tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post2412472530007987915..comments2024-01-21T11:22:28.211-08:00Comments on The Ants Of God Are Queer Fish: 'Entire and Perfect Chrysolite' (1970) - brief short story reviewDaniel Otto Jack Petersenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-53366897442491513242024-01-21T11:22:28.211-08:002024-01-21T11:22:28.211-08:00Thaanks great postThaanks great postUnusually Intoxicatedhttps://unusuallyintoxicated.tumblr.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-44830664280809601182015-01-12T06:19:24.865-08:002015-01-12T06:19:24.865-08:00Great news! Thanks for passing it on.Great news! Thanks for passing it on.Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-49228340434700445552015-01-08T06:53:15.532-08:002015-01-08T06:53:15.532-08:00Just thought you might want to know I got this fro...Just thought you might want to know I got this from the publisher Centipede Press about the second Lafferty collection. <br /><br />Sunday, January 4, 2015<br /><br />Hi everyone,<br /><br />Well, I just got back into town from a brief vacation. Sorry for no newsletter today. However, I am getting<br /><br />The Man with the Aura<br />R.A. Lafferty <br />volume 2<br /><br />in from the printer's on Tuesday. Along with that comes a reprint of The Man Who Made Models. <br /><br />Those will be listed on the website by Thursday, and I'll send out a major announcement next Sunday. <br /><br /><br />-- Amazon still says Mach 17th, but looks sooner Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-57639702096742206792014-12-13T02:10:46.809-08:002014-12-13T02:10:46.809-08:00Thanks for your thoughts, Heywood. I hadn't c...Thanks for your thoughts, Heywood. I hadn't caught the chrysolite/Revelation allusion. Makes even more sense. <br /><br />I find the story to be rather hilariously dripping with satire from the very first sentence: “Having achieved perfection, we feel a slight unease.”<br /><br />As to his usually wonderful story titles, Lafferty seems to have had the imagination that naturally lands on a lot of titles that sound 'arty'. A lot of it's just by virtue of the cryptic things he's referencing, but I think he had an ear for the poetic or quirky sound of a title too. It just so happened to overlap with the aesthetics of New Wave SF and psychedelia and the like for a while. Lafferty's titles are much more enduring than a lot of that other stuff in my opinion.<br /><br />I like your summary of the story as containing 'mind traps' and having gruesome and nightmarish qualities. Thanks again! Hope to see you round here more often.Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-84389423912230685992014-12-12T17:13:23.266-08:002014-12-12T17:13:23.266-08:00It would be difficult to read any
of RAL and take...It would be difficult to read any<br /> of RAL and take a literal view of<br /> “Entire and Perfect Chrysolite”<br /> as a title. Simply the repetition<br /> of 'True Believer' as the name of<br /> the boat, and the tone of the<br /> first paragraphs hint well enough<br /> to the rest of the story line.<br /> Especially knowing RAL was an<br /> accomplished biblical scholar,<br /> and a biblical reference of<br /> chrysolite as “one of the precious<br /> stones in the foundation of the<br /> heavenly Jerusalem. (Revelation<br /> 21:20)” <br /><br />Am I shocked to detect a hint of<br /> satire in the title? Well no,<br /> but then I find that to be the<br /> case in other RAL stories. Of<br /> course perhaps others will be<br /> satisfied to view it as an “Artsy”<br /> title. I need to assess RAL more<br /> thoroughly in future reading, so<br /> for now I won't apologize for my<br /> beginner's ignorance. In any<br /> event, I really like the story<br /> and find it contains what I<br /> perceive to be unexpected mind<br /> traps as well as having a plot<br /> with an unexpected but gruesome<br /> ending. Those who are prone to<br /> nightmares should not read it at<br /> bedtime.Heywoodnoreply@blogger.com