The Wall Around the World by Theodore R. Cogswell

Science fiction and fantasy stories from an author popular during the
magazine boom of the 1950s.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times-sake

--
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On Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 9:27:33 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> The Wall Around the World by Theodore R. Cogswell
>
> Science fiction and fantasy stories from an author popular during the
> magazine boom of the 1950s.
>
> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times-sake

Due to the non-hyperlinked footnotes, there were several times when I wanted to say that Cogswell had a story in the Astounding! memorial anthology before I read down to where you explain he felt like a Campbell author because he had a story in the Astounding! memorial anthology. My guess would have been a Probability Zero-istic explanation of how 128 Meg ancestors a thousand years ago population crashed to the author today, rather than a co-authored story. It turns out we are both right. "Population Implosion" and "Early Bird" by him and Theodore L. Thomas, another author whom readers, if presented with a list of his stories, would mostly pick out one ("The Weather Man") as something they remembered reading, with no agreement among those who picked a second title.

I have the Astounding! memorial anthology, but I don't know where. There's a suspicious gap between two Harrison paperbacks...

--
-Jack

In article <dcbb4795-9c25-41f1-93bd-2471e841957an@googlegroups.com>,
Jack Bohn <jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 9:27:33 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> The Wall Around the World by Theodore R. Cogswell
>>
>> Science fiction and fantasy stories from an author popular during the
>> magazine boom of the 1950s.
>>
>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times-sake
>
>Due to the non-hyperlinked footnotes, there were several times when I
>wanted to say that Cogswell had a story in the Astounding! memorial
>anthology before I read down to where you explain he felt like a
>Campbell author because he had a story in the Astounding! memorial
>anthology. My guess would have been a Probability Zero-istic
>explanation of how 128 Meg ancestors a thousand years ago population
>crashed to the author today, rather than a co-authored story. It turns
>out we are both right. "Population Implosion" and "Early Bird" by him
>and Theodore L. Thomas, another author whom readers, if presented with
>a list of his stories, would mostly pick out one ("The Weather Man") as
>something they remembered reading, with no agreement among those who

Huh. I thought maybe I should see if I have a Thomas collection. I
don't because as far as I can tell, he never had one. How odd.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:

> In article <dcbb4795-9c25-41f1-93bd-2471e841957an@googlegroups.com>,
> Jack Bohn <jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:
>>On Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 9:27:33 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> The Wall Around the World by Theodore R. Cogswell
>>>
>>> Science fiction and fantasy stories from an author popular during the
>>> magazine boom of the 1950s.
>>>
>>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times-sake
>>
[..]
>
> Huh. I thought maybe I should see if I have a Thomas collection. I
> don't because as far as I can tell, he never had one. How odd.

I have a copy of _The Wall around the world_, Pyramid Books 1962, which
has ten of his stories.

--
Stephen Harker sjharker@netspace.net.au
was: http://sjharker.customer.netspace.net.au/
now: http://members.iinet.net.au/~sjharker@netspace.net.au/
or: http://members.iinet.net.au/~sjharker_nbn/

In article <87a5tsilza.fsf@netspace.net.au>,
Stephen Harker <sjharker@netspace.net.au> wrote:
>jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:
>
>> In article <dcbb4795-9c25-41f1-93bd-2471e841957an@googlegroups.com>,
>> Jack Bohn <jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>On Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 9:27:33 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>> The Wall Around the World by Theodore R. Cogswell
>>>>
>>>> Science fiction and fantasy stories from an author popular during the
>>>> magazine boom of the 1950s.
>>>>
>>>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times-sake
>>>
>[..]
>>
>> Huh. I thought maybe I should see if I have a Thomas collection. I
>> don't because as far as I can tell, he never had one. How odd.
>
>I have a copy of _The Wall around the world_, Pyramid Books 1962, which
>has ten of his stories.
>
Was there a Thomas collection with the same title as the Cogswell?
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 7:27:33 AM UTC-6, James Nicoll wrote:
> The Wall Around the World by Theodore R. Cogswell
>
> Science fiction and fantasy stories from an author popular during the
> magazine boom of the 1950s.
>
> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times-sake

I took some time to read that story, and I don't remember if I ever
read it before. It reminded me of one I read where a group of scientists
were shown faked evidence of an antigravity machine being built to
inspire them to think it could be done - and then invent one themselves.

But I remember another story by another author which could have had
a title like that. Here, the wall neatly divided the planet in half. The
protagonist looks over the top of it with a ladder... and finds his
mirror-reflected self looking back at him!

I suspect the discovery drove him mad, like a sensitive Lovecraft
protagonist...

John Savard

On 13/09/2023 01.07, Quadibloc wrote:
> On Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 7:27:33 AM UTC-6, James Nicoll wrote:
>> The Wall Around the World by Theodore R. Cogswell
>>
>> Science fiction and fantasy stories from an author popular during the
>> magazine boom of the 1950s.
>>
>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times-sake
>
> I took some time to read that story, and I don't remember if I ever
> read it before. It reminded me of one I read where a group of scientists
> were shown faked evidence of an antigravity machine being built to
> inspire them to think it could be done - and then invent one themselves.

Sounds like "Noise Level", by Raymond F. Jones. At least, that's what
Default User said in message-id <4h5a7cF1pabt6U1@individual.net>,
responding to kind of YASID that I had posted in July 2006.

> But I remember another story by another author which could have had
> a title like that. Here, the wall neatly divided the planet in half. The
> protagonist looks over the top of it with a ladder... and finds his
> mirror-reflected self looking back at him!
>
> I suspect the discovery drove him mad, like a sensitive Lovecraft
> protagonist...

I think that I read this one in the last two-three years. I can't help
identify it, though.

--
Michael F. Stemper
The FAQ for rec.arts.sf.written is at
<http://leepers.us/evelyn/faqs/sf-written.htm>
Please read it before posting.

On Tue, 12 Sep 2023 23:07:56 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc
<jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:

>On Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 7:27:33?AM UTC-6, James Nicoll wrote:
>> The Wall Around the World by Theodore R. Cogswell
>>
>> Science fiction and fantasy stories from an author popular during the
>> magazine boom of the 1950s.
>>
>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times-sake
>
>I took some time to read that story, and I don't remember if I ever
>read it before. It reminded me of one I read where a group of scientists
>were shown faked evidence of an antigravity machine being built to
>inspire them to think it could be done - and then invent one themselves.
>
>But I remember another story by another author which could have had
>a title like that. Here, the wall neatly divided the planet in half. The
>protagonist looks over the top of it with a ladder... and finds his
>mirror-reflected self looking back at him!
>
>I suspect the discovery drove him mad, like a sensitive Lovecraft
>protagonist...

This partially matches "The Wall of Darkness" by Arthur C Clarke.

The protagonist builds scaffolding to get to the top of the wall,
walks forward and arrives back at the top of the scaffolding again,
without meeting himself.

Then he goes back down and destroys it.

--
Jerry Brown

A cat may look at a king
(but probably won't bother)

In article <d223e377-8eb8-4fd0-9d34-999e58e16743n@googlegroups.com>,
Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:

> On Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 7:27:33?AM UTC-6, James Nicoll wrote:
> > The Wall Around the World by Theodore R. Cogswell
> >
> > Science fiction and fantasy stories from an author popular during the
> > magazine boom of the 1950s.
> >
> > https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times-sake
>
> I took some time to read that story, and I don't remember if I ever
> read it before. It reminded me of one I read where a group of scientists
> were shown faked evidence of an antigravity machine being built to
> inspire them to think it could be done - and then invent one themselves.
>

This is a Raymond F. Jones short story .... checking ... "Noise Level"
(Dec 1952 issue of Astounding).

> But I remember another story by another author which could have had
> a title like that. Here, the wall neatly divided the planet in half. The
> protagonist looks over the top of it with a ladder... and finds his
> mirror-reflected self looking back at him!
>

This might be an Arthur C. Clarke short story .... checking ... "The
Wall of Darkness" (July 1949 issue of Super Science Stories, collected
in _The Other Side of the Sky_ and in the massive _The Collected Stories
of Arthur C. Clarke).

> I suspect the discovery drove him mad, like a sensitive Lovecraft
> protagonist...
>

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

On Wednesday, 13 September 2023 at 07:07:58 UTC+1, Quadibloc wrote:
> On Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 7:27:33 AM UTC-6, James Nicoll wrote:
> > The Wall Around the World by Theodore R. Cogswell
> >
> > Science fiction and fantasy stories from an author popular during the
> > magazine boom of the 1950s.
> >
> > https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times-sake
> I took some time to read that story, and I don't remember if I ever
> read it before. It reminded me of one I read where a group of scientists
> were shown faked evidence of an antigravity machine being built to
> inspire them to think it could be done - and then invent one themselves.
>
> But I remember another story by another author which could have had
> a title like that. Here, the wall neatly divided the planet in half. The
> protagonist looks over the top of it with a ladder... and finds his
> mirror-reflected self looking back at him!
>
> I suspect the discovery drove him mad, like a sensitive Lovecraft
> protagonist...

I read a comics story where someone (several people?)
explored to the remotest part of the universe, eventually
on foot (I suppose when the space ran out), and that
happened. So they went home. Not talking about it much.

And in this Futurama episode
<https://futurama.fandom.com/wiki/I_Dated_a_Robot>
the crew go to look across to a parallel universe.
It is a cowboy universe and their other-universe selves
are waving back, in cowboy costume. Of course there are
many universes... how many is two. Or this is nonsense
which is contradicted later and they just took Fry
to see an outer space joke mirror. But at face value...

On Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at 11:05:05 AM UTC-6, Robert Woodward wrote:
> In article <d223e377-8eb8-4fd0...@googlegroups.com>,
> Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
> > On Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 7:27:33?AM UTC-6, James Nicoll wrote:
> > > The Wall Around the World by Theodore R. Cogswell
> > >
> > > Science fiction and fantasy stories from an author popular during the
> > > magazine boom of the 1950s.
> > >
> > > https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times-sake
> >
> > I took some time to read that story, and I don't remember if I ever
> > read it before. It reminded me of one I read where a group of scientists
> > were shown faked evidence of an antigravity machine being built to
> > inspire them to think it could be done - and then invent one themselves..
> >
> This is a Raymond F. Jones short story .... checking ... "Noise Level"
> (Dec 1952 issue of Astounding).
> > But I remember another story by another author which could have had
> > a title like that. Here, the wall neatly divided the planet in half. The
> > protagonist looks over the top of it with a ladder... and finds his
> > mirror-reflected self looking back at him!
> >
> This might be an Arthur C. Clarke short story .... checking ... "The
> Wall of Darkness" (July 1949 issue of Super Science Stories, collected
> in _The Other Side of the Sky_ and in the massive _The Collected Stories
> of Arthur C. Clarke).

Thank you!

John Savard

On Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at 10:49:26 AM UTC-6, Jerry Brown wrote:
> On Tue, 12 Sep 2023 23:07:56 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc
> <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:

> >But I remember another story by another author which could have had
> >a title like that. Here, the wall neatly divided the planet in half. The
> >protagonist looks over the top of it with a ladder... and finds his
> >mirror-reflected self looking back at him!
> >
> >I suspect the discovery drove him mad, like a sensitive Lovecraft
> >protagonist...

> This partially matches "The Wall of Darkness" by Arthur C Clarke.
>
> The protagonist builds scaffolding to get to the top of the wall,
> walks forward and arrives back at the top of the scaffolding again,
> without meeting himself.
>
> Then he goes back down and destroys it.

Thank you!

John Savard

On Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at 7:28:56 AM UTC-6, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> On 13/09/2023 01.07, Quadibloc wrote:

> > I took some time to read that story, and I don't remember if I ever
> > read it before. It reminded me of one I read where a group of scientists
> > were shown faked evidence of an antigravity machine being built to
> > inspire them to think it could be done - and then invent one themselves..

> Sounds like "Noise Level", by Raymond F. Jones. At least, that's what
> Default User said in message-id <4h5a7cF...@individual.net>,
> responding to kind of YASID that I had posted in July 2006.

Thank you!

John Savard