(Tears) Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss

[James Nicoll]

Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss

A New Wave tale of observational recursion,

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

[Don]

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

Thank you for the embedded link to _The Hireling Shepherd_. It's another
example where an artistic image's blatant symbolism clobbers me in the
head with the force of the stupid hammer.
_The Hireling Shepherd_ brings to mind a similar sexual situation in
_Fifth Business_ (Davies). The author, apparently an aficionado of
Shakespeare, kindly defines Fifth Business in his preface. Perhaps you,
in your role of theater staff member, also recognize the phrase, James.

Fifth Business … Definition

Those roles which, being neither those of
Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain,
but which were none the less essential to
bring about the Recognition or the dénouement
were called the Fifth Business in drama
and opera companies organized according
to the old style; the player who acted these
parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.

—Tho. Overskou, Den Danske Skueplads

Here's an excerpt from Davies' speculative stream-of-consciousness story
simulacrum - whose pointless plotlessness makes it merely a wannabe
story despite all of its fine wordmanship. Its anti-Christian narrative
hits me square between the eyes with the stupid hammer.

He shot the beam of his flashlight into the scrub, and in
that bleak, flat light we saw a tramp and a woman in the
act of copulation. The tramp rolled over and gaped at us
in terror; the woman was Mrs Dempster.

It was Hainey who gave a shout, and in no time all the men
were with us, and Jim Warren was pointing a pistol at the
tramp, ordering him to put his hands up. He repeated the
words two or three times, and then Mrs Dempster spoke.

"You'll have to speak very loudly to him, Mr Warren," she
said, "he's hard of hearing."

I don't think any of us knew where to look when she spoke,
pulling her skirts down but remaining on the ground. It was
at that moment that the Reverend Amasa Dempster joined us;
I had not noticed him when the hunt began, though he must
have been there. He behaved with great dignity, leaning
forward to help his wife rise with the same sort of
protective love I had seen in him the night Paul was born.
But he was not able to keep back his question.

"Mary, what made you do it?"

She looked him honestly in the face and gave the answer that
became famous in Deptford: "He was very civil, 'Masa. And he
wanted it so badly."

Danke,

[William Hyde]

Post by Don

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

Thank you for the embedded link to _The Hireling Shepherd_. It's another
example where an artistic image's blatant symbolism clobbers me in the
head with the force of the stupid hammer.
_The Hireling Shepherd_ brings to mind a similar sexual situation in
_Fifth Business_ (Davies). The author, apparently an aficionado of
Shakespeare, kindly defines Fifth Business in his preface. Perhaps you,
in your role of theater staff member, also recognize the phrase, James.
Fifth Business … Definition
Those roles which, being neither those of
Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain,
but which were none the less essential to
bring about the Recognition or the dénouement
were called the Fifth Business in drama
and opera companies organized according
to the old style; the player who acted these
parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.
—Tho. Overskou, Den Danske Skueplads

Davies invented the term, and this quotation.

It's a very fine novel nonetheless. I like it more each time I read it.


William Hyde

[Don]

Post by William Hyde

Post by Don

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

Thank you for the embedded link to _The Hireling Shepherd_. It's another
example where an artistic image's blatant symbolism clobbers me in the
head with the force of the stupid hammer.
_The Hireling Shepherd_ brings to mind a similar sexual situation in
_Fifth Business_ (Davies). The author, apparently an aficionado of
Shakespeare, kindly defines Fifth Business in his preface. Perhaps you,
in your role of theater staff member, also recognize the phrase, James.
Fifth Business … Definition
Those roles which, being neither those of
Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain,
but which were none the less essential to
bring about the Recognition or the dénouement
were called the Fifth Business in drama
and opera companies organized according
to the old style; the player who acted these
parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.
—Tho. Overskou, Den Danske Skueplads

Davies invented the term, and this quotation.
It's a very fine novel nonetheless. I like it more each time I read it.

It was thrown against the wall by me after its Stupidity Hammer hit
readers with hobo homosexual rape fantasies.

Danke,

[Titus G]

Post by Don

Post by William Hyde

Post by Don

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

Thank you for the embedded link to _The Hireling Shepherd_. It's another
example where an artistic image's blatant symbolism clobbers me in the
head with the force of the stupid hammer.
_The Hireling Shepherd_ brings to mind a similar sexual situation in
_Fifth Business_ (Davies). The author, apparently an aficionado of
Shakespeare, kindly defines Fifth Business in his preface. Perhaps you,
in your role of theater staff member, also recognize the phrase, James.
Fifth Business … Definition
Those roles which, being neither those of
Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain,
but which were none the less essential to
bring about the Recognition or the dénouement
were called the Fifth Business in drama
and opera companies organized according
to the old style; the player who acted these
parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.
—Tho. Overskou, Den Danske Skueplads

Davies invented the term, and this quotation.
It's a very fine novel nonetheless. I like it more each time I read it.

It was thrown against the wall by me after its Stupidity Hammer hit
readers with hobo homosexual rape fantasies.
Danke,

The hobo did not commit rape but was a victim of a saint's beneficence.
There was perhaps rape of the youth by the fair worker though it was not
clear whether consent was granted. Minor details.
You have denied yourself a great read. If you haven't done so, I would
recommend you read one of his other trilogies which have nothing in
common with the Deptford IIRC.

[Don]

Post by Titus G

Post by Don

Post by William Hyde

Post by Don

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

Thank you for the embedded link to _The Hireling Shepherd_. It's another
example where an artistic image's blatant symbolism clobbers me in the
head with the force of the stupid hammer.
_The Hireling Shepherd_ brings to mind a similar sexual situation in
_Fifth Business_ (Davies). The author, apparently an aficionado of
Shakespeare, kindly defines Fifth Business in his preface. Perhaps you,
in your role of theater staff member, also recognize the phrase, James.
Fifth Business … Definition
Those roles which, being neither those of
Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain,
but which were none the less essential to
bring about the Recognition or the dénouement
were called the Fifth Business in drama
and opera companies organized according
to the old style; the player who acted these
parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.
—Tho. Overskou, Den Danske Skueplads

Davies invented the term, and this quotation.
It's a very fine novel nonetheless. I like it more each time I read it.

It was thrown against the wall by me after its Stupidity Hammer hit
readers with hobo homosexual rape fantasies.

The hobo did not commit rape but was a victim of a saint's beneficence.
There was perhaps rape of the youth by the fair worker though it was not
clear whether consent was granted. Minor details.
You have denied yourself a great read. If you haven't done so, I would
recommend you read one of his other trilogies which have nothing in
common with the Deptford IIRC.

Allow me to belated thank William for clarifying the origin of the
"Fifth Business." Lesson learned - epigraphs are every bit as
fictional as the rest of the story.
Davies is gifted. He masterfully expresses himself. He excels
at symbolic imagery. Davies even magnanimously hints at how readers
can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps to become polymaths.
(Yeah, right?)

Does it surprise anyone at this point for Davies to now become anti-
grist for my Love-Hate mill?

Davies' Gnostic attitude about all denominations being more-or-less the
same ?snake oil? in different bottles rubs me the wrong way. Then
there's the tacit approval of a false face presented in public, passed
off as virtue.
Here's his hobo homosexual fantasy:

Funny how fierce it gets when the body is ill fed and
ill used. Tramps are sodomites mostly. I was a young
fellow, and it's the young ones and the real old ones
that get used, because they can't fight as well. It's
not kid-glove stuff, like that Englishman went to
prison for; it's enough to kill you, you'd think,
when a gang of tramps set on a young fellow. But it
doesn't, you know. That's how I lost my hearing, most
of it; I resisted a gang, and they beat me over the
ears with my own boots till I couldn't resist any
more. Do you know what they say? "Lots o' booze and
buggery". they say.

For a moment, put yourself into my shoes. According to more than one
reader on the Inet, _Fifth Business_ allegedly contains a Roger Bacon
character.
"Where's Roger Bacon?" my mind ponders when the above passage
gobsmacks me. It's been patiently waiting for Bacon a long time by
this point in the story. And all its patience is rewarded with the above
passage?!?
It finally dawns on me how the Bacon character's a subverted
expectation. An illusory allusion or something.
In the end, there's more than enough evil encountered by me in
real life. There's no need whatsoever for me to fantasize about it.

Danke,

[Dudley Brooks]

Post by Don

Post by Titus G

Post by Don

Post by William Hyde

Post by Don

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

Thank you for the embedded link to _The Hireling Shepherd_. It's another
example where an artistic image's blatant symbolism clobbers me in the
head with the force of the stupid hammer.
_The Hireling Shepherd_ brings to mind a similar sexual situation in
_Fifth Business_ (Davies). The author, apparently an aficionado of
Shakespeare, kindly defines Fifth Business in his preface. Perhaps you,
in your role of theater staff member, also recognize the phrase, James.
Fifth Business … Definition
Those roles which, being neither those of
Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain,
but which were none the less essential to
bring about the Recognition or the dénouement
were called the Fifth Business in drama
and opera companies organized according
to the old style; the player who acted these
parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.
—Tho. Overskou, Den Danske Skueplads

Davies invented the term, and this quotation.
It's a very fine novel nonetheless. I like it more each time I read it.

It was thrown against the wall by me after its Stupidity Hammer hit
readers with hobo homosexual rape fantasies.

The hobo did not commit rape but was a victim of a saint's beneficence.
There was perhaps rape of the youth by the fair worker though it was not
clear whether consent was granted. Minor details.
You have denied yourself a great read. If you haven't done so, I would
recommend you read one of his other trilogies which have nothing in
common with the Deptford IIRC.

Allow me to belated thank William for clarifying the origin of the
"Fifth Business." Lesson learned - epigraphs are every bit as
fictional as the rest of the story.
Davies is gifted. He masterfully expresses himself. He excels
at symbolic imagery. Davies even magnanimously hints at how readers
can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps to become polymaths.
(Yeah, right?)
Does it surprise anyone at this point for Davies to now become anti-
grist for my Love-Hate mill?
Davies' Gnostic attitude about all denominations being more-or-less the
same ?snake oil? in different bottles rubs me the wrong way. Then
there's the tacit approval of a false face presented in public, passed
off as virtue.
Funny how fierce it gets when the body is ill fed and
ill used. Tramps are sodomites mostly. I was a young
fellow, and it's the young ones and the real old ones
that get used, because they can't fight as well. It's
not kid-glove stuff, like that Englishman went to
prison for; it's enough to kill you, you'd think,
when a gang of tramps set on a young fellow. But it
doesn't, you know. That's how I lost my hearing, most
of it; I resisted a gang, and they beat me over the
ears with my own boots till I couldn't resist any
more. Do you know what they say? "Lots o' booze and
buggery". they say.
For a moment, put yourself into my shoes. According to more than one
reader on the Inet, _Fifth Business_ allegedly contains a Roger Bacon
character.
"Where's Roger Bacon?" my mind ponders when the above passage
gobsmacks me. It's been patiently waiting for Bacon a long time by
this point in the story. And all its patience is rewarded with the above
passage?!?
It finally dawns on me how the Bacon character's a subverted
expectation. An illusory allusion or something.
In the end, there's more than enough evil encountered by me in
real life. There's no need whatsoever for me to fantasize about it.

Then I blame the Inet for misinforming you.

The only Roger Bacon reference, as far as I remember after so long, is a
fake Brazen Head used as a theatrical prop in a stage performance by a
professional magician. Why someone on the internet described that (or
even the magician who uses it) as "a Roger Bacon character" mystifies me.

It's one of the few things that *did* bother me in the novel, actually
-- because I don't think any real professional magician would assume
that his audience was sufficiently knowledgeable about the history of
philosophy to get the obscure reference.

I haven't read it in so long that I don't remember -- perhaps the
magician gave a quick verbal intro about it? I've certainly seen many
shows, from magicians to rock bands and everything else, where a spoken
introduction fills the audience in on the bare minimum they need to know.

And perhaps the first-person narrator / letter write *muses* about Roger
Bacon? He is a history professor, after all. But if so, I don't
remember that either. I completely agree with you that there is no
Roger Bacon character -- but, unlike you, I had no misinformed reason to
expect there to be, so I was not disappointed.

[Dudley Brooks]

Post by William Hyde

Post by Don

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

Thank you for the embedded link to _The Hireling Shepherd_. It's another
example where an artistic image's blatant symbolism clobbers me in the
head with the force of the stupid hammer.
     _The Hireling Shepherd_ brings to mind a similar sexual situation in
_Fifth Business_ (Davies). The author, apparently an aficionado of
Shakespeare, kindly defines Fifth Business in his preface. Perhaps you,
in your role of theater staff member, also recognize the phrase, James.
     Fifth Business … Definition
     Those roles which, being neither those of
     Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain,
     but which were none the less essential to
     bring about the Recognition or the dénouement
     were called the Fifth Business in drama
     and opera companies organized according
     to the old style; the player who acted these
     parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.
     —Tho. Overskou, Den Danske Skueplads

Davies invented the term, and this quotation.

I've only read that he admitted to making up the quotation, not the term
itself. I could completely believe that it's a real theatrical or
operatic term -- it makes perfect sense. But I never heard it while
performing with San Francisco Opera Ballet. And I can't find it in the
OED, at least not the online version. So I guess Davies did make it up.
(But I'm going to ask a friend who owns the complete OED to check.)

There's another old theatrical tradition, which I thought had died out
to such an extent that most people would never have heard of it. So I
was surprised how frequently and recently it's been used. I knew of one
use ... and I've used it myself:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Spelvin

[William Hyde]

Post by Dudley Brooks

Post by William Hyde

Post by Don

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

Thank you for the embedded link to _The Hireling Shepherd_. It's another
example where an artistic image's blatant symbolism clobbers me in the
head with the force of the stupid hammer.
     _The Hireling Shepherd_ brings to mind a similar sexual situation in
_Fifth Business_ (Davies). The author, apparently an aficionado of
Shakespeare, kindly defines Fifth Business in his preface. Perhaps you,
in your role of theater staff member, also recognize the phrase, James.
     Fifth Business … Definition
     Those roles which, being neither those of
     Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain,
     but which were none the less essential to
     bring about the Recognition or the dénouement
     were called the Fifth Business in drama
     and opera companies organized according
     to the old style; the player who acted these
     parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.
     —Tho. Overskou, Den Danske Skueplads

Davies invented the term, and this quotation.

I've only read that he admitted to making up the quotation, not the term
itself.  I could completely believe that it's a real theatrical or
operatic term -- it makes perfect sense.  But I never heard it while
performing with San Francisco Opera Ballet.  And I can't find it in the
OED, at least not the online version.  So I guess Davies did make it up.
 (But I'm going to ask a friend who owns the complete OED to check.)

Please do. I know he worked at the Old Vic for some years, and wrote
plays himself before turning to novels. So he might have known the
phrase if it existed, or made it up as it is useful.


William Hyde

[Dudley Brooks]

Post by Dudley Brooks

Post by William Hyde

Post by Don

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

Thank you for the embedded link to _The Hireling Shepherd_. It's another
example where an artistic image's blatant symbolism clobbers me in the
head with the force of the stupid hammer.
     _The Hireling Shepherd_ brings to mind a similar sexual situation in
_Fifth Business_ (Davies). The author, apparently an aficionado of
Shakespeare, kindly defines Fifth Business in his preface. Perhaps you,
in your role of theater staff member, also recognize the phrase, James.
     Fifth Business … Definition
     Those roles which, being neither those of
     Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain,
     but which were none the less essential to
     bring about the Recognition or the dénouement
     were called the Fifth Business in drama
     and opera companies organized according
     to the old style; the player who acted these
     parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.
     —Tho. Overskou, Den Danske Skueplads

Davies invented the term, and this quotation.

I've only read that he admitted to making up the quotation, not the
term itself.  I could completely believe that it's a real theatrical
or operatic term -- it makes perfect sense.  But I never heard it
while performing with San Francisco Opera Ballet.  And I can't find it
in the OED, at least not the online version.  So I guess Davies did
make it up.   (But I'm going to ask a friend who owns the complete OED
to check.)

plays himself before turning to novels.   So he might have known the
phrase if it existed, or made it up as it is useful.

I asked the friend ... and she reminded me that tomorrow I'm actually
visiting her, out of town, and can look it up myself! So I will report
back.

[Dudley Brooks]

<snip - discussion of Robertson Davies's "Fifth Business">

Post by Don
Here's an excerpt from Davies' speculative stream-of-consciousness story
simulacrum - whose pointless plotlessness makes it merely a wannabe
story despite all of its fine wordmanship. Its anti-Christian narrative
hits me square between the eyes with the stupid hammer.
He shot the beam of his flashlight into the scrub, and in
that bleak, flat light we saw a tramp and a woman in the
act of copulation. The tramp rolled over and gaped at us
in terror; the woman was Mrs Dempster.
It was Hainey who gave a shout, and in no time all the men
were with us, and Jim Warren was pointing a pistol at the
tramp, ordering him to put his hands up. He repeated the
words two or three times, and then Mrs Dempster spoke.
"You'll have to speak very loudly to him, Mr Warren," she
said, "he's hard of hearing."
I don't think any of us knew where to look when she spoke,
pulling her skirts down but remaining on the ground. It was
at that moment that the Reverend Amasa Dempster joined us;
I had not noticed him when the hunt began, though he must
have been there. He behaved with great dignity, leaning
forward to help his wife rise with the same sort of
protective love I had seen in him the night Paul was born.
But he was not able to keep back his question.
"Mary, what made you do it?"
She looked him honestly in the face and gave the answer that
became famous in Deptford: "He was very civil, 'Masa. And he
wanted it so badly."

"speculative stream-of-consciousness story simulacrum - whose pointless
plotlessness makes it merely a wannabe story"

The Deptford Trilogy, from which "Fifth Business" comes, is the only
(three) thing(s) by Davies that I've ever read. But I find this
characterization very surprising.

Davies's writing seems to me to be quite conventional old-fashioned
storytelling. Not experimental at all. First-person narrative is not
stream-of-consciousness. I feel the novels have plots:
beginning/middle/end, setup/conflict/resolution, mystery/revelation,
whatever.

"Conventional" and the rest of what I have said above is intended as
neither praise nor condemnation; simply a statement of how it appears to me.

Likewise, this comment is not intended as a conemnation of your
characterization or opinion. The only thing I'm willing to say with
absolute conviction is that "different people read things differently".
But its great difference from my reading did surprise me.

"Its anti-Christian narrative hits me square between the eyes with the
stupid hammer."

Could be. C.S. Lewis's pro-Christian anti-science Space Trilogy
certainly hit me between the eyes with ... well, I'll tone it down a
little and simply say that, as a non-Christian, I found the militancy to
be very offensive.

[Don]

Post by Dudley Brooks
<snip - discussion of Robertson Davies's "Fifth Business">

Post by Don
Here's an excerpt from Davies' speculative stream-of-consciousness story
simulacrum - whose pointless plotlessness makes it merely a wannabe
story despite all of its fine wordmanship. Its anti-Christian narrative
hits me square between the eyes with the stupid hammer.
He shot the beam of his flashlight into the scrub, and in
that bleak, flat light we saw a tramp and a woman in the
act of copulation. The tramp rolled over and gaped at us
in terror; the woman was Mrs Dempster.
It was Hainey who gave a shout, and in no time all the men
were with us, and Jim Warren was pointing a pistol at the
tramp, ordering him to put his hands up. He repeated the
words two or three times, and then Mrs Dempster spoke.
"You'll have to speak very loudly to him, Mr Warren," she
said, "he's hard of hearing."
I don't think any of us knew where to look when she spoke,
pulling her skirts down but remaining on the ground. It was
at that moment that the Reverend Amasa Dempster joined us;
I had not noticed him when the hunt began, though he must
have been there. He behaved with great dignity, leaning
forward to help his wife rise with the same sort of
protective love I had seen in him the night Paul was born.
But he was not able to keep back his question.
"Mary, what made you do it?"
She looked him honestly in the face and gave the answer that
became famous in Deptford: "He was very civil, 'Masa. And he
wanted it so badly."

"speculative stream-of-consciousness story simulacrum - whose pointless
plotlessness makes it merely a wannabe story"
The Deptford Trilogy, from which "Fifth Business" comes, is the only
(three) thing(s) by Davies that I've ever read. But I find this
characterization very surprising.
Davies's writing seems to me to be quite conventional old-fashioned
storytelling. Not experimental at all. First-person narrative is not
beginning/middle/end, setup/conflict/resolution, mystery/revelation,
whatever.
"Conventional" and the rest of what I have said above is intended as
neither praise nor condemnation; simply a statement of how it appears to me.
Likewise, this comment is not intended as a conemnation of your
characterization or opinion. The only thing I'm willing to say with
absolute conviction is that "different people read things differently".
But its great difference from my reading did surprise me.
"Its anti-Christian narrative hits me square between the eyes with the
stupid hammer."
Could be. C.S. Lewis's pro-Christian anti-science Space Trilogy
certainly hit me between the eyes with ... well, I'll tone it down a
little and simply say that, as a non-Christian, I found the militancy to
be very offensive.

Why hold back?

_Fifth Business_ successfully subverted my expectations. (Some unhappy
readers see such an outcome as a win.)
The Inet promised me a Roger Bacon character. But all the story
delivered was prosy stream-of-conciousness punctuated by its Stupidity
Hammer.

Danke,

[Titus G]

Post by Don

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

Thank you for the embedded link to _The Hireling Shepherd_. It's another
example where an artistic image's blatant symbolism clobbers me in the
head with the force of the stupid hammer.
_The Hireling Shepherd_ brings to mind a similar sexual situation in
_Fifth Business_ (Davies). The author, apparently an aficionado of
Shakespeare, kindly defines Fifth Business in his preface. Perhaps you,
in your role of theater staff member, also recognize the phrase, James.
Fifth Business … Definition
Those roles which, being neither those of
Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain,
but which were none the less essential to
bring about the Recognition or the dénouement
were called the Fifth Business in drama
and opera companies organized according
to the old style; the player who acted these
parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.
—Tho. Overskou, Den Danske Skueplads
Here's an excerpt from Davies' speculative stream-of-consciousness story
simulacrum

Which omits St Dempster's relevant background and history.

- whose pointless plotlessness makes it merely a wannabe

Post by Don
story

Refuted elsewhere in thread.

despite all of its fine wordmanship.

Yes, he is just amazing.

Its anti-Christian narrative

Post by Don
hits me square between the eyes with the stupid hammer.

I don't know what you mean there. The book states clearly that there is
nothing inherently moral about Christianity. In the passage you quoted,
who behaved like a Christian, Mrs Dempster or her husband?

[Robert Woodward]

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

I remember reading _Report on Probability A_; only thing I remember
about it was that I didn't understand it at all.

[Michael F. Stemper]

Post by Robert Woodward

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

I remember reading _Report on Probability A_; only thing I remember
about it was that I didn't understand it at all.

I didn't even understand James' summary at the beginning of his
review. I think that I'll give the original a miss.

[Cryptoengineer]

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

I read this as a teenager, and regard it fondly. Probably one
of the first pieces of experimental literature I encountered.

pt

[William Hyde]

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

That is an extremely accurate review of a book that is not easy to review.

I do not love the book with quite the fervor that a one-time poster here
did, but I do like it and your review should serve as a good indicator
for those thinking of giving it a try.

As a child, of course, I missed the point entirely. As I did with much
of his stuff, even the more conventional "The Dark Light Years", where I
had much less excuse.


William Hyde

[John Savard]

Post by James Nicoll
Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss
A New Wave tale of observational recursion,
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/a-straight-a-student

From your description of the book, it sounds as if it was rightly
rejected, as Aldiss should have considered it unfinished.

Of course, some authors could take such a work and "finish" it in a
disastrous way, by appending some contrived potboiler plot to give it
a conventional narrative structure.

That's doing it the wrong way, of course. But the book should have
built on the setup it created with a plot worthy of the setting, one
that would further explore the implications of parallel universes
which can observe each other in one direction.

John Savard