Notes Toward an Article on
Carol Emshwiller
Gavin J. Grant
Carol
Emshwiller, who has been publishing superb, stirring, challenging
fiction for over 50 years, is a perfect Guest of Honor for Wiscon,
the only Feminist Science Fiction convention.
If someone were to compile one
of those futile lists of the top hundred writers in the world right
Now! I'd have to hack into the results and replace the name
of one of the politely-angry young men in the top ten with Carol Emshwiller's.
I wouldn't put her in the top five, but only to avert the pollsters
suspicions. Number six then, or number seven.
I imagine that when they discovered
I'd spoofed their poll, said pollsters might be ticked off. But if
they attempted to track me down, I expect there would be a Spartacus
moment (perhaps without all the cleft chins) as writers from all around
the world would stepped themselves forward to say, "I put Carol Emshwiller
in the top ten," or, "It was I who fixed your silly poll," and so
on.
Carol Emshwiller's writing, and
she herself, inspires that kind of action.
But why would someone need (or
want) to put Carol's name forward that way? Surely the cream will
rise to the top? Well, some will, but for the most part, it takes
work to get there (as well as some odd mechanical processes which
aren't an appropriate extension of this metaphor). As sharper critics
than I have pointed out, Carol's writing manages to both demand the
reader pay attention and at the same time depends on the willingness
of the reader to invest their imagination in the story to be fully
appreciated. This is why I would fix that poll. This is why others
would defend me. This is why Carol's readers are very happy people
and are always putting her books into other people's hands.
Carol's writing can rarely be
satisfyingly pigeon-holed. Her latest novel which we were extremely
happy and proud to publish, The
Mount (2002), is science fiction; but it can also be described
(or defended or attacked) as allegory, a coming-of-age story, or fantasy.
Or even romance. Ledoyt
(1995) is a biographical historical Western coming-of-age story.
Carmen
Dog (1990), a novel that I hope every Wiscon attendee will
read, is transformative in many senses of the word. As for Carol's
short stories: they are many, they are awesome, and each one is worth
an essay to itself. Carol, of course, is well aware -- and not at
all bothered -- that her fiction is not easily categorized.
Among the many resonances and
influences in Carol's writing are the mountains and landscape of the
American West, personal relationships, the odd moments of war, and
the actions and effects of people who may or may not be more damaged
than the rest of us.
Recently, Carol has written a
series of war stories including "Boys"
(Scifiction), "The General" (McSweeney's No.10), and
"Repository" (F&SF), which explore war from typically Emshwilleresque
viewpoints. Soldiers are unsure of who they are, who they are fighting,
or why. War is the question, not the subject.
I look forward to reading many
more of Carol's questions.
More
Carol
Emshwiller
Bio
Reviews
The
Mount
Report
to the Men's Club and Other Stories
Originally published in the Wiscon
27 program book.
Author photo by Susan Emshwiller.