The Metaphysical Review 24/25 December 1995 100 pages TRAVEL Wai Robinson Catherine Hoffmann Doug Barbour 100 FAVOURITE WRITERS Peter Nicholls jane Carnail Yvonne Rousseau Bruce Gillespie Elaine Cochrane YET MORE LISTOMANIA The usual gang of listomaniacs REVIEWS Adrian Rawlins Jo-Ann Slubbings WORLD’S LONGEST LETTER COLUMN THE SLOW GLASS LISI'S I ■ 8 3 s z 3 The Metaphysical Review 24/25 December 1995 100 pages THE METAPHYSICAL REVIEW No. 24/25, December 1995, is edited and published by Bruce Gillespie, 59 Keele Street, Collingwood, Victoria 3066, Australia (ph: (03) 9419-4797). Printed by Copy Place, Melbourne. Available for subscriptions ($A25 within Australia, equivalent of SA35 (airmail) overseas, written or graphic contributions, traded publications, or donations. All cheques to 'Bruce Gillespie’.) ART Cover graphic by Ditmar Jenssen. All cartoons by Ian Gunn. Photographs by Anna and Wai Robinson (pages 17-26), Catherine Hoffmann (pages 29, 31 and 33), Hocking, Vigo and Gerrand (page 49). 100 FAVOURITE WRITERS TRAVEL 3 THE BOOKS WE REALLY READ 17 THE BIRDSVILLE RUN Peter Nicholls Wai Robinson Jane Callan 29 A TRAVELLER’S PRAYER TO HERMES Yvonne Rousseau Catherine Hoffmann Bruce Gillespie 34 JOURNEYING/JOURNAIJNG: Elaine Cochrane AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, AI’RIL-MAY 1992 EDITORIAL AND LETTERS Doug Barbour 13 I MUST BE TALKING TO MY FRIENDS Bruce Gillespie PERFORMANCE Julian Friedin 48 OLE, FLAMENCO! Buck Coulson RUMINATIONS INSPIRED Leigh Edmonds BY THE MELBOURNE SEASON Andy Sawyer OF PACO PENA’S ’FLAMENCO FIRE’ Ralph Ashbrook Adrian Rawlins Walt Willis Cy Chauvin FILM Mae Strelkov Patrick McGuire 50 HEADY THOUGHTS ON ‘BASIC INSTINCT ’ Craig Hilton Jo-Ann Stubbings Jeanne Mealy Ned Brooks LISTOMANIA Syd Bounds Paul Voermans 52 ANOTHER BOUT OF LISTOMANIA John Beny Bruce Gillespie Jerry Davis Robert James Mapson Joseph Nicholas Carey Handfield Skel Jerry Kaufman Andrew Weiner Doug Barbour -! Ed Meskys Tim Jones We Also Heard From Michael Clark ife Robert Day Paul Anderson Don Ashby L 99 THE SLOW GLASS ‘BEST BOOKS READ’ LISTS 2 PETER NICHOLLS is best known for co-editing the Hugo-winning The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction with John Clute. The CD-ROM version is expected just as soon as we can find an agent to buy it from. Peter, who lives in an eastern suburb of Melbourne with his wife Clare and two children, was editor of Foundation (the only magazine I value as highly as ASFR and SFC) during the 1970s, and edited books such as Science Fiction at Large {Explorations of the Marvellous} and The Science in Science Fiction. This article, prepared first for another magazine, stirred great interest when Peter presented it to the November 1995 meeting of the Nova Mob. THE BOOKS WE REALLY READ by Peter Nicholls It began when I read the most recent number of Yvonne 750 in all: two a week or more aged 9-15, one a week or Rousseau’s Pursued by Oysters, Armed with Oyster Knives, less earlier on. Over the forty years between 16 and my No. 8, an apazine she produces for the Acncstis group. present age it gets more complicated. I do read a lot, for Here (responding to someone else) she lists 100 favour­ pleasure and because it has been part of my various jobs ite writers for an isolated island. I was much struck not for much of adulthood. What joy to be allowed to read so much by her specific choices, or by the fact that only professionallyX I probably peaked in the 1970s, reading a 20 names proved to appear in my own Top 100 list (see book a day most years. I’m down again to two or three below), as by the whimsicality and marvellous arbitrari­ a week now, partly because watching movies on video ness of what she — probably like all of us — really loves and playing on my computer are time-consuming. Also, in books. I don’t read as fast as I used to, though I’ve never My own list is less respectable than Yvonne’s by a big technically been a speed reader. margin. But before descending to the sordid details, To average it out correctly I have to calculate the let’s muse a little about the sort of statistics involved vagaries of a mixed lifetime: living alone or without here. I mean, before I pick my favourite 100 writers children for 18 of the 40 years, in family situations with (which is a very different list from what my more dis­ kids for 22; schoolboy one year, university student 7.25 passionate best 100 writers would be), let’s look at the years, going out to work regular hours for 16.25 years, kind of sampling involved. How many writers have I living the less structured life of a freelance for 15.5 years. actually read? It’s probably fair to say that I spent ten years reading a I made some rules. I’m fond of poetry, drama, bio­ book a day, another ten years at four books a week, and graphy, history, science and lots of other stuff, but to the other twenty years at 2.5 books a week. That makes restrict the range to manageable proportions, and to around 8300, plus the 750 in childhood makes near avoid comparing apples with oranges more than I have enough to 9000. If anything, that figure might be a bit to, I decided to include only writers who (1) wrote high. At least 1000 of these would be non-fiction, and fiction in prose, and (2) have written at least three books another 1200 would be re-reading books I’ve already that I really like. Books read only in translation are read. That leaves us with 6800. I’m pretty sure the order allowed. When I had a bit of trouble making up my Top of magnitude is right, though obviously the true figure 1001 instantly broke these rules, because the fellow who could be as much as plus or minus 20 per cent, which makes the rules, unlike you people out there, is allowed would mean I’ve read something between 5440 and to break them: I included poets Homer, Chaucer, Dante 8160 books of fiction. and Milton as sorts of proto-novelist (but no other I don’t need to be told that there’s a lot of statistically poets), and I promoted some one-or-two book authors shaky guesswork going on here, but my guess would be that I like a lot to the top list. These latter, I’ve marked that if I’ve read 5440-8160 books, then I’ve read far with asterisks (*). I’ve included no dramatists, even fewer than half that many fiction writers — maybe 40 though, otherwise, Shakespeare would be my first per cent — since a few of these guys have written up to choice. 30 or 40 books. That would be, say, 2175-3250 writers; All right, let’s start with how many books of fiction I’d incline to the lower figure. The three main lists name I’ve read. Up to the age of 15, I calculate, I read about 235 writers in toto, so very approximately, I’m naming 10 3 per cent of all fiction writers I’ve read as favourites. That about it here, except to guess that everybody who reads at seems statistically OK by me. I would reckon, however, all could make a substantial shame list of their own. I that anyone who had read fewer than 400 writers would needed a second division, of course, before I could produce a Top 100 list that was visibly insecure. But I’m properly make up my mind about the first, but looking really not sure at what point you can say that there’s no at it, further mortifications occur. statistical basis to work with. Arguably, if you’ve readjust Why, for example, is J. G. Ballard, one of the finest 100 writers it would be perfectly proper (but how mean­ writers of our time, in the second division, when Philip ingful?) to name them as your 100 favourites, though Jose Farmer is in the first? Well, it’s because Farmer used more probably such a neophyte would sensibly produce once upon a time (but not for 20 years) to pass the a list of only, say, 25 writers. There would seem some­ Excitement Test, and Ballard didn’t ever. The Excite­ thing unethical about claiming more than a quarter of ment Test is what sometimes happens when you have a the writers you’ve read as favourites. new unread but much-anticipated book in your hands. Anyway, what flabbergasted me is that 5440-8160 Everybody knows the feeling — it’s the literary equiva­ books isn’t nearly as much as I expected. I know that I lent of engorgement. You can’t wait to get into it. I used read more books, much more, than most people. In our to have this feeling (God, I’m so ashamed) with each street, several people chosen at random said they got new World of Tiers book from Farmer, but I’ve never through around 15 books a year. But I’m a professional, had it with Ballard. So my Top 100 has a large compo­ for God’s sake! I’m supposed to be some sort of world nent of nostalgia; it’s a list not so much of what is my expert on sf, and maybe fantasy and horror too. Yet on favourite now, as of what has at some other time been these figures, I can’t have read any more than 4500 my favourite.