≡ PDF Free The Rediscovery of Man The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith Cordwainer Smith James A Mann 9780915368563 Books

The Rediscovery of Man The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith Cordwainer Smith James A Mann 9780915368563 Books

Download As PDF : The Rediscovery of Man The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith Cordwainer Smith James A Mann 9780915368563 Books

The Rediscovery of Man The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith Cordwainer Smith James A Mann 9780915368563 Books

Simply majestic, Smith's prose and imagination are quite unlike anything that came before or after, in any corner of genre fiction. This edition itself is the best one out there: all of his short stories collected in one classy, durable hardback. Kind of thing that you'll want to share with you friends and eventually pass on to your kids.


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The Rediscovery of Man The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith Cordwainer Smith James A Mann 9780915368563 Books Reviews

I'd never heard of Cordwainer Smith; he was referenced in Philip K. Dick's Exegesis, and I decided to give him a try.

The stories - all set over the course of one vast future history - and incredible. I've read nothing else quite like them. Smith's vision is truly amazing. I often find myself thinking, as a writer, that I wish I'd had some of these ideas.

Why only 4 stars? I find Smith's style a bit choppy in places. But it's a minor point on an absolutely great collection of rare science fiction.

If you read nothing else, it's worth the price for Scanners Live in Vain.
I'm only about half way through this large collection of stories. They are fascinating; I've never read anything quite like them. The over-riding impact on me has been how Smith treats the vastness of space as utterly horrifying and toxic to the human psyche. Reading this collection, for the first time I can kinda grok the psychic/spiritual desolation produced in the reavers of Firefly.
One of my very favorite authors of all time!

Why is there no digital edition of Smith's complete works available? I already own the huge hardback, but want a digital copy for all the well known reasons. Come on publishers, please?
Like Heinlein, Smith built a detailed future history of the human race as a backdrop for his writing. It starts at the end of WWII and continues tens of thousands of years into the future. Smith spent much of his childhood in Asia, as the son of a diplomat,and grew up to become an expert in Asian culture and affairs, as well as politics in general and psychology in particular. Many of Smith's stories are rewrites of Chinese myths and fables, with casts of characters out of his often dreamlike human universe, governed by the Instrumentality.

Interestingly, even within this vast sweep of time, Smith's Instrumentality never chances upon a single alien race, despite the eventual development of various and increasingly efficient techniques of FTL travel. At a few points in "The Rediscovery of Man" Smith mentions various of the Instrumentality's preparations for possible alien encounters, but only modified and/or forgotten sub-species of humans are ever discovered.

The word "dark" gets used a lot in describing Smith's work, deriving from such things as the subjugation of the Underpeople, the practice of memory-wiping and the paternalistic and all-powerful Instrumentality. But most importantly, Smith's personal history is one of witnessing events from the viewpoint of those who are leading (or manipulating) the rest of us, and it is the appearance of this unique understanding in his writing that gives it its edge, and is the real source of that element of darkness. Smith's experiences in, and perception of, real halls of power, governing millions of humans, becomes a disturbing inevitability in the attitudes and policies of control in his Lords and Ladies, that impresses, and chills,the reader. They have billions of human and human- and animal-derived beings spread over hundreds of star systems to keep track of, and they don't ask for permission to act. The Instrumentality is a shadow government- for the most part staying out of daily life for billions of people in far-flung planets and empires. But it does have long-term, altruistic agendas, that require adjustments to the large scale flow of human development, at times, which take the form of both guidance and retribution. At its highest level, the arc of the story told by all the stories in "Rediscovery Of Man", taken together, is about the Instrumentality finally realizing that humans, as a species now spread out over thousands of light years, do best when controls are minimal, hence the title.

But the wonderfully offbeat technology is pure imagination-such as the "laminated mouse brain" containing a guardian hologram for a young girl on an interstellar journey in the story "Think Blue, Count Two",or Old North Australia's strange and fearsome planetary defense system in "Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons"; a directed-telepathy weapon powered by the lethal hostility harvested from the minds of specially-bred psychotic weasels.

One could actually hope that humanity turns out as exotic, abstract and imaginative (and as long-lasting!) as Smith envisioned. If you are a scifi buff but are unfamiliar with Smith's work, there is a gaping hole in your expertise that you can now remedy with a single, chronologically-ordered volume of stories. If scifi isn't your bag, I guarantee you still will be seduced and enchanted and transfixed by this relatively small body of work which, like the writing of Stanislaw Lem, raises speculative fiction to the level of literature.
I read his stories in college when I had better things to do and for several years thereafter. I always enjoyed them but I got away from him and pretty much away from reading sci-fi, then I saw this and finally got it. He wrote years ago and his science is not so good but he's not doing fantasy (way too many people are) and he's fun to read. I recommend him for historical perspective and for a fun read. And his stories are tied together as part of a future history of the human (and related) race(s). I didn't realize his background till I read the forward; fascinating.
The uniformity of ratings for this book tell the tale. I have read hundreds of SF novels and short stories over the years, and in my judgment this is the single best volume. Usually it's hard to say "best" - a book or story might be extraordinary in some respects, ordinary in others. In this case I don't think it's difficult to make the call. This is SF taken beyond the genre, and yet standing at the top of it. Beyond mind-expanding treatments of key SF topics (space travel, androids, time travel, etc.), Smith/Linebarger explored the more fundamental (higher?) literary terrain of what it means to be human, threading a consistent message of awe and compassion throughout. If this sounds pretty heavy - well, the stories are compelling and entertaining as well. Highest recommendation.
This book is a collection of Cordwainer Smith's short stories, which after his death were lookled at a little closer and found to have a common thread running each one. If you read and enjoy sci-fi as much as I do, then don't hesitate to add this book to your collection. A customer of mine lent me one of the paperback partial collections of these stories and the book blew me away. I went to and found this complete collection and really took off. This man wrote like no one else and I believe it had everything to do with the way he was raised, the places he lived and the people he met growing up. When I read these stories I have a feeling come over me like no other author has inspired in me. I can't describe it, but it makes one wish to not put the book down until one finishes it. Get this book, read about Smith (pseudonym) and relish these wonderful stories!
Simply majestic, Smith's prose and imagination are quite unlike anything that came before or after, in any corner of genre fiction. This edition itself is the best one out there all of his short stories collected in one classy, durable hardback. Kind of thing that you'll want to share with you friends and eventually pass on to your kids.