When Will There Be None?
March 10, 2006
9:45 a.m., MT

While I grok Billy Beck's frustration at trying to get through his should-read list, I don't share his lack of interest in fiction (or poetry, but that's a different tale for another time, perhaps). For me, good fiction inspires, explores, challenges, cautions in ways that nonfiction cannot. Lobo and Sweetie have both opened up the marvels of science fiction to me, for which I'm deeply grateful (even as my to-read list deepens). When we separated households, the commingled books didn't always make it back to their owners, and I conjure that I got the best of that deal, since my books lean heavily toward public policy and Sweetie's toward pro-freedom scifi.

So it was that just earlier this week I picked up The Mammoth Book of Vintage Science Fiction (which has several excellent stories), and upon asking Sweetie which story to start with, devoured And Then There Were None. The novella is an inspiring portrayal of putting the freedom philosophy into practice. An excerpt from early in the story:

Struck by the notion that perhaps during the last three centuries the old Earth-language had been dropped in favor of some other lingo, Bidworthy asked, Can you understand me?

Can any person understand another? inquired the farmer, with clear diction. He turned to resume his task.

Bidworthy was afflicted with a moment of confusion. Recovering, he informed hurriedly, His Excellency, the Earth Ambassador, wishes to speak with you at once.

So? The other eyed him speculatively. How come that he is excellent?

He is a person of considerable importance, said Bidworthy, unable to decide whether the other was being funny at his expense or alternatively was what is known as a character. A good many of these isolated planet-scratchers liked to think of themselves as characters.

Of considerable importance, echoed the farmer, narrowing his eyes at the horizon. He appeared to be trying to grasp an alien concept. After a while, he inquired, What will happen to your home world when this person dies?

Nothing, Bidworthy admitted.

It will roll on as usual?

Of course.

Then, declared the farmer, flatly, he cannot be important. With that, his little engine went chuff-chuff and the wheels rolled forward and the plow plowed.

Digging his nails into the palms of his hands, Bidworthy spent half a minute gathering oxygen before he said, in hoarse tones, I cannot return without at least a message for His Excellency.

Indeed? The other was incredulous. What is to stop you? Then, noting the alarming increase in Bidworthy's color, he added with compassion, Oh, well, you may tell him that I said -- he paused while he thought it over -- God bless you and goodbye!

I chortled so much at various points in the story the snolfs were begging me to tell them what was so funny. I didn't want to stop reading, but you can be sure I'll be reading it aloud to them. Doing so may make my life a little more challenging for a time, but the message packed into this story is a terrific antidote for the nails busybodies try pound in around us.

For those who aren't fortunate enough to have a dead-tree version of the book at hand, an abridged version is available online (thanks to jomama for the link). Don't bother clicking the links to the chapters: it's all on that page so just scroll down and enjoy.

F--I.W. Gotta love it.


[Editorial note: if you don't see quotation marks around the dialogue, it's probably because you're using Internet Explorer, which doesn't recognize the quote tag (which Greymatter will apparently not allow me to render using the appropriate symbols). Their unwillingness to adopt this simple code standard is behind the various quote-marks messes one sees online. I've decided I won't (heh) play along any more. I highly recommend you switch to a different -- and almost certainly better -- browser. Firefox is the browser I use most at present, but I have Opera, and really like it also. If you want a whole suite of open-source standards-compliant tools, Mozilla should do you. I've used that browser and like it, although I've not tested it as much as Firefox and Opera. If you're of the Apple persuasion, I recommend Safari. If you'd like more information, check out this list of things Firefox can do that IE can't. Other browser suggestions are welcome in the comments.]

Sunni

Comments: 13 people have contributed to the conversation

On Friday, March 10th, at approximately 12:11 p.m. Mountain time, Bill St. Clair said:

I love that story. Freedom: MYOB.

Never heard of the quote tag before. I just use plain old ASCII double-quote myself. Not quite as pretty as the matchine left and right quotes, but serves the purpose, and prints correctly everywhere.

On Friday, March 10th, at approximately 12:19 p.m. Mountain time, Jorge said:

One of my favorite stories. Eric Frank Russell wrote quite a bit of pro-freedom SF.

The book is a great collection BTW, enjoy it.

On Friday, March 10th, at approximately 12:33 p.m. Mountain time, Sunni said:

I don't think many have, Bill -- it's a remnant of IE's domination. I know I'm being silly in being contrary in this way, but I'm enjoying it. And it is standards-compliant code.

Jorge, I've read a few others too already (which explains in part why I've been so tired this week): Baby is Three, The Midas Plague, and Second Game. All have been quite good. It's no wonder I tell my Sweetie quite often that he's too good to me ...

On Friday, March 10th, at approximately 3:15 p.m. Mountain time, Shaun said:

Eric Frank Russel is great - and I love the stories from that era and the earlier golden age. I have the mammoth book of vintage SF, but am still looking for the mammoth book of the golden age.
Since Eric's story is from the '50s, you might also look for Ray Bradbury's 'The pedestrian' (1952)perhaps the best short story I've read, and of relevance to freedom lovers.

On Friday, March 10th, at approximately 4:54 p.m. Mountain time, Wally Conger said:

Shaun,

Ah, Bradbury's "Pedestrian"! I first read that in the seventh grade...and have re-read it many times. So simple, yet so haunting.

On Friday, March 10th, at approximately 6:57 p.m. Mountain time, jeffrey smith said:

It's not scifi, and it's not libertarian per se, but it is an excellent depiction of how modern politics works:
Henry Fielding: The Life of Jonathan Wild the Great.
(Wild is the fictional stand in for the real politicians.)

On Friday, March 10th, at approximately 7:00 p.m. Mountain time, jeffrey smith said:

And almost forgot. It's available online:
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=5256

On Friday, March 10th, at approximately 8:16 p.m. Mountain time, Endervidual said:

"And Then There Were None" is great. I first read it when I was a teen, but rediscovered it again recently. Speaking of classic SF shorts, I also like "The Marching Morons" by CM Kornbluth.

We're closing in on that 'verse, though details will differ.
"Would you buy that for a quarter?"

On Saturday, March 11th, at approximately 9:06 a.m. Mountain time, Billy Beck said:

Just the other night, while reading Vo. IV of Will Durant's "Story of Civilizaiton", I had a revelation. It had never before occurred to me to date the Middle Ages from the Council of Nicaea (325 AD). What does this mean? Well, it means that I am able to integrate about fifteen hundred years (give or take) of history leading right down to this very moment in a brand new way. That's really important, to me, at least.

"Inspiration"? Has anyone here read Ross King's marvelous (and little -- it's only 192 pages) book about Filippo Brunelleschi's dome capping the Santa Maria del Fiore at Florence? I guess I'll go ahead right here and call it the single best book I read last year. Most people, if they can think of anything at all on hearing the man's name, would probably say "perspective", but his attack on the problem of the dome belongs way up there with all the greatly inspiring achievements in human history. Last year, I had occasion to refer to Donatello's "Gattamelata" as both inspiration and warning. Have any of you ever heard of this bronze statue? Maybe I'm just slow, but I only first learned about it in 2004.

What I find is that if I read enough history, I soon come across every single value that I could ever hope for in the written word. It's all there, to learn from, and it has the virtue of being real.

I say that R. Emmett Tyrell, Jr. was entirely, admirably, correct when he called history "the queen of literatures".

On Saturday, March 11th, at approximately 9:40 a.m. Mountain time, Sunni said:

Wow, thanks, gents, for all the great suggestions! Tom, you got a book or site where we can find The Marching Morons?

Billy, I'll have more to say on history in this month's Salon.

On Saturday, March 11th, at approximately 1:26 p.m. Mountain time, Billy Beck said:

Good deal, Luv.

On Sunday, March 12th, at approximately 2:28 a.m. Mountain time, Endervidual said:

Sunni, I have a very old &ndash almost falling apart &ndash copy of The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two A: The Greatest Science Fiction Novellas of All Time Chosen by the Members of The Science Fiction Writers of America.

That book includes both The Marching Morons and ...And Then There Were None. It also contains Who Goes There? &ndash better than the movies &ndash and Heinlein's Universe which was later combined with another novella to become Orphans of the Sky. I remember that story as my first experience of Heinlein.

Heinlein targeted Orphans of the Sky at a younger audience, but it still makes a very good read. SF Hall of Fame 2A also has stories from Ted Sturgeon, Cordwainer Smith and others, eleven in all. I should get a hardcover edition, since I doubt it will go into the public domain for a long time.

On Tuesday, March 14th, at approximately 5:47 a.m. Mountain time, jomama said:

F---I.W.

Could this be the meme that changed the world?

Worth a try.

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