R. A. Lafferty Books

I heard of Lafferty in a roundabout way during the past two years and decided to see if I could find any excerpts of his on-line. One book, FOURTH MANSIONS, had an incredible opening was insanely beautiful and unique, and was like nothing I ever read. I felt I had to read something of his soon, but for some reason I left the other book and went with this book instead (I admit I was intrigued by the title). Subsequently NOT TO MENTION CAMELS is the first book of RA Lafferty I ever read, and it was unique in a very good way, but I just don't think it is the best book of his to start with. The story (which is at times violent, gory and completely iNsAnE) is like nothing you'll find on any other shelf anywhere: it involved a man named Pilgrim (or variations of that name) who is a world-jumper. He has developed the ability to cheat death by allowing his consciousness to pass to different variations of Earth into different variations of himself, thus making him able to live multiple lives at a time. (All of these planets and minds are inter-connected like webs of a spider, by the way) Whenever Pilgrim's consciousness arrives on a new planet he goes about to set up a cult for himself in order to make himself a god and to spread himself out across all of time and space in the minds of millions of followers. But will such an audacious plan work?

As story go, it's a pretty complex and amazing as well as haunting and unforgettable. But I can't help but feel that the story ultimately goes nowhere. I wasn't disappointed, bored and I would consider the book `satisfying' (that vague term so many reviewers like to use), but I just can't help but feel that the book was written with no clear purpose in mind and builds up to nothing in particular, except a dour ending that would have been more powerful if the main character was easier to sympathise with (indeed, I sympathise more with his friend, the 'umbrella seller', who must be his friend against his will). Also the prose lacked some of the crazy energy that other excerpts of his prose (as well as some short-stories that are freely available on-line) had, and I'll admit it was that factor that attracted me initially to Lafferty (the short story SLOW TUESDAY NIGHT is an incredibly fun and unique read, by the way).

They say the best place to start with Lafferty is with his short story collections. Having liked what I read here I'm certain that I'll explore his short-story collection LAFFERTY IN ORBIT next, probably. Taking an educated guess (and not having read it myself) it seems that's the best place for you to start.

Despite being decades old these stories seem a lot fresher than most being published today. Lafferty was a true original, not one of those writers who attempt to write the same kind of stories that Heinlein or Tolkien or Hemingway, et cetera wrote better. It is a crime against humanity that Lafferty is as obscure as he is. By this book and tell your friends about it.

I have mixed feelings about this book, but overall it didn't work for me. On the plus side the author has a unique vision, the book has some intriguing imagery, & St. Thomas More's reaction to the time traveller was priceless. The problem was that I didn't know who was saying what or what was going on. That may only be 1 problem, but it's a big one. Also I think this is a metaphor rather than a future world or time traveller story. That I don't mind. As a Catholic who loves science fiction I really wanted to like this. Oh well enjoy the scenery & here's hoping you'll have better luck following it. If Amazon'll allow I heard Lafferty doesn't entirely believe the theory of evolution. I think that's cool since the more beliefs represented in SF the better as far as I'm concerned.

Lafferty employs the same device as Thomas More did (and he employs Thomas More himself, or, well, his character, at any rate), and attempts to demonstrate the vapidness of what he saw our civilization turning into in the 60s, when he wrote Past Master.

As all Lafferty books, the novel is rich in symbol, metaphor, zany humor, and originality of one or another sort. Gene Wolfe wrote in Castle of Days (mainly a collection of short stories and essays):

"No true reader who has read as much as a single story by Raphael Aloysius Lafferty needs to be told that he is our most original writer. (...) Just about everything Lafferty writes is fun, is witty, is entertaining and playful. But it is not easy, for it is a mingling of allegory with myth, and of both with something more."

I don't think you need any preparatory reading for this book (though I read the Wikipedia articles on Thomas More and Utopia, before starting to read Past Master), just be open to symbols.

The Wildside Press edition (paperback or hardcover) is, as always, worth the price, and infinitely superior to decades old pocket book editions (unlike those old paperbacks, the Wildside Press paperbacks, although of varying sizes, are always pretty big, there's always lots of space around the image area, the pages are of superior quality and open well, the backs simply won't wrinkle, and so on).

Even though this book stands on its own, if one has not read Thomas Moore's Utopia, I suspect they would be lost. The book is interesting, but not very entertaining. There is no character development, no story development, just a hodgepodge of ideas.

I can't believe this was nominated for a Hugo.

My favorite Lafferty novel is Fourth Mansions, but this is a close second. Indelible images and ideas from these two books have forever penetrated my brain. I didn't have any good idea of who Thomas More was when I first read Past Master, other than that he had written Utopia and had perhaps meant it to be ironic. Since then, every bright idea for the future is tagged "utopian" (dark visions like Blade Runner are called dystopias).

After seeing the film of the play of A Man for All Seasons, about Sir Thomas More VS King Henry VIII, I'd think of that character when reading Past Master. But not much background is necessary to get the story, such as it is. A future utopia is falling apart, and its leaders ask a computer to find the perfect ruler. With Laffertarian irony, it turns out to be the man who coined the term "utopia" (or popularized it), the mediaeval scholar Thomas More.

Astrobe, the utopia, however, is only sustained so long as people believe in it. Or at any rate, mechanical wolf-like killers are dispatched to eliminate those who lose their belief in the Astrobe dream. The tone, however, is rollicking, with black (noir) humor, and much of the book would be at home on Futurama. Lafferty trumps himself by relating the story through the eyes of Thomas More, a stranger in this strange land. "Lafferty has the power to ignite fire behind your eyeballs," Roger Zelazny noted (or something like that). Laffertarians who've only sampled the short stories, get ready for the full-length ride of Past Master.

Past Master takes a rejuvenated Thomas More and places him in a future community which corresponds to his own Utopia. This is a novel full of heavy ideas; perhaps more than it can support; but there is a huge amount here to reward somebody who gives the book the attention it demands.

An article about doing the continental drift jigsaw, from first principles, and a whole bunch of rpg reviews - never saw Space Opera, but FGU and The Fantasy Trip were definite old stagers.

A couple of entertainingly funny stories in this issue, and a fair bit of the fantasy leaning stuff, too.

ASIMOVS044 : The Dark Companion - John M. Ford
ASIMOVS044 : Ask Penny Jupiter - Ron Goulart
ASIMOVS044 : A Trail of Footprints - Keith Minnion
ASIMOVS044 : You Can't Go Back - R. A. Lafferty
ASIMOVS044 : Bringing the Chairman to Order - Tony Sarowitz
ASIMOVS044 : Reliquary for an Old Soul - Sharon Webb
ASIMOVS044 : Watch This Space - Steven E. McDonald
ASIMOVS044 : Limits - Larry Niven
ASIMOVS044 : Lirios: A Tale of the Quintana Roo - James Tiptree Jr.


Blind rush for alien communication.

3 out of 5


Killer android babe programming case.

3.5 out of 5


Lost boy thing a bit weird.

3 out of 5


Weird Cow Town.

2.5 out of 5


No, you gotta be a person.

3.5 out of 5


Terminal too far. Don't wanna, anyway.

3.5 out of 5


What Doc Holliday said, from the movie Tombstone after a bunch of Cowboy Hunters are standing around stunned after their leader's solo foray into a hail of gunfire.

"He's down by the river, walkin' on water."

3 out of 5


Casual immortality cutoff.

3.5 out of 5


Androgynous adventurer ghost, perchance.

3.5 out of 5