Comments on: When Did You First Read Cordwainer Smith?

By: Rosana

Rosana — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:27:00 +0000

Great story, Erik! Thanks. — Rosana

By: Erik F

Erik F — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:38:00 +0000

In the late 1970′s, I was stuck in a layover in Dulles airport. While waiting in the terminal, a man grunted, slapped a book shut, and said, “well, finished! You want this, kid?”

It was an anthology of some sort, and I was in love with science fiction at the time. Most of the stories were decent, but the one that got me was “The Crime and Glory of Commander Suzdal.” It humanized a far-fetched concept, and it had an air of utter tragedy to it that never left me.

I’ve been a fan ever since.

By: Dougdarvell

Dougdarvell — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:59:25 +0000

I'm 56 this year and I first read a story by Cordwainer Smith when I was about 9 or 10. I'm not sure which one but my favourite remains the Lady who sailed the Soul. I thought that I was alone in my appreciation of his writings as he is little mentioned in science fiction writings but I am pleased to see that I am totally mistaken.

By: Rosana

Rosana — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 03:15:38 +0000

Thanks for your thoughts, Jim. I too wish that my dad had had more time to write. Who knows what would have come out of that mind?!!

By: jimhopkins

jimhopkins — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 03:00:10 +0000

Yesterday. Now that's very odd for me, considering I've read SF avidly for over 30 years. I seem to recall hearing peripheral references to CS, and I'm fairly sure I'd seen the Best Of anthology in some used book store or other, but had never gotten around to picking it up. The way I came across his writings was rather unique, as well. I'd been reading a bio on Harlan Ellison which mentioned his use of the nom de plume "Cordwainer Bird" for projects he worked on with which he didn't want to be associated, and how this was in part a reference to CS. I figured that if an author as accomplished as Ellison thought enough of your father to refer to him, then it might be interesting to read his stories.

I wasn't wrong. First I read Scanners Live In Vain, and then in quick succession every short story I could find on the 'net. Soon (as in within the hour) I'll be scouring auction sites and bookstores for his collected works and novel.

The thing that most struck me was how humanist his stories are; the 'future science' seems more on the periphery, though it has obvious and far-reaching effects on the characters. However, it's the characters themselves that are the focus far more than the science. The imagery reminds me of Zelazny (or, rather, I should say Zelazny's imagery reminds me strongly of CS, since Roger came to SF temporally after your father did).

I only wish (as I'm sure has been expressed before) that your father had had a longer time to devote to his writing. His short stories are polished gems, in my limited experience of them.

By: Al Jackson

Al Jackson — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:09:11 +0000

I know I read Scanners Live in Vain in a used copy of Fred Pohl’s anthology Beyond the End of Time in about 1955 when I was 15 (I ran out of ‘juvie’ SF quickly and turned to adult at an early age)…it blew me away.
Followed C.S. through all these years, I am 69 now and I know of SF writers who are his peers but I now of no SF writer who wrote that kind of SF , I don’t think there ever will be!

By: FS

FS — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:02:51 +0000

I know for sure when I read the first story by C.S. It was the summer of 1970, and the story was ‘Alpha Ralpha Boulevard’. I read it in Italian (which is my mother tongue), but later I had a chance to read it again in English and I must say C.S. had a great translator, as the undefinable aura that you perceive when reading his prose doesn’t get ‘lost in translation’ at all. I was 16 at the time and going through my first love experiences, so the story — which is a great love story of course — had a really strong impact on me. After that I moved slowly on to read all the rest…

By: David Doughan

David Doughan — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:54:25 +0000

Correction: it must have been “Galaxy” where I saw “On the Gem Planet” in 1964. I saw a lot of pulps about that time.

By: deejrandom

deejrandom — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:11:12 +0000

Heh don’t kid yourself. Cyberspace is quirky almost any place that I’ve used it ;) God help us if people start getting Cyber punk type implants…think of what the blue screen of death will mean then heh.

By: Sonya

Sonya — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:05:21 +0000

The Lady Who Sailed the Soul. My dad would mention it in passing occasionally, and he sent found it online for me one day and emailed me the link. I fell in love with the folkloric style and uniquely organic way of dealing with futuristic or fantasy ideas. It was more than realistic, it felt real.
Later, when I made one of my visits home, I sought out my dad for new reading material. He always has something to suggest when I come into his room while he is idly occupied. I took my seat at the foot of his book case and he found me Nostrillia. From then on I was a devotee.

By: Mike Owens

Mike Owens — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:06:45 +0000

The first story I read was “The Ballad of Lost C’Mell” in a 2nd-hand 60s best-of-the-year collection of stories. It made me an immediate fan of Cordwainer Smith, and to this day he’s my favorite writer.

By: Cordwainersdaughter

Cordwainersdaughter — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:24:55 +0000

Deejrandom, I doubt it had to do with your time of day. I automatically get emails whenever someone posts a comment… unless it is identified as spam, then I don’t see it. But cyberspace IS quirky, probably more so here in Mexico than up north.