"Randall Garrett - Takeoff" - читать интересную книгу автора (Garrett Randall)

subsequently realized by vivid recall what he had done, and rewrote the offending item. Rewrote it
because there are unknowing people who would have considered it plagiarism if it had ever come to
light.
The pastiche, though not called such, is a well-known phenomenon of the Hollywood film game. It
is an act of paralleling someone elseтАЩs work, using a new concept. So far as I know, no psychologist has
ever made a serious study of the TV writersтАФparticularlyтАФwho do this well. (Do they also have
exceptional memories?)
Each week these men and women write the exact same format for a continuing series, but with a
different story. If you think this is easy, try it some time. (The writers who find such paralleling sheer
agony are the ones you hear screaming about TV censorship. The others collect their $10,000 or so for
an hour script without a peep of protest. And in fact they seem to wonder what all the fuss is about.)
Randall is a mimic in voice, also. Like an actor, he can duplicate the way other people talk, and
imitate the exact intonation of a foreign language. I am personally, currently, in process of learning 200
languages, and, not being the mimic type, am learning them on the hearing level only, to start. As a
consequence of this study, I have observed that less than 5% of the populace are mimics.
One of the first things to notice about a Randall Garrett story, pastiche or otherwise, is the elegance
of his style. The beauty of his imagery. The easy insertion of difficult technical information. No matter
what he writes, the style flows poetically.
Which reminds me that in England, until recently, students were required to memorize thousands of
lines of poetry during a school year. Shakespeare, in the days of Elizabeth I, had to do the same.
Virtually all the men and women who gave England such a rich poetic heritage were forced memorizers.
So it is interesting that we find our Randall of the marvelous natural memory writing his reviews in
poetic form. Entire novels are condensed, and commented on-poetically. Think about that. And when
you read the reviews in this collection bear in mind that no one ever told Randall to do it that way.
Undoubtedly, perfect memory has its drawbacks. For exampleтАЩ one is bound to
recallтАФperfectlyтАФthe unpleasant along with the pleasant. Once again, LuriaтАФfrom whom we could
have learned so much that would be useful-fails us. He does not mention that aspect of the greatest
memory in all the Russias.
Indeed, toward the end of his book we suddenly find him referring to the man as having died
several years before. How did he die? From what? Was the death memory-related? Not a mention of
such in LuriaтАЩs work.
At this point let me apologize slightly for these criticisms of the great Russian psychologist. I believe
he was over eighty years old when he wrote this final book. Also, we have to credit him with having done
anything at all. So far as I know, it is the only work of its kind ever published by a psychologist.
But itтАЩs true, alas, that he has no advice for Randall as to what to watch out for as he grows into his
second half century.
I do have one comment. It is significant that Randall, when he drinks, takes his liquor straightтАФno
water, no 7-Up, no dilution with ice. What is significant about this is that liquor is the one thing that can
temporarily dim vivid unpleasant memory images.
We live in an intermediate stage of history. The great scientific millennium is still ahead of us. When
that millennium arrives, both special and unspecialтАФan even more difficult type to evaluate or
help-people will be noticed early for what they are, or are capable of.
And the correct action will be taken.
Until then, hereтАЩs Randall who, in doing the best he could on his own with a perfect memory, has
given us a few glimpses of that strange, wonderful world of the human mind. Question: is it possible that
all people with good memories have a need to write pastiches?
Which brings us back to what I said earlier: somebody in authority should be looking into Randall
Garrett. And maybe even looking after him.
 FOREWORD
By Randall Garrett