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The Darfsteller and Other Stories
This is one part of
The Best of Walter M. Miller, Jr.
. The other part appears in
Conditionally Human and Other Stories
.
Contents:
- The Darfsteller (1955)
- The Will (1954)
- Vengeance for Nikolai (1957, variant of The Song of Marya)
- Crucifixus Etiam (1953)
- I, Dreamer (1953)
- The Lineman (1957)
- Big Joe and the Nth Generation (1952, variant of It Takes a Thief)
- You Triflin' Skunk! (1955, variant of The Triflin' Man)
Cover illustration by Peter Andrew Jones
Contents:
- The Darfsteller (1955)
- The Will (1954)
- Vengeance for Nikolai (1957, variant of The Song of Marya)
- Crucifixus Etiam (1953)
- I, Dreamer (1953)
- The Lineman (1957)
- Big Joe and the Nth Generation (1952, variant of It Takes a Thief)
- You Triflin' Skunk! (1955, variant of The Triflin' Man)
Cover illustration by Peter Andrew Jones
223 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1980
1 person is currently reading
202 people want to read
About the author
Walter M. Miller Jr.
154 books994 followersFrom the Wikipedia article, "Walter M. Miller, Jr.":
Miller was born in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Educated at the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas, he worked as an engineer. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps as a radioman and tail gunner, flying more than fifty bombing missions over Italy. He took part in the bombing of the Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino, which proved a traumatic experience for him. Joe Haldeman reported that Miller "had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for 30 years before it had a name".
After the war, Miller converted to Catholicism. He married Anna Louise Becker in 1945, and they had four children. For several months in 1953 he lived with science-fiction writer Judith Merril, ex-wife of Frederik Pohl and a noted science-fiction author in her own right.
Between 1951 and 1957, Miller published over three dozen science fiction short stories, winning a Hugo Award in 1955 for the story "The Darfsteller". He also wrote scripts for the television show Captain Video in 1953. Late in the 1950s, Miller assembled a novel from three closely related novellas he had published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1955, 1956, and 1957. The novel, entitled A Canticle for Leibowitz, was published in 1959.
A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic (post-holocaust) novel revolving around the canonisation of Saint Leibowitz and is considered a masterpiece of the genre. It won the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The novel is also a powerful meditation on the cycles of world history and Roman Catholicism as a force of stability during history's dark times.
After the success of A Canticle for Leibowitz, Miller never published another new novel or story in his lifetime, although several compilations of Miller's earlier stories were issued in the 1960s and 1970s.
In Miller's later years, he became a recluse, avoiding contact with nearly everyone, including family members; he never allowed his literary agent, Don Congdon, to meet him. According to science fiction writer Terry Bisson, Miller struggled with depression during his later years, but had managed to nearly complete a 600-page manuscript for the sequel to Canticle before taking his own life with a gun in January 1996, shortly after his wife's death. The sequel, titled Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman, was completed by Bisson and published in 1997.
Miller was born in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Educated at the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas, he worked as an engineer. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps as a radioman and tail gunner, flying more than fifty bombing missions over Italy. He took part in the bombing of the Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino, which proved a traumatic experience for him. Joe Haldeman reported that Miller "had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for 30 years before it had a name".
After the war, Miller converted to Catholicism. He married Anna Louise Becker in 1945, and they had four children. For several months in 1953 he lived with science-fiction writer Judith Merril, ex-wife of Frederik Pohl and a noted science-fiction author in her own right.
Between 1951 and 1957, Miller published over three dozen science fiction short stories, winning a Hugo Award in 1955 for the story "The Darfsteller". He also wrote scripts for the television show Captain Video in 1953. Late in the 1950s, Miller assembled a novel from three closely related novellas he had published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1955, 1956, and 1957. The novel, entitled A Canticle for Leibowitz, was published in 1959.
A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic (post-holocaust) novel revolving around the canonisation of Saint Leibowitz and is considered a masterpiece of the genre. It won the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The novel is also a powerful meditation on the cycles of world history and Roman Catholicism as a force of stability during history's dark times.
After the success of A Canticle for Leibowitz, Miller never published another new novel or story in his lifetime, although several compilations of Miller's earlier stories were issued in the 1960s and 1970s.
In Miller's later years, he became a recluse, avoiding contact with nearly everyone, including family members; he never allowed his literary agent, Don Congdon, to meet him. According to science fiction writer Terry Bisson, Miller struggled with depression during his later years, but had managed to nearly complete a 600-page manuscript for the sequel to Canticle before taking his own life with a gun in January 1996, shortly after his wife's death. The sequel, titled Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman, was completed by Bisson and published in 1997.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
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June 17, 2018Read the title story in another anthology, said this about it there:
A novelette that is brilliant, enchanting, literary, engaging, and very much ahead of its time. It's not even sexist, as we're led to expect that all fiction from the era is. Why have none of the other anthologies that I've read reprinted this short novel, by author of the well-known and deservedly lauded A Canticle for Leibowitz?! Don't be put off by the title. If you've ever felt pressured by the pace of technological advances, if you have any interest in the performing arts, if you've ever had a demeaning job, if you've ever loved & lost... read this story!
Darfsteller is an unfortunate title. But at least the story is a bit easier than A Canticle for Leibowitz. And it gives us a lot to think about, including a main character who is not heroic, not even all that likable. I want to read other shorter works by the author!
A novelette that is brilliant, enchanting, literary, engaging, and very much ahead of its time. It's not even sexist, as we're led to expect that all fiction from the era is. Why have none of the other anthologies that I've read reprinted this short novel, by author of the well-known and deservedly lauded A Canticle for Leibowitz?! Don't be put off by the title. If you've ever felt pressured by the pace of technological advances, if you have any interest in the performing arts, if you've ever had a demeaning job, if you've ever loved & lost... read this story!
Darfsteller is an unfortunate title. But at least the story is a bit easier than A Canticle for Leibowitz. And it gives us a lot to think about, including a main character who is not heroic, not even all that likable. I want to read other shorter works by the author!
July 20, 2016
Ο Γουόλτερ Μ. Μίλερ έγινε γνωστός στον χώρο της λογοτεχνίας, χάρη στο "A Canticle for Leibowitz", που είναι ένα από τα πιο πολυδιαβασμένα και κλασικά μυθιστορήματα επιστημονικής φαντασίας που κυκλοφόρησαν ποτέ. Το συγκεκριμένο μυθιστόρημα έχει βραβευτεί με το Hugo το 1961 και ανήκει στις διάφορες λίστες με τα καλύτερα βιβλία του είδους. Δυστυχώς, όμως, στην Ελλάδα κανένας εκδότης δεν φιλοτιμήθηκε να το βγάλει, κάτι εντελώς ακατανόητο και ανεξήγητο. Παρ'όλα αυτά, κυκλοφόρησε μια νουβέλα του, που κέρδισε και αυτή το βραβείο Hugo, το 1955.
Βρισκόμαστε στο μέλλον (του βιβλίου, όχι το δικό μας), όπου οι ηθοποιοί των θεάτρων έχουν αντικατασταθεί από ρομπότ-ομοιώματα τους. Σκηνοθέτης και καθοδηγητής, είναι ένας ηλεκτρονικός υπολογιστής. Τεχνικά τα ρομπότ αυτά είναι τέλεια, αλλά τους λείπει το συναίσθημα, το πάθος, η τέχνη. Ένας πρώην ηθοποιός και νυν επιστάτης θεάτρου, αηδιασμένος από την ζωή του και από την κατάσταση στα θέατρα, θα δημιουργήσει κάποιες καταστάσεις, ώστε να ξαναπαίξει μπροστά στο κοινό, ίσως στην τελευταία παράσταση της ζωής του.
Απλή αλλά ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία, καλογραμμένη και ευκολοδιάβαστη, με φιλοσοφική διάθεση απέναντι σε κάποια πράγματα. Ναι μεν τα στοιχεία της επιστημονικής φαντασίας υπάρχουν στην νουβέλα, με τα ρομπότ, τον σκηνοθέτη-ηλεκτρονικό υπολογιστή και όλα αυτά, όμως περισσότερο από κάθε τι άλλο η ιστορία αξίζει να διαβαστεί για τα κοινωνικά μηνύματα που περνάει. Η γραφή είναι πολύ καλή και ξεκούραστη, με συναίσθημα και χιούμορ στα σημεία που χρειάζονταν. Ο βασικός χαρακτήρας μου φάνηκε ενδιαφέρων και σίγουρα συμπαθητικός. Πολύ καλή νουβέλα, αξίζει μια ματιά. Αλλά μην περιμένετε επιστημονική φαντασία με πίου πίου, απίστευτα τεχνολογικά επιτεύγματα και τέτοια.
Βρισκόμαστε στο μέλλον (του βιβλίου, όχι το δικό μας), όπου οι ηθοποιοί των θεάτρων έχουν αντικατασταθεί από ρομπότ-ομοιώματα τους. Σκηνοθέτης και καθοδηγητής, είναι ένας ηλεκτρονικός υπολογιστής. Τεχνικά τα ρομπότ αυτά είναι τέλεια, αλλά τους λείπει το συναίσθημα, το πάθος, η τέχνη. Ένας πρώην ηθοποιός και νυν επιστάτης θεάτρου, αηδιασμένος από την ζωή του και από την κατάσταση στα θέατρα, θα δημιουργήσει κάποιες καταστάσεις, ώστε να ξαναπαίξει μπροστά στο κοινό, ίσως στην τελευταία παράσταση της ζωής του.
Απλή αλλά ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία, καλογραμμένη και ευκολοδιάβαστη, με φιλοσοφική διάθεση απέναντι σε κάποια πράγματα. Ναι μεν τα στοιχεία της επιστημονικής φαντασίας υπάρχουν στην νουβέλα, με τα ρομπότ, τον σκηνοθέτη-ηλεκτρονικό υπολογιστή και όλα αυτά, όμως περισσότερο από κάθε τι άλλο η ιστορία αξίζει να διαβαστεί για τα κοινωνικά μηνύματα που περνάει. Η γραφή είναι πολύ καλή και ξεκούραστη, με συναίσθημα και χιούμορ στα σημεία που χρειάζονταν. Ο βασικός χαρακτήρας μου φάνηκε ενδιαφέρων και σίγουρα συμπαθητικός. Πολύ καλή νουβέλα, αξίζει μια ματιά. Αλλά μην περιμένετε επιστημονική φαντασία με πίου πίου, απίστευτα τεχνολογικά επιτεύγματα και τέτοια.
December 8, 2025
Must have been a slow year if Darfsteller won a Hugo award.
Stick to reading "A canticle for Leibowitz"
Stick to reading "A canticle for Leibowitz"
October 5, 2014
He shook his head. 'This play, Jade —"The Anarch," well—' He glanced miserably toward the stage.
Memory struck her suddenly. She breathed a compassionate ummm. 'The attempted revival, ten years ago — you were to be Andreyev. Oh, Thorny, I'd forgotten.'
'It's all right.' He wore a carefully tailored martyr's smile.
I have read this short story collection at least twice before, and remembered all the stories except one quite well.
The Darfsteller
Theatre is no longer performed by actors, but by mannequins known as dolls, each modelled on a real actor and loaded with a tape containing a copy of that actor's personality. Formerly a well-known actor, Ryan Thornier has never come to terms with the new status quo, and works as a janitor at a theatre.
Each time I read this story I like the protagonist less. I started off feeling sympathetic towards Ryan Thornier, but he is milking it and deliberately making his old friends feel bad about the decisions they made. And he is a hypocrite; he pretends to have refused to sell his likeness as a matter of principal, but is well aware that as a darfsteller (i.e. a method actor), his talents could not have been replicated in a doll.
The Will
I love this one, which always makes me cry.
Vengeance for Nikolai
This is the one I find unmemorable. This tale of wartime revenge only rang the faintest of bells with me even when I got to the end.
Crucifixus Etiam
A memorable, sad tale of the martyrdom of labourers working on the terraforming of Mars. In this case the protagonist comes to terms with his fate, rather than wallowing it like Thorny.
I, Dreamer
One of my least favourites, as it is too predictable.
The Lineman
Women have been banished from Luna after the first children born there die due to the effects of the low gravity, and the men's discontent with the situation is building up to dangerous levels. How will the arrival of a spaceship full of whores change things?
Big Joe and the Nth Generation
I really like this one, which is set on Mars hundreds of years after the colonists have lost contact with Earth, regressed to a simpler lifestyle and forgotten the scientific and technological knowledge of their ancestors, who luckily foresaw that this would happen.
You Triflin' Skunk!
A woman who bore a stranger's child, awaits his return with grim determination when she realises that he is coming back for his child. This is an effective story, but I'm not fond of it.
Memory struck her suddenly. She breathed a compassionate ummm. 'The attempted revival, ten years ago — you were to be Andreyev. Oh, Thorny, I'd forgotten.'
'It's all right.' He wore a carefully tailored martyr's smile.
I have read this short story collection at least twice before, and remembered all the stories except one quite well.
The Darfsteller
Theatre is no longer performed by actors, but by mannequins known as dolls, each modelled on a real actor and loaded with a tape containing a copy of that actor's personality. Formerly a well-known actor, Ryan Thornier has never come to terms with the new status quo, and works as a janitor at a theatre.
Each time I read this story I like the protagonist less. I started off feeling sympathetic towards Ryan Thornier, but he is milking it and deliberately making his old friends feel bad about the decisions they made. And he is a hypocrite; he pretends to have refused to sell his likeness as a matter of principal, but is well aware that as a darfsteller (i.e. a method actor), his talents could not have been replicated in a doll.
The Will
I love this one, which always makes me cry.
Vengeance for Nikolai
This is the one I find unmemorable. This tale of wartime revenge only rang the faintest of bells with me even when I got to the end.
Crucifixus Etiam
A memorable, sad tale of the martyrdom of labourers working on the terraforming of Mars. In this case the protagonist comes to terms with his fate, rather than wallowing it like Thorny.
I, Dreamer
One of my least favourites, as it is too predictable.
The Lineman
Women have been banished from Luna after the first children born there die due to the effects of the low gravity, and the men's discontent with the situation is building up to dangerous levels. How will the arrival of a spaceship full of whores change things?
Big Joe and the Nth Generation
I really like this one, which is set on Mars hundreds of years after the colonists have lost contact with Earth, regressed to a simpler lifestyle and forgotten the scientific and technological knowledge of their ancestors, who luckily foresaw that this would happen.
You Triflin' Skunk!
A woman who bore a stranger's child, awaits his return with grim determination when she realises that he is coming back for his child. This is an effective story, but I'm not fond of it.
August 15, 2024
The Darfsteller and Other Stories by Walter M. Miller Jr.
A short collection of stories that mostly missed their mark for me.
The Darfsteller- An old actor pushes back against automation of theatre by sabotaging one of the actor mannequins and taking its place.
The Will- A child dying of leukemia bets it all on future time travellers.
Vengeance for Nikolai- A woman agrees to a military suicide mission to avenge her husband and baby's deaths by having her breast milk poisoned and sent to seduce an American general
Crucifixus Etiam- Working class people helping to terraform Mars while ruining their lungs and being told its a noble sacrifice.
I, Dreamer- A baby is kidnapped and it's brain put into an experimental Spaceship. This one was okay.
The Lineman- A men only lunar workforce is interrupted by a visiting brothel.
Big Joe and the nth Generation- Decendants of Martian colonists have to relearn knowledge from their ancestors to renew their atmosphere while trying to avoid being killed by a deadly protective robot. This one was also okay.
You Triflin' Skunk- In the backwaters of rural America lives a woman and her son who claims to be half human and speaks to his alien father to help an invasion force.
A short collection of stories that mostly missed their mark for me.
The Darfsteller- An old actor pushes back against automation of theatre by sabotaging one of the actor mannequins and taking its place.
The Will- A child dying of leukemia bets it all on future time travellers.
Vengeance for Nikolai- A woman agrees to a military suicide mission to avenge her husband and baby's deaths by having her breast milk poisoned and sent to seduce an American general
Crucifixus Etiam- Working class people helping to terraform Mars while ruining their lungs and being told its a noble sacrifice.
I, Dreamer- A baby is kidnapped and it's brain put into an experimental Spaceship. This one was okay.
The Lineman- A men only lunar workforce is interrupted by a visiting brothel.
Big Joe and the nth Generation- Decendants of Martian colonists have to relearn knowledge from their ancestors to renew their atmosphere while trying to avoid being killed by a deadly protective robot. This one was also okay.
You Triflin' Skunk- In the backwaters of rural America lives a woman and her son who claims to be half human and speaks to his alien father to help an invasion force.
November 7, 2018
Непривычная НФ, старомодно написанная и перед глазами тоже проносится как старое кино. И если это лауреат короткого рассказа, то что же было написано в 1955 еще хуже?
December 21, 2018
Darfsteller story only
Read
September 22, 2021Read only "The Darfsteller".
October 22, 2025
I've only read "The Darfsteller"-- it's what I came for, based on Jo Walton's recommendation in her History of the Hugos. It was the 1955 Hugo Award winner for best short story. Really good.
February 21, 2026
Very relevant for today's ai in acting conversations.
March 5, 2017
note: only read The Darfsteller
May 16, 2022
Σπάνιο διαμάντι, δεν ξέρω καν αν κυκλοφορεί πλέον, αξίζει την προσοχή σας.
Ευτυχώς τη δεκαετία του '90 υπήρχαν και "μικροί" εκδοτικοί οίκοι που εξέδιδαν βιβλία κόντρα στο ρεύμα της ξεβλαχεμένης από τον Κωστόπουλο Ελλάδας.
Ευτυχώς τη δεκαετία του '90 υπήρχαν και "μικροί" εκδοτικοί οίκοι που εξέδιδαν βιβλία κόντρα στο ρεύμα της ξεβλαχεμένης από τον Κωστόπουλο Ελλάδας.
June 9, 2015
Wonderful story written in 1955 about an actor who rebels against automation of the theatre.
August 28, 2015
Το μπλέξιμο ανάμεσα στο θεατρικό και την πραγματικότητα ήταν απολαυστικό. Ο χαρακτήρας του ξεπεσμένου ηθοποιού μοναδικός. Νταρστέλλερ = ο ηθοποιός που βιώνει, δεν υποδύεται απλά το ρόλο.
September 18, 2015
Darfsteller
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews