Remembering Cordwainer Smith: Full-Time Sci-Fi Author Part-Time Earthling - Ted Gioia

"One could spend many pages considering these sociological and political themes, but the main attraction of Cordwainer Smith is not the theoretical implications, but the extravagant and often disturbing plot elements that make his stories stand out from the pack. When Smith submitted his first sci-fi story "Scanners Live in Vain" to John Campbell, Jr., the mastermind behind the influential Astounding magazine, the seasoned editor turned it down because it was, in his words, "too extreme."" 3.5 out of 5 http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/03/remembering-cordwainer-smith-full-time-sci-fi-author-part-time-earthling/274344/

The Intricate World of Cordwainer Smith - Ross Hetherington

"Every one of Smith’s stories takes place within a single, projected future history spanning 14,000 years from the present (a history which has only ever been incompletely reconstructed – Linebarger lost his one notebook to a sailing trip). In them, after global collapse near to our present time, there is founded a single governing power – The Instrumentality of Mankind. Though the Instrumentality is willing to use any means at its disposal to preserve humanity, its dictatorship is neither that of abstract utilitarian computation, nor of pure bureaucracy. The Lords of the Instrumentality, when we meet them, are human, whatever methuselan age they have lived to, or whatever skills and technologies they employ. And, however vast and rigid the hierarchy sits under them, they retain their individuality and autonomy. Ultimately, that they will serve humanity above all other concerns is a matter of trust in the subtle wisdom of the system they serve." 3.5 out of 5 http://glasgowguardian.co.uk/culture/the-intricate-world-of-cordwainer-smith/

Cordwainer Smith and A. Bertram Chandler - Steve Davidson

"My second reason for raising Chandler is the homage he paid to Cordwainer Smith in no less than two of his novels.


That it was a deliberate tribute to his fellow author is without question; Chandler actually placed Cordwainer Smith’s name right on the page for everyone to see, and used it in a way that any but the most uneducated, ignorant and unconnected reader could possibly miss. (Well, back up a bit: that only applies if you’re already familiar with Smith and Chandler.)

The two novels in question are The Inheritors and The Far Traveler.

Allow me a few paragraphs for background so I can bring the few poor souls amongst you who have never read Chandler up to date."


4.5 out of 5

http://cordwainer-smith.com/blog/cordwainer-smith-and-a-bertram-chandler.html

Cordwainer Smith and the Soushenji: Comparative Perspectives on the Boundaries of Humanity - Lisa Raphals

“Cordwainer Smith and the Soushenji: Comparative Perspectives on the Boundaries of ‘Humanity’” (in Dream Weavers: Globalization, Science Fiction, and the Cybernetic Revolution)

Unseen.

http://complitforlang.ucr.edu/people/faculty/bio.html?page=raphals.html

Tripping Cyborgs and Organ Farms: The Fictions of Cordwainer Smith - Steve Silberman

"Calling a magazine “off-trail” may not be the most felicitous way for an aspiring author to introduce himself, but it was understandable if the boyish professor at Johns Hopkins University — who coyly described his work for the Pentagon as being “a visitor to small wars” — felt defensive about his novelette. Three years earlier, the editor of Astounding Science Fiction, the most literary-minded of the pulps, had rejected Scanners, calling it “too extreme” for a periodical that regularly featured marauding robots, exploding spaceships, and alien reptile overlords on its cover. Other editors seemed to agree.

It’s not hard to see why. Fifteen years before the word cyborg was invented, and with no preliminary exposition, the story plunged the reader into the passions, intimacies, and life-and-death conflicts of cybernetically augmented human beings. Man-machine hybrids had appeared before in fiction (including a celebrated tin woodman whose total-body prosthesis lacked a heart, and the robotically resurrected actress in C. L. Moore’s groundbreaking feminist sci-fi tale “No Woman Born”), but Linebarger’s central character — a courageous cyborg named Martel — was both a sleeker machine and a more acutely rendered human character than readers of the pulps were used to. Martel and his fellow cyborgs, known as “Scanners,” had their own lexicon of shop talk, expressive body language, code of ethics, professional guild, rousing songs, and finely honed sense of discipline. They were more like Marines than robots."


4 out of 5

http://blogs.plos.org/neurotribes/2010/09/21/tripping-cyborgs-and-organ-farms-the-fictions-of-cordwainer-smith/

Yesterday's Tomorrows: Cordwainer Smith - Graham Sleight

"Strangeness, said John Gardner, is the one thing in fiction that cannot be faked. Strangeness is, famously, the defining characteristic of Cordwainer Smith's science fiction, and a good deal of ink is expended in the introductions of the books explaining where that strangeness comes from. (I may be about to do the same.) But strangeness, like newness or transgression, is something cultures are often able to adapt too quickly. So I was very curious, as I reread Smith's first published story, "Scanners Live in Vain" (1950), to see how distinctive it remained."


http://www.locusmag.com/Features/2007/10/yesterdays-tomorrows-cordwainer-smith.html

Cordwainer Smith - Galen Strickland

An article about the author.


4 out of 5

http://templetongate.tripod.com/csmith.htm

Cordwainer Smith in Japan - Alan C. Elms

Science Fiction Studies, Vol. 29, No. 3, Japanese Science Fiction (Nov., 2002), p. 529

Short note on Japanese translations and work.


3 out of 5

Christianity and Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith - James Jordan

"Discovering the writings of Corwainer Smith in the early 1970's was a life-changing revelation. At that time, neither his one novel, Norstrilia, nor any comprehensive compilation of his incredible short stories were in print. For years, I would scour used bookstores in search of his stories, finding one of his stories in this or that compilation, in print, not in print, whatever. Needless to say, his writing had a profound effect on me and I have striven to create worlds, in music and art and words, as strange, as haunting, and, I hope, as full of love as his works, amidst the weirdness. Not that I come close in that regard: but one must aim high. Smith's stories do not grow old. Interestingly, although he was almost unknown 25 years ago, he is regularly deemed the most influential science fiction writer of all time now. I recommend his books, Norstrilia and The Rediscovery of Man without hesitation."


4 out of 5


http://www.sunpopblue.com/Music-Art-Books/Cordwainer-Smith.html

Remembering Paul M. A. Linebarger, who was Cordwainer Smith: A Daughter's Memories

A remembrance article by his daughter, Rosana.

"I have quite a few memories of his writing science fiction. It was fun for him, something he did on the side. He would tell me with some glee what some obscure reference meant... too bad I don't remember most of those. I do remember his saying that his story title "Drunkboat" was from the French poem, "Bateau Ivre," by Rimbaud.

I asked him why he didn't want people to know that he was Cordwainer Smith. As I remember it, he said he didn't want to be bothered by fans. Also, he thought it might make some of his professional colleagues think less of him."


5 out of 5


http://www.cordwainer-smith.com/remember.htm

Cordwainer Smith Scholarly Corner - Alan C. Elms

"I'll use this space to note contributions to the scholarly literature I'm most familiar with: what I'll call the scholarly Smith scholarship. I call it that not because it's more serious than the fannish scholarship (some of which is very serious), but because it's done by people who make their living (or a good part of their living) as scholars."


5 out of 5

http://www.cordwainer-smith.com/scholarly.htm

Behind the Jet-Propelled Couch: Cordwainer Smith & Kirk Allen - Alan C. Elms

"Though I have yet to come across solid documentary evidence, I think the circumstantial evidence (including but extending well beyond Leon Stover’s recollections) is strong: Paul Linebarger was Kirk Allen, or at least a substantial component of Kirk Allen. It’s still possible that Robert Lindner combined two patients who suffered from apparently similar symptoms, better to conceal the identities of both and to make his main points about therapeutic technique more strongly. That other patient may yet pop up, and I’d like to hear about him if any reader knows him (or is him). Meanwhile, I’m working to finish my biography of Paul Linebarger. With or without the help of Robert Lindner, he became a great science fiction writer and a remarkable, fascinating man."


4 out of 5

http://www.ulmus.net/ace/csmith/behindjetcouch.html

Cordwainer Smith Pronunciation Guide - Alan C. Elms

"Norstrilia: Readers often pronounce the name of this planet with a short "i" in the middle, but you should keep in mind that its settlers were Australians. Australians often jokingly (or sometimes seriously) pronounced the word "Australian" as "Strine," and Paul Linebarger pronounced "Norstrilia" (short for "Old North Australia") as Nor - STRILE - ya."


4.5 out of 5

http://www.ulmus.net/ace/csmith/cspronunciation.html

Forest Of Incandescent Bliss - Bud Webster

"And you know what? Most of these — check that, all of these — pale beside the finest writer the field has ever seen, the one against whom all others are never measured because it would be demonstrably unfair: Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, known to his illustrious godfather (I'll get to it, don't worry) as Lin Bah Loh, or Forest of Incandescent Bliss, AKA Cordwainer Smith.

If I wanted to be all clever and post-modern, I'd deconstruct that pseudonym and tell you that "cord" not only refers to a woven strand, but a fabric made up of woven strands; that a "wain" is a wagon; and that a "smith" is a maker of things. I'd get one of those totally smug and supercilious little smiles on my mug and stretch those already-thin definitions to say something like "Cordwainer Smith wrote a wagon-load of intricately plaited and elaborately plotted stories." I might even get a grant.

But you don't need to pick apart the man's pen-name to know that. All you have to do is read any of the Instrumentality of Mankind stories, or his lone sf novel, Norstrillia, or, well, just about anything he wrote, really. But — and I'm not but about 12% facetious here — you do have to read him. There'll be a quiz even if I have to track you all down and come to your house."


4 out of 5

http://www.philsp.com/PastMasters/pastmasters_06.html