I discovered Harlan Ellison after reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. In the introduction, Gaiman writes about Ellison's "Deathbird Stories" which lies by his bedside table while he is writing American Gods. Something haunting about this description, suddenly rippled through my consciousness as I picked up
"Approaching Oblivion" by Harlan Ellison at the local bookfair (I will not sully this post by describing what abominations this dusty but otherwise well-preserved hardback volume was lost between...alas, if I had time enough to wade through the Tom Clancys and John Grishams to find all such lost gems). Standing there, I read the introduction. I read Ray Bradbury's Foreword.
And then, suddenly, I knew that I was holding something sacred. In his introduction, he speaks of a reader who writes to him a letter which says that he (the reader) enjoyed his previous book except that he thought that the dedication to "
...four Kent State University students senselessly murdered in their society's final act of alienation" was misplaced because they were "Communist-led radical revolutionaries and anarchits". What follows is a diatribe not against this reader but a denunciation against everything that is wrong with the world - the greed of consumerism, the mindless transgressions against the environment. This sets the tone for the stories that follow. "Knox" a story of a normal, regular, working man's transformation because of his overwhelming desire to find approval in the organization where he works - evoking images of Nazism as much as of loyal party members of Stalin's USSR. Then, there is "Paulie Charmed the Sleeping Woman" - a lyrical piece about a trumpet player who wants to play for his dead lover in her grave.
If I had to pick a story out of this treasure, it would perhaps be "Silent in Gehenna". The dystopia of a world where thinking is regulated - the fear, the oppression and the revolt are portrayed in as brilliant style as "1984" and "Fahrenheit 451". If at all, it is subtler and more poetic.
You would be hardpressed to find Ellison in regular bookstores. I recently bought 6 Ellison books off ebay and am smacking my lips in anticipation.
