PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Thanks to everyone for watching and for your comments here. I've just got home after three days away (book buying trip) am despite it being very enjoyable I am shattered, so I may not get around to replying to your comments for a day or two- I also have a lot of footage to review and edit for an upcoming video of my trip, so bear with me- cheers, Steve
Great in-depth analysis and opinion. This is what I love most about the corner of BookTube I hang out in. The inquisitive exploration of this rare book by two of my favorite SF book lovers. This kind of comparison and contrast analysis of a book is the next level in presentation and discovery for the fans. Thanks to you and Matt @bookpilled
Another great video, thank you! Let's hope that your efforts, and those of Matt at Bookpilled, will result in someone bringing Franz Werfel's novel back into print! Publishers, please do this!!
I personally feel NYRB Classics will do it in the fullness of time. I said so to Matt in an email a year ago and I just think it's a matter of waiting, now.
A Voyage to Arcturus is one of my favorite books and I've been looking for the Werfel novel ever since Matt started preaching its greatness. It's his fault none of us can find it at a reasonable price now. Love the more abstract and creative stuff like this. Great episode man! Thank you. Would love to hear a more in depth discussion of A Voyage to Arcturus. Or did you do that already?
I've not reviewed 'Arcturus' and currently have no plans to re-read it, but you never know. It's in all the reference books and never stays out of print for long. Like the Werfel, it is divisive. Wait a while and 'Star' will be reissued, I'm sure.
Bookpilled put me onto it. Took a couple months but i snagged a copy for around the equivalent of $90US. Still havent gotten to it. Got a strict backlog on books, but it's a treasured item on my shelf.
Hi Steve, thanks for another great video. This one's a real corker! I have Douglas Adams' penchant for displacement activities and have turned the mattress, changed the sheets and taken the rubbish out; actually beating the dustmen for once. What's more, I managed to fit a beige sheet under a pale blue striped duvet. Thankfully I'm blind when I'm in the arms of Morpheus. At least I gave myself time to think. Star of the Unborn was on my watchlist after Matt's recommendation, but is doubly so now. I don't expect to find it, so let's hope there is a reissue. Tiger! Tiger!, Pavane and any Ellison are also proving elusive, but I am an ambush predator and very patient. Not one mention of Uncle Bob, but two! It's heartening to hear Sailing to Byzantium is well regarded, because I'd cooled on the later Silverberg after the disappointment of Tom O'Bedlam and Star of Gypsies. I'm currently reading Godling, Go Home!(1964) Silverberg's second collection after Next Stop, The Stars and strike me down, it's themed! The man had such a depth of work he could make his second collection themed; the hat just has to be tipped. The stories are actually quite crude and uneven, and have views on colonisation which juxtapose sharply with Downward to the Earth. It's interesting that we both went to Silverberg and Stapledon, though I also went to Stableford's The Walking Shadow and the problematic Carnival of Destruction, because it always does. It seems thinking hard about deep time puzzles the will and makes people bite off more than they can chew. After your comments in a recent video, I have decided to write under a pseudonym. The name I've chosen is short, has typographic potential and leaves plenty of room for a decent title and attractive artwork. Thanks for making me think about it. Thanks again for an excellent video.
Just make sure no-one else is using that name to publish under, as that is a sure way of making it hard to find your work. I've not read the Stablefords you cite- I like his work a lot and he is one of the authors I'm thinking about going more completist on: I've read around 16-20 of his books and this doesn't feel like enough. I think 'Star' is one to seek out and experiment with, but I would not say it is front rank personally.
Steve this is the most in-depth episode I have viewed here on the Outlaw Bookseller channel and it prompted me to think about why dystopian subject matter is much more prevalent and impactful than utopian subject matter (book sales numbers of dystopian vs utopian being a good indicator). That aside, your mention of Huxley reminded me that I chose "Island" for the name of a band I put together way, way back in the day, prompted by having read it, and it being his "utopian" novel. Thanks for the Werfel insight, I missed Matt's original post on the subject of "Star Of The Unborn". As usual, the content here on this channel is outstanding and a must-see on all counts! Cheers.
You're always so supportive, Rick, I can never thank you enough. For me, Dystopian fiction is the default for most serious SF- and of course Utopian fiction often presents worlds that are far from ideal in the reader's view. I think this is because great fiction needs drama and this comes from conflict. I recite this mantra at customers seeking 'a pleasant read' in my job all the time and I'm often struck by how they may not have considered this. SF's ability to create the essence of conflict- cognitive estrangement- is what makes it ideal as fiction, I'd say. You'll have heard me quote Whitehead often- 'It is the business of the future to be dangerous,'.
Yes, I loved Matt's video and of course would love to find a copy or have it reprinted. I like utopia novels a lot in theory as a star trek fan, as I'm always curious as to how to imagine a good future. Your analysis was great and added a lot of interesting context. Like many, I really enjoy Jewish 1930s and 40s books and am a massive fan of Kafka. When I eventually get to read Star of the Unborn, I think it'll be even more intriguing now with all this added context.
Hi Jozef, good to hear from you. I'm an enormous admirer of quite a bit of Jewish fiction but still feel I need to read a lot more. I love European literature in general, so Werfel was a must for me anyway. It's not a fullblown mastwork in my view, but it is interesting. Hope you can find one.
Just started reading this. Because Franz Werfel was interested in Theosophy, I’m thinking that BH might be a stand-in for Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, it’s founder. She was in Tibet and India for a while (like BH in the book). She was also known as just her initials HPB amongst her friends. The author talks about reincarnation at the start of the book, when he meets BH. Helena Blavatsky was one of the first western converts to Buddhism - so reincarnation was something she believed in. Also - reading it in German BH is like reading “bra” in english. So initials flipped, gender flipped, and constantly being reminded of bra’s (BH= Bussenhalter). Whatever - I’m going to go with her as a portrait of BH. If later on in the book anything is mentioned about the 7 stages of mankind’s evolution (present day being the 5th), then that would be the cincher. Wir werden sehen.
This is an absolutely fantastic review, Stephen! Your mention of this novel in a previous video got me curious, so I've been poking around for a copy, reading bits about it, etc... I'm delighted that you mentioned "Arcturus," because Mr. Lindsay's effervescent enthusiasm for his own idyllic world, and all the esoteric philosophical/theosophical trappings he seemed to pack into it, kept coming to mind when I began investigating this book. I also can't help but think of ER. Eddison's "Worm Ouroboros", which, although it's escapist fantasy and Eddison explicitly tells readers is written solely to entertain, seems to contain myriad philosophical elements that are deeply connected with the Norse-spiced, occult-tinged adventure-romance he offers inside the fantasy. I wonder if you've read "Lord of the World" by EF. Benson's brother, Robert Hugh Benson. He was an Anglican who converted to Catholicism, and his S.F. novel contains uncanny geopolitical, political, economic, and social predictions that rival Verne and Wells. Fascinating stuff. Thank you, again! I can't wait to get back to Bath and visit! Used to do a lot of work for Future Publishing, so it's my fave spot in the UK! Take care!
I'm familiar with the Benson, but not read the novel, only some short fiction. I'm a devotee of Benson's ghost stories and he gets a mention in at least one of my Capri videos, since he lived there for a while. 'Star of the Unborn' is a curio, but an interesting one, though I would not say it is a masterwork myself, though it does come at an interesting time in the comparative histories of Genre SF and the mainstream.
Forty years ago I found the Bantam paperback edition of The Star of the Unborn for $1.75US. I dug it out of my bookshelves based on Matt’s review. It’s on my active tbr queue now.
I read this last year and found myself completely immersed in the mostly first-person, ever-changing perspective. FW’s self-aware interactions with the individuals of the utopian society were brilliant. His shock that the religions of his time continued to exist with an ending I’ll never forget made this an unforgettable read. Great video as always :-)
Waterstones online? Does have a secondhand stock and a third party affiliate programme. I ran the original precursor of Waterstones.com back in 1990-1994 during my tenure with them, when there was no internet bookselling. In four years I doubled the turnover and also managed their signed first editions club (long defunct). Those were good days for me.
I haven't come across "Star of the Unborn" as yet, but as far as "Voyage to Arcturus", I remember reading it long time ago, after encountering several generous reviews referring to it as a profoundly metaphysical, religious, & spiritual SF novel....... I finished it, but it seemed to me to be a basic quest tale.. Maybe I wasn't ready for it at that time, but I doubt I'll go back to it to find out. Robert Silverberg regularly wrote of/on such matters in his many novels, & he was a lot more effective at it IMO...
'Voyage To Arcturus' does have a quest narrative that is raised by Lindsay's imagination and unique prose, I'd say, but I totally get what you're saying- it's good, but rather overrated, though Colin Wilson's book about Lindsay makes an excellent case. Like you, I cleave to Silverberg, who has economy, narrative drive and silver timbres in his writing. Eloquence trumps excess every time, I think.
Interesting to see this pop up all of a sudden. I bought a copy a few years ago at the local used shop for a few bucks just because I liked the cover and it seemed intriguing, and then a few months later another one dropped into my lap when my kid brought home a wagon of books given away by a random neighborhood person. I read about 1/3 of it and passed it along--it was a little too dry and perhaps over my head in philosophy, if I recall, so despite its uniqueness I had a hard time connecting and passed the copies along.
My feeling is that many, many readers will feel the same way. It's by no means a canonical classic in my view, but an interesting and striking, if flawed, bit of literary history.
It's an issue: but the fact is that a lot of forgotten masterpieces - some of them that were maybe never fully discovered in the first place- fall into this price bracket. My feeling is that in the fullness of time, this book will be reissued. I would say 'wait until you can get one at a reasonable price' as as interesting as I found it, I would not pay $100 for it myself- there are other titles I would go that far for instead (including some things I had decades ago that no-one wanted then and are now massively in demand....such as the Anna Kavan biography I saw yesterday at £100 that I bought new on publication in the early 90s, read and sold on for a pittance a few years later).
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I hope , given how the author had a pretty profiloic life and a book that is culturally known, and a love rof alma mahler and that. It better. Like its from a pretty high profile artist, that just , ther is no reason to not reissue it.
@@marocat4749 It'll be an entirely commercial decision made by whichever publisher notices it - as I said, I think it will be reissued, but I also think it will remain a cult book and will probably never reach a massive level of popularity: I just can't see it catching on beyond an initial word of mouth thing from YT- it's a curio as much as a 'forgotten classic'.
Nice analysis! Always fun to hear about these obscurities. It sure sounds like something more influenced by the Theosophist / spiritualist / Bulwer-Lytton sort of milieu than anything on the genre side of things. It would probably make for a nice NYRB classic if anything.
Wow so glad you bring up A A Attanasio!!! He has such a wild cosmology and exuberant energy. I believe he's still alive and living in Hawai'i. I hope someday we get more from Attanasio. I do hope you'll review Radix, or anything else by him
@@outlawbookselleroriginalThat edition you show in the "15 associational" video is beautiful. Wyvern is one I haven't read yet. Hoping to get to Wyvern this year.
I watched Bookpilled's video about this one too, and yes, it sounds really fascinating, and I'd definitely like to read it. A Voyage to Arcturus is one of my favourite books. last year I read Lindsay's novel Sphinx. That was a beautiful work and I think Lindsay is not only neglected by deeply misunderstood, perhaps even by a man who knows much more than i do about nearly everything, Colin Wilson.
Lindsay is one of those 'There are people in the world who've read him, and there are people who haven't' writers. The Werfel is more ambitious, but I prefer Lindsay, finding it more toothsome in its flavourings. The Wilson book was one I enjoyed too, I mention him regularly here.
When Matt's video first dropped I was in front of my computer, and looked up prices for the book as he started talking about it. There was a copy as low as $4, & 10 ish, etc- so I told myself not to fret, and calmly pay proper attention to the speaker. By the end of the video I was sold and started clicking on the links: All the copies under $70 were all sold. I would argue, Mr. Outlaw Bookseller, Sir, that you are *not* helping! . ( Sorry mate, I'm not yet one coffee in. . You . )
Hi Walter, great to hear from you as ever. Yes, while I watched Matt's video I thought 'Here we go, this will disappear everywhere now,'. People have told me that some authors' works have become scarcer since I've mentioned them and my clips only get around 1500 views on average- but then I tend to mention a lot of unusual authors. Whether the book will appeal to a mass audience is another matter, I feel. I sense a reissue within a few years, so hang tough until then.
@outlawbookselleroriginal Sweet of you to reply, it was not necessary for such a weary bookseller concerning such watery snark. No hyperbole though, it really happened to me that way. ( I started to look up books as you mentioned them just to put them on a list for future reference & the window was still open when I switched to his vid - A practice, BTW, which will lead to insurmountable TBR's and narrowed hallways as I can attest! - I DO NOT recommend!) Anyhow, thanks for the vids & the wonderful examination of this work.
Very good review. Unless I missed it, you didn’t mention the cover artist, Gene Szafran. He illustrated a large number of paperback covers during the ‘70’s including many by Silverberg. I managed to purchase my Bantam copy of Werfel’s book in April of 2021 for a cheap price; hopefully I can get around to tackling it soon. A RUclipsr has recorded an audio version of Star Of the Unborn: this could be helpful in trying to get the book finished for people who like AudioBooks.
Yes, I recognised his work but I rarely memorise cover artist names. I don't think 'Star of the Unborn' is for everyone, but it is interesting, if flawed. I'd stick with the Silverberg myself-arguably not as ambitious, but more accomplished in terms of succeeding in its aims in my view.
I was just thinking of A Voyage to Arcturus right before you mentioned it!. Need to check this out. I remember watching the Bookpilled review. I wonder if someone like Valancourt Books would be interested in republishing it. They take reader suggestions. I will look into it.
Hi Steve, I watched your whole show and I thought this presentation on Franz Werfel by you was more personal than most of your other shows. But as always, it was a thoughtful presentation. I will check out the link.
Wow, I´ve nearly forgotten I do own and have read this book. Thanks for the reminder. What struck me most with Star of the Unborn was Franz Werfel´s description of the German society between World Wars 2 and 3 which is shockingly accurate from the late 1960s until today. And he wrote this when WW2 was at it´s height. (I´m German BTW - but those tribal descriptions do not mean much for me anyway)
Yes, I think it works well on the metaphoric level and I'm not surprised a German reader gets something else out of the book, thanks for posting this for everyone to see.
Anna Mahler was Werfel's step-daughter, not his wife. He was married to Anna's mother, Alma Mahler, who had also been married to Gustav Mahler and then the architect Walter Gropius (founder of the Bahuas school). Tom Lehrer wrote a song about Alma after seeing what he described as "the juiciest, spiciest, raciest obituary it has ever been my pleasure to read". As Lehrer put it "she had in her lifetime managed to acquire as lovers practically all of the top creative men in Central Europe".
I'm pretty sure I said Alma, though I may have fudged it to Anna later in the video- I first mentioned her here last summer in one of my Capri Vlog series(I said pretty much the same thing about her- the footage of Villa Monecone is taken from one of the Capri videos) and have been aware of her for around a decade or so in the context of the Kokoshka/Mann anecdote I related- I was also aware of the Gropius thing. But I only made the Werfel connection when researching him before shooting this video. It sounds that she was like a precursor of Nico, who counted Dylan, Brian Jones, Alain Delon, Lou Reed, John Cale, Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop and I seem to recall Jackson Browne among her paramours.
Glad you liked (at times at least) the book. I can't disagree that it's longwinded. I knew he died right after writing it but somehow didn't connect the dots that it was published as a first draft. Explains a lot. I still like my pet theory about Past Master. Maybe I will read Voyage to Arcturus. Glad to finally have someone else in the conversation about Star of the Unborn. Great video.
Thanks again for the book, Matt. Given Lafferty's Catholicism, you may well be right, he would definitely have known 'Song of Bernadette' and was clearly a big reader given the references in his work- More, Homer and so on. Looking at the obscure stuff is always interesting- after all, people can't keep reading bloody 'Dune' all their lives...though they seem to! Take care, man.
I saw Matt's video and wanted to read it, but all of the vendors online are demanding six to eight hundred dollars for a hard used paperback. So in April I managed to get a copy through my local library on an inter-library loan and was surprised to receive a hardcover first edition owned by Liberty University, which you may or may not know, is a very conservative Christian University.
It's an interesting but deeply flawed book and very self-indulgent stylistically. Matt sent me a copy, for which I was very grateful, as I've read a huge amount of SF and am interested in obscurities, but I would not put it in my personal canon. Hope you enjoy it.
Glad you managed to find an inexpensive copy, my friend. I hope Matt didn't break the bank buying one for me, so I'm sending him something very nice and usually quite pricey in return
Thanks for another fine episode my friend. I don’t know how to reach you in any other medium so pardon the bit lengthy comment. I wanted to ask you as a bookseller and collector if you could make a guess as to the ridiculously high going price of a mid 50s novel “Something of Value” by Robert Ruark, paperback no less. Currently sells for ~75 USD. Not a SF novel but one of a couplet (the other was called “Uhuru”….see what I did there? SF reference) that recount the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya in the early 50’s. It was a popular novel but wouldn’t’ be especially well known today. There was a movie version with Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier. I wanted to pick up a copy and relieve a bit of my youth by reading it again but was shocked at the price. Do you have any educated guesses why a book like this goes for such a price? Availability of copies sure, but this book would seemingly but just as available as say, “Valley of the Dolls” or “The Carpetbaggers”. I would value your feedback Steve. Cheers
I don't think there's been much Ruark in print in the UK since the 1980s, which is the last time I recall selling - only very ocassionally- his work. It doesn't seem uncommon to me worldwide- there are around 200 copies on sale, but I suspect the high value ones are (1) sellers trying it on to see what they can get and (2) on the basis that it was filmed and is arguably controversial because of its Mau Mau subject matter. I think if you search it on ebay and look at the 'sold' listings, you'll get a realistic idea of what people are actually paying for it. After all, it only takes one person to overpay for a book to encourage some sellers to ask for silly money.
Great video on franz werfel Steve as always.I saw Matts take on this sometime ago and enjoyed it , so have been looking for it ever since . But to no avail, not paying silly prices on abe . I have found star of the unborn on audiobook free on u tube if I can’t find a copy to read I may give it a listen. sacrilege.?🤔son of man what a great book .
I always prefer to read instead of listen, but in the case of Werfel, I suspect listening will be more enjoyable. It is too long, quite simply, despite its many virtues. Good to hear from you as ever!
Werfel had an interesting life too being friends with a lot friends that were quite famous, like kafka and other big names. And even a lover of alma mahler, granted she had a lot, but still. And wrote a novel reacting to the armenian genocide and even was in ww1! And is austrian?? How could that book be forgotten, he is quite a historical figure
Many years ago, I was discussing Olaf Stapledon with Brian Aldiss and I told Brian that I found Stapledon incredibly dull to read. Brian suggested that I should read "Star of the Unborn" to discover what dull really was. I duly did that, and Brian was right. I found Werfel's novel to be self-indulgent, dull, and having Wellsian (later Wells I should say) pretensions that didn't really come off. I did eventually manage to finish reading it, but it was like being forced to read a chunk of the Old Testament every day... except the Old Testament was more exciting. If anyone wants to read an SF novel by a non-genre figure of that period, I'd suggest "Strange Life of Ivan Osokin" by P. D. Ouspensky, it's shorter and with different intent but at least it's readable.
I must say I don't think I'd read the Werfel again, hence my comments about if it was edited. I'm interested that you too find Stapledon dull- I can see why many people are fascinated by him, but I've always struggled to finish his books except 'Sirius', which is atypical of his work as you know.
For me, I think the vastness of Stapledon's ideas wasn't matched by his prose style... what prose style?, do I hear you ask? Well, exactly. Arthur C. Clarke may have been a crap writer to discerning folk like us, but compared to Stapledon he had a wonderful prose style. I find his SF about as interesting as reading a tome about the reproductive methods of the earthworm. And yes, Sirius is different, in fact it's pretty readable.
@outlawbookselleroriginal I thank ye kind sir. I've had it so long that I'd almost forgotten what it was and had to look. It was an all girl-grunge band from the 90ies (like L7). Not great - but a name worth borrowing.
Ok could the intro of nit wanting tha be a bit humorous intro that people get in with an ironic distance and dont go in too serious? Some weird jewish humor?? I mean maybe he put that at the intro to not analyze it to death but engage in fun , even if he is probably aware its there.
PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Thanks to everyone for watching and for your comments here. I've just got home after three days away (book buying trip) am despite it being very enjoyable I am shattered, so I may not get around to replying to your comments for a day or two- I also have a lot of footage to review and edit for an upcoming video of my trip, so bear with me- cheers, Steve
After Matt’s video I found a copy for $1 in a used book shop. You and Matt’s channels are two of my favorites!
Good score! Yes, Matt and I get on well, we are hoping to meet up and shoot a video one day, he's my favourite SF youtuber, lovely guy and very sharp.
Great in-depth analysis and opinion. This is what I love most about the corner of BookTube I hang out in. The inquisitive exploration of this rare book by two of my favorite SF book lovers. This kind of comparison and contrast analysis of a book is the next level in presentation and discovery for the fans. Thanks to you and Matt @bookpilled
Always a pleasure, Jack. Hope you are well, mate.
Another great video, thank you! Let's hope that your efforts, and those of Matt at Bookpilled, will result in someone bringing Franz Werfel's novel back into print! Publishers, please do this!!
I personally feel NYRB Classics will do it in the fullness of time. I said so to Matt in an email a year ago and I just think it's a matter of waiting, now.
Glad you mentioned Radix. I’m about to read it for the first time.
Go slow. Relish the style. It is high concept, strange, rewarding and baffling- at times frustrating- but there is no-one else like Attanasio.
A Voyage to Arcturus is one of my favorite books and I've been looking for the Werfel novel ever since Matt started preaching its greatness. It's his fault none of us can find it at a reasonable price now. Love the more abstract and creative stuff like this. Great episode man! Thank you. Would love to hear a more in depth discussion of A Voyage to Arcturus. Or did you do that already?
I've not reviewed 'Arcturus' and currently have no plans to re-read it, but you never know. It's in all the reference books and never stays out of print for long. Like the Werfel, it is divisive. Wait a while and 'Star' will be reissued, I'm sure.
Bookpilled put me onto it. Took a couple months but i snagged a copy for around the equivalent of $90US.
Still havent gotten to it. Got a strict backlog on books, but it's a treasured item on my shelf.
Matt put about 90,000 people on to it, of course, LOL.
Hi Steve, thanks for another great video. This one's a real corker!
I have Douglas Adams' penchant for displacement activities and have turned the mattress, changed the sheets and taken the rubbish out; actually beating the dustmen for once. What's more, I managed to fit a beige sheet under a pale blue striped duvet. Thankfully I'm blind when I'm in the arms of Morpheus. At least I gave myself time to think.
Star of the Unborn was on my watchlist after Matt's recommendation, but is doubly so now. I don't expect to find it, so let's hope there is a reissue. Tiger! Tiger!, Pavane and any Ellison are also proving elusive, but I am an ambush predator and very patient.
Not one mention of Uncle Bob, but two! It's heartening to hear Sailing to Byzantium is well regarded, because I'd cooled on the later Silverberg after the disappointment of Tom O'Bedlam and Star of Gypsies. I'm currently reading Godling, Go Home!(1964) Silverberg's second collection after Next Stop, The Stars and strike me down, it's themed! The man had such a depth of work he could make his second collection themed; the hat just has to be tipped. The stories are actually quite crude and uneven, and have views on colonisation which juxtapose sharply with Downward to the Earth.
It's interesting that we both went to Silverberg and Stapledon, though I also went to Stableford's The Walking Shadow and the problematic Carnival of Destruction, because it always does. It seems thinking hard about deep time puzzles the will and makes people bite off more than they can chew.
After your comments in a recent video, I have decided to write under a pseudonym. The name I've chosen is short, has typographic potential and leaves plenty of room for a decent title and attractive artwork. Thanks for making me think about it.
Thanks again for an excellent video.
Just make sure no-one else is using that name to publish under, as that is a sure way of making it hard to find your work.
I've not read the Stablefords you cite- I like his work a lot and he is one of the authors I'm thinking about going more completist on: I've read around 16-20 of his books and this doesn't feel like enough.
I think 'Star' is one to seek out and experiment with, but I would not say it is front rank personally.
Steve this is the most in-depth episode I have viewed here on the Outlaw Bookseller channel and it prompted me to think about why dystopian subject matter is much more prevalent and impactful than utopian subject matter (book sales numbers of dystopian vs utopian being a good indicator). That aside, your mention of Huxley reminded me that I chose "Island" for the name of a band I put together way, way back in the day, prompted by having read it, and it being his "utopian" novel. Thanks for the Werfel insight, I missed Matt's original post on the subject of "Star Of The Unborn". As usual, the content here on this channel is outstanding and a must-see on all counts! Cheers.
You're always so supportive, Rick, I can never thank you enough. For me, Dystopian fiction is the default for most serious SF- and of course Utopian fiction often presents worlds that are far from ideal in the reader's view. I think this is because great fiction needs drama and this comes from conflict. I recite this mantra at customers seeking 'a pleasant read' in my job all the time and I'm often struck by how they may not have considered this. SF's ability to create the essence of conflict- cognitive estrangement- is what makes it ideal as fiction, I'd say. You'll have heard me quote Whitehead often- 'It is the business of the future to be dangerous,'.
Love these vids professor.
My pleasure, watch the backlist, make an old guy happy!
Yes, I loved Matt's video and of course would love to find a copy or have it reprinted. I like utopia novels a lot in theory as a star trek fan, as I'm always curious as to how to imagine a good future.
Your analysis was great and added a lot of interesting context. Like many, I really enjoy Jewish 1930s and 40s books and am a massive fan of Kafka. When I eventually get to read Star of the Unborn, I think it'll be even more intriguing now with all this added context.
Hi Jozef, good to hear from you. I'm an enormous admirer of quite a bit of Jewish fiction but still feel I need to read a lot more. I love European literature in general, so Werfel was a must for me anyway. It's not a fullblown mastwork in my view, but it is interesting. Hope you can find one.
Just started reading this. Because Franz Werfel was interested in Theosophy, I’m thinking that BH might be a stand-in for Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, it’s founder. She was in Tibet and India for a while (like BH in the book). She was also known as just her initials HPB amongst her friends. The author talks about reincarnation at the start of the book, when he meets BH. Helena Blavatsky was one of the first western converts to Buddhism - so reincarnation was something she believed in. Also - reading it in German BH is like reading “bra” in english. So initials flipped, gender flipped, and constantly being reminded of bra’s (BH= Bussenhalter). Whatever - I’m going to go with her as a portrait of BH. If later on in the book anything is mentioned about the 7 stages of mankind’s evolution (present day being the 5th), then that would be the cincher. Wir werden sehen.
A couple of people have mentioned Blavatksy and I think you both might be onto something.
This is an absolutely fantastic review, Stephen! Your mention of this novel in a previous video got me curious, so I've been poking around for a copy, reading bits about it, etc... I'm delighted that you mentioned "Arcturus," because Mr. Lindsay's effervescent enthusiasm for his own idyllic world, and all the esoteric philosophical/theosophical trappings he seemed to pack into it, kept coming to mind when I began investigating this book. I also can't help but think of ER. Eddison's "Worm Ouroboros", which, although it's escapist fantasy and Eddison explicitly tells readers is written solely to entertain, seems to contain myriad philosophical elements that are deeply connected with the Norse-spiced, occult-tinged adventure-romance he offers inside the fantasy. I wonder if you've read "Lord of the World" by EF. Benson's brother, Robert Hugh Benson. He was an Anglican who converted to Catholicism, and his S.F. novel contains uncanny geopolitical, political, economic, and social predictions that rival Verne and Wells. Fascinating stuff. Thank you, again! I can't wait to get back to Bath and visit! Used to do a lot of work for Future Publishing, so it's my fave spot in the UK! Take care!
I'm familiar with the Benson, but not read the novel, only some short fiction. I'm a devotee of Benson's ghost stories and he gets a mention in at least one of my Capri videos, since he lived there for a while. 'Star of the Unborn' is a curio, but an interesting one, though I would not say it is a masterwork myself, though it does come at an interesting time in the comparative histories of Genre SF and the mainstream.
Forty years ago I found the Bantam paperback edition of The Star of the Unborn for $1.75US. I dug it out of my bookshelves based on Matt’s review. It’s on my active tbr queue now.
I have a few books that have sat on my TBR for too long as well!
I read this last year and found myself completely immersed in the mostly first-person, ever-changing perspective.
FW’s self-aware interactions with the individuals of the utopian society were brilliant. His shock that the religions of his time continued to exist with an ending I’ll never forget made this an unforgettable read.
Great video as always :-)
I bought a signed copy of 'Star of the Unborn' from Waterstones, yesterday...in hardcover.
Waterstones online? Does have a secondhand stock and a third party affiliate programme. I ran the original precursor of Waterstones.com back in 1990-1994 during my tenure with them, when there was no internet bookselling. In four years I doubled the turnover and also managed their signed first editions club (long defunct). Those were good days for me.
I haven't come across "Star of the Unborn" as yet, but as far as "Voyage to Arcturus", I remember reading it long time ago, after encountering several generous reviews referring to it as a profoundly metaphysical, religious, & spiritual SF novel.......
I finished it, but it seemed to me to be a basic quest tale.. Maybe I wasn't ready for it at that time, but I doubt I'll go back to it to find out.
Robert Silverberg regularly wrote of/on such matters in his many novels, & he was a lot more effective at it IMO...
'Voyage To Arcturus' does have a quest narrative that is raised by Lindsay's imagination and unique prose, I'd say, but I totally get what you're saying- it's good, but rather overrated, though Colin Wilson's book about Lindsay makes an excellent case. Like you, I cleave to Silverberg, who has economy, narrative drive and silver timbres in his writing. Eloquence trumps excess every time, I think.
Interesting to see this pop up all of a sudden. I bought a copy a few years ago at the local used shop for a few bucks just because I liked the cover and it seemed intriguing, and then a few months later another one dropped into my lap when my kid brought home a wagon of books given away by a random neighborhood person. I read about 1/3 of it and passed it along--it was a little too dry and perhaps over my head in philosophy, if I recall, so despite its uniqueness I had a hard time connecting and passed the copies along.
My feeling is that many, many readers will feel the same way. It's by no means a canonical classic in my view, but an interesting and striking, if flawed, bit of literary history.
The good: we’ve discovered a forgotten masterpiece.
The bad: now it costs $100
It's an issue: but the fact is that a lot of forgotten masterpieces - some of them that were maybe never fully discovered in the first place- fall into this price bracket. My feeling is that in the fullness of time, this book will be reissued. I would say 'wait until you can get one at a reasonable price' as as interesting as I found it, I would not pay $100 for it myself- there are other titles I would go that far for instead (including some things I had decades ago that no-one wanted then and are now massively in demand....such as the Anna Kavan biography I saw yesterday at £100 that I bought new on publication in the early 90s, read and sold on for a pittance a few years later).
If you live in the states there is one on Biblio for $10. I just found it right before I wrote this. Others as well for well under $100.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I hope , given how the author had a pretty profiloic life and a book that is culturally known, and a love rof alma mahler and that.
It better. Like its from a pretty high profile artist, that just , ther is no reason to not reissue it.
@@marocat4749 It'll be an entirely commercial decision made by whichever publisher notices it - as I said, I think it will be reissued, but I also think it will remain a cult book and will probably never reach a massive level of popularity: I just can't see it catching on beyond an initial word of mouth thing from YT- it's a curio as much as a 'forgotten classic'.
Nice analysis! Always fun to hear about these obscurities. It sure sounds like something more influenced by the Theosophist / spiritualist / Bulwer-Lytton sort of milieu than anything on the genre side of things. It would probably make for a nice NYRB classic if anything.
A couple of people have mentioned Blavatksy and I think you both might be onto something.
Wow so glad you bring up A A Attanasio!!! He has such a wild cosmology and exuberant energy. I believe he's still alive and living in Hawai'i. I hope someday we get more from Attanasio. I do hope you'll review Radix, or anything else by him
His 'Wyvern' is referred to at least twice in my videos, including the recentish top 15 associational novels SF video. He's a fascinating writer.
@@outlawbookselleroriginalThat edition you show in the "15 associational" video is beautiful. Wyvern is one I haven't read yet. Hoping to get to Wyvern this year.
I watched Bookpilled's video about this one too, and yes, it sounds really fascinating, and I'd definitely like to read it. A Voyage to Arcturus is one of my favourite books. last year I read Lindsay's novel Sphinx. That was a beautiful work and I think Lindsay is not only neglected by deeply misunderstood, perhaps even by a man who knows much more than i do about nearly everything, Colin Wilson.
Lindsay is one of those 'There are people in the world who've read him, and there are people who haven't' writers. The Werfel is more ambitious, but I prefer Lindsay, finding it more toothsome in its flavourings. The Wilson book was one I enjoyed too, I mention him regularly here.
When Matt's video first dropped I was in front of my computer, and looked up prices for the book as he started talking about it. There was a copy as low as $4, & 10 ish, etc- so I told myself not to fret, and calmly pay proper attention to the speaker. By the end of the video I was sold and started clicking on the links:
All the copies under $70 were all sold.
I would argue, Mr. Outlaw Bookseller, Sir, that you are *not* helping!
.
( Sorry mate, I'm not yet one coffee in. . You . )
Hi Walter, great to hear from you as ever. Yes, while I watched Matt's video I thought 'Here we go, this will disappear everywhere now,'. People have told me that some authors' works have become scarcer since I've mentioned them and my clips only get around 1500 views on average- but then I tend to mention a lot of unusual authors.
Whether the book will appeal to a mass audience is another matter, I feel. I sense a reissue within a few years, so hang tough until then.
@outlawbookselleroriginal Sweet of you to reply, it was not necessary for such a weary bookseller concerning such watery snark. No hyperbole though, it really happened to me that way. ( I started to look up books as you mentioned them just to put them on a list for future reference & the window was still open when I switched to his vid - A practice, BTW, which will lead to insurmountable TBR's and narrowed hallways as I can attest! - I DO NOT recommend!)
Anyhow, thanks for the vids & the wonderful examination of this work.
Very good review. Unless I missed it, you didn’t mention the cover artist, Gene Szafran. He illustrated a large number of paperback covers during the ‘70’s including many by Silverberg. I managed to purchase my Bantam copy of Werfel’s book in April of 2021 for a cheap price; hopefully I can get around to tackling it soon. A RUclipsr has recorded an audio version of Star Of the Unborn: this could be helpful in trying to get the book finished for people who like AudioBooks.
Yes, I recognised his work but I rarely memorise cover artist names. I don't think 'Star of the Unborn' is for everyone, but it is interesting, if flawed. I'd stick with the Silverberg myself-arguably not as ambitious, but more accomplished in terms of succeeding in its aims in my view.
I was just thinking of A Voyage to Arcturus right before you mentioned it!. Need to check this out. I remember watching the Bookpilled review. I wonder if someone like Valancourt Books would be interested in republishing it. They take reader suggestions. I will look into it.
Valancourt are a natural for Lindsay, I think. In the UK, it is an A Format Penguin Classic SF, as depicted in the video.
Hi Steve, I watched your whole show and I thought this presentation on Franz Werfel by you was more personal than most of your other shows. But as always, it was a thoughtful presentation. I will check out the link.
Cheers. I actually felt it was one of my more objective ones, but if it came across as personal in an enjoyable way, I'm very pleased.
Wow, I´ve nearly forgotten I do own and have read this book. Thanks for the reminder.
What struck me most with Star of the Unborn was Franz Werfel´s description of the German society between World Wars 2 and 3 which is shockingly accurate from the late 1960s until today. And he wrote this when WW2 was at it´s height. (I´m German BTW - but those tribal descriptions do not mean much for me anyway)
Yes, I think it works well on the metaphoric level and I'm not surprised a German reader gets something else out of the book, thanks for posting this for everyone to see.
Anna Mahler was Werfel's step-daughter, not his wife. He was married to Anna's mother, Alma Mahler, who had also been married to Gustav Mahler and then the architect Walter Gropius (founder of the Bahuas school).
Tom Lehrer wrote a song about Alma after seeing what he described as "the juiciest, spiciest, raciest obituary it has ever been my pleasure to read". As Lehrer put it "she had in her lifetime managed to acquire as lovers practically all of the top creative men in Central Europe".
I'm pretty sure I said Alma, though I may have fudged it to Anna later in the video- I first mentioned her here last summer in one of my Capri Vlog series(I said pretty much the same thing about her- the footage of Villa Monecone is taken from one of the Capri videos) and have been aware of her for around a decade or so in the context of the Kokoshka/Mann anecdote I related- I was also aware of the Gropius thing. But I only made the Werfel connection when researching him before shooting this video. It sounds that she was like a precursor of Nico, who counted Dylan, Brian Jones, Alain Delon, Lou Reed, John Cale, Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop and I seem to recall Jackson Browne among her paramours.
Superb criticism (in the best sense of the word). Thank you.
Very kind, I felt I should have nailed it a little quicker, but I'm pleased you like it.
Glad you liked (at times at least) the book. I can't disagree that it's longwinded. I knew he died right after writing it but somehow didn't connect the dots that it was published as a first draft. Explains a lot. I still like my pet theory about Past Master. Maybe I will read Voyage to Arcturus. Glad to finally have someone else in the conversation about Star of the Unborn. Great video.
Thanks again for the book, Matt. Given Lafferty's Catholicism, you may well be right, he would definitely have known 'Song of Bernadette' and was clearly a big reader given the references in his work- More, Homer and so on. Looking at the obscure stuff is always interesting- after all, people can't keep reading bloody 'Dune' all their lives...though they seem to! Take care, man.
Thanks Dad 🖖
I saw Matt's video and wanted to read it, but all of the vendors online are demanding six to eight hundred dollars for a hard used paperback. So in April I managed to get a copy through my local library on an inter-library loan and was surprised to receive a hardcover first edition owned by Liberty University, which you may or may not know, is a very conservative Christian University.
It's an interesting but deeply flawed book and very self-indulgent stylistically. Matt sent me a copy, for which I was very grateful, as I've read a huge amount of SF and am interested in obscurities, but I would not put it in my personal canon. Hope you enjoy it.
Will come back to this once I've read it. I have a cheap copy winging its way to me. Cheers.
Glad you managed to find an inexpensive copy, my friend. I hope Matt didn't break the bank buying one for me, so I'm sending him something very nice and usually quite pricey in return
I’ve been stuck on Silverberg’s Son of Man for the last year. Good video Steve
Just go with it and don't try to interpret it. That way it works. Thanks for your kind comment.
Thanks for another fine episode my friend.
I don’t know how to reach you in any other medium so pardon the bit lengthy comment. I wanted to ask you as a bookseller and collector if you could make a guess as to the ridiculously high going price of a mid 50s novel “Something of Value” by Robert Ruark, paperback no less. Currently sells for ~75 USD.
Not a SF novel but one of a couplet (the other was called “Uhuru”….see what I did there? SF reference) that recount the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya in the early 50’s. It was a popular novel but wouldn’t’ be especially well known today. There was a movie version with Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier.
I wanted to pick up a copy and relieve a bit of my youth by reading it again but was shocked at the price. Do you have any educated guesses why a book like this goes for such a price? Availability of copies sure, but this book would seemingly but just as available as say, “Valley of the Dolls” or “The Carpetbaggers”. I would value your feedback Steve. Cheers
I don't think there's been much Ruark in print in the UK since the 1980s, which is the last time I recall selling - only very ocassionally- his work. It doesn't seem uncommon to me worldwide- there are around 200 copies on sale, but I suspect the high value ones are (1) sellers trying it on to see what they can get and (2) on the basis that it was filmed and is arguably controversial because of its Mau Mau subject matter. I think if you search it on ebay and look at the 'sold' listings, you'll get a realistic idea of what people are actually paying for it. After all, it only takes one person to overpay for a book to encourage some sellers to ask for silly money.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Arigato Stephen-san
I read Jan Morris' Hav last year. Amazing stuff. I'll have to check out some of the others you listed if you found them similar!
Yes, 'Hav' is interesting, but more like LeGuin to my way of thinking, but still distinct from her in many ways.
Great video on franz werfel Steve as always.I saw Matts take on this sometime ago and enjoyed it , so have been looking for it ever since . But to no avail, not paying silly prices on abe . I have found star of the unborn on audiobook free on u tube if I can’t find a copy to read I may give it a listen. sacrilege.?🤔son of man what a great book .
I always prefer to read instead of listen, but in the case of Werfel, I suspect listening will be more enjoyable. It is too long, quite simply, despite its many virtues. Good to hear from you as ever!
Can’t find a copy anywhere 😩
It is VERY uncommon, I'm afraid. One day, it will be reissued. But don't fret, I wouldn't say it was essential, just very interesting.
Werfel had an interesting life too being friends with a lot friends that were quite famous, like kafka and other big names. And even a lover of alma mahler, granted she had a lot, but still.
And wrote a novel reacting to the armenian genocide and even was in ww1!
And is austrian??
How could that book be forgotten, he is quite a historical figure
Czech, not Austrian.
Many years ago, I was discussing Olaf Stapledon with Brian Aldiss and I told Brian that I found Stapledon incredibly dull to read. Brian suggested that I should read "Star of the Unborn" to discover what dull really was. I duly did that, and Brian was right. I found Werfel's novel to be self-indulgent, dull, and having Wellsian (later Wells I should say) pretensions that didn't really come off. I did eventually manage to finish reading it, but it was like being forced to read a chunk of the Old Testament every day... except the Old Testament was more exciting. If anyone wants to read an SF novel by a non-genre figure of that period, I'd suggest "Strange Life of Ivan Osokin" by P. D. Ouspensky, it's shorter and with different intent but at least it's readable.
I must say I don't think I'd read the Werfel again, hence my comments about if it was edited. I'm interested that you too find Stapledon dull- I can see why many people are fascinated by him, but I've always struggled to finish his books except 'Sirius', which is atypical of his work as you know.
For me, I think the vastness of Stapledon's ideas wasn't matched by his prose style... what prose style?, do I hear you ask? Well, exactly. Arthur C. Clarke may have been a crap writer to discerning folk like us, but compared to Stapledon he had a wonderful prose style. I find his SF about as interesting as reading a tome about the reproductive methods of the earthworm. And yes, Sirius is different, in fact it's pretty readable.
@@leakybootpress9699 My sentiments exactly. World- or universe building- alone is not enough.
The german version is quite easy to get - so I’ve got it on the Kindle for 0,49 cent. Just no book-smell unfortunately.
I love your handle.
@outlawbookselleroriginal I thank ye kind sir. I've had it so long that I'd almost forgotten what it was and had to look. It was an all girl-grunge band from the 90ies (like L7). Not great - but a name worth borrowing.
Ok could the intro of nit wanting tha be a bit humorous intro that people get in with an ironic distance and dont go in too serious? Some weird jewish humor??
I mean maybe he put that at the intro to not analyze it to death but engage in fun , even if he is probably aware its there.