Fuzzies and thoughts on change
I've been rereading H. Beam Piper's Little Fuzzy, Fuzzy Sapiens, and Fuzzies and Other People lately. (I also reread Fuzzy Bones, but that's not germane to this, since it was written a fair bit later.) Mostly I was rereading them because they're comfort fic and I've been very tired of late. But I've been reading them and going, "Huh. Fifty years makes some serious differences in a lot of things." Since I haven't posted much lately, and since I know there are other fans here of both SF and Fuzzy fuzzy Holloway, herewith some comments on books written in the '60s.
On the plus side, I like how positive the books are. The attitude in the books is very much 'this is(are) the problem(s), and we're going to find solution(s).' I like the directions they've gone with science: getting off the planet, ways to have travel that doesn't require roads, and contragravity for handling major lifting issues. I like the existence of the veridicator, a machine that lets everyone in a courtroom knows if they're hearing a true answer, and I like the fact that Piper addressed the problem of belief versus fact.
I adore several of the characters, particularly Judge Pendarvis, who is basically a priest of Law and is explicitly presented as such. He's also a man who's been married for decades and is still deeply in love with his wife.
I adore the Fuzzies and their -- hmm, simplistic isn't entirely incorrect, but straightforward is more the right terms -- their very straightforward viewpoint about 'Nope. Do the right things, help each other, and play every day.' They're presented as almost unflinchingly sane, which is lovely.
Hell, I adore Jack Holloway -- we get a lead character who's in his 70s and 'still hitting what he aims at.' When the constabulary gets called in, they think it's because Jack's had to kill another claim jumper and they refer to pulling a gun on this seventy year old as committing suicide.
And the Fuzzies! Little Fuzzy and Diamond! Baby Fuzzy who upends a court room, and Wise One! It's hard not to adore the Fuzzies. And their language looks fascinating.
On the negative side, and this is where I go, "Oh my god, the differences 50 years makes...."
Environmentally: The implication is that the flyers and other machinery don't run on fossil fuel, but... one of the opening scenes is strip mining for gemstones. Including dumping the material downhill, having to dredge streams, and just never addressing what that does to the ecology. Hell, the whole novel gets set off because the major Corporation drained 500,000 miles of swampland without considering environmental impacts -- and end up with several.
Socially/health wise: Everyone smokes. Everyone drinks at least a few drinks daily -- and there's almost no reference to wine or beer in this. Mostly, the upper class drinks cocktails, unspecified, and hard liquor is implied since sips of the drinks gives the Fuzzies hangovers (and then they never drink cocktails again, because Fuzzies are sensible). There's no public transit, but also no suggestion that they do anything for exercise except, in some cases, go camping/hiking/rock climbing. And usually that's part of their job duties if they do.
Racism/sexism: The vast, vast majority of the characters are white or implied to be. Not all of them, but yeah. (Mind, I could make a good case for Gus Branhard being Arabic or African descent, except for the name...) There's nothing but (implied) heterosexuals as far as the eye can see. As for the sexism.... We have a few professional women -- I'm mostly thinking Dr Ruth Ortheris here and Myra, personal assistant to the head of, essentially, the East India Company. One of the women who does have some serious sway, however,is implied to be a volunteer: Mrs. Pendarvis, who takes over running the Fuzzy adoption agency, and has apparently been a senior adviser to the Juvenile Court. But there's a question of 'how it will look' if she heads the adoption agency, implying that she's been doing the Juvenile work without pay and/or recogntion.
Most of the working women there are shown in clerical jobs until they catch a man and get married. (Sandra, the Fuzzy Sitter in Chief comes to mind here, and all her clerical sisters.) In the two cases where the women do get married, it's assumed their husband's professions take priority. As for the military in this? The Space Navy and Marines have almost no women shown, and they're one of the few places to have any Asian descent characters.
Don't get me wrong. I love the books. I'm still going to reread the books. ::grinning:: But the advantage of where I sit down-Time from these is that I can see some of that. I'm sure in fifty more years there'll be different criticisms (and people still loving Fuzzies and the positive outlook). My other advantage is that I'm a fanfic writer: I'm used to patching this sort of thing. So my brain mutters about 'One sentence here about the improved, modified tobacco that doesn't cause lung cancer and is much less addictive' and 'Hmm, where do we work in the OCs who're non-white, non-straight, maybe even more females in positions of authority getting paid appropriately...?' Hell. If it was me, I'd be putting in vineyards on some of that drained swampland, too!
Funny. I wouldn't have thought I'd want Fuzzy fanfic, but now I do. But first a nap.
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Given the new LJ 'design' decisions, please comment on DW if you can.
On the plus side, I like how positive the books are. The attitude in the books is very much 'this is(are) the problem(s), and we're going to find solution(s).' I like the directions they've gone with science: getting off the planet, ways to have travel that doesn't require roads, and contragravity for handling major lifting issues. I like the existence of the veridicator, a machine that lets everyone in a courtroom knows if they're hearing a true answer, and I like the fact that Piper addressed the problem of belief versus fact.
I adore several of the characters, particularly Judge Pendarvis, who is basically a priest of Law and is explicitly presented as such. He's also a man who's been married for decades and is still deeply in love with his wife.
I adore the Fuzzies and their -- hmm, simplistic isn't entirely incorrect, but straightforward is more the right terms -- their very straightforward viewpoint about 'Nope. Do the right things, help each other, and play every day.' They're presented as almost unflinchingly sane, which is lovely.
Hell, I adore Jack Holloway -- we get a lead character who's in his 70s and 'still hitting what he aims at.' When the constabulary gets called in, they think it's because Jack's had to kill another claim jumper and they refer to pulling a gun on this seventy year old as committing suicide.
And the Fuzzies! Little Fuzzy and Diamond! Baby Fuzzy who upends a court room, and Wise One! It's hard not to adore the Fuzzies. And their language looks fascinating.
On the negative side, and this is where I go, "Oh my god, the differences 50 years makes...."
Environmentally: The implication is that the flyers and other machinery don't run on fossil fuel, but... one of the opening scenes is strip mining for gemstones. Including dumping the material downhill, having to dredge streams, and just never addressing what that does to the ecology. Hell, the whole novel gets set off because the major Corporation drained 500,000 miles of swampland without considering environmental impacts -- and end up with several.
Socially/health wise: Everyone smokes. Everyone drinks at least a few drinks daily -- and there's almost no reference to wine or beer in this. Mostly, the upper class drinks cocktails, unspecified, and hard liquor is implied since sips of the drinks gives the Fuzzies hangovers (and then they never drink cocktails again, because Fuzzies are sensible). There's no public transit, but also no suggestion that they do anything for exercise except, in some cases, go camping/hiking/rock climbing. And usually that's part of their job duties if they do.
Racism/sexism: The vast, vast majority of the characters are white or implied to be. Not all of them, but yeah. (Mind, I could make a good case for Gus Branhard being Arabic or African descent, except for the name...) There's nothing but (implied) heterosexuals as far as the eye can see. As for the sexism.... We have a few professional women -- I'm mostly thinking Dr Ruth Ortheris here and Myra, personal assistant to the head of, essentially, the East India Company. One of the women who does have some serious sway, however,is implied to be a volunteer: Mrs. Pendarvis, who takes over running the Fuzzy adoption agency, and has apparently been a senior adviser to the Juvenile Court. But there's a question of 'how it will look' if she heads the adoption agency, implying that she's been doing the Juvenile work without pay and/or recogntion.
Most of the working women there are shown in clerical jobs until they catch a man and get married. (Sandra, the Fuzzy Sitter in Chief comes to mind here, and all her clerical sisters.) In the two cases where the women do get married, it's assumed their husband's professions take priority. As for the military in this? The Space Navy and Marines have almost no women shown, and they're one of the few places to have any Asian descent characters.
Don't get me wrong. I love the books. I'm still going to reread the books. ::grinning:: But the advantage of where I sit down-Time from these is that I can see some of that. I'm sure in fifty more years there'll be different criticisms (and people still loving Fuzzies and the positive outlook). My other advantage is that I'm a fanfic writer: I'm used to patching this sort of thing. So my brain mutters about 'One sentence here about the improved, modified tobacco that doesn't cause lung cancer and is much less addictive' and 'Hmm, where do we work in the OCs who're non-white, non-straight, maybe even more females in positions of authority getting paid appropriately...?' Hell. If it was me, I'd be putting in vineyards on some of that drained swampland, too!
Funny. I wouldn't have thought I'd want Fuzzy fanfic, but now I do. But first a nap.
Original post on Dreamwidth | Leave a comment on DW | Read
comments on DW
Given the new LJ 'design' decisions, please comment on DW if you can.