'Oh, the faces, the faces! It's the billions of faces... staring up at me from the implicit clay, through the pavements, through the structures, through the sidewalks. Wherever I step I'm stepping on those waiting faces.'
-R. A. Lafferty, 'Smoe and the Implicit Clay'
Ah, Smoe. Another of my favorites among the uncollecteds. I especially like how he blends in a piece of American GI myth (Kilroy) with all his other influences.
ReplyDeleteUsed the story in the first paper I ever gave on Lafferty, talking about the trope of the "hidden Indian" and how Native American stories and techniques pervade his fiction, even when (especially when?) not explicitly recognized.
I used it alongside Narrow Valley, and Okla Hannali of course, specifically Hannali's confrontations with Whiteman Falaya. I disagree with some of what I said now, but I still am very interested in tracking those influences (and hope to secure an essay soon from a recognized expert in that area for the collection).
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteEven if you no longer agree with them, could you post your earlier essays somewhere. I am sure they would be interesting.
I just obtained this story very recently and read it for the first time. It BLEW MY MIND. Easily in the top five faves for me. I think it's interesting also as, in some respects, an extraterrestrial companion piece to the terrestrial 'Days of Grass, Days of Straw'.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe there are still utter GEMS by Lafferty out there that I've not yet read. It's a pleasing, if frustrating, prospect.
I hope you find someone to write that paper.