Books That Challenged My Assumptions

[Hereford Eye]

This may not be the best place to post this listing but there is a bunch of sf included so maybe that will earn me a pass.
Each of the books identified challenged one or more of my assumptions about the world. Each of the books contributed to who I am today. They may or may not strike a chord with you.

Steinbeck, John​	Short Reign of Pippin IV, The​	1957​
Lederer William J. & Burdick, Eugene​	Ugly American, The​	1958​
Dobie, J. Frank​	Voice of the Coyote, The​	1961​
Heinlein, Robert A.​	Stranger in a Strange Land​	1961​
Heller, Joseph​	Catch-22​	1961​
Alport, Gordon W.​	Nature of Prejudice, The​	1961​
Lederer, William J​	Nation of Sheep, A​	1961​
Myrer, Anton​	Once an Eagle​	1968​
Townsend, Robert​	Up the Organization​	1970​
Brown, Dee​	Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee​	1972​
Carter, Forrest​	Education of Little Tree, The​	1985​
Donaldson, Stephen R.​	Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever​	1987​
MacDonald, John D.​	Reading for Survival​	1987​
Moon, Elizabeth​	Deed of Paksennarion, The​	1988​
Tepper, Sheri S.​	Gate to Women’s Country​	1988​
Grisham, John​	Time to Kill, A​	1989​
Kipling, Rudyard​	Complete Verses​	1989​
Simmons, Dan​	Hyperion​	1989​
Casti, John L.​	Paradigms Lost​	1990​
DeBotton, Alain​	Consolations of Philosophy​	1990​
McPhee, John​	Control of Nature, The​	1990​
Stewart, Sean​	Passion Play​	1992​
Armstrong, Karen​	History of God, A​	1994​
Russell, Mary Doria​	Sparrow, The​	1996​
Fung, Yu Lang​	Short History of Chinese Philosophy, A​	1997​
Resnick, Mike​	Birthright: The Book of Man​	1997​
Atwood, Margaret​	Handmaid’s Tale, The​	1998​
Enzenberger, Hans Magnus​	Number Devil, The​	2000​
Loewen, James W.​	Lies My Teacher Told Me​	2003​
Slater, Lauren​	Opening Skinner’s Nut​	2004​
LeGuinn, Ursula K.​	Left Hand of Darkness, The​	2004​
Naylor, Sean​	Not a Good Day to Die​	2005​
Pollan, Michael​	Omnivore’s Dilemma, The​	2006​
Bittle, Scott & Johnson, Jean​	Where Does the Money Go​	2008​
Bretthauer, Bruce​	Firestar​	2011​
Edwardson, Debby Dahl​	My Name is Not Easy​	2012​
Roy-Bhattacharta, Joydeep​	Watch, The​	2012​
Walton, Jo​	Among Others​	2012​
Wylie, Gena Marie​	Kinsella​	2012​
July, Jack​	Amy Lynn​	2013​
Pournelle, Jerry​	California Sixth Grade Reader​	2014​
Rudmanski, Richard​	Article V​	2014​

 

[farseer2]

Many books I'm not familiar with, along with some well-known ones. Maybe you can be persuaded to write a short paragraph on some of those to say why they affected you so.

 

[Hereford Eye]

For what it's worth, here's a start:
The Short Reign of Pippin IV; John Steinbeck, 1935
I was 16 years old when I read this. Having already digested most of his other work, my personal favorites being The Pearl and Tortilla Flats, the comedy in Pippin came as a surprise but the best part was the ridiculous nature of the politics. Pippin is crowned because the Communists needed something to revolt against and he had a shaky linkage to Charlemagne. I never again accepted politicians at face value. This also led me to more humorous works such as The Mouse That Roared and The Little World of Don Camillo. Steinbeck kept me reading because of the humanity expressed in his work.

The Ugly American, Lederer & Burdick, 1958
Shortly after enlistment in 1959, I read this account of American arrogance and ignorance in Southeast Asia. It would come back to haunt me eight years later.

The Voice of the Coyote, J. Frank Dobie, 1961
My first introduction to ecology. When Europeans first arrived in the Southwestern United States, the coyote’s range was limited to the Sonoran desert. When I read the book in 1962, their range had extended to every state in the Union save Hawaii. What made this possible was the near extinction of the wolf. Coyotes filled the vacuum. To this day I kill nothing in the desert but the occasional rattlesnake that shows up on our porch. And I thoroughly enjoy listening to coyotes sing.

Stranger in a Strange Land; Robert A. Heinlein, 1962
By the time I enlisted, I had left organized religion behind me. Heinlein’s satire of same struck my fancy. But his thoughts on sexual relations kept me thinking for three decades.

Catch-22; Joseph Heller, 1961
In 1962, I had already served my in 14 months Korea and had 3 years Army experience behind me. There was truth on every page. The bureaucratic nonsense of the book was mirrored in my every day life. I spent another 17 years in the Army and spent every day wondering what drove the craziness. It was easier to do as I recognized it for what it was. One of my most remembered characters is ex-PFC Wintergreen [I suspect most readers won’t glean onto the irony] and most remembered line is “the universe is trying to kill me.”

The Nature of Prejudice; Gordon W. Allport, 1961
I read this in 1977 while teaching leadership at an NCO Academy. It is 480 pages of thought provoking information. It continues to haunt me. Two quotes will help you understand: “Hitler created the Jewish menace not so much to demolish the Jews as to cement the Nazi hold over Germany.” i.e., he gave them someone to hate. And this set of parental observations on pg 283:
”Obedience is the most important thing a child can learm.
A child should never be permitted to set his will against that of his parents.
A child should never keep a secret from his parents.
‘I prefer a quiet child to one who is noisy.
(In the case of temper tantrums) Teach the child that two can play that game, by getting angry yourself.’

[See also Hammerstein’s “you’ve got to be carefully taught.”

A Nation of Sheep; William J. Lederer, 1961
How to dumb down a population. As true today as it was then.

 

[Hereford Eye]

Moving on:
Once an Eagle; Anton Myrer; 1968
The fictional biography of an Army officer, Sam Damon, beginning with the Mexican Expedition of 1916 thru Vietnam that contrasts two different approaches to being an officer. An officer name Massengale represented the other side. By 1968, I had observed enough officers to recognize the caliber of the ones I served under. Anecdotal evidence provided below.
I gave the book to our son when he was 16 and he gave it to his sons at the same age. That might have something to do with all of them serving as officers. The book has been on the Army Chief of Staff’s reading list for quite some time.

Anecdote: I served on a DOD Committee charged with supporting an inauguration. We inhabited some old temporary buildings erected in WWII. We had them cleaned up and offices arranged for the committee’s executive team. The Commanding General of the Army’s Washington D.C.s troops was to lead the committee. His Chief of Staff did all the prep work. I worked for him. When the Chief’s Office and the CG’s office were complete, the Chief and I inspected them. First we looked at the CG’s office; then the Chief’s. At which point he had me fetch a measuring tape. We measured both offices and discovered the Chief’s was 2.5 inches wider than the CG’s. The Chief told me to have the engineers move his wall the necessary 3 inches. Somehow, I forgot to do that. It’s okay. He never noticed. It did demonstrate that Massengale was alive and well.

Up the Organization; Robert Townsend, 1970
Another source for teaching leadership from back in the hey days of X and Y Theory. It’s funny, irreverent and quite useful during my civilian days as a program manager. One of the more useful tidbits was to not take phone calls for three hours in the morning to allow you time to get some work done. At 11:00 AM you start returning phone calls. You can find a much funnier and just as accurate discussion in Scott Adam’s Dilbert comics.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee; Dee Brown; 1972
Another brutally accurate demonstration of Allport’s discussion on prejudice. An unintentional predecessor to Lies My Teacher Told Me. Certainly 180 degrees out from Manifest Destiny. A line of thought continued in The Journey of Crazy Horse, John M. Marshall III. We don’t have time travel so we can’t change what’s been done. Seems like we could find a better way of moving on.

The Education of Little Tree; Forest Carter, 1985
How the “bad” guys survive. Allport all over again. I read enough Marshall and Sherman Alexie to discover it’s about more than oil (money); it is about people.

Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever; Stephen R. Donaldson; 1987
Perhaps the lushest language I’ve ever encountered. First serious encounter with leprosy. Only previous encounter was in Michener’s Hawaii. (which has the finest opening chapter I’ve read). I had a hard time with Covenant’s struggle with the disease until it finally sunk in that I was supposed to have a hard time with it. Life is difficult. Some lives are more difficult than others. Some people handle the struggle better than others.

Side Bar: I saw Donaldson at a convention once. He was a featured speaker. He sat alone at a table in the cafeteria and I thought he looked like the saddest man I’ve ever seen. I was not then and am not now interested in getting to know celebrities so I didn’t bother him.
Celebrities: We have a celebrity in our extended family. He's a nice enough guy and somewhat introverted in gatherings but he and I have little or nothing in common. And, our son had his fifteen minutes and that annoys the hell out of him.

 

[Hereford Eye]

Continuing on:
Reading for Survival; John D. MacDonald; 1987
John D. gave me the Travis McGee series and a really good non-fiction description of a murder trial in No Deadly Drug. I’ll always thank him for that. But, he also gave me the title essay and this little paragraph:
“I would not demand that a man read ponderous tomes or try to read everything….
But, I would expect that in his reading – which should be wide ranging fiction, history, poetry, political science – he would acquire the equivalent of a liberal arts education and acquire also what I think of as the educated climate of mind, a climate characterized by skepticism, irony, doubt, hope, and a passion to learn more and remember more.”

That’s not all there is in the essay. The significance of the title and what he built leading to the little paragraph is fascinating as is what follows. The essay can also be a continuation of A Nation of Sheep. But for me, I’ve striven to live up to the goal set up in the paragraph.

The Deed of Paksenarrion; Elizabeth Moon, 1988
It’s a trilogy with the strongest female lead in fantasy. This was before the historic conversation with my sister-in-law in 1994 so a female lead in a fantasy novel was new to me. Moon gave me not a man dressed up like a women, not a Jane Austen heroine scheming and plotting someone’s life, but a woman acting as she thought she should act, doing what she believed she should be doing and defeating the bad guys. In the end, she had done what a hero – not a man – should do. It is a very powerful achievement.

And it made me take a second look at the women in my life; e.g.’ we have a niece who devotes her life to being a defense attorney in murder trials. Because it needs doing.

The Gate to Women’s Country; Sheri S. Tepper;
The question of the causes of human violence is a major theme, one that I still struggle with. The novel wants to blame violence on men. It’s an argument with a lot going for it. There is also some evidence that it is not exactly true. In today’s society, women’s prisons demonstrate a strong argument against the proposition. Still, the argument against and evidence in support of women in combat units is compelling. For another look, try Kelli Estes Today We Go Home.

A Time to Kill; John Grisham, 1989
Can a man do anything else? Another case study for Allport and me. And when I thought I knew the answer I read On Killing by Dave Grossman.

Complete Verses, Rudyard Kipling; 1989 edition
I know the bad rap Kipling gets these days and White Man’s Burden and Fuzzy-Wuzzy put the truth to notion. OTOH, I love most of his stuff. These are the ones I have bookmarked:
Female of the Species, The
Fuzzy-Wuzzy
Gunga Din
Houses, The
If
Last of the Light Brigade, The
Mary Gloster, The
Story of Ung, The
Tommy
Truce of the Bear, The

They are bookmarked because they have relevance to how I tried or actually did live my life; they are delicious satires; or they say something true about military service.

 

[Hereford Eye]

And so on:
Hyperion, Dan Simmons, 1989
It’s the best of his work. What struck me most was his use of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales trope. We studied that trope in high school and his use of it in the Hyperion tale was complimentary to Chaucer. Bradbury used it in The Illustrated Man. I used it in my collection called Tuesday’s Tales.

Paradigms Lost; John L. Casti, 1990
Science fact re the state of the art in the late “90s set up in a series of mock trials about questions of the day. Here’s the chapter listings:
1’ Faith, Hope, and Asperity - Belief systems, science, and the invention of reality
2. A Warm Little Pond - Claim: Life Arose Out of Natural Physical Processes Taking Place Here on Earth
3. It’s In the Genes - Claim: Human Behavior Patterns Are Dictated Primarily By the Genes
4. Speaking For Myself - Claim: Human Language Capacity Stems From a Unique, Innate Property of the Brain
5. The Cognitive Engine - Claim: Digital Computers Can, In Principle, Literally Think
6. Where Are They? - Claim: There Exist Intelligent Beings in Our Galaxy With Whom We Can Communicate
7. How Real Is the Real World? Claim: There Exists No Objective Reality Independent of an Observer
Conclusion/The Balance Sheet: Are Humans Really Something Special? Where Do We Stand.

Casti revisited the questions in Paradigms Regained in 2001
For me: questions and arguments to mull over waiting for sleep or trying to write.

Consolations of Philosophy; Alain de Botton; 1990
de Botton absconded with Boethius’ title and then expanded on the topics and the philosophers. Boethius had Lady Philosophy as a giude, I had de Botton.

• Consolation for Unpopularity (Socrrates)​
• Consolation for Not Having Enough Money (Epicurus)
• Consolation for Frustration (Seneca)
• Consolation for Inadequacy (Montaigne)
• Consolation for a Broken Heart (Schopenhauer)
• Consolation for Difficulties (Nietzche)

The Control of Nature, John McPhee, 1990
Why it’s not a good idea.
Atchafalaya: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers against the Mississippi River
Cooling the Lava: Icelanders confront lava flowing to save an important harbor
Los Angeles Against the Mountains: basins to catch devasting debris flows from the San Gabriels

But, we have so many sf stories assuming terraforming and very few detailing the hazards involved.
There is an intense amount of study from a bunch of seemingly unrelated phenomena in order to influence (I don’t think you can control it) the outcome, e.g, global warming.

 

[Hobbit]

Thanks for the details, Dan: thoughtful stuff.

 

[Hereford Eye]

Getting there.
Passion Play, Sean Stewart, 1992
The great cities are dying, like the country, from the heart out. The Redemption Presidency tolerates vigilantes who kill according to Biblical example. The police subcontract freelancers to bring in criminals for quick and televised execution. Into this you find an empath detective investigating a murder and you will investigate all the nuances of temptation and redemption. And I want to learn to write like that.

A History of God, Karen Armstrong, 1994
Three religions, One God and how it got that way. Detailed, thoughtful, well written and esily read and comprehended that left with me an understanding I lacked and a question: I wonder how a god would feel about the whole mess?

The Sparrow; Mary Doria Russell; 1996
Manifest destiny rides again and I get to indulge my suppressed respect for Jesuits. Still, like any other group of humanity they will see what they want to see and it will bite them big time. The getting to that point is excruciating – not the writing but the events – and it’s not pointed at a happy ending for the invading good? Guys. Nor for the invaded not-so-good guys. And I have to say the manipulation involved in obtaining the space ship is pure Jesuit. No one is exempt from tunnel vision.

A Short History of Chinese Philosophy; Fung, Yu Lang, 1997
An introduction to Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, Yin-Yang, and others as I studied Mandarin. I could never grasp how a people who had Yin-Tang and, once, a female Emperor could justify Confucianism, Mohism and others. Lao-tse did not distinguish. Buddha, when he arrived in China, did not distinguish but the rest did. Now, Lao-tse, if you just deal in superficialities appeals to me as a do-nothing kind of guy. Ever since I discovered I was born to grow up to be retired, his appeal grows, so much so that he’s the bartender at the Chapel. Well, you can skip that part as nonsense but if you read LeGuinn’s translation of the Tao Te Ching, you’ll appreciate him more.

Birthright: The Book of Man; Mike Reznick, 1997
I didn’t discover this book till around 2010 after I had read everything else the man had written. I had been acquainted with Heinlein’s map of the future since the early sixties and never heard rumor as to the existence of another such. Yet, here it is. Divided into five succeeding millennia, each building on the former, it is a staggering tour de force. Each millenium has a designated form of government from Republic to Democracy to Oligarchy to Monarchy to Anarchy. Each millennium has its own special grouping, e.g., The First Millennium is blessed with the Pioneers, the Cartographers, the Miners, the Psychologists and the Merchants. The last millenium is blessed the Archeologists, the Priests, the Pacifists and the Destroyers. Sort of pessimistic, yeah? Then, I haven’t been able to dream that far ahead.

Sorry, Hobbit. Having too much fun to not finish the list. Good memories!

 

[farseer2]

Thanks, this is a great and very personal collection of comments.

 

[Hereford Eye]

And, finally:
The Handmaid's Tale; Margaret Atwood, 1998
After the historic 1994 discussion, mandatory read. Best thought out “if this goes on” that I have read as well as the best defense for a woman’s body. Another reason for my personal mantra: never put old men in charge of anything, If they aren’t balanced by old women and young people, they are going to do stupid shite that hurts everyone but them. Please refer to the present world for confirmation of that belief.

The Number Devil; Hans Magnus Enzenberger, 2000
The most fun I’ve had with numbers since John Tabat’s five volume work on math. Gave to a grandson who hated math but enjoyed the book. His mother was leery of the title though! Ought to be a text book for elementary school.

Lies My Teacher Told Me; James W. Loewen, 2003
Columbus, Thanksgiving Day, Helen Keller, Woodrow Wilson, Gone With the Wind, John Brown and Abraham Lincoln, Big Brother, et al. When you discover you are commemorating a lie, it is very unsettling. This book ranks with Dee Brown, Marshall III, and Sherman Alexie in providing counterpoints to our elementary and high school history texts. After this book, I went out and bought a handful of history texts to discover that my war occupies, at most, two paragraphs. And here I thought that the events of that war were momentous. But it wasn’t progress, and our history books are about continued progress….in the commercial sector.

Opening Skinner’s Nut; Lauren Slater, 2004
Nine classic psychological experiments testing pressing concern – free will, authoritarianism, conformity and morality. None of which produce absolute truth. But the ideas, the minds that produced these experiments are fascinating. Mostly, though, they simply reinforce my notion that human behavior remains a puzzle for those who’d like to know.

The Left Hand of Darkness; Ursula K. LeGuinn, 2004 edition
The 2004 edition came to my collection as it was time for a re-read. The first time I’d read it was in 80s prior to the discussion of 1994. In the 80s I had enjoyed the story but it hadn’t made the impression on me that it had for all the smart people. In 2004 I read it and it took me back to Heinlein and I wondered where I had been all those years. Where along the way had I stopped thinking?

Not A Good Day to Die; Sean Naylor; 2005.
This is a not funny at all version of Catch-22. Heinlein wrote that “a committee is a life form with six or more legs and no brains.” This is the tale of an operation run at the onset of the Afghan war. It was a time when there were a handful of agencies and units operating in Afghanistan. Intelligence arrived that a certain valley had a small contingent of bad guys. From that point on, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. There is individual bravery and unit bravery but there is little to no coordination. It was a deadly day. It was terrible proof there needed to be a unified command.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma; Michael Pollan, 2006
If a person believes their food comes from the grocery store, they should read this book. If you’re curious about the nature of “organic” food or nature based food, then it’s worth reading. I guess I should be embarrased to tell you that it didn’t change our eating habits but it did trigger some story ideas..

And that's all, folks! Feel free to pick it apart.

 

[Windshadow]

[See also Hammerstein’s “you’ve got to be carefully taught.”

"Before you are 6 or 7 or 8"


Cable - You've got to be taught
To hate
And fear
You've got to be taught
From year
To year
Its got to
Be drummed in your dear little ear
You've got to
Be carefully
Taught
You've got to be taught
To be
Afraid
Of people
Who's eyes are oddly made
And people who's skin is a different shade
You've got to
Be carefuly
Taught
You've got to be taught
Before it's too late
Before you are six
Or seven
Or eight
To hate all the people
Your relatives hate
You've got to
Be carefully taught
You've got to
Be carefully taught

 

[Hereford Eye]

Yep, that's the one and look at when South Pacific hit the stage.
Another senior moment. I missed a handful at the bottom of the list. Working on it.
Got it:
Where Does the Money Go; Bittle, Scott & Johnson, Jean; 2008
A description of that year’s U.S. federal budget. The biggest slice of the pie, almost half, goes to paying off the federal debt. Imagine what it looks like now.

Firestar, Bruce Bretthauer, 2011
First in the Families War series. Best sf war series I’ve read. Protags are a matriarchal society stranded in a radiation soaked nebula that is death to people and electronics that somehow managed to survive through biogenetics. Their navy is entirely women as men are too precious a commodity to risk. The logic behind that introduction is fully spelled out in the first three books. At the outset, the women have been fighting a war for survival for 32 years. It gets better from there.
The women are competent, driven, and fun to be around. Imagine what happens when they become allied with a navy that is all men because that society believes women are more fit to stay at home and have babies. I’ve written elsewhere that Bretthauer does a very thorough job on dismissing women and and children first off the boat.
You read this and you are not surprised by Kelli Estes Today We Go Home.
I have one and a half reviews written. Waiting to hear from Dag.

My Name is Not Easy, Debby Dahl Edwardson, 2012
Story of an Innuit boy at a Catholic Boarding School in Alaska. Once again, tunnel vision perceptions lead to disaster. The title comes from the fact that none of the nuns can cope with his birth name. And Allport is alive and well.

The Watch, Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharta, 2012
Afghanistan. A lonely outpost is visited by a legless young woman wanting to retrieve her brother’s body for proper burial. The conflict engendered in the soldiers escalates as she maintains her vigil day after day. Army bureaucracy complicates matters, as usual. Once again, tunnel vision perceptions lead to disaster. When do we learn?

Among Others, Jo Walton, 2012
Allport has a very informative section dealing with Others, people not part of the family, clan, society, country, et al. Walton demonstrates the action nicely. This one prompted a topic for the Flash fiction contest not so long ago. The topic wasn’t all that well received.

Kinsella: Gena Marie Wylie, 2012
First in The Kinsela Universe Series. Did you know that space is dangerous? Yeah, you probably did but this series demonstrates how dangerous and why competence is the prime survival trait. The series also deals with a succession of female protags that prove it is the only thing matters in space. And even that’s not a guarantee for survival.
The series also presents many hilarious incidents when incompetence comes into play.
Recommended right after Families War for insight into women doing hard stuff.
The Third Book in the series introduces you to Hanna Sawyer who demonstrates what it means to fight a war and maintain your personal ethos. It cannot get better than this.

Amy Lynn; Jack July, 2013
First in the Amy Lynn series. July’s stated intention was to explain how a hero is made; a goal he achieves in spades. Start with a girl whose mother has passed a few years ago, and her older brother was buried today. She’s twelve years old and been mother to her younger brother for a couple of years. Follow her through her teenage years to the Navy to what? Meet her family of dad, uncle, aunt, surrogate grandmother and watch how family makes the difference. Every incident is believable, consistent, and beautifully written. This is the best thriller type story I’ve read. And, yes, being written post 1994 plays a role in my assessment.

California Sixth Grade Reader; Jerry Pournelle, 2014
In some circles it is quite fashionable to bemoan the state of our public education system. This book is a contributing factor. It is the actual reader presented to California 6th graders during the 1920s. And I don’t see how you cannot be amazed at what those children were confronted with. No way in hell a teacher today could get something like this into any school in the country. In the "20s, most children wouldn't get past 8th grade so they had to have the information to be responsible citizens by that. time. Evidently, they got it.

Article V; Richard Rudmanski, 2014
A political thriller dealing with a very real problem, deadlock in our government. Yes, check the year again. The solution is Article V of our Constitution which provides a way to amend that Constitution. . Getting the article implemented by overcoming entrenched resistance is the crux of the story. I can’t begin to describe how hard I laughed at the amendment that the protags get passed. It’s worth the price of admission.

 

[Windshadow]

Complete Verses, Rudyard Kipling; 1989 edition
I know the bad rap Kipling gets these days and White Man’s Burden and Fuzzy-Wuzzy put the truth to notion. OTOH, I love most of his stuff. These are the ones I have bookmarked:
Female of the Species, The
Fuzzy-Wuzzy
Gunga Din
Houses, The
If
Last of the Light Brigade, The
Mary Gloster, The
Story of Ung, The
Tommy
Truce of the Bear, The

They are bookmarked because they have relevance to how I tried or actually did live my life; they are delicious satires; or they say something true about military service.

In my case, it was "Tomlinson" Which I memorized at age 7 as a birthday gift to my Dad, When died in 85 I recited it again at his memorial at age 47 also from memory.

Tomlinson
Rudyard Kipling - 1865-1936


Now Tomlinson gave up the ghost at his house in Berkeley Square,
And a Spirit came to his bedside and gripped him by the hair—
A Spirit gripped him by the hair and carried him far away,
Till he heard as the roar of a rain-fed ford the roar of the Milky Way:
Till he heard the roar of the Milky Way die down and drone and cease,
And they came to the Gate within the Wall where Peter holds the keys.
"Stand up, stand up now, Tomlinson, and answer loud and high
"The good that ye did for the sake of men or ever ye came to die—
"The good that ye did for the sake of men on the little Earth so lone!"
And the naked soul of Tomlinson grew white as the rain-washed bone.
"O I have a friend on Earth," he said, "that was my priest and guide,
"And well would he answer all for me if he were at my side."
—"For that ye strove in neighbour-love it shall be written fair,
"But now ye wait at Heaven's Gate and not in Berkeley Square:
"Though we called your friend from his bed this night, he could not speak for you,
"For the race is run by one and one and never by two and two."
Then Tomlinson looked up and down, and little gain was there,
For the naked stars grinned overhead, and he saw that his soul was bare.
The Wind that blows between the Worlds, it cut him like a knife,
And Tomlinson took up the tale and spoke of his good in life.
"O this I have read in a book," he said, "and that was told to me,
"And this I have thought that another man thought of a Prince in Muscovy."
The good souls flocked like homing doves and bade him clear the path,
And Peter twirled the jangling Keys in weariness and wrath.
"Ye have read, ye have heard, ye have thought," he said, "and the tale is yet to run:
"By the worth of the body that once ye had, give answer—what ha' ye done?"
Then Tomlinson looked back and forth, and little good it bore,
For the darkness stayed at his shoulder-blade and Heaven's Gate before:—
"O this I have felt, and this I have guessed, and this I heard men say,
"And this they wrote that another man wrote of a carl in Norroway."
"Ye have read, ye have felt, ye have guessed, good lack! Ye have hampered Heaven's Gate;
"There's little room between the stars in idleness to prate!
"For none may reach by hired speech of neighbour, priest, and kin
"Through borrowed deed to God's good meed that lies so fair within;
"Get hence, get hence to the Lord of Wrong, for thy doom has yet to run,
"And . . . the faith that ye share with Berkeley Square uphold you, Tomlinson!"

The Spirit gripped him by the hair, and sun by sun they fell
Till they came to the belt of Naughty Stars that rim the mouth of Hell.
The first are red with pride and wrath, the next are white with pain,
But the third are black with clinkered sin that cannot burn again.
They may hold their path, they may leave their path, with never a soul to mark:
They may burn or freeze, but they must not cease in the Scorn of the Outer Dark.
The Wind that blows between the Worlds, it nipped him to the bone,
And he yearned to the flare of Hell-gate there as the light of his own hearth-stone.
The Devil he sat behind the bars, where the desperate legions drew,
But he caught the hasting Tomlinson and would not let him through.
"Wot ye the price of good pit-coal that I must pay?" said he,
"That ye rank yoursel' so fit for Hell and ask no leave of me?
"I am all o'er-sib to Adam's breed that ye should give me scorn,
"For I strove with God for your First Father the day that he was born.
"Sit down, sit down upon the slag, and answer loud and high
"The harm that ye did to the Sons of Men or ever you came to die."
And Tomlinson looked up and up, and saw against the night
The belly of a tortured star blood-red in Hell-Mouth light;
And Tomlinson looked down and down, and saw beneath his feet
The frontlet of a tortured star milk-white in Hell-Mouth heat.
"O I had a love on earth," said he, "that kissed me to my fall;
"And if ye would call my love to me I know she would answer all."
—"All that ye did in love forbid it shall be written fair,
"But now ye wait at Hell-Mouth Gate and not in Berkeley Square:
"Though we whistled your love from her bed to-night, I trow she would not run,
"For the sin that ye do by two and two ye must pay for one by one!"
The Wind that blows between the Worlds, it cut him like a knife,
And Tomlinson took up the tale and spoke of his sins in life:—
"Once I ha' laughed at the power of Love and twice at the grip of the Grave,
"And thrice I ha' patted my God on the head that men might call me brave."
The Devil he blew on a brandered soul and laid it aside to cool:—
"Do ye think I would waste my good pit-coal on the hide of a brain-sick fool?
"I see no worth in the hobnail mirth or the jolthead jest ye did
"That I should waken my gentlemen that are sleeping three on a grid."
Then Tomlinson looked back and forth, and there was little grace,
For Hell-Gate filled the houseless soul with the Fear of Naked Space.
"Nay, this I ha' heard," quo' Tomlinson, "and this was noised abroad,
"And this I ha' got from a Belgian book on the word of a dead French lord."
—"Ye ha' heard, ye ha' read, ye ha' got, good lack! and the tale begins afresh—
"Have ye sinned one sin for the pride o' the eye or the sinful lust of the flesh?"
Then Tomlinson he gripped the bars and yammered, "Let me in—
"For I mind that I borrowed my neighbour's wife to sin the deadly sin."
The Devil he grinned behind the bars, and banked the fires high:
"Did ye read of that sin in a book?" said he; and Tomlinson said, "Ay!"
The Devil he blew upon his nails, and the little devils ran,
And he said: "Go husk this whimpering thief that comes in the guise of a man:
"Winnow him out 'twixt star and star, and sieve his proper worth:
"There's sore decline in Adam's line if this be spawn of Earth."
Empusa's crew, so naked-new they may not face the fire,
But weep that they bin too small to sin to the height of their desire,
Over the coal they chased the Soul, and racked it all abroad,
As children rifle a caddis-case or the raven's foolish hoard.
And back they came with the tattered Thing, as children after play,
And they said: "The soul that he got from God he has bartered clean away.
"We have threshed a stook of print and book, and winnowed a chattering wind,
"And many a soul wherefrom he stole, but his we cannot find.
"We have handled him, we have dandled him, we have seared him to the bone,
"And, Sire, if tooth and nail show truth he has no soul of his own."
The Devil he bowed his head to his breast and rumbled deep and low:—
"I'm all o'er-sib to Adam's breed that I should bid him go.
"Yet close we lie, and deep we lie, and if I gave him place,
"My gentlemen that are so proud would flout me to my face;
"They'd call my house a common stews and me a careless host,
"And—I would not anger my gentlemen for the sake of a shiftless ghost."
The Devil he looked at the mangled Soul that prayed to feel the flame,
And he thought of Holy Charity, but he thought of his own good name:—
"Now ye could haste my coal to waste, and sit ye down to fry.
"Did ye think of that theft for yourself?" said he; and Tomlinson said, "Ay!"
The Devil he blew an outward breath, for his heart was free from care:—
"Ye have scarce the soul of a louse," he said, "but the roots of sin are there,
"And for that sin should ye come in were I the lord alone,
"But sinful pride has rule inside—ay, mightier than my own.
"Honour and Wit, fore-damned they sit, to each his Priest and Whore;
"Nay, scarce I dare myself go there, and you they'd torture sore.
"Ye are neither spirit nor spirk," he said; "ye are neither book nor brute—
"Go, get ye back to the flesh again for the sake of Man's repute.
"I'm all o'er-sib to Adam's breed that I should mock your pain,
"But look that ye win to a worthier sin ere ye come back again.
"Get hence, the hearse is at your door—the grim black stallions wait—
"They bear your clay to place to-day. Speed, lest ye come too late!
"Go back to Earth with lip unsealed—go back with open eye,
"And carry my word to the Sons of Men or ever ye come to die:
"That the sin they do by two and two they must pay for one by one,
"And . . . the God you took from a printed book be with you, Tomlinson!"

 

[Hereford Eye]

Ah, page 358. As many times as I've been through cover to cover, I did not remember that. Thank you!

 

[Windshadow]

totaly enjoying the rereading if this early Sciencefiction Tale
it was Poul Anderson's first published boo

Amazon.com: Brain Wave eBook : Anderson, Poul: Kindle Store

Brain Wave - Kindle edition by Anderson, Poul. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Brain Wave.

www.amazon.com

From the multiple Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author: “A panoramic story of what happens to a world gone super intelligent” (Astounding Science Fiction).

With “wonderfully logical detail . . . exciting storytelling and moving characterization” (Anthony Boucher), science fiction master Poul Anderson explores what happens when the next stage of evolution is thrust upon humanity and animals. As Earth passes out of a magnetic field that has suppressed intelligence for eons, the mental capacity for all mammals increases exponentially, radically changing the structures of society.

A mentally impaired farm worker finds himself capable of more delicate and intelligent thoughts than he ever dreamed. A young boy on holiday manages to discern the foundations of calculus before breakfast. Animals that were seen as livestock and pets can now communicate clearly with their owners and one another. And an already brilliant physics researcher now uses his boundless intellect to bring humankind to the stars—even as his wife plunges into an existential crisis. For all of them, the world will never be the same . . .