Keep the Giraffe Burning

by John Sladek

Book by Sladek, John

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Humor, Fiction, Collections

205 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

John Thomas Sladek (generally published as John Sladek or John T. Sladek, as well as under the pseudonyms Thom Demijohn, Barry DuBray, Carl Truhacker and others) was an American science fiction author, known for his satirical and surreal novels.

Reviews

[Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite short-story collections by one of my favourite writers. Seventeen hilarious, unsettling, ingenious and extremely original ideas-based fictions, each one of which is crammed with dozens of offbeat conceits. Sladek is an unjustly neglected writer; critics have tended to label him as ‘too clever for his own good’ (whatever that absurdity means) and he never received the recognition due to him. But there was no sharper satirist of indolent thinking.

His work won’t appeal to readers who insist on strong characterisation and the logic of everyday events. In Sladek’s world, ideas are the characters and his range of alternative logics means his plots are often resolutely scholastic and dismissive of conventional ‘common sense’, based instead on mathematical progression, word association or intricate puzzles. He spoofs and lampoons the Kafkaesque absurdities of the modern world not through emotional tension but with the aid of paradoxes and metafiction. He was one of the few SF writers capable of mocking and progressing the genre at the same time.

Some of the best stories included in this book are: ‘Elephant with Wooden Leg’, an adventure set inside a lunatic think tank; ‘The Design’, in which the social connections between individuals form the struts of a bridge; ‘The Face’, a horror story about a disembodied living visage; ‘The Hammer of Evil, a romp with impossible mindgames; ‘The Locked Room,’ perhaps the most ingenious detective story ever written; ‘Heavens Below’, in which fifteen different utopias collide; and ‘The Great Wall of Mexico’, a tale of paranoia and political cynicism which perhaps has even more relevance today than when it was written.

[Hazel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was very challenging to read, however, I did enjoy some of the stories and had to DNF 3 of them.

I love the idea of surreal science fiction, and I was attracted to this book for the strange rooted face on the cover, and the amusing description of the first short story on the front. However, I need for there to be something satisfying about the stories, whether it is an interesting character, view point, idea, or general feel of reading them. I didn't get this from most of the stories. 'The Elephant with Wodden Leg' was a lot of fun, with mad scientists trying to save the world and sinister cockroaches. I liked 'The Face' because it went in a direction I didn't expect. 'A Game of Jump' was odd, with its limited vocabulary making it wildly interesting to interpret the text.

The standout fivestar story for me was 'Poets of Millgrove, Iowa', It was written clearly enough for me to be immersed in it, the characters interesting and flawed, and the ending unexpected and wonderful.

I wouldn't recommend this to any but the most avid fans of surreal science fiction. That said, I am interested to read a novel or two to by John Sladek to see if they are more readable, because he is an amusing and unique writer.

[Raj · Rating 2 out of 5]

In his introduction to this collection of short stories, the author denies that these stories are 'surrealist', claiming that they were just written to entertain. I suspect they probably entertained the author since I bet they were really fun to write, but they certainly aren't fun to read. After more than a few of these stories, you start getting worn down, they mostly just feel clever for their own sake which made it a difficult book to plough through. There were a few stories that were worth it (such as the one nesting nine layers deep, which was fun) but mostly I was just impatient with them. I must confess that I broke towards the end and only skimmed the second last story and skipped the last one, reading only the first few pages in the vain hope that it might be readable. Only worth it if you're a fan of surrealist writing.

[Alex Sarll]

Perhaps this would be a better book to own and dip into occasionally, than have from the library and attempt to read in a limited period. The surrealism and satire feel like they could have been bracing in the seventies, before the wider culture had assimilated so many tricks from the edge; but even then, I suspect some of the other stories, the experiments in abstraction, must have been a pretty niche taste. I can take one story about Ann, Bill, Clara and so on - but a second is too much for me, however elegant a design the resulting pattern may make.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection from a master.