Fantastic, Strange, and Spectacular
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Harlan Ellison, born in America 1934, was a prolific sci-fi creator. His work includes a number of short stories, essays, novellas, and writing credits on the television shows The Outer Limits and Star Trek. The short stories found in his collection Paingod and Other Delusions present a good example of the variety of his work; ranging from the fantastic and surreal titular Paingod, which follows the adventure of the deity of pain as it comes to question it's purpose in the universe, to the meticulously scheduled society of Repent, Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman where any tardiness is punished by having the lost time docked from the end your life. Ellison mixes surrealism, science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction together with the skills of a gifted artist, and paints his worlds with a brush of social commentary.
This 1965 collection contains eight short stories, each with their own introduction by the author. In addition there are two introductions to the collection, the original introduction plus a newer one written in 1974. In 150 odd pages Ellison conjoures a number of worlds and characters, and takes the reader on journeys and adventures that will stick in your mind like splinters giving you cause to think more carefully about events and situations you may have idly brushed off before.
Despite Repent, Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman being generally considered as one of his finest works, my personal favourite in this collection was The Crackpots, a story that looks at the line between sanity and madness and asks "So which side am I on really?"
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Unique, challenging and compelling
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Ellison, for the most part, has been out of print for the past twenty years, and that, in my opinion, is a bad thing. A very bad thing! During the 60s and 70s, he was not only the best writer of the New Wave of science-fiction, he was also the most original short story writer around. It can be said that he wrote like no one else. His style is vigorous, compelling and lucid. He grabs you by the scruff of your neck and makes you see what he wants you to see. No one else can hold a candle to him. A prolific writer, he wrote something like 700 stories, starting from the 50s and continuing through to the early 80s. The stories in this collection are from the 60s, and what a wonderful collection it is too. '"Repent, Harlequin" said the Tick Tock Man' is a story every bit as good as it's title - and I think that the title is a real peach. In about 3000 words he describes a dystopia where society is ruthlessly regimented by the clock. If you are five minutes late for an appointment, you lose five minutes off your life. The Tick Tock Man (or the Master Timekeeper, to call him by his official title) rules with a ruthless efficiency, and relentlessly tracks down the Harlequin, the ultimate non-conformist who refuses to be on time and who ingeniously disrupts the smooth running of this soulless society. If you have read 1984, you will know what happens- but there is a lovely twist at the end, which I won't spoil by giving away. The story may sound daft but it works and works beautifully. His imagination is unique. His aim is true. In Paingod, another classic, he tries to explain why there is so much pain in the world and why it is so necessary. There are other glories here: 'The Discarded', 'The Crackpots' and 'Deeper Than Darkness.' All worth your perusal. Each story is preceded by a short introduction that is as readable, entertaining and lively as the stories. Ellison is a wonderful writer who doesn't deserve the neglect that has befallen him. Buy this book and maybe -yes, just maybe! - it will encourage some enterprising publisher to reprint such essential collections as Strange Wine, Deathbird Stories, Alone Against Tomorrow, and Approaching Oblivion. Why Ellison isn't one of the most popular men of American letters utterly baffles me. He is as good as the best and better than most.
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