A review by Bob Tedder •
Do not read this book! Furthermore, do not quaff the Cheval Blanc 1947!
However, do savor them, sip them slowly, let them infuse your senses and pique your imagination, for both are things grown better with age. In the case of “The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith,” the surprise is in the vintage. Much of science fiction, especially mid-20th century science fiction, does not tolerate aging gracefully. Typically such works stemming from the 1950s and ’60s are laced with failed sociological musings and inept technological forecasts long since buried by the inexorable march of modernity. However, in this particular case Cordwainer Smith crafted a vision, loosely styled under the rubric “The Instrumentality of Mankind,” which is so far-reaching as to successfully withstand the erosion of time.
His future history spans a barely fathomable 100,000-plus years and consists of 33 relatively brief short stories. Bound only by threads of humanity, these futuristic fables stand not astride but outside the flow of conventional time.
This review will contain no spoilers, no hints, not even a breath of content. It will, however, allow the reader as oenophile to anticipate the full-bodied flavor of Smith’s vintage chart. Who among the curious can resist sampling wares with labels such as “Golden the Ship Was Oh! Oh! Oh!,” “The Colonel Came Back from the Nothing-at-All,” “Scanners Live in Vain,” “Mother Hitton’s Littul Kittons” and “The Ballad of Lost C’Mell”?
Hence the warning: Do not read this as a book! Choose a short story title that speaks to your reading palette and curl those thumbs up around a nice glass of vintage Smith, sip and savor and glow content with science fiction as you have never seen penned before and will never see written again. As you ponder his inimitable style, take pause and consider the unique and all-too-short life of an author who started life as the godson of Sun Yat-sen (the founding father of the Republic of China) and who now rests in Arlington National Cemetery.
This volume is not available through the Sandhill Regional Library. There is, however, a copy at the Paw.