Killing Podkayne
Dani Zweig
both versions of Heinlein's "Podkayne of Mars" (preferably, from their
standpoint, buying the trade-paperback Podkayne-dies version for $10),
and then to send in a vote as to whether you prefer this version or
the older version. The winning version becomes the 'official' version
for subsequent Baen editions (other publishers will, of course, do as they
list) -- and you can also win $500 for the best why-I-like-my-version essay.
Not to be judgmental or anything, but I find this obnoxious publicity
gimmick to be in execrable taste -- and well worth the execration. :-(
-----
Dani Zweig
da...@netcom.com
'T is with our judgements as our watches, none
Go alike, yet each believes his own
--Alexander Pope
Sea Wasp
>for subsequent Baen editions (other publishers will, of course, do as they
>list) -- and you can also win $500 for the best why-I-like-my-version essay.
>Not to be judgmental or anything, but I find this obnoxious publicity
>gimmick to be in execrable taste -- and well worth the execration. :-(
Well, considering that RAH himself was originally galvanized into
writing SF by a contest, and the fact that he seemed to have a soft
spot for them (Have Space Suit, Will Travel), and his well known attitude
about why one writes, I think Heinlein himself would have been amused.
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Jonathan R. Ferro
[ Description of Baen's "Should Podkayne Die?" contest deleted]
>
> Not to be judgmental or anything, but I find this obnoxious publicity
> gimmick to be in execrable taste -- and well worth the execration. :-(
Not to be judgmental or anything, but I find this rather amusing
publicity gimmick to be an worthy return to the essay contests from
earlier this century, down to the unwritten understanding that the whole
thing has as its eventual goal the generation of income for the company
that sponsors it. I applaud Baen for asking for *creative* input from
its readers; anyone who finds this to be the height of objectionability
clearly has not been inside a comic book store lately to see the see the
true exploits of the bottom-feeders of the marketing world.
-- Jon Ferro Einsprachigkeit ist heilbar
Jeffrey Chri Sypeck
>both versions of Heinlein's "Podkayne of Mars" (preferably, from their
>standpoint, buying the trade-paperback Podkayne-dies version for $10),
>and then to send in a vote as to whether you prefer this version or
>the older version. The winning version becomes the 'official' version
>for subsequent Baen editions (other publishers will, of course, do as they
>list) -- and you can also win $500 for the best why-I-like-my-version essay.
>
>Not to be judgmental or anything, but I find this obnoxious publicity
>gimmick to be in execrable taste -- and well worth the execration. :-(
I dunno about this; I'm uncomfortable with a publishing company revising
the work of a dead author based solely on the opinions of the masses.
We've got early manuscripts of works by other authors and poets, of
course, but I don't see the literary community taking a vote on whether the
ne'er-published verses of Blake's "Tyger" should be inserted into all
"official" published versions of the poem...
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Dani Zweig
>anyone who finds this to be the height of objectionability
>clearly has not been inside a comic book store lately to see the see the
>true exploits of the bottom-feeders of the marketing world.
For me, the best part of DC's "Should we kill Robin?" campaign came
after, when Peter David remarked that, had they known the vote would
be so close, he and others at Marvel would have stuffed the ballot
box to keep Robin alive -- it being obvious that DC was assuming he'd
be killed.
-----
Dani Zweig
da...@netcom.com
Watership Down:
You've read the book. You've seen the movie. Now eat the stew!
Peter Hunt
|>
|> I dunno about this; I'm uncomfortable with a publishing company revising
|> the work of a dead author based solely on the opinions of the masses.
Same here. Especially since the decision will be influenced by what's
fashionable at this time. Macabre endings are probably more fashionable
and/or acceptable now than they were when Podkayne of Mars was first
published (due to the increased popularity of horror films and Stephen
King novels, I would venture).
Does that make the "Podkayne dies" version more relevant today
than the originally-published version? Possibly, but I don't think the
"Podkayne dies" version should become the official version just because
it's the preferred version NOW.
I think both versions can happily coexist in the marketplace.
--
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Peter Hunt | I'm digging in the dirt, |
| Networks and Comms (Aust) | to find the places I got hurt, |
| Digital Equipment Corp. | to open up the places I got hurt. |
+---------------------------+--------- Peter Gabriel, "Digging in the Dirt" -+
Lenore Levine
>Baen is having a "should Podkayne die" contest. The idea is to read
>both versions of Heinlein's "Podkayne of Mars" (preferably, from their
>standpoint, buying the trade-paperback Podkayne-dies version for $10),
>and then to send in a vote as to whether you prefer this version or
>the older version. The winning version becomes the 'official' version
>for subsequent Baen editions (other publishers will, of course, do as they
>list) -- and you can also win $500 for the best why-I-like-my-version essay.
>Not to be judgmental or anything, but I find this obnoxious publicity
>gimmick to be in execrable taste -- and well worth the execration. :-(
Not to be judgmental, but I find the book "Podkayne of Mars" to be
in execrable taste. Have you read that thing lately? It doesn't
wear as well as the other Heinlein juveniles.
And if I were in execrable taste, I would put a question to the net:
Which nauseatingly cute SF characters would you like to kill off?
I mean between Podkayne, Arkady Darell, Lizzy Lee (from Unwillingly
to Earth), Mercedes Lackey's Lark, etc., etc., it's a hard
choice, isn't it.
Lenore Levine
lev...@symcom.math.uiuc.edu
Bonita Kale
Any place on the ballot for voting to kill her and her brother
in chapter 2?
Bonita Kale
Keith Jeffrey Kushner
: Any place on the ballot for voting to kill her and her brother
: in chapter 2?
That would make for a very short novel...
I'd vote for the "dead-Podkayne" ending, myself: most SF written in
"first-person diary" format winds up with the diarist (is that a word?)
dead. It's a difficult format to make work, and therefore the extra
effort required is only worthwhile if the diarist ends up unable to
continue the journal. (Yeah, there's Flowers for Algernon, but then,
there's also Stanton's _Barney_ which preceded it, and _Flowers_ was
sort of a special case of "first-person diary.") Heinlein preferred
Podkayne dead, and thought it worked better that way.
Better yet would be to have both endings included. Or <snicker>
have Baen run a contest for the best *new* ending.
r crowley
: da...@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) writes:
: I mean between Podkayne, Arkady Darell, Lizzy Lee (from Unwillingly
: to Earth), Mercedes Lackey's Lark, etc., etc., it's a hard
: choice, isn't it.
: Lenore Levine
: lev...@symcom.math.uiuc.edu
I kind of *liked* Lizzy Lee. Anyone know if Pauline Ashwell's written
anything else? She reminds me (vaguely) of Janet Kagan. Don't know
why.
I didn't particularly mind Podkayne (wanted to beat up her brother,
does that count?). I don't recognize the others.
I would personally not object to seeing that obnoxious brat in
_Jurassic Park_ done in. I didn't much care for the female protagonist
in Panshin's _Rite of Passage_, either. A lot of boy protagonists
spring to mind, whose names I have (mercifully) forgotten.
But for all time I can't *stand* her any more can she please die
now, I vote for Trixie's best friend Honey in that obnoxious
girl detective series. But that's not sf.
Rebecca Crowley standard disclaimers apply rcro...@zso.dec.com
Dani Zweig
>Which nauseatingly cute SF characters would you like to kill off?
Does it have to be SF? I'd love to see a serial killer show up at
Mansfield Park and off Fanny.
Ron Asbestos Dippold
>And if I were in execrable taste, I would put a question to the net:
>Which nauseatingly cute SF characters would you like to kill off?
I was rooting all the way through _Jurassic Park_ for the brat to be
horribly ripped to shreds. That's the worst I've ever felt about any
"good" character.
--
If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent out Texas and live in Hell. -- Sheridan
Mike Van Pelt
>In article <C6n69...@news.udel.edu>, jsy...@brahms.udel.edu (Jeffrey Chri Sypeck) writes:
>|> I dunno about this; I'm uncomfortable with a publishing company revising
>|> the work of a dead author based solely on the opinions of the masses.
> Same here. Especially since the decision will be influenced by what's
>fashionable at this time. Macabre endings are probably more fashionable
>and/or acceptable now than they were when Podkayne of Mars was first
>published (due to the increased popularity of horror films and Stephen
>King novels, I would venture).
>
> Does that make the "Podkayne dies" version more relevant today
>than the originally-published version? Possibly, but I don't think the
>"Podkayne dies" version should become the official version just because
>it's the preferred version NOW.
You're both missing something. The "Podkayne dies" version *IS*
the original version, as Heinlein originally wrote it. The editor
didn't like the downbeat ending, and asked Heinlein to rewrite it
so Podkayne lived.
--
Mike Van Pelt When guns are outlawed,
m...@netcom.com only Carl Rowan will have guns.
m...@lsil.com
Phil G. Fraering
>And if I were in execrable taste, I would put a question to the net:
>Which nauseatingly cute SF characters would you like to kill off?
I just read _Snow Crash_ and am developing a serious love/hate
duality towards Y.T.
Of course, though, you're talking about nauseatingly cute, not
nauseatingly cool.
I guess what saved her character for me is what she did to the
chopper at the end.
--
Phil Fraering |"Where's my kaboom? Where's my Earth-shattering
p...@srl02.cacs.usl.edu|kaboom?" - anomynous "dark skies" activist
Peter Hunt
Not so. I realise the "Podkayne dies" version was the first one;
notice I specified "originally-published" for the other version in my original
note.
I don't want to get into this subject too deeply, because it's largely
a matter of opinion, but to me it doesn't matter that Heinlein originally
wanted Podkayne to die. The fact that the editor thought the public would
prefer her to live gives an indication of the state of society under which
the book was published. If the "Podkayne Dies" version becomes the official
version (and actually supplants the other) then I think you lose that
perspective, and rather gain what people in 1993 thought was the better
version (subject to what's fashionable at the time).
That's not to say I think the originally-published version should
be the "official" version either. The "Podkayne Dies" version gives us an
indication of what Heinlein originally intended. To choose either version
over the other is to lose something, which is why I would like them to
Nancy Lebovitz
>
> I dunno about this; I'm uncomfortable with a publishing company revising
> the work of a dead author based solely on the opinions of the masses.
> We've got early manuscripts of works by other authors and poets, of
> course, but I don't see the literary community taking a vote on whether the
> ne'er-published verses of Blake's "Tyger" should be inserted into all
> "official" published versions of the poem...
Extra verses for "Tyger"? I'd appreciate it very much if you'd run
them here or say where they can be found.
Thanks.
--
Nancy Lebovitz calligraphic button catalogue available by email (170K)
na...@genie.slhs.udel.edu