"A. E. Van Vogt - The World of Null-A" - читать интересную книгу автора (Van Vogt A E)

that it has been called to your attention-how precise is the development.
I cannot at the moment recall a novel written prior to World of Null-A that had a deeper meaning
than that which showed on the surface. Science fiction often seems so complicated all by itself
when written straightforwardly without innuendoes or subtle implications on more than one level,
that it seems downright cruel of a writer to add an extra dimension that is hidden. A recent
example of such a two-level science fiction novel is the first of that genre written by the British
existentialist philosopher, Col-in Wilson, titled The Mind Parasites. The protagonist of Parasites
was one of the New Men-an existentialist, in short.
In World, we have the Null-A (non-Aristotelian) man, who thinks gradational scale, not black and
white -without, however, becoming a rebel or a cynic, or a con-spirator, in any current meaning of
the term. A little bit of this in the Communist hierarchies, Asia and Africa in general, and our own
Wall Street and Deep South, and in other either-or thinking areas . . . and we'd soon have a more
progressive planet.
Science fiction writers have recently been greatly con-cerned with characterization in science
fiction. A few writers in the field have even managed to convey that their science fiction has this
priceless quality.
To set the record straight as to where I stand in this controversy-in the Null-A stories I
characterize identity itself.
Of greater significance than any squabble between a writer and his critics . . . General Semantics
continues to have a meaningful message for the world today.
Did you read in the newspapers at the time about S.I. Hayakawa's handling of" the San Francisco
State College riots of 1968-69? They were among the first, and the most serious-out of control
and dangerous. The president of the college resigned. Hayakawa was appointed interim
president. What did he do? Well, Professor Hayakawa is today's Mr. Null-A himself, the elected
head of the In-ternational Society for General Semantics. He moved into that riot with the sure
awareness that in such situations communication is the key. But you must communicate in
relation to the rules that the other side is operating by.
The honest demands of the people with genuine grievances were instantly over-met on the basis
of better-thought. But the conspirators don't even know today what hit them and why they lost their
forward impetus.
Such also happens in the fable of Gilbert GoSANE in The World of Null-A.

A. E. VAN VOGT
 I
Common sense, do what it will, cannot avoid being sur-prised occasionally. The object of
science is to spare it this emotion and create mental habits which shall be in such close
accord with the habits of the world as to secure that nothing shall be unexpected.
B. R.

The occupants of each floor of the hotel must as usual during the games form their own
protective groups. . . ."
Gosseyn stared somberly out of the curving corner win-dow of his hotel room. From its
thirty-story vantage point, he could see the city of the Machine spread out below him. The day was
bright and clear, and the span of his vi-sion was tremendous. To his left, he could see a
blue-black river sparkling with the waves whipped up by the late-afternoon breeze. To the north,
the low mountains stood out sharply against the high backdrop of the blue sky.
That was the visible periphery. Within the confines of the mountains and the river, the buildings
that he could see crowded along the broad streets. Mostly, they were homes with bright roofs that
glinted among palms and semitropical trees. But here and there were other hotels, and more tall
buildings not identifiable at first glance.