Part XXIV: R. F. Jones/J. D. MacDonald/Cortázar/Davies/Ellison/Golding/Sinclair

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Masters of Fantasy: Part XXIV

Most of those here are technically general literary fiction writers who've dabbled in the occasional dip into speculative fiction, whether intentionally or not. Thankfully, those works have been critically acclaimed, so they're worth talking about. Here they are.



ROBERT F. JONES (1934-2002)

Robert F. Jones was a writer for Sports Illustrated and Field & Stream, whose work was labeled "slipstream" by some for the frequent use of fantastic and surrealistic elements. Perhaps the most noted example is Blood Sport, which follows a father-and-son expedition along a mystic river that borders all times and countries, where they must contend with a notorious outlaw who may be immortal; also notable is The Diamond Bogo, in which a hunt is raised for a mysterious cape buffalo with a diamond embedded in its forehead, and a lost race of early humans is discovered.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Jones)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/jones_robert_f)
The New York Times: Archives – Review of Blood Sport (https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/19/archives/blood-sport-a-journey-up-the-hassayampa-by-robert-f-jones-255-pp.html)



JOHN D. MACDONALD (1916-1986)

John D. MacDonald's career was quite surprising, having stumbled into the writing profession almost by accident, when his wife sold his first story while he was in the army. In the midst of a series of menial jobs, he submitted to numerous pulp magazines under several pseudonyms until 1951, and when the paperback market exploded, he made the shift to longer format, becoming one of the most successful crime/thriller writers of his day. His best-known work is the series featuring Florida private investigator Travis McGee, as well as the suspense novel The Executioners, filmed twice (and later retitled) as Cape Fear. He also wrote science fiction stories, the most famous of which is The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything, where a young man inherits a unique pocket watch that contains the ability to stop time and must keep it safe from those who would use it for nefarious purposes. Named a grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America in 1972, MacDonald was ranked by many people, Stephen King among them, as one of the greatest entertainers in the business, a consummate storyteller and a good friend.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._MacDonald)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/macdonald_john_d)
The JDM Homepage (http://jdmhomepage.org/)
Black Gate – John D. MacDonald: A Writer's Writer (https://www.blackgate.com/2014/05/29/john-d-macdonald-a-writers-writer/)
Black Gate – The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: A Century of John D. MacDonald (https://www.blackgate.com/2016/07/25/the-public-life-of-sherlock-holmes-a-century-of-john-d-macdonald/)
CrimeReads – The Wit and Wisdom of John D. MacDonald (https://crimereads.com/the-wit-and-wisdom-of-john-d-macdonald/)
The Thrilling Detective Web Site – Authors & Creators: John D. MacDonald (http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/jdm.html)



JULIO CORTÁZAR (1914-1984)

Born in Belgium, Julio Cortázar would live in Argentina for the first half of his life and in France for the second. Raised on Jules Verne, he would become one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, inspiring generations of writers in both America and Europe. He wrote numerous short stories, many of which were culled from several collections and published in English as Blow-Up and Other Stories; four novels were published during his lifetime – The Winners, Hopscotch, 62: A Model Kit, and A Manual for Manuel. His use of open-ended and non-linear structures, stream of consciousness narrative, and jazz-inspired improvisational techniques have been praised by his fellow native writers, drawn from Surrealist and French Nouveau roman influences.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Cortázar)
Encyclopedia of Fantasy (http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=cortazar_julio)
Encyclopedia Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julio-Cortazar)
The Paris Review – The Art of Fiction, No. 83: Julio Cortázar (https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2955/julio-cortazar-the-art-of-fiction-no-83-julio-cortazar)



ROBERTSON DAVIES (1913-1995)

William Robertson Davies was born surrounded by books in his Ontario home, and he grew up with a love of writing, attending several colleges and later producing his own plays while acting as editor of a local newspaper. Drama may have been his first love, but his greatest successes came from his written fiction, beginning with the Salterton Trilogy (Tempest-Tost, Leaven of Malice, and A Mixture of Frailties), which focused on the cultural life of a small Canadian town. His next work, the Deptford Trilogy (Fifth Business, The Manticore and World of Wonders), would rely on his fascination with Jungian archetypes and a deep love of myth and magic for a significant magical realist saga. The Cornish Trilogy (The Rebel Angels, What's Bred in the Bone, and The Lyre of Orpheus) is a satire of academic life with supernatural overtones, while a projected yet unfinished "Toronto Trilogy" consists of a dead man's life story (Murther and Walking Spirits) and an examination of religious belief through a doctor's relationship with shamanic magic (The Cunning Man). He was one of the most popular and best-known writers in Canada, regarded highly as a "man of letters", a term which he was ambivalent about.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_Davies)
Encyclopedia of Fantasy (http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=davies_robertson)
Conceptual Fiction – Fifth Business (http://www.conceptualfiction.com/fifth_business.html)
Black Gate – The Fantasist Manqué? Robertson Davies and the Deptford Trilogy (https://www.blackgate.com/2013/07/22/the-fantasist-manque-robertson-davies-and-the-deptford-trilogy/)
The Canadian Encyclopedia – Robertson Davies (https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robertson-davies)
The Telegraph – Robertson Davies: Canada's Greatest Novelist? (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/robertson-davies-tribute-to-great-novelist/)
The Paris Review – The Art of Fiction, No. 107: Robertson Davies (https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2441/robertson-davies-the-art-of-fiction-no-107-robertson-davies)
The New York Times: Archives – Robertson Davies, a Novelist of the North (https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/29/books/robertson-davies-a-novelist-of-the-north.html)



HARLAN ELLISON (1934-2018)

Harlan Ellison was one of the most prolific writers in speculative fiction, turning out over 1,700 short stories, novels, screenplays, essays, and other works. During the 1950's, he became a prominent figure in the science fiction fandom, publishing his own fanzines before pursuing a personal writing career; in 1962, he moved to California to write for Hollywood, where one of his most notable works, Star Trek's "The City on the Edge of Forever", became the best-received episode in the show's run. The 1960's also saw some of his best short stories, including such classics as "'Repent Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman", "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream", and "A Boy and His Dog." He was legendary for his combative and temperamental personality, both praised and vilified over the course of his life, receiving numerous awards and some of the highest honors given in multiple fields.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_Ellison)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ellison_harlan)
Ellison Webderland – The Official Home Page (http://www.harlanellison.com/home.htm)
TV Tropes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/HarlanEllison)
Black Gate – Harlan Ellison 1934-2018: Essential and Impossible (https://www.blackgate.com/2018/07/01/harlan-ellison-1934-2018-essential-and-impossible/)
Tor.com – Harlan Ellison Taught Me to Be Interesting (https://www.tor.com/2015/05/27/harlan-ellison-taught-me-how-to-be-interesting/)
Tor.com – Harlan Ellison, Grand Master of Science Fiction & Fantasy, 1934-2018 (https://www.tor.com/2018/06/28/harlan-ellison-1934-2018-obituary/)
The Portalist – The Best of the Best: 10 Must-Read Works by Harlan Ellison (https://theportalist.com/harlan-ellison)
The New York Times – Obituary of Harlan Ellison (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/obituaries/harlan-ellison-intensely-prolific-science-fiction-writer-dies-at-84.html)
Neil Gaiman's Journal – Harlan Ellison (http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2018/06/harlan-ellison.html)
The Guardian – Harlan Ellison: Where to Start Reading (https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2018/jun/29/harlan-ellison-where-to-start-reading)



WILLIAM GOLDING (1911-1993)

Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, Nobel laureate Sir William Gerald Golding is best remembered as the author of Lord of the Flies, the psychological deconstruction of paradise in which a group of boys stranded on a remote island become increasingly savage the longer they remain isolated from civilization; further works such as Free Fall, The Spire, Darkness Visible, and To the Ends of the Earth (Rites of Passage, Close Quarters, and Fire Down Below) consolidated his success. Two of his novels are of interest to fans of speculative fiction. The Inheritors is about the ancient Neanderthals and their eventual overtaking by a newer, more brutal form of humanity, while Pincher Martin is revealed in the end to be the dying thoughts of a drowning sailor as he imagines salvation which will never come. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Golding ranks among the finest of the British postwar writers.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Golding)
Encyclopedia of Fantasy (http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=golding_william)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/golding_william)
Official website (http://www.william-golding.co.uk/)
GradeSaver.com – William Golding (https://www.gradesaver.com/author/william-golding/)
New World Encyclopedia (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/William_Golding)



ANDREW SINCLAIR (1935- )

Andrew Sinclair is one of the founding members of Churchill College, Cambridge, as well as a noted film director, screenwriter, and biographer. His contribution to fantasy is called the Albion Tryptich, a satirical fabulation following a giant man with the words "Gog" and "Magog" tattooed on his hands as he embarks on a surreal journey from Edinburgh to London; three books – Gog, Magog, and King Ludd – make up the sequence. Also of interest is The Raker, in which an obituary writer becomes entangled with a sinister figure obsessed with death.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sinclair)
Encyclopedia of Fantasy (http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=sinclair_andrew)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/sinclair_andrew)



So we reach the end again. I've got at least one more set all planned out now, but in the meantime, you can discuss today's batch either below or in the forum topic, found here: http://www.lostpathway.com/index.php/topic,16.0.html#forum