03 Misc Laff
- Jon Nelson
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
The way the germ of an idea becomes a published story is always interesting, and enough of the germs survive to make for a great essay on the topic on how Lafferty combined ideas, though, who would read it?
Here are a few of the ideas Lafferty had that became published stories (scroll down for the titles):
The Easter Island statues are of baboons not of men.
Sky-divers, diving and gliding with complete nerve, come all the way to the ground — by self-hypnosis and in defiance of aero-dynamic laws. ~~Develops~~ for part of this effort. A sky-diver laughs on ‘Sky’!
Dorian Gray type is alternate universe jumps, reaping the best of everything without payment of balance, dodging death by switching tracks or walking into other world (only in the prime world is dying final). But the most unlikely world of all turns out to be prime, and he dies and goes to real hell.
PRIME
MANHATTAN [RENAISSANCE?] — [and set / put?] back to use, like a hunting-ground, with all the big hyped [fauna?] — [that?] CIVILIT[Y?] BEDS
~~The mile-long painting of the Mississippi River Shore. Once exhibited in sections in Carnegie and flea-circus [expositions?] these were all sections of one picture that showed the whole length of the river. It was an [instantaneous?] picture, all at one moment, the angles of sun and shade in each section correct for one [instant/moment?] of action. It is [finally?] assembled and as studied the [fundamental?] sections are not really much. [The fundamental?] painting is, in fact, [indistinct?]. [Through?] [someone?] [has?] [tried?] to be [various?] sections [had/been?] [tried?] to be [top?] of it. / [Close?] inspection [shows?] [primitives?] [perhaps?] of historical [Indians?] in its [land?] [animals?] of the [bigger?] [prehistoric?] time. But how was it done, and by whom~~
The world without chemical or electrical science, but still with advanced mechanical technology, with steamships, railroads, and perhaps diesel-type engine aircraft. And the philosophical and religious results of such. Instant Communication lacking. The clock-satanic mills without the transcendent wave base or the electatic spark.
The unchanneled towns. Meehaw — Meehaw Corner, Parkins, Lurking Corner, Boomer, Boomer Flats. The non-African, non-Indian people of color. Between the sand-bar thicket and the [?] river: what do they do when the river floods? They close their notepad months and eat with arms, and lie down till the flood is gone. Some of them go to school and they learn, but when they are older they play at home and they forget again. In what language do they talk? Ah, they don’t talk very much, they keep to themselves. They boil ~~rivers~~ in mud-clay pots, they put in wild onions and grease. The pottery thickens them. It gets lumps of meat and clay in it and they eat it. They eat frogs and fish and grubs but they don’t seem to eat very much of anything. And their pelicans.
Coming to 12 years old, the young people display their skills and talents. A decision will be given then, or early, whether he is allowed to live or not. MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, MUSIC, ART, WRITING, SPEAKING, POLITICAL ABILITY, ATHLETIC PROWESS, BOXING — a kingdom for those in them. It is set up; they govern and devise and compose. But someone must break the frame, or else the state of things must be kept a surprise.
the rejuvenator — Old medicine-wagon man who really has the secret of rejuvenation. Ex-president comes out of retirement. Old baseball players and race horses return to form. But the wolf-root had a totally regressive effect, the pharmacological chief said. “Naturally it would block its use.”
Chopped-up pieces of squid are the trigger. Concealed talents of the low-visibility people, potters, gnomes, dryads, etc.
The planet where everything changes so fast [that?] one may watch new animals evolved from day to day. Some of them become incomparably [?] of [?] to [fledge?] and [fierce?]. [Below?] the [plants?] — see on. How? Like [are?] the mountains, rivers, oceans — [Earthquakes?] [tidal?] waves, Islands formed and [sunk?]. Then it gets the people, somehow — suddenly developing off its [its?] — {[diagram/triangle?] drawn in margin} [Humans?] in [?] [illeg.] “[listing?]”
Not to Mention Camels:
Aurelia:
"World Abounding"
