Sunday, April 29, 2012

A Pilgrimage Back to the Future

Yesterday I finished reading Dan Chaon's short story collection STAY AWAKE - top notch modern literary fiction, the kind that's full of damaged individuals coming to disastrous endings.

Today, I started reading this:


Actually, what I'm doing is re-reading PILGRIMAGE, something I hardly ever do with books any more. But since the last time I read it was probably, oh, let's say at least forty years ago, I hope I can be excused.

PILGRIMAGE: The Book of the People, was written by Zenna Henderson (you can see the poor author's name in tiny print down in the bottom right hand corner). The paperback edition cost 50 cents, new, and is copyright 1961. This book is one of the few things we brought back to the condo from cleaning out my parent's house after my mother passed away.

PILGRIMAGE was one of the first non-children's science fiction books I ever read, the very first one being INVADERS OF RIGEL by Fletcher Pratt, which my mother bought for me at the hospital gift shop when I was having my tonsils out, and I'd already read all the comic books they had for sale. But while I have no idea what the plot of INVADERS was, I still have vivid memories of the caring, sensitive, not to mention telepathic and telekinetic, children and adults of PILGRIMAGE learning about their alien heritage, and their struggles to survive on a new world - ours. Life affirming science fiction.

At least, I hope I'm remembering that correctly. We'll see.

Thanks for Reading,

Stephen