In my fylutile hunt for "Black Easter" in my garage I came across a couple of copies of "A Case for Concious". I knew "Black Easter" dealt with religion in the future but good to know he did others.
I noted that the evolution of the Lithia are very similar to the evolution of creatures in Edgar Rice Burroughs Caspak trilogy. Michael Moorcock will pick up on the theme of societal stagnation causing psychosis in such works as "The Deep Six" and his Jherek Cornelius books.
So another one to pull off the shelves and move to the TBR pile.
I am glad you reviewed this, it is one of my favorites and does not receive sufficient attention.
I am also glad you found it upsetting and off-putting, that means it worked. As you know Blish was Catholic. His religion is I think subtly present in all his work, but here and in the other two books of the trilogy (Dr. Mirabilis and Black Easter) he deals with religion directly. I think Blish means for the secular rationalist SF reader to be absorbed by the world view of Father Ruiz and seriously consider - maybe he’s right. Maybe the Lithians are a trick of the Devil, and maybe the destruction of the planet and the exorcism are inextricably linked. Maybe the positive effect on society is another example of God turning the Devil’s work to the good. These are not comfortable concepts, particularly for a modern rationalist, so if you are upset and put off it might mean that your world view has been challenged. How you respond to that challenge is not the point, the point is that you have to deal with it.
Full disclosure, I am a Catholic and a rationalist SF reader and I don’t know how to ultimately resolve this book, I’m just glad he wrote it.
Thanks for your comment on the review. I know I have some Catholic readers and I wanted to treat this one both honestly and respectfully. I did not realize Blish was Catholic. In the introduction, he avows to be an agnostic but this book makes me feel like he never got very faraway from the Church.
While I can’t beat the secular rationalist SF reader accusations—though I probably prefer ‘secular humanist’ as a label—I always thought of the Catholic Church as a science-friendly institution with intellectual heft. It was a Catholic medical doctor who turned me on to Olaf Stapledon. And another novel I like is A Canticle for Leibowitz. Indeed, I just bought Mom a copy of it for her birthday.
I have a parochial Methodist background. While my family taught me theistic evolution, our church was awash in the culture wars around creationism that raged during the 1990s and 2000s—and that I suspect will rage again. That impacted my reading of this novel and I probably would have been more simpatico to Ruiz Sanchez’s theology if this weren’t part of my personal history.
Well, I have good news and bad news. I am sure I recall that Blish was a (lapsed) Catholic. It surprised me you didn’t know that, so I went back and looked for evidence to support my recollection. I still think I’m right but unfortunately can’t prove it, so may be you don’t remember it because it isn’t true. On the other hand, I found out Blish was born in East Orange, which is one town over from me so that’s nice.
Also coincidentally I was raised Methodist but converted when I was 50. The culture wars did not dominate public discourse when I was growing up because I am really old, we worried about Vietnam.
Alan: your candor, straightforwardness, and respect; William: your empathy, incisive understanding of people, your humanistic impulse and quiet strength.
I too grew up in the creationist culture wars. My father was a die hard 6 day 6000 years fundamentalist. The church that raised me saw any other view as a damnable heresy. I was homeschooled primarily because my parents feared the public school and its teaching of Darwin.
I say all this not to bemoan, but to say I too know how hard it can be to treat the issue with objectivity once you’ve emerged as a thinking, feeling individual with your own opinions and thoughts.
It warmed my heart to see a conversation like this- one that could have resulted in an angry flame war, but instead ended in two people speaking their piece, (largely) leaving room for the other, and maintaining respect.
What a wonderful comment thread, but I’d expect no less from William’s publication.
In my fylutile hunt for "Black Easter" in my garage I came across a couple of copies of "A Case for Concious". I knew "Black Easter" dealt with religion in the future but good to know he did others.
I noted that the evolution of the Lithia are very similar to the evolution of creatures in Edgar Rice Burroughs Caspak trilogy. Michael Moorcock will pick up on the theme of societal stagnation causing psychosis in such works as "The Deep Six" and his Jherek Cornelius books.
So another one to pull off the shelves and move to the TBR pile.
I am glad you reviewed this, it is one of my favorites and does not receive sufficient attention.
I am also glad you found it upsetting and off-putting, that means it worked. As you know Blish was Catholic. His religion is I think subtly present in all his work, but here and in the other two books of the trilogy (Dr. Mirabilis and Black Easter) he deals with religion directly. I think Blish means for the secular rationalist SF reader to be absorbed by the world view of Father Ruiz and seriously consider - maybe he’s right. Maybe the Lithians are a trick of the Devil, and maybe the destruction of the planet and the exorcism are inextricably linked. Maybe the positive effect on society is another example of God turning the Devil’s work to the good. These are not comfortable concepts, particularly for a modern rationalist, so if you are upset and put off it might mean that your world view has been challenged. How you respond to that challenge is not the point, the point is that you have to deal with it.
Full disclosure, I am a Catholic and a rationalist SF reader and I don’t know how to ultimately resolve this book, I’m just glad he wrote it.
Thanks again.
Thanks for your comment on the review. I know I have some Catholic readers and I wanted to treat this one both honestly and respectfully. I did not realize Blish was Catholic. In the introduction, he avows to be an agnostic but this book makes me feel like he never got very faraway from the Church.
While I can’t beat the secular rationalist SF reader accusations—though I probably prefer ‘secular humanist’ as a label—I always thought of the Catholic Church as a science-friendly institution with intellectual heft. It was a Catholic medical doctor who turned me on to Olaf Stapledon. And another novel I like is A Canticle for Leibowitz. Indeed, I just bought Mom a copy of it for her birthday.
I have a parochial Methodist background. While my family taught me theistic evolution, our church was awash in the culture wars around creationism that raged during the 1990s and 2000s—and that I suspect will rage again. That impacted my reading of this novel and I probably would have been more simpatico to Ruiz Sanchez’s theology if this weren’t part of my personal history.
Well, I have good news and bad news. I am sure I recall that Blish was a (lapsed) Catholic. It surprised me you didn’t know that, so I went back and looked for evidence to support my recollection. I still think I’m right but unfortunately can’t prove it, so may be you don’t remember it because it isn’t true. On the other hand, I found out Blish was born in East Orange, which is one town over from me so that’s nice.
Also coincidentally I was raised Methodist but converted when I was 50. The culture wars did not dominate public discourse when I was growing up because I am really old, we worried about Vietnam.
Thanks again
Alan: your candor, straightforwardness, and respect; William: your empathy, incisive understanding of people, your humanistic impulse and quiet strength.
I too grew up in the creationist culture wars. My father was a die hard 6 day 6000 years fundamentalist. The church that raised me saw any other view as a damnable heresy. I was homeschooled primarily because my parents feared the public school and its teaching of Darwin.
I say all this not to bemoan, but to say I too know how hard it can be to treat the issue with objectivity once you’ve emerged as a thinking, feeling individual with your own opinions and thoughts.
It warmed my heart to see a conversation like this- one that could have resulted in an angry flame war, but instead ended in two people speaking their piece, (largely) leaving room for the other, and maintaining respect.
What a wonderful comment thread, but I’d expect no less from William’s publication.
Ed was an amazing artist. A pioneer