Thursday 5 March 2020

Texts In Contexts II

Harry Harrison (Ed.), Four For The Future: An Anthology on the themes of Sacrifice and Redemption (London, 1974).

Two stories each by Brian W. Aldiss, Poul Anderson, James Blish and Harry Harrison.

The two stories by Anderson:

"High Treason"
"The Dipteroid Phenomenon"

"...a dipteroid phenomenon may have appeared in man on this planet."
-"The Sharing of Flesh," p. 705.

(The phenomenon is that the male gonads need an extra supply of hormones to begin puberty.)

"The Dipteroid Phenomenon" was re-entitled "The Sharing of Flesh." As with some other stories in the Technic History, Poul Anderson, asked to contribute to a magazine or anthology on a particular theme, was able to produce the kind of story requested while also expanding his future history and indeed enriching it with different kinds of narratives.

Thus, we can read "The Dipteroid Phenomenon" as one of the eight stories in a themed anthology or "The Sharing of Flesh" as one of the forty-three installments of the Technic History or, of course, both: the same story with different titles in two contexts.

12 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I checked my article, "The Uncollected Works of Poul Anderson," and I "refound" that I included "High Treason" in my list there. I think "High" was collected/republished only once since it was first pub. in 1965, so it's becoming harder to find.

I prefer, as a title, "The Sharing of Flesh" to "The Dipteroid Phenomenon." Both are accurate titles, but I find the former more DRAMATIC.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
We are communicating in real time because I am up for an early breakfast.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And I'm the other way about, a night owl! (Smiles)

I assume you woke early due to going out somewhere on an errand that will take most of the day to do.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
Too right. Driving Yossi to a medical appointment at the University, then going out for lunch with Nygel.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I hope nothing is seriously wrong with Yossi! And have a good time with Nygel.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
Yossi has a long term malady, unfortunately, but is coping and receiving treatment. Currently, she is voting in the Labour Party Leadership election.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I am sorry about your daughter's illness, and I hope she will be able to do better than cope with it.

As for Labour, it will have to get rid of the Trotskyites and anti-Semites if it's to have any hope of being taken seriously. That seems to be analogously what is happening with the Democrats in the US, with so many "moderate" Democrats voting against the pro-Marxist socialist Bernie Sanders in the presidential primaries.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
Thank you. Aileen, daughter. Yossi, granddaughter.
Paul.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

In Parliamentary terms, I do not agree with all electoral candidates moving to the center to gain votes, allowing the millionaire-owned press to determine what is "moderate" and acceptable. When I vote, I want to be able to choose between genuine alternatives, including those that are outside of someone else's idea of "moderation."

I do agree with radical leftists and anti-Zionists organizing independently of the Labour and Democratic Parties while at the same time campaigning alongside many individual members of those parties.

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Oops! Your GRAND DAUGHTER is unfortunately having health difficulties, not Aileen. I hope Yossi can be successfully treated for many, many years.

First, let's get the matter of millionaire and billionaires out of the way. I am skeptical that any billionaire can truly buy elections. Mike Bloomberg spent somewhere near 600 million dollars of his own money for his short lived presidential campaign--and got only ONE delegate, from American Samoa in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And he has recently given up trying. It's not that easy to buy elections!

If we are going to have a real parliamentary system, then most parties will HAVE to appeal to the greatest possible number, including taking account of the fears and suspicions many voters have for extremes. Extremists like the Marxists or even the constitution respecting kind of Fascists your friend Andrea favors are not likely to get anywhere near a parliamentary majority. So, I hope these radical leftists and "anti-Zionists" gets nowhere.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Also sending best wishes for treatment. Many of us are living with conditions which aren’t going away; fortunately that’s much more possible now.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Thank you very much.