In Search of Wonder Damon Knight's SF Criticism
สรุปใจความสำคัญ
- Damon Knight won a Hugo Award for Best Book Reviewer in 1956 based on these essays.
- The book advocates for applying standard literary critical standards to science fiction.
- The work was published in three major expanded editions between 1956 and 1996.
In Search of Wonder: Essays on Modern Science Fiction is a seminal collection of critical essays by the American writer Damon Knight. Originally published in 1956, the work serves as both a rigorous critique of the genre and an informal historical record of the "Boom Years" of science fiction between 1950 and 1955.
Knight's Critical Philosophy
In the opening of the collection, Knight establishes his core credos for evaluating science fiction. He argues that SF is a legitimate field of literature that should be held to the same critical standards as any other literary form, including:
- Originality and sincerity
- Style and construction
- Logic and coherence
- Grammar and sanity
Knight famously posited that a "bad book hurts science fiction more than ten bad notices," emphasizing the importance of high quality over blind praise within the community.
Notable Critiques and Influence
Knight's essays were highly influential in shaping the stature of science fiction criticism. One of his most famous pieces, "Cosmic Jerrybuilder: A. E. van Vogt," analyzed the 1945 serialization of The World of Null-A. In this essay, Knight exposed what he viewed as the profound irrationality at the heart of much traditional science fiction.
His critiques were often sharp and uncompromising. For instance, he described A. E. van Vogt as a "pygmy who has learned to operate an overgrown typewriter" and criticized Richard Matheson's I Am Legend for dropping good ideas almost as quickly as they were introduced.
Publishing History and Evolution
The book underwent several expansions over the decades, reflecting the evolving landscape of the genre:
| Edition | Year | Key Changes |
|---|---|---|
| First Edition | 1956 | Original collection of essays published in magazines between 1952-1955. |
| Second Edition | 1967 | Expanded by over 120 pages with six additional chapters. |
| Third Edition | 1996 | Added roughly 30,000 words, new chapters, and expanded discussions on editor John W. Campbell Jr. |
In recognition of his contributions to the field, Knight was awarded a Hugo Award as "Best Book Reviewer" in 1956, based largely on the material found in this collection.
Reception
The work was praised by contemporaries like Anthony Boucher, who described it as a comprehensive picture of SF publication in the 1950s and a stimulating analysis of the genre's faults and virtues.
คำถามที่พบบ่อย
What is the main thesis of In Search of Wonder?
Damon Knight argues that science fiction is a field of literature worth taking seriously and should be subject to the same critical standards (style, logic, coherence) as any other literature.
How did the book evolve over time?
It began as a 1956 collection of magazine essays and grew through a second edition in 1967 and a third in 1996, adding hundreds of pages of new material and personal reminiscences.
Which authors did Knight critique in the book?
Knight provided critical analyses of several major SF writers, including A. E. van Vogt, Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Theodore Sturgeon.