Christopher Priest on slipstream
12 o'clock, November 25, 2003
While we’re talking interstitiality, the Guardian has posted undersung genius Christopher Priest’s top 10 slipstream books list:
- The Aleph and Other Stories, Jorge Luis Borges
- Crash, J.G. Ballard
- The Passion of New Eve, Angela Carter
- Girlfriend in a Coma, Douglas Coupland
- The Sea Came in at Midnight, Steve Erickson
- Light, M. John Harrison
- Ice, Anna Kavan
- Being There, Jerzy Kosinski
- The Knife Thrower and Other Stories, Steven Millhauser
- The Street of Crocodiles, Bruno Schulz
Interestingly (to me, anyhow), I haven’t read any of these — though I’ll bet I’ve read most of the stories in the Borges collection. I did try to read Light, but gave up a third of the way into it — sorry, Mr. Harrison! Ballard’s short fiction I’ve enjoyed, when it doesn’t too quickly date itself, but I’ve been slow on catching up with the novels. As for Coupland, while I dug Generation X and Microserfs, back in the day, I couldn’t get into Shampoo Planet; and I lost interest in Girlfriend in a Coma once I found out that it was actually about, y’know, the narrator’s girlfriend, like, in a coma.
Most of the rest on Priest’s list I’ve barely heard of, if I’ve heard of them at all. Anyone know more?
(Courtesy of Bruce Sterling.)
Read Bruno Schulz, but I'd start with Sanatarium Under the Sign of the Hourglass. Genius Polish writer during WWII. The title story is one of the best works of fantasy of the last century, imo. I haven't read The Sea Came in at Midnight yet (though it's on my shelf)--his other novels are pretty gonzo. He's great.