that sci-fi opera

[Jasper Fidget]

Well, this is new data anyway, although I remain skeptical; a libretto
does not an opera make.  

Bester's book is one of the golden age classics (also see his The Stars
My Destination in which he--sort of--predicts the internet), and won a
Hugo Award (SF's equivalent to the People's Choice Award I suppose).
His work is considered a primary influence on the "New Wave" SF of
Moorcock, Delany, etc, and like those writers is more literary than
typical genre fiction.  Interestingly, Bester, who studied music, also
wrote librettos.  (Comic books too, so hojotoho there, rocketman.)  

Bester is not Space Opera, no--for that (and for chuckles) see:
http://home.no.net/wagner/starwars.html  

Is the *operatic* more Joseph Campbell than John W. Campbell?


Fester Scratchit



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On
Behalf Of Dave Monroe
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2002 2:42 AM
To: Doug Millison; pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: Re: that sci-fi opera


Opera, as in "it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings,
Elmer Fudd in spear and magic helmet, The Marx
Brothers in a Night at the" style opera.  Pynchon's
proposed libretto, Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man,
while an SF classic, is anything but "space opera." 
Unfortunately, Richard Lane's Pynchon Files are gone
..

http://www.pynchonfiles.com/shock.htm

But no doubt because of my incredible foresight ...

"Anthroresearch Associates in Maiden Lane, New York,
where V.'s Benny Profane becomes a night watchmen and
meets the manikin's, seems a nod to the Alfred
Bester's The Demolished Man. There a guard works in a
Maiden Lane bank. Benny found his job at the
Space/Time Employment Agency, chapter sixteen of The
Demolished Man includes 'Space/d! Time' in the first
paragraph. Bester's novel was the basis for a 1959
opera libretto that Pynchon proposed to the Ford
Foundation for financial backing. The grant
application was denied."

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0103&msg=53533&sort=date

Speaking of multiple worlds, parallel universes,
alternate histories ...

> Fester Scratchit:
> "I haven't read that Ford Foundation application
> (too many boxes of cornflakes still waiting on my
> bookshelves) but I was under the impression he meant
> *space* opera, as in science fiction novel, as in,
> like, Dune, and not *opera* opera, as in, like,
> Tosca.  I'm not sure why anybody would think Pynchon
> is in any way capable of composing an opera...?  Is
> this really one of his ambitions?"

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