Wish I'd been back online when this thread started, as I've love to have got into the discussion when F.E. was first reading these, but...
At any rate:
That is probably one of the most damaging things to his reputation that he does. Even worse when it's shown to be frivolous or motivated only by prestige/profit rather than principle. But I suppose his published stories will outlive the memory of his litigiousness.
Or maybe not, if the idea that he is a
legal brief fetishist and occasional scribbler sticks. Ow.
Sorry, but I really think this is something which, though it will never go away entirely, is going to be no more important to the history of Ellison's literary reputation than Edgar Poe's drunkenness and irrascibility as a critic; or the fact that John Buchan had a strong streak of anti-Semitism in his work. He's just too damn good a writer, and he has a very sizable body of work to his credit. Here, for instance, is a thread I posted some time back giving a brief bibliography (and I've not even updated it in some time, at that):
http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/11559-harlan-ellison-bibliography.html
As for my thoughts on Ellison... a lot of them can be found here:
http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/11547-h-e.html
As those threads show, I can't agree with the classifying of Ellison as a "misanthrope"; if anything, he is very far indeed from that. He is extremely impatient with stupidity and venality, with the human tendency to let our lowest motivations rule more often than our best... but, ultimately, at the core of all of his work that I've read (and I've read all pieces named in that bibliography save
Slippage and
Troublemakers, and dipped into those) is something he said as far back as "Delusion for a Dragon Slayer": "A man may truly live in his dreams, his noblest dreams, but only,
only if he is worthy of those dreams". That is even at the core of "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"; horrific as that story is, I have to agree with Harlan himself on this -- it is a very humanistic story. Think about it (and just so those who haven't read the tale, or don't know its plot know... ***SPOILERS***): Awful as the outcome is, Ted finds the one solution available and delivers his comrades from their torment, even though it finally means that he himself will suffer unimaginably throughout eternity... and not even be able to voice his agony. Now
that, it seems to me, is one of the noblest human acts I have ever encountered. It ain't easy; it ain't pertty; and it sure as hell ain't happy... but given the situation, it is the only solution there is, and he knew what the outcome was likely to be for himself... and he did it anyway.
And that's not even touching on the number of times he has done stories dealing with friendship and courage and compassion, such as "In Lonely Lands", "Blind Bird, Blind Bird, Go Away From Me", "The Other Eye of Polyphemus", "Adrift Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W", "The Place with No Name", "Paladin of the Lost Hour", "Riding the Night Train Out", "A Path Through the Darkness".... Or his comic pieces, such as "I'm Looking for Kadak" or "Mom".... And then there are his essays....
I'll be frank and state that I think Ellison is one of the twentieth century's most important writers, certainly working in the short story and essay forms, and for all his faults, one of the best. The passion, verve, intelligence, wit, imagination, and sheer brilliance of much of his writing, put him quite high on my list of writers who should be read in or out of the sff genres. I list him as one of my four favorite writers (the others being Lovecraft, Tolkien, and Moorcock); ones I return to again and again without ever finding a diminishment in what I receive from the experience. Even his screenplays are (at least the ones I've seen) genuinely original and damn fine works. And, though I love the particular Star Trek episode, don't judge "The City on the Edge of Forever" just from what came out on the screen. Look up a copy of the script, and read it with open eyes, and without perconceptions. It is darned near a whole 'nother animal, and much more subtle in many respects; it would have made a fine piece of drama had it been done as written, just as his screenplay for I, Robot would have been. Unfortunately, Hollywood didn't see it that way, and the only way to experience these visions is to read the scripts themselves. Fortunately, both have been published, and are easily accessible. However: for those who are turned off by Ellison the personality -- and there are many such -- I'd advise just reading the screenplays themselves... though I am reminded of something Neil Gaiman has said concerning this aspect of Harlan: that he has all his life been doing a piece of performance art called "Harlan Ellison", a statement which I think has more than a little truth in it... and is backed up by some of Ellison's own reflections on his life in the documentary
Dreams with Sharp Teeth.
As for the actual collection
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream... for me, it is a bit uneven. Some of the pieces in there are brilliant, while others (such as "Big Sam was My Friend" and even "The World of the Myth") are much shakier. But, overall, I think it is a rather good collection as an introduction to Ellison... certainly much better than
Ellison Wonderland, though that one also has some fine pieces in it, notably the aforementioned "In Lonely Lands", "The Time of the Eye" (which, beyond just the setting, always reminds me of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari), "All the Sounds of Fear", and the very gentle "The Wind Beyond the Mountains".
Ah, well, you asked for thoughts, and I could go on for Ellison for quite a space; best I leave it at this, for now.....
To some he's a prince who looks out for his friends and to some he's a litigious *bleep*. To some he's a master storyteller and to some he's a showoff (famous for writing stories in store windows or on the spur of the moment from audience requests or whatever). He and Isaac Asimov were famous at conventions for trading insults (Harlan's very short, for instance). Unless I'm mistaken, they were friendly insults (I think it's a New York thing).
