Group Discussion for April 3 --"The Crime and Glory of Commander Sudzal" by Cordwainer Smith

[HollyGolightly]

My favorite thing about this story was the article about the author. What a fascinating guy!

The story was a bit of a slap on the hands, we need each other and we need to appreciate each other and what we bring to the table. From the manliest man to the most ultra feminine woman and all the attributes in between. We give each other checks and balances. We challenge each other in unique ways. Or at least try. The Yin to a yang. All things in balance.

I loved the addition of the cats. And found it interesting that Commander used his "power" to have cats come save him instead of just going back in time to get away. He changed DNA and by doing that, what changed out there? The butterfly effect.

You know, the Starship Enterprise's job was "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before" -- but not to interfere. Not to put their imprint on another's civilization. Sudzal played God. He made choices alone that should have been discussed. He felt he needed no one from the start as he was a Commander who had gone on these long journeys making decisions on his own.

Not only did he succeed in creating a civilization of cats, they prayed to him.

If he would've taken his "wife" brain with him, do you think he would have been so easily duped? Surely not. Wife brain would've put a kibosh to any sort of friendship with the "a mature, warm happy female—some woman of early middle age with a superb speaking contralto."

And cancer. Arachosia women were likened to cancer --not just that they got it, but they were that -- and thus needed to be changed. For their own good. For the survival of Arachosia and then you had a whole world of really tense men.


And I loved how it ended. They sentenced him to death and then they took that sweet release away. And of course Earth worked really hard to strike that information from historical records. Imagine dealing with a population of terrified chaos when they found out cats were coming! Or a pod of blue-balled, angry men. Whichever won the battle between the two. One big damn group of rape-y pillagers!

Holy hell, I don't know what I'm talking about.

Hollah!

 

[Tery]

Now that I have a few minutes...

I hadn't read this story before. My Hubby was much more into sci-fi than I and loves Kurt Vonnegut (who is the actual author of this story - Cordwainer Bird was his Richard Bachmann). So this story was a surprise for me, too.

The disclaimers were an interesting way to frame the story. Are we to believe it (in the story's universe, of course) or write it off as a ballad? We should remember that many "fictional" tales we've passed down through civilization actually have a seed of truth in them. Maybe that's the case here.

Poor Commander Suzdal. Thinking he didn't need a female on his trip. Yes, Dana Jean, I think if his wife had been along, in whatever form, things might have gone differently. But Suzdal, like the klopts, had no feminine input. So he relied on his own judgement which, as it turned out, wasn't so great.

The punishment was so bizarre yet so perfect. I wish we could do that with murderers.

 

[fljoe0]

oops. I forgot it was Wed yesterday. I will read it tonight.

 

[Dana Jean]

Now that I have a few minutes...

I hadn't read this story before. My Hubby was much more into sci-fi than I and loves Kurt Vonnegut (who is the actual author of this story - Cordwainer Bird was his Richard Bachmann). So this story was a surprise for me, too.

The disclaimers were an interesting way to frame the story. Are we to believe it (in the story's universe, of course) or write it off as a ballad? We should remember that many "fictional" tales we've passed down through civilization actually have a seed of truth in them. Maybe that's the case here.

Poor Commander Suzdal. Thinking he didn't need a female on his trip. Yes, Dana Jean, I think if his wife had been along, in whatever form, things might have gone differently. But Suzdal, like the klopts, had no feminine input. So he relied on his own judgement which, as it turned out, wasn't so great.

The punishment was so bizarre yet so perfect. I wish we could do that with murderers.

Where did you get this was Kurt Vonnegut?

Paul Myron Anthony Lineberger is the real name of Cordwainer Smith, the author of this story. Unless everything I'm reading is one big ruse.

Cordwainer Smith - Wikipedia

 

[HollyGolightly]

Where did you get this was Kurt Vonnegut?

Paul Myron Anthony Lineberger is the real name of Cordwainer Smith. Unless everything I'm reading is one big ruse.

Cordwainer Smith - Wikipedia

Wouldn't that be something? I really enjoyed the article you linked. I wish I'd known the man.

 

[Spideyman]

May I suggest this for the next group read. Wednesday April 10th


https://sites.middlebury.edu/individualandthesociety/files/2010/09/jackson_lottery.pdf



about the author: Shirley Jackson - Wikipedia

Jackson has been cited as an influence on a diverse set of authors, including Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Sarah Waters, Nigel Kneale, Joanne Harris,[1] and Richard Matheson.[2]

 

[HollyGolightly]

Great idea Spideyman I love Shirley Jackson!

 

[Tery]

Where did you get this was Kurt Vonnegut?

Paul Myron Anthony Lineberger is the real name of Cordwainer Smith, the author of this story. Unless everything I'm reading is one big ruse.

Cordwainer Smith - Wikipedia

My mistake. It's Harlan Ellison's "secret identity."

During his many gigs writing for television, Ellison would often disagree with changes made to his scripts, and if something went too far in his opinion, he’d ask for his name to be removed and replaced with Cordwainer Bird.

The Dreamer and the Dream: 6 Fictional Science Fiction Authors

Kilgore Trout was Uncle Kurt's pen name.

 

[Dana Jean]

My mistake. It's Harlan Ellison's "secret identity."


The Dreamer and the Dream: 6 Fictional Science Fiction Authors

Kilgore Trout was Uncle Kurt's pen name.

Just so we're all on the same page, Harlan Ellison's "secret identity" is Cordwainer Bird. It was a tribute to Cordwainer Smith who is really Paul Myron Anthony Lineberger, the guy who wrote the story you recommended.

From Wiki:

"Ellison on occasion used the pseudonym Cordwainer Bird to alert members of the public to situations in which he felt his creative contribution to a project had been mangled beyond repair by others, typically Hollywood producers or studios (see also Alan Smithee). The first such work to which he signed the name was "The Price of Doom", an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (though it was misspelled as Cord Wainer Bird in the credits). An episode of Burke's Law ("Who Killed Alex Debbs?") credited to Ellison contains a character given this name, played by Sammy Davis Jr.[citation needed]

The "Cordwainer Bird" moniker is a tribute to fellow SF writer Paul M. A. Linebarger, better known by his pen name, Cordwainer Smith. The origin of the word "cordwainer" is shoemaker (from working with cordovan leather for shoes). The term used by Linebarger was meant to imply the industriousness of the pulp author. Ellison said, in interviews and in his writing, that his version of the pseudonym was meant to mean "a shoemaker for birds". Since he used the pseudonym mainly for works he wanted to distance himself from, it may be understood to mean that "this work is for the birds" or that it is of as much use as shoes to a bird. Stephen King once said he thought that it meant that Ellison was giving people who mangled his work a literary version of "the bird" (given credence by Ellison himself in his own essay titled "Somehow, I Don't Think We're in Kansas, Toto", describing his experience with the Starlost television series).[42]"

 

[cat in a bag]

I thought this was a fun story in a kind of wtf kind of way. I was really into it and then, boom, CATS! I said, wtf? Took me out of it a little. But not in a bad way.

I did not pick up at all on the serious lessons or morals to the story until reading the thoughts here. It was just a fun sci-fi type story for me.