Comments on: FORGOTTEN BOOKS #160: PAST MASTER By R. A. Lafferty

By: george

george — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:22:59 +0000

That might well be, gwern. But the discursive aspects of the novels cause frustration for readers…like me.

By: gwern

gwern — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:30:45 +0000

The value of the novels lies in part in how they delineate out the full Lafferty world-model and world-view, and the deep mythos which is only ever occultly lurking in the short stories.

By: george

george — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:35:38 +0000

Great story, Jerry! I was in an elevator at a World SF Convention in Toronto with Isaac Asimov and, like you, I was too shy to speak to the Great Man. Now, I wish I did.

By: Jerry House

Jerry House — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:28:25 +0000

I agree that Lafferty was much better in short story form, but PAST MASTER wowed me when it first came out. Later, when I found out that Lafferty was a devout Catholic, parts of the book came together for me.

In the early Seventies I saw Lafferty at a Worldcon. In my memory, he was a little gnome of a man sitting alone on one bench or another throughout the weekend. I was too young and too insecure to strike up a conversation with him although it seemed he was hoping that some fan might recognize him and do so. He was a great talent but there was something sad about him that weekend.

By: george

george — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:27:20 +0000

I had the same reaction to PAST MASTER back in 1968, Steve. In 2012, I had a more muted reaction. Rereading has its consequences.

By: george

george — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:24:56 +0000

The last third of PAST MASTER was a bit of a slog for me, Scott. As Todd Mason pointed out, PAST MASTER is an important book. It was considered New Wave, but Lafferty’s work is part of no real genre. He and his work was completely unique.

By: Steve Lewis

Steve Lewis — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:59:28 +0000

Lafferty is one of my favorite all time SF writers, and PAST MASTER is one of my favorite all time SF novels. Or he was (and it was) back in 1968. It made me sit up straight, truly it did. Both he and the novel are like nothing I’ve ever read before, or since. One of a kind, both!

On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve read the book since then. I wonder what I’d think of it today.

By: Scott Cupp

Scott Cupp — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:23:27 +0000

And the reaasons you cite are precisely why I did not get around to finishing PAST MASTER when I thought of doing it as a Forgotten Book. Very good but taxong and I did not have the time.

By: george

george — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:40:49 +0000

Exactly, Bill! Lafferty’s longer works like PAST MASTER and FOURTH MANSIONS tend to exhaust this reader. I prefer Lafferty in small doses.

By: Bill Crider

Bill Crider — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:10:38 +0000

I read this one sometime in the ’70s in its second printing. I found it an interesting but confusing book. I prefer Lafferty’s short stories, which are often wonderful, to his longer works.