To Here and the Easel

by Theodore Sturgeon

UK ed. UK Sturgeon collection of six excellent science fiction stories.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

255 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Theodore Sturgeon (1918–1985) is considered one of the godfathers of contemporary science fiction and dark fantasy. The author of numerous acclaimed short stories and novels, among them the classics More Than Human, Venus Plus X, and To Marry Medusa, Sturgeon also wrote for television and holds among his credits two episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, for which he created the Vulcan mating ritual and the expression "Live long and prosper." He is also credited as the inspiration for Kurt Vonnegut's recurring fictional character Kilgore Trout.

Sturgeon is the recipient of the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the International Fantasy Award. In 2000, he was posthumously honored with a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

Reviews

[Cheryl]

Can't rate, because title novelette doesn't quite work for me, most of the others are weird and creepy, but....

But "The Graveyard Reader" is poignant and beautiful and smart... but it's not really SF.

Moreover, The Perfect Host is brilliant and clever and has some gorgeously poetic passages and some shudders... but... I wasn't sufficiently impressed by the ending....

But I do highly recommend those two stories, at least.

And I gotta tell you, you know how lots of people don't like stories told from several points of view? And maybe you know how I didn't care for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society because I couldn't tell one 'voice' (or PoV) from another? Well, "The Perfect Host" (seemingly) effortlessly, gracefully, movingly, has different voices for all the different characters... all of whom are real, not cardboard stereotypes.... all in just one 55p story.

[Johan Haneveld]

Theodore Sturgeon is one of the authors from the golden age of science fiction. The stories here are from the forties and fifties, smack dab in the middle of the golden age. But that doesn't mean he writes the same 'classic SF' as Asimov, Clarke or Heinlein did. Firstly his interests are broader than that. Only two of the stories here are pure SF, the others are more akin to fantasy or horror. He wants to encompass the whole breadth of the speculative genre. Mind you, in those days the barriers between the genres were not as narrowly defined as they are now, but even in his SF he seems to use his technological novum in just the same way as the magical in his other stories, more interested in how it has unsuspected effects on those using it without realising how it works, than in the phyical underpinnings of it. Secondly, he has a more literary writing style. He's not dry, but uses beautiful metaphors, snappy dialogues and genuine character insights in his stories. In this he is one of the frontrunners for the 'new wave'. His story 'The perfect host' is written from several perspectives: a fourteen year old boy, a nurse, a widower and they all have different views of the world, different voices, different descriptions. This is no hackwork. I found myself enjoying Sturgeons way with words. He is also literary grounded, knowing his classics and alluding to them in his own work, e.g. in the opening story 'To here and the easel' in which the protagonist finds himself experiencing the life of someone else, and his two lives reflect each other. Maybe this story started out a little obtuse, and went on a bit too long, but I thought it came together well at the end. The first Sf-story 'The skills of Xanadu' I had read long ago in a collection, but I enjoyed it very much. The best story of this collection, I thought. A traveler from a warlike society thinks he has landed on a primitive world, but it has some surprises in store for him. I liked the description of culture shock going on here, the vivid way the world and the way of life of the people therein was described and the end. 'There is no defenc' is clearly written in a time of nuclear anxiety, as it is about the people of the solar system debating if they should use the ultimate weapon against an invader from another star. Intrigueingly enough there is a pacifist that has to go with the soldiers to prevent the weapon from being used too easily. I thought the conflict was built up nicely. And the reveal about the invader is chilling. 'The perfect host' is experimental, the author even including himself in this story told from several perspectives. It magages to leave a chill as in it's final pages something else adresses the reader. But what impresses most is the insight in human psychology Sturgeon shows. 'The graveyard reader' was a beautiful story, making a good point. The last story 'Shottle Bop' is a ghost story with some humour in it, written with tongue firmly in cheek and ending in a bitter chuckle. I must say I enjoyed reading this collection, that shows that the 'golden age of SF' was not pure 'Campbellian' scifi, but also contained gems like these stories.

[Mick]

I keep reading Sturgeon, to see why others regard him so highly. I am pretty sure that at some point I will read one of his novels or short story collections and think it was great.
But this is not the one. Some of the stories were fairly enjoyable, “Shottle Bop” provided some mild amusement, but suffered from the usual moralizing. “The Perfect Host” was intriguing, but then he had to try and get too clever. The rest was crap.

[Sam Hicks]

Another author I haven't read for years and now wish I hadn't (couldn't resist a charity shop bargain buy) because my fond memories of said author are now called into question. The Graveyard Reader was an excellent story, but the rest seemed laboured and unconvincing to me. Back to the charity shop with it.

[Raj]

This is an amazing collection. It consists of one longer piece (the title piece) and five shorter stories. Sturgeon's writing is simply fabulous, ranging from swashbuckling to almost prose poetry with incredibly vivid imagery. Sturgeon was one of the first people to bring literature to SF in an unashamed way, and this collection just shows how good a writer he was.

Some of his recurring themes turn up again in this collection -- post-humanism and co-operation as cornerstones of survival -- and it's interesting to see how they've developed through his work. It's never more than subtle though, and never gets in the way of the story. Highly, highly recommended.

[Andrew Rothschild]

A tale of fantasy and flight that gives the mind the insight
to move and meld with dreams of deams and somehow, not dreams
but prophesy

From whence did come the tales he wove?
Theodore oh Theodore my muse, my inspiration
Theodore oh Theodore, my shoes, my aspiration.