Gabi’s Reviews > Slow Sculpture > Status Update

Read

"Dazed": I remember this one from my youth. It made a mightily strong impression on my sis and myself. And unfortunately it is still as relevant as it was back then. One of Sturgeon's strongest stories.

- "Occam's Scalpel": a quite innovative way to convince somebody to do something for the environment.

Read

- "Necessary and Sufficient", which I actually didn't get.
- "The Verity File", a very poignant correspondence of internal office memos showing the incompatibility of a great idea and marketing.

- "Crate": one of the rare out of Earth stories, but of course with misfits at the centre and the message of finding your strength by loving each other.
- "Suicide": a climb (literally) back into life after a failed suicide attempt.
- "Uncle Fremmis": an unusual way to get one's life in order. Nothing metaphorical about the kick in the ass.

Read

"The Girl Who Knew What They Meant" - Sturgeon must have been in a rather desolaten mood with these stories. Very bleak.

"The Patterns of Dorne" - didn't click with me.

Sh ... I had forgotten what this story was about. Should have skipped it till after my doctor's appointment.

Read
- "The Beholders", about a device that can show that only few people are real with devastating consequence.
- "It's you", a non-SF piece about the downwards spiral of making compromises in a partnership.

Both are quite melancholical.

Read "The [Widget], the [Wadget], and Boff" - a novella length story from the 50ies that had to be relocated to this later issue due to its length. A beautiful, thoughtful view on a group of people and their struggle with social indoctrination.
So much relatable truth there.

"... the actual number falling on the line Average Man was negligible: there were countless millions more unaverage people. It came to him that those who obey the gospel of Average Man are, in their efforts to be like the mass of humanity, obeying the dictates of one of the smallest minorities of all."

"I think only writers, who know how hard all this stuff is to do and especially how difficult it is to make it look effortless, fully appreciate Sturgeon." - Connie Willis