Imaginings: An Anthology of Visionary Literature, Volume 1: After the Myths Went Home [Paperback]

Stefan Rudnicki (Editor), Harlan Ellison (Preface)

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Product Details

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Frog Books (Jan 5 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1583940944
ISBN-13: 978-1583940945
Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13 x 1.9 cm
Shipping Weight: 281 g
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,856,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

"This is a book that says the literature of imagination is the oldest, most enriching form of storytelling our mere species has ever conceived. It is eternal. It is the wellspring of ideas that sooner or later sweeten the elixir of mainstream writing."
-Harlan Ellison, from the Introduction

Product Description

Imaginings inaugurates an ambitious three-book series featuring the best stories that explore key imaginative concepts in the genre and their later literary permutations. The theme in this initial entry is the power of mythology in human life through the centuries. Authors include Robert Silverberg, whose "After the Myths Went Home" shows the disastrous results of a visit by Greek gods and goddesses to a future society; Algernon Blackwood, with "The Touch of Pan," about an elitist who discovers an alternate world of total honesty; and many more. Period illustrations show the reader how previous generations saw their imaginary worlds of dream and future, and entertaining introductions offer context. Contributors include Euripides, John Crowley, Oskar Kokoschka, Oliver Onions, Robert W. Chambers, and others.

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Amazon.com: 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent selection of imaginative literature, July 24 2010

By Paul Lappen - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Imaginings: An Anthology of Visionary Literature, Volume 1: After the Myths Went Home (Paperback)

First of a three-volume series, this book collects tales of imagination from the last couple of centuries. These are not specifically science fiction, or fantasy, or horror stories, but somewhere in the middle.

Robert Silverberg looks at a far-future human society that no longer believes in myths, so a great machine is built to bring to life mythical figures from throughout human history. Among those recreated were Adam and Eve, Odysseus, Shiva, Dionysus, Thor, St. George and St. Jude. It also recreated more modern figures who became mythical, like Galileo, Newton, Freud, Einstein and John Kennedy. After fifty years, humanity gets bored with them, so all of them are sent back into the machine. Then the invaders come and enslave humanity.

There is an excerpt from a longer piece written in 1895 by Robert W. Chambers. It explores 1930s New York City in a parallel reality, and is about the opening of the first public suicide chamber. A story from 1901 is about a man found insane and uncommunicative in an isolated area. Later, a diary is found that describes him abruptly quitting his job, living in the isolated area, becoming sick of all human contact, and convincing himself that he is a god. Elvis Presley returns to America from the Army to bear witness to a weird and jumbled timeline of death. There is a portion of a play from early 1900s German Expressionism. Included in this volume are tales by Ambrose Bierce, Algernon Blackwood and Guy de Maupassant.

This is what they mean when they talk about "great imaginative literature." These authors helped to create the fantasy and science fiction genres. There is something here for everyone, and it is highly recommended.

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