tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post554842353027275069..comments2024-03-25T11:29:25.356-04:00Comments on Existential Ennui: The Sound of His Horn by Sarban (Sphere, 1970, orig. 1952), feat. Introduction by Kingsley Amis: Book ReviewNick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)http://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-16170047842866277392017-07-22T19:40:34.711-04:002017-07-22T19:40:34.711-04:00Sarban is a Persian word. I am told it means the ...Sarban is a Persian word. I am told it means the kind of storyteller who traveled with caravans and entertained people around the campfire during the nightly stops.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-26679824481497312102012-12-04T13:12:02.687-05:002012-12-04T13:12:02.687-05:00I believe "Sarban" is Persian in origin,...I believe "Sarban" is Persian in origin, but I don't know why Wall chose it. Perhaps a passing Sarban scholar could comment...?Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-87951181224862117302012-12-04T11:51:35.430-05:002012-12-04T11:51:35.430-05:00Ah! Reading more carefully, Nick does mention Sar...Ah! Reading more carefully, Nick does mention Sarban being a pseudonym used by John William Wall (have to read so fast in the morning). His real name strikes me as an admirable one for an author, but yeah--maybe this wasn't quite the thing a civil servant was supposed to be getting up to in the 1950's. <br /><br />But what a pseudonym! Sounds like the title of a John Boorman movie. "SARBAN!" Cue Sean Connery in a loincloth. ;)Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-43333020268589033762012-12-04T11:43:12.739-05:002012-12-04T11:43:12.739-05:00I have the Ballantine paperback you picture toward...I have the Ballantine paperback you picture towards the end of this post. Have yet to read this, but I have read a few of Sarban's weird stories in RINGSTONES. I found SOUND OF HIS HORN in a used bookshop along with two other Ballatine books, all part of their horror series and all with artwork by the same artist as SOHH. The other books are THE VICTORIAN CHAISE LONGUE by Marghanita Laski, THE DOLLMAKER by Sarban. All of them are in amazing condition and I was very happy to find them. The place where I found them is known to have utter junk.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-5085376200638095692012-12-04T11:00:25.610-05:002012-12-04T11:00:25.610-05:00Only novel in this vein I've read is Philip K....Only novel in this vein I've read is Philip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle", and that was some time ago--I remember being impressed by how convincing it all was, and how people living in that reality (which we're given to understand was brought about by Franklin Roosevelt's succumbing to polio much sooner than he did in our reality) think about how much simpler life's choices used to be--just like we do. <br /><br />The idea of a protagonist suddenly ripped from his or her own time, and sent hurtling into a frightening dystopic world, is also employed in Octavia Butler's "Kindred", published in 1979 (and for all I know, influenced by Sarban's novel). Difference is, this reality isn't imagined--it's Maryland in the early 19th century, and the protagonist is a black woman from the late 20th century, who suddenly finds herself a slave in that world--the protagonist of "The Sound of His Horn" might consider himself well-off by comparison. Seriously, forget fiction--read some of the better slave narratives. It all really happened, a few generations ago. And now Obama is President--again. No story is stranger than history. <br /><br />Butler offers no explanation for the time travel, and although she was one of the greatest science fiction writers of her time or any other, insisted the book should be categorized as fantasy. I haven't read it yet, but I'm been working my way through her relatively small body of work, and I'll get to it in the near (but not alternate) future. <br /><br />Btw--"Sarban"? <br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br />Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.com