The Ants Of God Are Queer Fish

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Friday, April 19, 2013

The Trouble with Going Beyond Cliche


I write as clearly as I am able to. I sometimes tackle ideas and notions that are relatively complex, and it is very difficult to be sure that I am conveying them in the best way. Anyone who goes beyond cliche phrases and cliche ideas will have this trouble. (R. A. Lafferty)

More R. A. Lafferty quotes at izquotes.com
Posted by Daniel Otto Jack Petersen at 11:52 PM
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'My program is simple: I battle that pair of insufficiencies, Humanism which has no meat, and Materialism which has no bones... I have no faith at all in Engineered Humanity. I am neither humanist nor materialist. I am a heretic... Whether there be Things Beyond I do not know. Ye'd forbid the mind to consider them. I forbid the forbidding.' (R. A. Lafferty, Past Master)
'And the people, of course, are no help in the saving of the people... No, Miss Doll. The people are but sheep. They graze on catch-words, and they go to their slaughter.'
(R. A. Lafferty, The Devil is Dead)

Saturday Night Live's Bill Hader Compares Reading Lafferty to Watching Flaming Lips Perform Live

It’s hilarious, incredibly funny and at the same time it’s insanely dark... You get such a sense of joy and boundless imagination in every sentence – even if the story doesn’t totally cohere, you feel like it’s about something. It’s so incredibly Tulsa. You get that feeling when you see a Flaming Lips show. It’s not like we’re dark and hurt and twisted. It’s like, “I’ve got blood on my face – come on, y’all, this is awesome.”

Followers

LAFFERTY LINKS!

  • Collected Obituaries for R. A. Lafferty
  • Great Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works: R. A. Lafferty
  • R A Lafferty - Fantastic Fiction
  • R. A. Lafferty, winner of the 2002 Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award
  • R. A. Lafferty: Effective Arcanum (excellent essay by Don Webb)
  • R.A. Lafferty Devotional Page
  • Wikiquote - R. A. Lafferty (loads of great quotes from and about Laff)

Feel free to stay in touch with my varied writings on theology, fiction, monsters and more:

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Daniel Otto Jack Petersen
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