In article <fs8t3l$anj$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Anthony Nance <nance@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>Dorothy J Heydt <djheydt@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> In article <fs8nfd$aia$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
>> Anthony Nance <nance@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>Ken from Chicago <kwicker1b_nospam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>> We've often seen critically and commercially successful authors run
smack
>>>> into a wall, the dreaded writer's block, or, in many ways, worse,
coasting
>>>> into a rut, a valley, churning out fluff while banking on one's
reputation
>>>> of previously good to great work.
>>>>
>>>> But what about those who've fallen into a valley--and yet risen out
of it?
>>>> Those who've had long gaps in their writing career only to resurge as
good
>>>> if not greater than ever? Those who've fallen off their authorial
horses,
>>>> but gotten up, shook themselves off and climbed back in the writing
saddle
>>>> again?
>>>
>>>I think this will be a tough one, and I'll be interested to see what
>>>examples arise here, if any. As a knee-jerk guess, it seems that
>>>whatever led to the lull could also prevent improvement, or even
>>>a (tem****ary) return to form.
>>>
>>>Dorothy cited Asimov's story "Gold". Asimov also had an earlier
>>>period where he published very little sf (approximately 1966-72),
>>>but _The Gods Themselves_ is how he "came back" to sf.
>>
>> Yes, well, I sort of count and don't count _The Gods Themselves._
>> The middle third, with the really alien aliens (who, of course,
>> reappear in "Gold") is top-notch. The first and third sections
>> are IMO unreadable.
>
>I am closer to your end of the spectrum than the end which gave
>TGT a Hugo. Still, our opinions aside, it seems that winning
>a Hugo and the general ongoing respect for TGT puts it in the
>ballpark for what the OP is aiming for.
Well, yes, except ... we'll never know whether the Hugo voters
were voting for that work in particular, or for the body of
Asimov's work.
>> Which is why I don't own a copy of the book, but I do have a copy
>> of the issue of _If_ in which the middle third was published. :)
>
>Efficient!
>- Tony, still mulling over the survival of 16th century Spanish
> poetry about eggplant-with-cheese
It's in the _Penguin Book of Spanish Verse,_ readily available in
lots of bookstores and online sites.
Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California
djheydt@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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