|
|
|
|
|
|
what the future might hold for the emotions and the psyche as well as for the techno-toybox, Sturgeon was in the van. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Only a science fiction writer, but in "Baby Is Three" (part of More Than Human) and The Dreaming Jewels he brought Joycean stream-of-consciousness techniques to a field which until 1954 or so had considered the prose styles of such stalwarts as E. E. "Doc" Smith and Ray Cummings perfectly adequate. (. . .) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Only a science fiction writer was all Theodore Sturgeon was. Check the obits and see if I'm not right. But he also entertained, provoked thought, terrified, and occasionally ennobled. He fulfilled, in short, all the qualifications we use to measure artistry in prose. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stephen King, "Theodore Sturgeon (19181985)," Washington Post Book World, 26 May 1985, p. 11 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If Ted Sturgeon were to paraphrase Harlan Ellison's famous line, it would come out, "Sex ain't nothing but love misspelled." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Godbody is Theodore Sturgeon's last testament to his readers. As in all his other works, the theme of this short novel is human love. (. . .) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Godbody is nothing less than an attempt to retell the fundamental myth of Christ: God in a human body, showing the way to benighted people, being killed, and rising from the dead. It is no more science fiction than the Gospel according to St. Luke. That will not deter Sturgeon's legions of sciencefiction followers: they have come to expect Sturgeon's stories to be uniquely Sturgeon, not standard science fiction. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Would a reader who is not interested in science fiction, who does not know of Sturgeon's place in the field, enjoy Godbody? Certainly. This story contains the kind of tale we all want to believe in, written in a relaxed naturalistic style that makes the miraculous seem quite plausible. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Will Godbody take its place as the capstone to Sturgeon's long career? Probably not. When the sentiment engendered by his death fades away, this slim novel will be seen as a good first draft, perhaps a very good first draft, of what could have been a truly beautiful novel if only the author had lived to finish the task. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ben Bova, [Review of Godbody], Los Angeles Times Book Review, 13 April 1986, p. 1 |
|
|
|
|
|