651
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John E. Rogers, Jr. wrote:
If only she could break away from it. Stay bleak. Stay tough.
Not going to happen. Not in her People stories, anyway. As either wish-fulfillment as regards her own life as a teacher or as recastings of the 19th-century Mormon narrative, the tone will always be, at bottom, positive. Not that there isn't, as you say, plenty of bleakness. (And maybe there's a story that ends "down," but I certainly don't recall it.) For all of these stories, though, the worst has already happened. (There is a story that deals directly with "The Crossing," though I think those events are viewed in the past tense; I don't remember.) People stories tell what happens after the world ends.
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http://wmpreston.blogspot.com
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11/13/2009 9:19:58 AM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1325
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I hear you, Bill. And I get the basis for the positive foundation of her People tales. Despite the rather harsh assessment above, I am enjoying Pilgrimage. I actually do like Henderson's People work, with qualification, and taking into account the somewhat limited goal of the story sequence. I guess my point is that for a certain breed of SF fan - readers looking for sharp, incisive and edgy prose and clever, protean plots, this formula would be a serious turn-off.
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edited by John E. Rogers, Jr. on 11/13/2009
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11/13/2009 9:37:30 AM
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Marian
Posts 2178
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Incidentally, Pottage is the story that was made into the awful tv movie. What saving factor is, if I remember right, someone (Lea?) asks the teacher if she was able to develop "powers" and she says that no she wasn't able to. Not possible for ordinary people who are not People. So there really is a note of realism. However, I will now repeat what I've said from the start. Henderson's stories are best read in an anthology of stories by other, ordinary authors(especially fromt he Fifties). Her story then leaps out at you for its humanity, its genuine storyness and, like Simak, the warm concern for people. That's where she shines. It's when you read her by herself that her weaknesses begin to accumulate.
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"Know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."
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