02 Worldwide Laff: France

Philippe Curval: Haven’t you noticed, on the other hand, that a large number of works appearing in general literature collections claim to be science fiction but are absolutely not? Pierre Versins: It is indeed a new phenomenon. Science fiction novels have always been published everywhere. In the past, people would say: this is a philosophical tale, not science fiction, don’t be fooled; now, they try to make people believe the opposite. Except for people like Dino Buzzati or Mohamed Dib, who always claimed it as their own. It’s only since 1968 that the term has been accepted by publishers; naturally, they’re bound to be mistaken because they haven’t yet grasped what it is. A bit like the academics from all over the world whose letters I receive. They’ve already moved to a higher level of analysis of the phenomenon, as if a comprehensive work on science fiction had already been done. But it doesn’t exist; these people have skipped a step, they’re working on the wrong side of the subject due to a pure lack of information. Much of what I read in Science Fiction Studies, for example, would be perfect if it were applied to Stendhal; it simply doesn’t work on Lafferty. —Pierre Versins, interviewed by Philippe Curval, “Jusqu’au bout et au-delà avec Pierre Versins,” Futurs, first series, no. 2 (July–August 1978). Translated from the French.

I was too busy to write a comment on Lafferty's article, but I was surprised that no one did write to you about it. Though perhaps some did but you didn't print their letters. Lafferty is unique, a strange phenomenon indeed. Here's an old man with a self-admitted drinking problem who writes stuff that has been hailed as the freshest of the fresh, the newest of the new wave, the acme of art in writing. He puts the young lions to shame; no matter how far out they try to be, they can't get near Lafferty. Most conservative readers don't care for him; the liberals have taken him to their bosoms. Yet he is a die-hard reactionary, stiff-necked, a devout Catholic who won't accept even justifiable criticism of the Church, a male chauvinist if ever there was one, and there have been and are and will be. The liberals, the new-waveists, have put their seal of approval on him because they don't understand him, and if you don't understand somebody the safe thing to do is to hail him, adopt him, laud him, and hope to God that he's saying what you hope he's saying.