Henry Kuttner - Classic Humorous Fiction
For the second time I see announcements of works that are classics of world fiction.
And the thought arose, it may really be worth telling about those authors whose works not only received many awards from the science fiction community (foreign Hugo and Nebula or Russian Roskon, Aelita ), about those who are called classics of the science fiction or fantasy genre, about Who is the founder of genres as such?
The answer was obvious - this is not the right approach. It is much more useful to talk about those who are not so well known, but nevertheless who influenced the formation of the modern look of the genre.
The first candidate who came to mind was Henry Kuttner , already mentioned in Habre in passing .
Kuttner was an unusual author for a variety of reasons. He had a very interesting worldview, which was formed under the influence of Lovecraft, however, differed irony. In general, Kuttner was, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, a cheerful person, pleasant to talk to and easily converged with people.
At the very beginning of his work, Kuttner attended the creative evenings of the “Lovecraft Circle” and it is not surprising that the author's debut was a short story “Cemetery Rats”. It is visiting the "circle" Kuttner met his future wife, Katherine Moore, first by correspondence, by correspondence, and later in person. An interesting fact of creative biography is altruism. Kuttner gave a lot of ideas for the works of other visitors of the "circle" and other novice authors then.
As Roger Zelazny would later write, it was Kutner 's novel The Dark World that inspired him to write Amber Chronicles.
Katherine Moore also engaged in writing, both independently and in collaboration with her husband, but most often was published under the name of Kutner - his works were more paid, because at that time the science fiction genre was considered predominantly masculine and it was difficult for a woman of success. Although the initials "KM", under which Moore published first, were well known and her works were popular.
In addition, they both wrote under different pseudanims:
The creative symbiosis of the two spouses was so close that at times Moore created full-fledged work from Kutner’s sketches and ideas, and Kutner reworked his wife’s works to such an extent that he treated the original text (not ideas, very carefully) to a couple of lines. In fact, they created as a single mind, their works were the works of one brilliant author who settled in their family. And it was precisely this author who was destined to become famous and get rid of the stigma of “a writer for third-rate newspapers.”
From the original horror films from the spirit of Lovecraft or heroic epics, written under the influence of Conan the barbarian Robert Howard , Kuttner gradually leaves, finding himself in the genre of small comic stories, sometimes combining them into cycles.
Kuttner’s first book in the then Soviet Union was published only ten years after the author’s death in 1968.
In more than twenty years of creative work, a somewhat original and ironic series came out from the pen of Kutner:
Hogbens , a cycle of humorous fantasy classic stories and narrating about a small family of mutants living in the outback of the USA and trying to hide their differences from those around them.
Gelleger, a cycle of humorous stories about a genius inventor who cannot create anything until he gets drunk, but does not remember from a hangover what he invented and why.
Many ironic works, with an extremely original plot interweaving or unusual endings:
But before reading Kutner's works, remember that the author wrote in the 40s and 50s of the last century and did not have a technical education, which he received only in the 50s, therefore some technical details sometimes look naive. But we must pay tribute to Kutner, perfectly aware of the level of his knowledge in technology, he diligently avoided details for which he could be criticized.
')
PS Thanks masterbo for the spelling correction.
And the thought arose, it may really be worth telling about those authors whose works not only received many awards from the science fiction community (foreign Hugo and Nebula or Russian Roskon, Aelita ), about those who are called classics of the science fiction or fantasy genre, about Who is the founder of genres as such?
The answer was obvious - this is not the right approach. It is much more useful to talk about those who are not so well known, but nevertheless who influenced the formation of the modern look of the genre.
The first candidate who came to mind was Henry Kuttner , already mentioned in Habre in passing .
Kuttner was an unusual author for a variety of reasons. He had a very interesting worldview, which was formed under the influence of Lovecraft, however, differed irony. In general, Kuttner was, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, a cheerful person, pleasant to talk to and easily converged with people.
At the very beginning of his work, Kuttner attended the creative evenings of the “Lovecraft Circle” and it is not surprising that the author's debut was a short story “Cemetery Rats”. It is visiting the "circle" Kuttner met his future wife, Katherine Moore, first by correspondence, by correspondence, and later in person. An interesting fact of creative biography is altruism. Kuttner gave a lot of ideas for the works of other visitors of the "circle" and other novice authors then.
As Roger Zelazny would later write, it was Kutner 's novel The Dark World that inspired him to write Amber Chronicles.
Katherine Moore also engaged in writing, both independently and in collaboration with her husband, but most often was published under the name of Kutner - his works were more paid, because at that time the science fiction genre was considered predominantly masculine and it was difficult for a woman of success. Although the initials "KM", under which Moore published first, were well known and her works were popular.
In addition, they both wrote under different pseudanims:
- Lawrence O'Donnell (Kuttner co-authored with Moore)
- Kate Hammond (Kuttner)
- Lewis Paget (Kutner)
- and many others, under which Kuttner published stories in the tabloids and magazines earning a living.
The creative symbiosis of the two spouses was so close that at times Moore created full-fledged work from Kutner’s sketches and ideas, and Kutner reworked his wife’s works to such an extent that he treated the original text (not ideas, very carefully) to a couple of lines. In fact, they created as a single mind, their works were the works of one brilliant author who settled in their family. And it was precisely this author who was destined to become famous and get rid of the stigma of “a writer for third-rate newspapers.”
From the original horror films from the spirit of Lovecraft or heroic epics, written under the influence of Conan the barbarian Robert Howard , Kuttner gradually leaves, finding himself in the genre of small comic stories, sometimes combining them into cycles.
Kuttner’s first book in the then Soviet Union was published only ten years after the author’s death in 1968.
In more than twenty years of creative work, a somewhat original and ironic series came out from the pen of Kutner:
Hogbens , a cycle of humorous fantasy classic stories and narrating about a small family of mutants living in the outback of the USA and trying to hide their differences from those around them.
- War Games (The Old Army Game)
- Prohvessor covered (Exit the Professor)
- Pile of Trouble
- See you later! (See You Later)
- Pchhi-chologichesky war (Cold War)
Gelleger, a cycle of humorous stories about a genius inventor who cannot create anything until he gets drunk, but does not remember from a hangover what he invented and why.
- This world is mine! (The World Is Mine)
- Perfect Cache (Time Locker)
- Conscious Robot (The Proud Robot)
- Gallegher Plus
- Ex Machina (Ex Machina)
Many ironic works, with an extremely original plot interweaving or unusual endings:
- Diamond pig (Piggy Bank)
- All Borogovy tenals ... (Mimsy Were the Borogoves)
- Iron Standard (The Iron Standard)
- Housing Problem
- Absalom (Absalom)
- Sim makes sure (in another translation - Pledge) (Satan Sends Flowers)
- Two-Handed Engine
- A day that does not exist (in another translation, the Day does not count) (Year Day)
- Mechanical Ego (The Eg ** Machine)
- and many others
But before reading Kutner's works, remember that the author wrote in the 40s and 50s of the last century and did not have a technical education, which he received only in the 50s, therefore some technical details sometimes look naive. But we must pay tribute to Kutner, perfectly aware of the level of his knowledge in technology, he diligently avoided details for which he could be criticized.
')
PS Thanks masterbo for the spelling correction.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/100743/
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