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The Best of Henry Kuttner
These 17 stories create a galaxy of vain, protective & murderous robots, devilish angels, & warm & angry aliens. In "Mimsy Were the Borogoves," inspiring New Line Cinema's The Last Mimzy, a boy finds a box of curious objects. When he & his sister play with them -- including a crystal cube that magnifies the unimaginable & a doll with removable organs that don't quite correspond to human ones -- the parents grow concerned, for the items are changing the way the children perceive the world.
Bradbury called Kuttner a man who shaped sf & fantasy in its most important years. Marion Zimmer Bradley & Roger Zelazny called him inspiring. He was a writer's writer whose works anticipated our own computer-controlled world. At his death at 42 in '58, he had created as many as 170 stories under over a dozen pseudonyms, sometimes writing entire issues of sf magazines in collaboration with his wife, C. L. Moore.
Henry Kuttner: A Neglected Master by Ray Bradbury
Mimsy Were the Borogoves (1943) novelette by Kuttner & Moore
Two-Handed Engine (1955) novelette by Moore & Kuttner
The Proud Robot [Gallegher] (1943) novelette by Kuttner & Moore
The Misguided Halo (1939) story by Kuttner
The Voice of the Lobster (1950) novelette by Kuttner
Exit the Professor [Hogben 2] (1947) story by Kuttner & Moore
The Twonky (1942) novelette by Kuttner & Moore
A Gnome There Was (1941) novelette by Kuttner & Moore
The Big Night (1947) novelette by Kuttner
Nothing But Gingerbread Left (1943) story by Kuttner & Moore
The Iron Standard (1943) story by Kuttner & Moore
Cold War [Hogben 5] (1949) novelette by Moore & Kuttner
Or Else (1953) story by Kuttner & Moore
Endowment Policy (1943) story by Kuttner & Moore
Housing Problem (1944) story by Kuttner & Moore
What You Need (1945) story by Kuttner & Moore
Absalom (1946) story by Kuttner & Moore
Bradbury called Kuttner a man who shaped sf & fantasy in its most important years. Marion Zimmer Bradley & Roger Zelazny called him inspiring. He was a writer's writer whose works anticipated our own computer-controlled world. At his death at 42 in '58, he had created as many as 170 stories under over a dozen pseudonyms, sometimes writing entire issues of sf magazines in collaboration with his wife, C. L. Moore.
Henry Kuttner: A Neglected Master by Ray Bradbury
Mimsy Were the Borogoves (1943) novelette by Kuttner & Moore
Two-Handed Engine (1955) novelette by Moore & Kuttner
The Proud Robot [Gallegher] (1943) novelette by Kuttner & Moore
The Misguided Halo (1939) story by Kuttner
The Voice of the Lobster (1950) novelette by Kuttner
Exit the Professor [Hogben 2] (1947) story by Kuttner & Moore
The Twonky (1942) novelette by Kuttner & Moore
A Gnome There Was (1941) novelette by Kuttner & Moore
The Big Night (1947) novelette by Kuttner
Nothing But Gingerbread Left (1943) story by Kuttner & Moore
The Iron Standard (1943) story by Kuttner & Moore
Cold War [Hogben 5] (1949) novelette by Moore & Kuttner
Or Else (1953) story by Kuttner & Moore
Endowment Policy (1943) story by Kuttner & Moore
Housing Problem (1944) story by Kuttner & Moore
What You Need (1945) story by Kuttner & Moore
Absalom (1946) story by Kuttner & Moore
398 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
121 people are currently reading
449 people want to read
About the author
Henry Kuttner
740 books208 followersHenry Kuttner was, alone and in collaboration with his wife, the great science fiction and fantasy writer C.L. Moore, one of the four or five most important writers of the 1940s, the writer whose work went furthest in its sociological and psychological insight to making science fiction a human as well as technological literature. He was an important influence upon every contemporary and every science fiction writer who succeeded him. In the early 1940s and under many pseudonyms, Kuttner and Moore published very widely through the range of the science fiction and fantasy pulp markets.
Their fantasy novels, all of them for the lower grade markets like Future, Thrilling Wonder, and Planet Stories, are forgotten now; their science fiction novels, Fury and Mutant, are however well regarded. There is no question but that Kuttner's talent lay primarily in the shorter form; Mutant is an amalgamation of five novelettes and Fury, his only true science fiction novel, is considered as secondary material. There are, however, 40 or 50 shorter works which are among the most significant achievements in the field and they remain consistently in print. The critic James Blish, quoting a passage from Mutant about the telepathic perception of the little blank, silvery minds of goldfish, noted that writing of this quality was not only rare in science fiction but rare throughout literature: "The Kuttners learned a few thing writing for the pulp magazines, however, that one doesn't learn reading Henry James."
In the early 1950s, Kuttner and Moore, both citing weariness with writing, even creative exhaustion, turned away from science fiction; both obtained undergraduate degrees in psychology from the University of Southern California and Henry Kuttner, enrolled in an MA program, planned to be a clinical psychologist. A few science fiction short stories and novelettes appeared (Humpty Dumpty finished the Baldy series in 1953). Those stories -- Home There Is No Returning, Home Is the Hunter, Two-Handed Engine, and Rite of Passage -- were at the highest level of Kuttner's work. He also published three mystery novels with Harper & Row (of which only the first is certainly his; the other two, apparently, were farmed out by Kuttner to other writers when he found himself incapable of finishing them).
Henry Kuttner died suddenly in his sleep, probably from a stroke, in February 1958; Catherine Moore remarried a physician and survived him by almost three decades but she never published again. She remained in touch with the science fiction community, however, and was Guest of Honor at the World Convention in Denver in 198l. She died of complications of Alzheimer's Disease in 1987.
His pseudonyms include:
Edward J. Bellin
Paul Edmonds
Noel Gardner
Will Garth
James Hall
Keith Hammond
Hudson Hastings
Peter Horn
Kelvin Kent
Robert O. Kenyon
C. H. Liddell
Hugh Maepenn
Scott Morgan
Lawrence O'Donnell
Lewis Padgett
Woodrow Wilson Smith
Charles Stoddard
Their fantasy novels, all of them for the lower grade markets like Future, Thrilling Wonder, and Planet Stories, are forgotten now; their science fiction novels, Fury and Mutant, are however well regarded. There is no question but that Kuttner's talent lay primarily in the shorter form; Mutant is an amalgamation of five novelettes and Fury, his only true science fiction novel, is considered as secondary material. There are, however, 40 or 50 shorter works which are among the most significant achievements in the field and they remain consistently in print. The critic James Blish, quoting a passage from Mutant about the telepathic perception of the little blank, silvery minds of goldfish, noted that writing of this quality was not only rare in science fiction but rare throughout literature: "The Kuttners learned a few thing writing for the pulp magazines, however, that one doesn't learn reading Henry James."
In the early 1950s, Kuttner and Moore, both citing weariness with writing, even creative exhaustion, turned away from science fiction; both obtained undergraduate degrees in psychology from the University of Southern California and Henry Kuttner, enrolled in an MA program, planned to be a clinical psychologist. A few science fiction short stories and novelettes appeared (Humpty Dumpty finished the Baldy series in 1953). Those stories -- Home There Is No Returning, Home Is the Hunter, Two-Handed Engine, and Rite of Passage -- were at the highest level of Kuttner's work. He also published three mystery novels with Harper & Row (of which only the first is certainly his; the other two, apparently, were farmed out by Kuttner to other writers when he found himself incapable of finishing them).
Henry Kuttner died suddenly in his sleep, probably from a stroke, in February 1958; Catherine Moore remarried a physician and survived him by almost three decades but she never published again. She remained in touch with the science fiction community, however, and was Guest of Honor at the World Convention in Denver in 198l. She died of complications of Alzheimer's Disease in 1987.
His pseudonyms include:
Edward J. Bellin
Paul Edmonds
Noel Gardner
Will Garth
James Hall
Keith Hammond
Hudson Hastings
Peter Horn
Kelvin Kent
Robert O. Kenyon
C. H. Liddell
Hugh Maepenn
Scott Morgan
Lawrence O'Donnell
Lewis Padgett
Woodrow Wilson Smith
Charles Stoddard
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 26, 2023
Reread in progress, for the first time in decades. I distinctly recall the Star Wars-ish Bar-scene cover, which I remembered as by Freas (it's actually by L. Kresek). 1975 hc 1st ed., from our local library that never discards a book, God bless them. A nice intro by Ray Bradbury, but an odd one: he never mentions Kuttner's wife and co-author, CL Moore! Yet there she is, right on the copyright page, as Kuttner's literary executor. And their writing partnership was certainly well-known in 1975, too. Odd blind spot. Guessing which stories which of them wrote has been a popular parlor-game for decades! If memory serves, Moore once said she wasn't sure herself -- but that she always read the stories before Kuttner sent them off for publication. And you will note that the ISFDB carefully credits most of the collected stories to both authors.
TOC and story notes: https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?117311
In essence, none of these stories are online except the first. See copyright note/link at foot of this.
• Henry Kuttner: A Neglected Master • (1975) • essay by Ray Bradbury. See above.
• Mimsy Were the Borogoves • (1947) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore. 4+ stars! My review is here, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... -- including a link to an almost-complete reprint online.
• Two-Handed Engine • (1955) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore. Murder is punished by vengeful robot Furies. Eh, weak 3 stars.
• The Proud Robot • [Gallegher (Henry Kuttner)] • (1943) • novelette by Henry Kuttner. Drunken inventor saves the day! Falls completely flat on this (partial) reread. 2 stars at best.
• The Misguided Halo • (1939) • short story by Henry Kuttner. Slight story about just that. Not reread.
• The Voice of the Lobster • (1950) • novelette by Henry Kuttner.
• Exit the Professor • [Hogben • 2] • (1947) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• The Twonky • (1942) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• A Gnome There Was • (1941) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• The Big Night • (1947) • novelette by Henry Kuttner
• Nothing But Gingerbread Left • (1943) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• The Iron Standard • (1943) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore. Badly-dated story of how clever Earthmen (finally!) out-smarted obdurate Venusians. 2+ stars.
• Cold War • [Hogben • 5] • (1949) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore .
• Or Else • (1953) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• Endowment Policy • (1943) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• Housing Problem • (1944) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• What You Need • (1945) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore. A famous story, about a fancy store that sells exactly "What You Need." Unless you antagonize the proprietor, as the reporter who is the second MC does. So much for him! Clever but insubstantial, weak 2.5 stars.
• Absalom • (1946) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore
A useful resource lists all Kuttner/Moore shorts, their first publication dates & places, and their copyright status. Most were timely renewed, and don't expire until well into the 2030s and 40s.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author...
Unfortunately, except for the first story, "Mimsy Were the Borogoves," the others I read (or tried to) just didn't hold up. Overall, DNF, lost interest. Too bad, but I don't recommend anything here but the first story. 2.5 stars, rounded down. Darn.
TOC and story notes: https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?117311
In essence, none of these stories are online except the first. See copyright note/link at foot of this.
• Henry Kuttner: A Neglected Master • (1975) • essay by Ray Bradbury. See above.
• Mimsy Were the Borogoves • (1947) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore. 4+ stars! My review is here, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... -- including a link to an almost-complete reprint online.
• Two-Handed Engine • (1955) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore. Murder is punished by vengeful robot Furies. Eh, weak 3 stars.
• The Proud Robot • [Gallegher (Henry Kuttner)] • (1943) • novelette by Henry Kuttner. Drunken inventor saves the day! Falls completely flat on this (partial) reread. 2 stars at best.
• The Misguided Halo • (1939) • short story by Henry Kuttner. Slight story about just that. Not reread.
• The Voice of the Lobster • (1950) • novelette by Henry Kuttner.
• Exit the Professor • [Hogben • 2] • (1947) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• The Twonky • (1942) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• A Gnome There Was • (1941) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• The Big Night • (1947) • novelette by Henry Kuttner
• Nothing But Gingerbread Left • (1943) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• The Iron Standard • (1943) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore. Badly-dated story of how clever Earthmen (finally!) out-smarted obdurate Venusians. 2+ stars.
• Cold War • [Hogben • 5] • (1949) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore .
• Or Else • (1953) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• Endowment Policy • (1943) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• Housing Problem • (1944) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.
• What You Need • (1945) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore. A famous story, about a fancy store that sells exactly "What You Need." Unless you antagonize the proprietor, as the reporter who is the second MC does. So much for him! Clever but insubstantial, weak 2.5 stars.
• Absalom • (1946) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore
A useful resource lists all Kuttner/Moore shorts, their first publication dates & places, and their copyright status. Most were timely renewed, and don't expire until well into the 2030s and 40s.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author...
Unfortunately, except for the first story, "Mimsy Were the Borogoves," the others I read (or tried to) just didn't hold up. Overall, DNF, lost interest. Too bad, but I don't recommend anything here but the first story. 2.5 stars, rounded down. Darn.
July 23, 2015
Really nice collection of short stories from an underrated writer with a talent for variety, clever twists and really novel ideas. The style is sharp and engaging and the stories range from whimsical fantasy to little pieces reminiscent of something you might see on The Twilight Zone to solid and well-thought-out science fiction. "Mimsy were the Borogoves" is a story he wrote with his wife, Catherine Lucille Moore, and it's fantastic and definitely one of the best in the anthology, and I'd say a highlight of vintage SF in general. You'll want to track down their other collaborations after this, like the wicked "Vintage Season". Both "Borogoves" and "Twonky' were made into movies at some point, and some of the stories, like "Cold War", seem really ahead of their time and remind me of today's kind of existential brand of "superhero" movies. Too bad Henry died so young; I suspect he could have done a lot more.
March 10, 2025
Check out a discussion on this collection of short stories with Matt and Richard HERE.
There were three stories in this collection that I absolutely loved, Mimsy Were the Borogoves, Two-Handed Engine and Absalom. The rest were just average in my opinion. I feel like Kuttner and his wife and collaborator C. L. Moore were writing their best when they explored time travel, crime mysteries and human mutation. That being said, the rest of the stories were good, interesting and comical but they seemed to pale in comparison to the brilliance in the three I mentioned. And if you want to read an amazing short story not included in this collection then go and seek out Private Eye, written under the pseudonym of Lewis Padgett.
There were three stories in this collection that I absolutely loved, Mimsy Were the Borogoves, Two-Handed Engine and Absalom. The rest were just average in my opinion. I feel like Kuttner and his wife and collaborator C. L. Moore were writing their best when they explored time travel, crime mysteries and human mutation. That being said, the rest of the stories were good, interesting and comical but they seemed to pale in comparison to the brilliance in the three I mentioned. And if you want to read an amazing short story not included in this collection then go and seek out Private Eye, written under the pseudonym of Lewis Padgett.
June 30, 2015
I'm a big C.L. Moore fan, and it's notoriously difficult to disentangle her work and Kuttner's. (They were married, and used to work on each other's stories.) These were published as by Kuttner, though, and don't have quite the depth of emotion that Moore's exhibited, though they're much better than average for their time in that respect.
Unfortunately, I did find them a bit overwritten. When you're being paid by the word, conciseness isn't a virtue, I suppose, but I felt that they could have been edited down by about 20% or so and been stronger, tighter stories for it.
Less outright absurd than Fredric Brown and less cynical than Robert Sheckley, they still often hit a humorous note, without sacrificing the serious point at the heart of the story.
Unfortunately, I did find them a bit overwritten. When you're being paid by the word, conciseness isn't a virtue, I suppose, but I felt that they could have been edited down by about 20% or so and been stronger, tighter stories for it.
Less outright absurd than Fredric Brown and less cynical than Robert Sheckley, they still often hit a humorous note, without sacrificing the serious point at the heart of the story.
October 2, 2013
Great collection! A few of my favorites:
"The Proud Robot" has got to be one of the funniest stories I've ever read--loved it! I also like the two stories focusing upon the Hogben hillbilly family--reminiscent of Lovecraft's Whateley family from "The Dunwich Horror." "What You Need" was a familiar tale; I believe there was an old Twilight Zone episode based on it.
"The Proud Robot" has got to be one of the funniest stories I've ever read--loved it! I also like the two stories focusing upon the Hogben hillbilly family--reminiscent of Lovecraft's Whateley family from "The Dunwich Horror." "What You Need" was a familiar tale; I believe there was an old Twilight Zone episode based on it.
May 14, 2010
Along with Ray Bradbury, Henry Kuttner, (sometimes writing with his wife, C L Moore) writing as himself and under several pseudonymns raised the science-fiction craft from pulp fiction to art. A Master that is, sadly, little recognized today.
April 16, 2021
Jedny z nejlépe vypointovaných sf povídek z 50. let. Twonka nebo Mimzy jsou prostě skvosty, které musíte znát (v kontextu doby)
April 23, 2023
Mimsy Were the Borogoves - 4.5/5 - A great time-travel story that is chock full of ideas regarding how we might evolve not just physically but with how we could end up thinking and perceiving the world around us
Two-Handed Engine - 5/5 - A science fiction crime story about a man hired to perform a murder, in a society where murder is the only true crime, and the judge and executioners are robots. It's a great story with a Poe-ish ending. Highly recommend
The Proud Robot - 4/5 - As two rival companies vie for his services, an alcoholic inventor creates a vain robot while drunk whose purpose he doesn't remember when he sobers up. Kuttner is so awesome
The Misguided Halo - 4/5 - Due to a mix-up a regular guy is given a halo and sainthood. Comedy ensues. It's wacky
The Voice of the Lobster - 4.5/5 - Very light and fun. A swindler tries to survive as a stowaway while contending with a giant sentient lobster and a Scottish Captain whom he has previously wronged. A footnote in this made me laugh very hard
Exit the Professor - 4/5 - Mutant hillbillies, but not what you picture when you hear those two words together. More like X-Men mutants, only not superheroes and villains. Just a family trying to live in peace while a professor tries to study them
The Twonky - 4/5 - The name makes it seem like it will be another of his somewhat silly stories and it feels like that early on. However, as the story progresses it turns into an effective science fiction horror story. Apparently was made into an absolutely terrible movie
A Gnome There Was - 4.5/5 - Interesting to read this as I am in the middle of a Discworld book because I could absolutely have seen this as a side-plot in a novel of that series. Darkly funny
The Big Night - 5/5 - Starts as a standard story of a broken down freighter star-ship trying to make a run for some desperately needed money. It ends up being a poignant look at how society is always evolving and the people it leaves behind who can't change with it. Absolutely lovely
Nothing But Gingerbread Left - 4/5 - Can a song be scientifically created to be so catchy that it basically drives people insane where they can't focus long because it is always stuck in their heads? Seemingly a silly concept and yet in true Kuttner fashion he makes it much more effective then you'd expect
The Iron Standard - 4.5/5 - Probably the most "political" of his stories, but I don't necessarily read it as some big statement on politics. It's essentially a ragtag group of Earthlings trying to outsmart some corrupt oligarchical Venusians. The vibes match a heist story more than political satire
Cold War - 3/5 - Follows the same hillbilly mutants(X-Men style) from the earlier story "Exit the Professor." It's fine, not as good as the earlier story, but the ending is fairly funny and clever
Or Else - 3.5/5 - Intergalactic peace officer attempting to squash a beef between two rival Earth-men. Simple, short, and kinda fun
Endowment Policy - 4/5 - For as much as Kuttner likes using time travel as a sub-genre it's pretty incredible how each one feels so different from the others. This one has a crime-action feel and is quite entertaining
Housing Problem - 3/5 - The cutesy cleverness was a little too much for my tastes. The story is pretty unique but if it had been longer I probably would have disliked it
What You Need - 4/5 - I've read a few stories that share this general presence and I probably like this one more than any others I've read. I like when Kuttner has a story get dark out of nowhere towards the end
Absalom - 4/5 - A story about a noticeable yet gradual human evolution that doubles as a not at all subtle look at the sometimes contentious relationships between fathers and sons
Two-Handed Engine - 5/5 - A science fiction crime story about a man hired to perform a murder, in a society where murder is the only true crime, and the judge and executioners are robots. It's a great story with a Poe-ish ending. Highly recommend
The Proud Robot - 4/5 - As two rival companies vie for his services, an alcoholic inventor creates a vain robot while drunk whose purpose he doesn't remember when he sobers up. Kuttner is so awesome
The Misguided Halo - 4/5 - Due to a mix-up a regular guy is given a halo and sainthood. Comedy ensues. It's wacky
The Voice of the Lobster - 4.5/5 - Very light and fun. A swindler tries to survive as a stowaway while contending with a giant sentient lobster and a Scottish Captain whom he has previously wronged. A footnote in this made me laugh very hard
Exit the Professor - 4/5 - Mutant hillbillies, but not what you picture when you hear those two words together. More like X-Men mutants, only not superheroes and villains. Just a family trying to live in peace while a professor tries to study them
The Twonky - 4/5 - The name makes it seem like it will be another of his somewhat silly stories and it feels like that early on. However, as the story progresses it turns into an effective science fiction horror story. Apparently was made into an absolutely terrible movie
A Gnome There Was - 4.5/5 - Interesting to read this as I am in the middle of a Discworld book because I could absolutely have seen this as a side-plot in a novel of that series. Darkly funny
The Big Night - 5/5 - Starts as a standard story of a broken down freighter star-ship trying to make a run for some desperately needed money. It ends up being a poignant look at how society is always evolving and the people it leaves behind who can't change with it. Absolutely lovely
Nothing But Gingerbread Left - 4/5 - Can a song be scientifically created to be so catchy that it basically drives people insane where they can't focus long because it is always stuck in their heads? Seemingly a silly concept and yet in true Kuttner fashion he makes it much more effective then you'd expect
The Iron Standard - 4.5/5 - Probably the most "political" of his stories, but I don't necessarily read it as some big statement on politics. It's essentially a ragtag group of Earthlings trying to outsmart some corrupt oligarchical Venusians. The vibes match a heist story more than political satire
Cold War - 3/5 - Follows the same hillbilly mutants(X-Men style) from the earlier story "Exit the Professor." It's fine, not as good as the earlier story, but the ending is fairly funny and clever
Or Else - 3.5/5 - Intergalactic peace officer attempting to squash a beef between two rival Earth-men. Simple, short, and kinda fun
Endowment Policy - 4/5 - For as much as Kuttner likes using time travel as a sub-genre it's pretty incredible how each one feels so different from the others. This one has a crime-action feel and is quite entertaining
Housing Problem - 3/5 - The cutesy cleverness was a little too much for my tastes. The story is pretty unique but if it had been longer I probably would have disliked it
What You Need - 4/5 - I've read a few stories that share this general presence and I probably like this one more than any others I've read. I like when Kuttner has a story get dark out of nowhere towards the end
Absalom - 4/5 - A story about a noticeable yet gradual human evolution that doubles as a not at all subtle look at the sometimes contentious relationships between fathers and sons
May 12, 2015
Autor, kelle vastu tekkis mul huvi lugedes Jürka ja mingi teise mehe (unustanud juba kelle) vestlust feissbookis. Ootasin esimese hooga muidugi pisut aegunud pulpi ning sain petta. Kuttner on hästi ajaproovile vastu pidanud ning ta ideed on siiani hullumeelsed. Samal ajal kui paljud tema kaasaegsed rahuldusid ühe idee rahuldavalt kirja panekule (eks autorid teevad seda siiani) suutis Kutter sageli kokku panna mitu lahedat mõtet. Näiteks loos "The Proud Robot" peab alkohoolikust (joomist on muide mehe lugudes üllatavalt palju) peategelane lahendama kaks erinevat looliini. Võibolla on aidanud Kuttneril ajaproovile hästi vastu pidada ka asi, et ta ei keskendu niivõrd tehnilistele leiutistele vaid inimese mõttemaailmale, selle muutmisele ning moondumisele ajas. Nii arenevad tema loos lapse käsitlema teisi dimensioone, robotid õpetavad inimestele uusi väärtusi või vastupidi piiravaid oskusi või tegutsevad seal supervõimetega mutandid Hogbenid. Ühesõnaga Kuttneri arust pole oluline mitte tehnoloogia vaid teadmised ja piisavate teadmistega võib ka redneck endale traadist ja nätsust surmakiire valmis ehitada. Omamoodi võluv vaatenurk, seda eriti tänapäeval kui enamus autoreid üritab väita, et ilma meid paljude kihtidena ümbritsevate keerukate tehnoloogiateta pole me võimelised mitte millekski.
August 5, 2017
Henry Kutner died to soon, before he died he produced a tremendous amount of great SF and fantasy. The Best of Henry Kuttner features most of his best short fiction, including "Mimsy Were the Borogoves," "The Proud Robot," "The Misguided Halo," "Exit the Professor," and "Absolom." The stories range from humor to serious views of the future. Even the lesser stories (such as "The Big Night," which in many ways is a standard space adventure) are well written and good reads.
October 14, 2020
Kuttner mě prostě baví. I když některé povídky mi úplně nesedly, většina se mi prostě líbila. Nejvíc se mi líbí Železný standard - o tom, jak vydělat na Venuši :)
A pak Až se ucho utrhne - aneb když se rodičům narodí dítě se superschopnostmi. V okamžiku, kdy přestal synáček potřebovat spánek, myslela jsem, že ho zabijou :)
Sci-fi ve spojení s nenuceným humorem v tomto případě skvěle funguje.
A pak Až se ucho utrhne - aneb když se rodičům narodí dítě se superschopnostmi. V okamžiku, kdy přestal synáček potřebovat spánek, myslela jsem, že ho zabijou :)
Sci-fi ve spojení s nenuceným humorem v tomto případě skvěle funguje.
June 2, 2012
Henry Kuttner was a remarkable science fiction writer with a quirky, broad repertoire that never failed to delight or surprise.
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February 12, 2009Excellent collection of Kuttner's most memorable works includes many classics. Highly recommended for fans of Golden Era Sci-Fi.
February 21, 2025
An entertaining collection of Kuttner's science fiction stories from the Forties, before he teamed up with his wife C.L. Moore. The collection features 17 stories, and many of them are excellent. Kuttner's writing is slick and accessible, and he apparently influenced several other writers, including Ray Bradbury (who originally wrote an introduction for this collection, but it's missing from the ebook). My favorites are the light-hearted, comical stories, such as "The Proud Robot," "Exit the Professor," "A Gnome There Was," and "Cold War." Some of the stories are wonderfully dark, such as "Two-Handed Engine" and "Absolom," and some indulge in outright silliness, such as "The Misguided Halo" and "The Voice of the Lobster.” Due to the strength of Kuttner's themes and the skillfulness of his writing, none of the stories is hopelessly dated. For a brief summary of the stories, see this fine review by Ryan.
Kuttner's vivid stories inspired several movie and TV adaptations. "Mimsy Were the Borogroves," a title taken from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," was made into a 2007 movie called The Last Mimzy, which received dismal reviews. "Twonky" was made into a 1953 science fiction horror movie starring Hans Conried that now seems dated. "What You Need" was made into a memorable Twilight Zone episode in 1959.
Kuttner would be better known today if he hadn't published under so many pseudonyms, such as Lewis Padgett and Lawrence O'Donnell. His writing career slowed down in 1950 at the age of 36 when he enrolled as a freshman at USC. He was in pursuit of a master's degree in literature when he died in 1958 of a heart attack at the relatively young age of 42. One wonders what he might have accomplished had he lived another two or three decades.
I enjoy Kuttner's writing, so I'll seek his earlier Lovecraftian horror stories as well as the collection of stories he wrote with C.L. Moore.
Kuttner's vivid stories inspired several movie and TV adaptations. "Mimsy Were the Borogroves," a title taken from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," was made into a 2007 movie called The Last Mimzy, which received dismal reviews. "Twonky" was made into a 1953 science fiction horror movie starring Hans Conried that now seems dated. "What You Need" was made into a memorable Twilight Zone episode in 1959.
Kuttner would be better known today if he hadn't published under so many pseudonyms, such as Lewis Padgett and Lawrence O'Donnell. His writing career slowed down in 1950 at the age of 36 when he enrolled as a freshman at USC. He was in pursuit of a master's degree in literature when he died in 1958 of a heart attack at the relatively young age of 42. One wonders what he might have accomplished had he lived another two or three decades.
I enjoy Kuttner's writing, so I'll seek his earlier Lovecraftian horror stories as well as the collection of stories he wrote with C.L. Moore.
October 28, 2023
This has strong stories like "Mimsy Were the Borogoves," "What You Need" and the Leiber-like "Nothing But Gingerbread Left," the likable space opera of "The Big Night," fun ones like "Housing Problem," some middling stories and then dogs like "The Proud Robot." Maybe it's Kuttner or maybe it's the selection. Ray Bradbury's introduction is warm but vague; he doesn't refer to any of the stories or mention Kuttner's wife and frequent collaborator. For my tastes, one of the weaker Ballantine Best entries.
March 16, 2024
A pretty dependable collection of golden age science fiction. There isn't a bad story in the bunch. (Well, OK, there's one. I couldn't bring myself to finish The Voice of the Lobster.) And there's one flat out classic: Mimsy Were The Borogoves.
May 26, 2023
I liked “Housing Problem”
September 18, 2023
Another revisiting of my teenage reads and this one hasn’t aged well!
May 11, 2023
Fun, some stories more fantasy than sci-fi, but all short for better or worse. Favorites include the proud robot and mimsy were the borogoves
April 18, 2016
This collection of Henry Kuttner authored or co-authored stories starts with Mimsy Were the Borogoves. I probably read that story first in the amazing The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol I edited by Robert Silverberg, back in the seventies. Mimsy Were the Borogoves is still brilliant forty years later.
These are all fun stories, and the writing quality is a step up even from the uniformly high standards of this Best Of series. There’s a great story about using nonsense songs against Nazi Germany, and it mentions a song I’ve not heard until now—The Hut-Sut Song—which I then coincidentally heard in a Homer and Jethro album the next day that had been on my “to listen” shelf.
Many of his stories come from combining genres. He’s got a great future crime story in Two-Handed Engine, about a world where robot consciences follow people who commit crimes and at some unknown random or arbitrary time, kill them. And a caper story that’s sort of a locked room challenge met by a con-man trying to avoid his victims, in The Voice of the Lobster.
And there are stories about secretly improving the human race from unlikely sources, one a family of hillbilly supermen and another a Park Avenue merchant.
And a good time travel story; I love a good time travel story. But they’re hard to do. Kuttner does the genre justice with a bit of a time-travel thriller seen from the viewpoint of the semi-clueless native of the time traveled to.
The collection has an introduction by Ray Bradbury, who may well have been influenced by the slightly older Kuttner. There is at least a family resemblance in the sort of whimsy they use, and if you enjoy the one, I think you’ll enjoy the other.
These are all fun stories, and the writing quality is a step up even from the uniformly high standards of this Best Of series. There’s a great story about using nonsense songs against Nazi Germany, and it mentions a song I’ve not heard until now—The Hut-Sut Song—which I then coincidentally heard in a Homer and Jethro album the next day that had been on my “to listen” shelf.
Many of his stories come from combining genres. He’s got a great future crime story in Two-Handed Engine, about a world where robot consciences follow people who commit crimes and at some unknown random or arbitrary time, kill them. And a caper story that’s sort of a locked room challenge met by a con-man trying to avoid his victims, in The Voice of the Lobster.
And there are stories about secretly improving the human race from unlikely sources, one a family of hillbilly supermen and another a Park Avenue merchant.
And a good time travel story; I love a good time travel story. But they’re hard to do. Kuttner does the genre justice with a bit of a time-travel thriller seen from the viewpoint of the semi-clueless native of the time traveled to.
The collection has an introduction by Ray Bradbury, who may well have been influenced by the slightly older Kuttner. There is at least a family resemblance in the sort of whimsy they use, and if you enjoy the one, I think you’ll enjoy the other.
January 11, 2023
Henry Kuttner (1915-1958) was one of the most influential American writers of adult SF, fantasy and horror of the war and post-war period, but remains fairly unknown outside SF and Lovecraftian circles. This collection of short stories published between 1939 and 1955 is a great introduction to his SF output, the genre in which he was probably at his best. Some of the stories are co-written with his wife and writing partner C.L. Moore, with whom he wrote under the pseudonym Lewis Padgett, and others.
Like so many SF authors of the forties and fifties, Kuttner was fascinated by human evolution, in particular by growing mental capabilities such as telepathy, and of how societies would be organised in the future, and the moral dilemmas therein. Much of his work is darkly satirical, often toying with genre tropes with an off-beat, sometimes risqué humour.
Included here are some of my personal short story favourites of the genre, such as "Mimsy Were the Borogroves", which explores the theme of children outgrowing their parents, "The Twonky", a brilliant satire about a thought policing device from the future infiltrating a middle-class home disguised as a radio, "The Proud Robot", part of the Gallegher series concerning an inventor inventing brilliant things when drunk, but forgetting how or why he invented them when he wakes up, as well as "What You Need", about a shopkeeper with a machine that can show the future, which he uses to sell people things that they don't know they need, but will prove crucial in their lives (or deaths).
Many of his best stories were co-written with Moore, and the SF Encyclopedia writes: "Moore seems to have been the more fluent and perhaps the more assiduous (indeed, talented) writer, but Kuttner's wit, deftly audacious deployment of ideas and neat exposition complemented her talents very well."
Very highly recommended!
Like so many SF authors of the forties and fifties, Kuttner was fascinated by human evolution, in particular by growing mental capabilities such as telepathy, and of how societies would be organised in the future, and the moral dilemmas therein. Much of his work is darkly satirical, often toying with genre tropes with an off-beat, sometimes risqué humour.
Included here are some of my personal short story favourites of the genre, such as "Mimsy Were the Borogroves", which explores the theme of children outgrowing their parents, "The Twonky", a brilliant satire about a thought policing device from the future infiltrating a middle-class home disguised as a radio, "The Proud Robot", part of the Gallegher series concerning an inventor inventing brilliant things when drunk, but forgetting how or why he invented them when he wakes up, as well as "What You Need", about a shopkeeper with a machine that can show the future, which he uses to sell people things that they don't know they need, but will prove crucial in their lives (or deaths).
Many of his best stories were co-written with Moore, and the SF Encyclopedia writes: "Moore seems to have been the more fluent and perhaps the more assiduous (indeed, talented) writer, but Kuttner's wit, deftly audacious deployment of ideas and neat exposition complemented her talents very well."
Very highly recommended!
January 4, 2023
Mimsy Were the Borogoves
Worth it for Mimsy alone; however the other stories are a bonus.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wade;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.” Lewis Carroll
"Mimsy Were the Borogoves" is on tape and even on vinyl at one time. It can also be found in some of Henry Kuttner's books.
It is a small sci-fi story about a formula that allows you into an alternate universe that everyone used to have access to. The problem with getting there is that it requires a different paradigm and a formula. The paradigm requires a mindset that disappears as we get older and the formula is in front of us if we know where to look. An added plus is that the tape version is read to us enthusiastically by William Shatner.
Playing around with time travel he needed something to put into the cube. He chose some of his old toys. The box never came back. After trying for a second time with no success he gave up and moved on.
Worth it for Mimsy alone; however the other stories are a bonus.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wade;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.” Lewis Carroll
"Mimsy Were the Borogoves" is on tape and even on vinyl at one time. It can also be found in some of Henry Kuttner's books.
It is a small sci-fi story about a formula that allows you into an alternate universe that everyone used to have access to. The problem with getting there is that it requires a different paradigm and a formula. The paradigm requires a mindset that disappears as we get older and the formula is in front of us if we know where to look. An added plus is that the tape version is read to us enthusiastically by William Shatner.
Playing around with time travel he needed something to put into the cube. He chose some of his old toys. The box never came back. After trying for a second time with no success he gave up and moved on.
December 17, 2015
I did not read this edition as the edition I read was in an omnibus with "Fury" and "Mutant". Although this book is credited to Henry Kuttner most of the stories were co-written with his wife Catherine Moore. I enjoyed many of the author's short stories back in the late 1960s and early 1970s but I don't think I have read this particular collection before. I had certainly read at least one of these stories before because I remembered it vividly and I had certainly read some of his stories featuring the Hogben family though only one of the stories featured here seemed familiar. Most of these short stories were written in the 1940s and many of them are humorous but some I found disturbing. I enjoyed these stories now as much as I remembered enjoying the author's stories when I was a teenager. Well worth a read.
February 1, 2018
Henry Kuttner is an undeservedly overlooked writer from science fiction's formative years. He came aboard after the "golden age" and was a large part of the transition to the "modern era" of SF. It is true that his writing at times could be pedestrian, due more or less to the fact that to make any kind of living by writing in the 40's and fifties, a writer had to write pretty much non-stop. It is also true that at times, Kuttner was writing some of the best SF of his day. Sadly he died early. He was felled by a heart attack at the young age of 42. Towards the end, he was taking advanced psychology courses going for his Master's Degree. There will always be a void in SF of just what may have been.
This book contains 17 stories spread fairly evenly throughout his career.
This book contains 17 stories spread fairly evenly throughout his career.
September 24, 2019
The only reason I didn’t give it a full five stars is because even though this book has a lot of good hits... it still doesn’t stop the fact that the majority of the stories are just okay, not great or bad.. just okay.
Next I’ll look for his wife’s books
Next I’ll look for his wife’s books
March 3, 2021
I loved C.L.Moore and so did Henry Kuttner. Their works are inextricably intertwined sometimes to the point where one of them started the story and the other finished it. This book contains some of my favourite (presumed) Kuttner works. Vintage science fiction at its best.
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August 22, 2008Best of Henry Kuttner by Henry Kuttner (1975)
July 20, 2011
I got this volume of seventeen science fiction stories by the Kuttner/Moore team from the Science Fiction Book Club. They're not my favorites, though some pass. Many are dated.
October 18, 2022
Some of the best!
Some of the best Kuttner stories - some of the best SciFi stories even now. You'll like it tremendously, see if you don't.
Some of the best Kuttner stories - some of the best SciFi stories even now. You'll like it tremendously, see if you don't.
October 29, 2018
A fine collection of short stories by an author from f&sf's golden age, largely forgotten today.
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