Thu 7 Jun 2018
SF Stories I’m Reading: ROBERT SHECKLEY “Subsistence Level.”
Posted by Steve under Science Fiction & Fantasy , Stories I'm Reading[7] Comments
ROBERT SHECKLEY “Subsistence Level.” Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1954. Collected in Shards of Space (Bantam J2443, paperback original, July 1962) and The Collected Short Fiction of Robert Sheckley: Book Three (Pulphouse, hardcover/softcover, 1991).
As a young writer Robert Sheckley was a perfect fit for the early days of Galaxy magazine. H. L. Gold, its agoraphobic editor, was looking for literary quality for the science fiction he published, not necessarily technical expertise, and the magazine was known for its emphasis on the effect that technology had on the human race, often with a satirical and/or ironic twist.
Which was, of course, Robert Shckley’s forte. Although this story is not one of Sheckley’s better known ones — it’s never been reprinted except in two collections of his own work — it serves to show the point very well. “Subsistence Level” is the tale of a pioneer in the age of space, a man with a wanderlust and a fear of being crowded, and ready to move on when he runs out of elbow room.
And his wife, determined to make their marriage a success against the advice of her mother, is forced to move along with him. When the Gobi Desert gets filled up, and so does the Southern Polar Cap, their next stop? The asteroid belt.
Warning: I’m about to give the essence of the story away in the quote that follows, taken directly from the story, but it goes a long way in illustrating what I was saying there up above. The couple, man and wife, have been putting in hard five-hour days getting settled on their small rock in space, bossing robots around, and:
June 8th, 2018 at 6:08 am
Nice coincidence, as I’ve been reading the more recent collection of Sheckley’s stories, STORE OF THE WORLDS, edited by Alex Abramovich and Jonathan Lethem. Most of the stories are from the 1950s, but the last couple were published in Playboy in 1969.
June 8th, 2018 at 7:32 am
Very perceptive look at a writer who has been mostly forgotten. Anyone remember THE 10TH VICTIM ?
June 8th, 2018 at 9:09 am
Dan, that was the movie version of his “Seventh Victim,” which is in the collection I mentioned. I believe the movie changed the ending quite a bit.
June 8th, 2018 at 10:12 am
Must have read at least a hundred of his short stories when I was a kid. It wasn’t until much later that I discovered that Sheckley also wrote some pretty entertaining spy novels.
June 8th, 2018 at 1:15 pm
Dozy
You must be thinking of his Stephen Dain series:
Calibre .50. Bantam 1961
Dead Run. Bantam 1961
Live Gold. Bantam 1962
White Death. Bantam 1963
Time Limit. Bantam 1967
I’ve always meant to read one, but so far, I haven’t.
June 9th, 2018 at 12:16 am
Steve,
Yes indeed, I was referring to the Dain series. And also to a non-series work called The Game Of X, Sheckley’s amusing spin on the Bond novels.
May 25th, 2020 at 5:01 pm
Sheckley is my favorite modern satirist. It’s surprising how many writer friends I know were highly influenced by his stories when they were kids.
His story construction influenced me hugely as a writer, and I see the influence of his comedy in my writing even today.
I agree, Dozy, his Spy novels are a hoot, especially his send-up of spy novels, THE GAME OF X.
I would also highly recommend my fav of his writings, his satirical novels DIMENSION OF MIRACLES, MINDSWAP and JOURNEY OF JOENES.