I read yesterday morning about the death of Harry Harrison, another master writer of SF lost to the ranks, but I didn't have time to pay my respects then. However, this did give me all day to contemplate the great man and just how much I owe him. So many hours of entertainment, so many adventures, so many thoughts, so much fun. My special favourites are, of course, special favourites the world over, but that doesn't make the experiences I had any less personal or any less unique, for such is the magic of books.
My very first Harry Harrison obsession was the Deathworld series (so yes, when the military crew cut guy in 'Avatar' started to spout about how dangerous the planet beyond the perimeter was, I had definite Deathworld flashbacks. Sparkling Pandora, of course, was a milksop of a world compared with Porgorstoraand.) I chewed my nails anxiously as I read of carnivorous plants and such, for Jason dinAlt was up against a real killer of a world, but fortunately his gambler's ingenuity knew no bounds.
My second great Harry Harrison love was the ever popular series that gave us James Bolivar diGriz, alias Slippery Jim, alias (sound the trumpets, please) The Stainless Steel Rat. Just saying it makes me grin. I have to confess though that once Slippery Jim married the homicidal maniac Angela, I became a bit concerned that Harry might tame Angie, stick an apron on her and have her discover the delights of baking space cookies. I needn't have worried. For me, one of the very very best things about this series is that Angela so competently combines being a wife, and later a mother, with banter and shootouts, and that The Rat has to constantly bring her down a notch or two. They were always my idea of the perfect couple. When the twins, James and Bolivar diGriz, were born, again I was a mite concerned, but as soon as Angela took to concealing weaponry in their pram, I knew that all was well. Thank you, Harry, for not domesticating Angela. And for not turning The Rat into an imperious Dad. The love was always there, but the diGriz family never went all Fifties on us, and oh, how I wished I could be a part of their rambunctious household. By the by, in this world, the SSR series helped me to convince my two brothers when they were way young that reading need not be a dreary school exercise and might actually have something going for it. Thanks to Harry, they both went on to read many other books in their own time just for fun.The Stainless Steel Rat and Bill the Galactic Hero showed me that SF could be fun, but Harry was no slouch at deep and serious as well. Make Room! Make Room! gave me the heebie jeebies for years and was one of those influential books that shaped the way I, and many others I'm sure, think. I thank Harry for providing that brain furniture too.
R.I.P
Harry Harrison
March 12, 1925 - August 15, 2012
4 comments:
Aah, you've reminded me of the days when I used to haunt the local library, browsing by the initial letters of author's surnames. H for Harrison was one of my favorites in the days of the Stainless Steel Rat. (You know, I think I must have dipped out on the end of the series, because I don't remember the family stuff you mentioned.)
I wonder if that was around the time I fell seriously and irreversibly in love with the letter C - looking for books by C J Cherryh?
Haunting is the best way to use a library. That's what I did too as a kiddie, and all on my own, I discovered many of the books one is 'supposed' to read and possibly enjoyed them more because of this. It's far more exciting to view a library as a place of exploration and books as the treasures we find there.
The family stuff in the SSR books is wonderful, as far as I recall. I remember domestic scenes so wrong, they were, of course, laugh out loud funny. I really should read them again. The way Harry solves the problem of the twins, when they're all grown up, falling in love with the same woman, for example...
Ah, Cherryh and the Chanur and the Kif - Rimrunners, The Pride of Chanur, Downbelow Station. I too discovered her in the library. There's someone else I should revisit (so little time....) All of which reminds me, I've still got Cyteen on my TBR table. I bought it a few years ago and thought it was one of those need-to-read books, but alas... I did start it at one point, but it was too heavy for my mood right then so I put it aside again. Maybe I'll bump it to the top of one of the stacks.
The Cyteen ones were a bit heavy. Did you make it through the one where all the characters had symbols instead of names? I liked it, forget the name now - though I would only have to walk to our shelves, as we have a heap of CJ Cherryh sf books (not her magic ones).
I think she's a wonderful writer because she experimented with so many ideas. My all-time favorite universe is the Downbelow one, though I didn't like the Downlbelow book itself all that much. (I'm still in love with the guy in Merchanter's Luck - it's my most re-read book.)
When Cherryh visited Melbourne, years ago, a friend and I raced to town in our lunch hour (we were teachers) and lined up to get a signed copy of her latest book and uttered such total inanities to her that I still cringe at the memory.
Now I definitely have to go back and revisit CJ's books again, and fill in the many gaps in my reading, especially Cyteen.
I agree that her range is impressive - they say the secret to being a writer who actually makes a living from the craft is being versatile, and I'd say Cherryh is exactly that (I always feel uneasy about adding the 'h' to her real name Cherry, because I find the whole issue of her using intials to hide the fact that she was a woman (oh, no!)writing hard SF, and the name 'Cherry' being viewed as too soft to be taken seriously, quite anger-inducing.)
Anyway, I think I'd crumble too if I ever had the pleasure of meeting her. Her words are formidable, and the brain behind them must be impressive, so I'd feel that anything I said to her would be inadequate and inane. :) But at least you did get to meet her.
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