 | EUROPE'S MOST VISITED SF/F WEB SITE |
|
Richard
Matheson: Collected Stories Vol. 1 edited by Stanley Wiater check out website: www.gauntletpress.com
With this number of pages per volume this reviewer is happy to be reading it in 28 story chunks than all at once. Then again, I'm a great believer in holding a book in my hands than struggling not to damage it. Reading Matheson's earliest works, together with his own side comments on how what had been going through his head and self-assessment of how good the material was, is a great learning experience. Matheson's greatest strengths comes from describing a scene and producing instantly interesting characters with accompanying dialogue. A couple stories in this volume are solely dialogue based and is no wonder that they indicated his future in scriptwriting.
The simplicity of Matheson's technique is more a focus on the importance of events which is also how TV work is put together. This doesn't deny the quality of the work but shows a clean style is always an effective seller. With some of the stories I also got the inkling that Matheson didn't intend to become an SF author. He often cites that he literally tacked on an SF type ending to ensure he made a sell to a particular editor. No doubt this reflects much of the early 50s where and how you could sell your stories. To pick out individual stories as worth looking at is really difficult in Matheson's case. Even the odd couple stories I didn't think were particularly effective was also indicated that he thought could have been better as well. This really is a warts and all book and not just indicating his best material. Where the material is great makes it difficult to say something is better than others without slighting the rest. It's interesting to observe that Matheson frequently uses a professional writer as his protagonist obviously using himself as a template. These days, such actions would be frowned on although Matheson does vary it with other professions to ensure this pattern is broken up. This book should be on the reading list of all neo-writers to study Matheson's early technique and realise things haven't changed much in the past half century. If you're just a reader then you'll going to find this some valuable time savouring a master in his development stage. If you're a developing or long-term writer, then now's the time to learn from a master. Can't wait for his next volume. GF Willmetts
|
OTHER REVIEWS - February 2004
BOOKS The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold The Separation by Christopher Priest First Meetings In The Enderverse by Orson Scott Card Dragon Venom by Lawrence Watt-Evans The Dolphins Of Pern by Anne McCaffrey Reach For Tomorrow by Arthur C Clarke The Mammoth Book Of Best New SF # 16 edited by Gardner Dozois 1610: A Sundial In A Grave by Mary Gentle Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynn Truss Trading In Danger by Elizabeth Moon Richard Matheson: Collected Stories Vol. 1 edited by Stanley Wiater The Gates To Witchworld by Andre Norton Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Mission Gamma: Lesser Evil by Robert Simpson The Killing Of Worlds by Scott Westerfeld Star Trek: The Original Series: Gemini by Mike W. Barr MUSIC COMPUTER GAMES Wallace and Gromit - Project Zoo RPGs & WARGAMES MAGAZINES On Spec: The Canadian Magazine
Of The Fantastic vol 15 no. 2 & 3
| ||||||||
More work of the legendary Twilight Zone
scriptwriter Richard Matheson only this time covering his early
short story tenure. This is the first of three volumes reprinting
Matheson's Collected Stories 1989 limited edition. 
You're
also seeing several stories in their original form before being
adapted into Twilight Zone episodes. Although I haven't seen many
of the original episodes in many a year, it would be interesting
to compare the two formats. 
 | |
| nest home | search engine | site directory | shop | library | tools | about us | | |
| |
... www.sfcrowsnest.com © 2004 CWant a ? Then send an e-mail to: hologramtales-subscribe@topica.com