I just read a fascinating [/batshit-crazy] book [/terrifying sex horror pulp fiction], which was excellent [/scared me to my very horny soul], by a scifi writer called Philip Jose Farmer. I’d read one of his books before, it was about *checks notes* ah yes, Tarzan escaping helicopter megalomaniacs and humping everything from gorillas to rambunctious native women using items like an alligators heart etc etc. Standard chaos creativity, carry on I say, and Farmer is an excellent writer.
This latest book was *quite* the experience, though. Not sure I’d actually recommend it, but bloody hell there was a lot going on. It was noir Chicago detective thriller occult slasher horror, meets multi-dimensional alien race battle animal sex fest, with a dash of seedy 70s sitcom. So, uh … yeah. I got through it. In one scene the protagonist is running for his life from a rapey pig lady while having to stop and ejaculate (into a ghost) every few minutes because he has this weird voodoo drug thing going on and … anyway in ejaculation terms it’s similar to what was happening to Jack in Lithium #12! I thought I was the only crazy one … but no, Farmer gets through the whole thesaurus using alternative words for squirting haha my eyeeesssss what am I reeeaaaddinnnggggg.
So the book is funny and scary at the same time, and much like my own comics, there’s mayhem and he’s clearly writing out some full-gamut human experience which is both alarming and instantly relatable, and like my comics I couldn’t really recommend them to any but my most trusted friends, because … well, you know. Boobies.
Anyway, I thought it was worth blogging the Postscript from the book, which was written by a prolific writer and critic who died in the 90s; Theodore Sturgeon, because this PS contains some rather interesting defence of ethics in erotic writing, and I thought I could so easily slap this PS straight into the back of most of my comics, haha!
… So there we are. Some good thoughts from Mr Sturgeon. I’m not sure I 100% agree on every point (or the general vibe of the postscript), but I do love the stuff about spotting the Labellers – I do think a quick flick through the Daily Mail or the content of the Fox News Network will reveal how labelling is often used as a tactic for hatred, for manipulation of fear. Perhaps unintentionally in day-to-day life, but it is always there.
And so perhaps it’s something to look at ourselves with – where do I use labels? Who do I ‘other’ in my language, in my conversation with people? Who do I dismiss? How do I use words to categorise or diminish people? And how can I address all that?
Something to ponder, anyway.
And this book … Image of the Beast it was called … holy crap it was a painful read, not sure I can see anyone getting their ‘jollies’ off it really, despite the boobies and bums and willies, but I suppose that doesn’t matter; what matters is that we create, that we explore our pain. And if our pain includes some sexy stuff, then we need some method to banish shame, to pop the pulsating blister of our regrets and just bloody well bring the ART [in whatever form] to process that stuff.
Anyway, that’s what I’m gonna do.
And little thingies like this PS help me not feel too bad about doing it with boobies and bottoms and willies. And perhaps that’s how we should all feel; not too bad about exploring sexy stuff. Perhaps it’s part of being truly human; defeating shame, or as Rohr (another favourite writer who is … quite different to Farmer) puts it; shadowboxing. Perhaps part of ‘battling the Ego within’ is bringing our shames out into the light, and beginning to be fully ourselves, and perhaps in doing so, we take great strides on the journey towards ‘home’. Certainly feels that way.
… and I know what you’re thinking; “You had me at ‘ejaculate into a ghost’“.
Haha. That last comment “… and I know what you’re thinking; ‘You had me at ‘ejaculate into a ghost'”. I was just sitting here thinking get out of my head.
Sindy, it is all of your wonderful idiosyncrasies that make your art so incredibly powerful. It connects with people on a deeply profound level, one that most of those very same individuals never knew they needed.
Hold fast. We got your back.
Hehe thanks Karved! Yeah I wrote that and had a giggle, realised that’s what would stick out at me if I was skim-reading this blog hehe!
Really cool. I also agree, the most profound part of the PS was about the labellers.
Keep up the great work. Not sure I want/need to read the book now.
=)
V
Heh yeah I wouldn’t bother.
I used to read a lot of PJF books back in the day. I think I still have Venus on the Half Shell somewhere around the house. First published under the pseudonym Kilgore Trout. But Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse Five) put a stop to that. Kilgore Trout is Vonnegut’s fictional character, supposedly build on Theodore Sturgeon.
Love your work, Sindy, and thanks for reminding me of PJF.
Ah yeah I read something about that thing between Vonnegut and Farmer. Anyway yeah Farmer’s an amazing writer, really – he has this natural way of being funny and conjouring pretty strong images in your mind at the same time. I’m gonna explore some more of his books sometime, once I diminish my pile of ‘to read’ somewhat.
I’m interested – what drew you to read this book in first place, Sindy? Are you working your way through PJF? An Amazon recommends? This enquiring mind would like to know.
Yeah neither of those (I don’t use Amazon) – I was just looking at book reviews on Goodreads and this sounded like sexy mayhem. Tbh I’m on the hunt for scifi that includes decent sex scenes – so often they’re crap or just the horny wonderings of someone who clearly hates women/themselves, so … yeah, if you have any recommendations I’m all ears!
Look through some Anne McCaffrey sometime, the sex scenes aren’t explicitly done or extensive at all but it’s there if you look for it. She’s one of the greatest fantasy/sci-fi authors imho, and I rank your work right up there with hers.
Ah, thank you – I will check her out!
You know, they did an underground comic book of it, from Last Gasp.
https://www.comics.org/issue/277017/
omg! So cool, I loooove that style too, I didn’t realise there were such things *disappears down rabbit hole*
Sounds like, by describing the Labellers, and by his comments on them, he is in fact himself a Labeller. 😛
👌
10/10 best comment. Collect many Cool points. Yes ultimately, the best thing we can do is to look to the log in our own eyes. My eyes for example, are rich with whole Canadian forests, and I need some help therein. But perhaps the signposts of other hypocrites help too 🙂
Wow, that’s potent stuff although I can’t concur that labelling is only done by right wing media, it’s everywhere not least social media. But it’s a very good point and one I will on my guard for. Keep up the exploration…. xxx
Thank you, and agreed it’s done by all sorts of hate-oriented people no matter their political leaning. My two examples are the biggest most money-fueled that spring to mind, if they happen to be right-wing that’s … coincidence is the wrong word … cultural paths crossing perhaps. Right-wing does tend towards advertising and capitalist budgets, tends towards the more ‘business’ approach, so I picked two big businesses that cause an outrageous amount of damage on their own. Problem with polarised media is we can tend to point-score (do the reds have more points than the blues???!! Aiyeeeee which am I?!?!?! WHICH AM III!?!?!?! ARE WE WINNING!?!?!?!?!?!), when the question we don’t seem to see is … are there only two sides here? Really? Really? Never found a real human relationship where two sides really works, and I don’t think the right-vs-left is the true discussion, though it can certainly take entire lives being explored.
Unfortunately, humanity does only think of two sides. Us and THEM. It’s a tribal thing. Labels are a big part of it, left/right, black/white, long-term inhabitants/short-term inhabitants (because we’re all immigrants in some way), same god(s)/different god(s), same vs different religious tenets for the same god(s), sex my way vs sex your way. Then when everyone is the same maybe they go after different eye colour, hair colour, skin discolourations. As a pseudo-taoist it brings to mind that when you see something as X, you are acknowledging that the opposite Y exists. X could be good, beauty, sameness, etc.
My tuppence
Yes perhaps the challenge is not to see X as categorised/labeled solely as X, but that x-ness is merely a part of its beautiful multi-faceted wonder. At our worst, humans do tend to fit everything into Us vs Them, but only on a bad day, only when we close down our minds and retreat into the tribal, into the lizard-brained, injured seeking of comfort.
Maybe the challenge for us all is to recognise that old default racist small-minded desire (as staring into the void eventually results in the void staring into us, after all), and look instead to the all-encompasing, Us-ing, forebrained, advanced, peace-bringing wonder within us. Beauty sees beauty.
PJF wrote some amazing stuff. There’s a series called “To Your Scattered Bodies Go”, having amazing imagery. At one point, the protagonist wakes up in a matrix of floating bodies. I once awoke during surgery – in my field of view was another body covered in bloodstained sheets. Before they put me out again, I remember thinking that this was like PJF’s image. But, since not many have read his works, there was nobody to tell. I love your Works. At some point, they deserve that Label.
Rex, this is a really thoughtful comment, thank you. I know how it feels to wake mid-surgery and feel a bit … I don’t know. Other. A bit different-place-ish? Yeah, I have my own version of those things you saw. Hmm. And I think I might have actually read that book as well – it’s the beginning of the Riverboat thing, the infinite river and the weird British adventurer series thing that Farmer wrote? I hadn’t made that parallel before (between dispersed body and surgery weirdness), so thank you. It seems like what you saw when you woke briefly may well have been traumatic, I certainly would have been really affected by that vision you described, and not able to control the situation as well (powerlessness and trauma are like best mates), so … yeah. Something to process, ponder, for us both perhaps.