Theodore Sturgeon / Теодор Старджон - Собрание сочинений
Годы выпуска: 1953-2021 г. Автор: Sturgeon, Theodore / Старджон, Теодор Язык: Английский Формат: fb2/epub Качество: OCR/eBook
Описание: Теодор Старджон (26 февраля 1918 г. - 8 мая 1985 г.) - один из замечательных американских писателей, чьим мастерством восторгались такие фантасты, как Брэдбери и Воннегут, Блиш и Дилэни. Блестящий прозаик, прекрасный стилист, один из ведущих авторов плеяды «Золотого века» англоязычной НФ. Старджон выделяется среди сверстников гуманитарной направленностью своего творчества, во многом предварившего тематические и стилистические искания американской «Новой Волны» 1960-х гг. Органическое сочетание «твердой» НФ и фэнтези, глубокий интерес к психологии, богатству человеческих и «нечеловеческих» взаимоотношений, нежелание следовать неписанным табу НФ, — все это проявилось уже в ранних рассказах Старджона. В 1947 году неожиданно для себя он получил премию британского журнала «Аргоси», а год спустя произошло два события, резко изменивших его жизнь: вышел первый сборник рассказов «Никакого колдовства», и Г.Голд основал журнал «Гэлакси», ведущим автором которого на ближайшие десять лет было суждено стать Старджону. Именно в «Гэлакси» он опубликовал свой самый знаменитый рассказ «Малышу пока что три», позднее переработанный в самый известный роман «Больше, чем человек» («More Than Human»). Роман получил Международную премию фэнтези (1954), хотя в конкурентах у него был «Человек без лица» А. Бестера. Роман — классическая иллюстрация НФ гештальт-психологии; пятеро сверходаренных детей с помощью телепатии, телекинеза и других форм экстрасенсорного восприятия образуют симбиотическое целое (Homo gestalt), что помогает им выстоять во враждебном по отношению к «выродкам» мире. Год от года известность Старджона росла, а популярность становилась все прочнее. В 50-е годы Старджон был одним из самых популярных американских писателей-фантастов, его творчество изучали Рэй Бредбери и Курт Воннегут. Последний списал характер своего героя Килгора Траута именно со Старджона. Старджон многолик. Он пишет рассказы для детей «Крошка и чудовище» (1947) и «Ракета Мяуса» (1946), оживляет человека после тысячелетнего сна («Кейс и мечтатель», 1972), и предотвращает конфликт между двумя цивилизациями («Особая способность», 1951). Он затрагивает «взрослые темы» любви и секса. В рассказе «Летающая тарелка одиночества» (1953) любовь соединяет два одиноких сердца — земной женщины и инопланетянина; в рассказах «Прикосновение твоих рук» (1953) и «Необходимости» (1960) истинная любовь немыслима без телепатии. Любовь побеждает рак в рассказе «Раз заботишься — значит любишь» (1962). Старджон (наряду с Ф. Фармером) — ниспровергатель «сексуальных» предрассудков. НФ взгляд на нетрадиционные отношения полов и иные моральные нормы предложены в рассказах «Мир вполне мог погибнуть» (1953), «Случай с зеленой мартышкой» (1957); в новелле «Если все мужчины братья, разрешишь ли ты кому-нибудь из них жениться на твоей сестре?» (1967); в рассказах «Противоположный пол» (1952), «Ураганное трио» (1955) и «Правило трех» (1951), а также в романе «Венера плюс икс» («Venus Plus X», 1960). Один из лучших рассказов Старджона, включаемый многими критиками в Топ-10, десятку лучших НФ-рассказов на английском языке — «Бог микрокосмоса» (1941), захватывающий нас повествованием об ученом-Создателе, творце микромира, под неусыпным вниманием которого эволюционируют микроскопические обитатели искусственной вселенной, а совершенствуясь, защищают своего творца. Старджон — автор более десятка романов и свыше двух сотен рассказов. В 2000 году Теодор Старджон был официально внесен в списки Зала Славы Научной Фантастики и Фэнтези (Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame).
The Dreaming Jewels (= The Synthetic Man) / Малыш и кристаллы 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-4532-9542-7, Open Road Integrated Media More Than Human / Больше, чем человек 1953, fb2; 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-4532-9541-0, Open Road Integrated Media I, Libertine 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-4804-1010-7, Open Road Integrated Media (with Jean Shepherd) To Marry Medusa (= The Cosmic Rape) / Взять в жены медузу 1987, epub, ISBN: 0-671-65370-9, Baen Some of Your Blood / Немного твоей крови 1961, epub Venus Plus X / Венера плюс икс 1971, fb2, Pyramid Books (был единственный OCR неважного качества, я исправил, что мог, не исправлял, где не мог и, наверняка пропустил какие-нибудь ошибки. Но читать - можно) Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea 1961, epub, Pyramid Books Godbody 1986, fb2, ISBN: 0-917657-61-6, Donald I. Fine
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 01 The Ultimate Egoist 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-745-6, North Atlantic Books
Heavy InsuranceThe HeartCellmate / СокамерникFluffy / ПушокAlter EgoMailed through a PortholeA Noose of LightStrangers on a TrainAccidentally on PorpoiseThe Right LineGolden DayPermit Me My GestureWatch My SmokeThe Other CheekExtraordinary SeamanOne Sick KidHis Good AngelSome People ForgetA God in a GardenFit for a KingEx-Bachelor ExtractEast Is EastThree PeopleEyes of BlueEther Breather / Дитя эфираHer ChoiceCajun ProvidenceStrike ThreeContact!The Call / ЗовHelix the Cat / Кот по кличке ХеликсTo Shorten SailThanksgiving AgainBianca's Hands / Руки БьянкиDerm Fool / ТаксидермистHe Shuttles / Туда-сюдаTurkish DelightNiobeMahoutThe Long ArmThe Man on the Steps / Человек на ступеняхPunctuational AdvicePlace of HonorThe Ultimate Egoist / Абсолютный эгоистIt / ОноButyl and the BreatherLook About You
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 02 Microcosmic God 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-746-3, North Atlantic Books
CargoShottle Bop / Борговля тутылкамиYesterday Was Monday / Вчера был понедельникBratThe AnonymousTwo SidecarsMicrocosmic God / Бог микрокосмосаThe Haunt / Дом с привидениямиCompletely AutomaticPoker Face / ПокерNightmare IslandThe Purple LightArtnan Process / Тайна планеты АртнаBiddiverThe Golden Egg / Золотое яйцоTwo Percent Inspiration / Два процента вдохновенияThe JumperMicrocosmic God: Unfinished Early Draft
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 03 Killdozer! 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-747-0, North Atlantic Books
BlabbermouthMedusaGhost of a Chance (= The Green-Eyed Monster) / Привидение поневолеThe Bones / КостиThe Hag SeleenKilldozer! / КиллдозерAbreactionPoor Yorick!CrossfireNoon Gun / СверхоружиеBulldozer is a NounAugust Sixth, 1945The Chromium Helmet / Хромированный шлемMemorialMewhu's Jet / Ракета Мяуса
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 04 Thunder and Roses 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-748-7, North Atlantic Books
MaturityTiny and the Monster / Крошка и чудовищеThe Sky Was Full of Ships / Небо было полно кораблейLargoThunder and Roses / Громы и розыIt Wasn't Syzygy / Это был не сизигийThe Blue LetterWham Bop!Well SpicedHurricane Trio / Трио на фоне буриThat LowMemoryThere Is No Defense / Нет никакой защитыThe Professor's Teddy Bear / Любимый медвежонок профессораA Way Home / Путь домойThe Original Second Half of "Maturity"
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 05 The Perfect Host 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-749-4, North Atlantic Books
QuietlyThe Music (= In the Hospital) / МузыкаUnite and ConquerThe Love of HeavenTill Death Do Us JoinThe Perfect HostThe Martian and the MoronDie, Maestro, Die! (= Fluke) / Умри, маэстро!The Dark Goddess ... More to a Marriage ...Scars / ШрамыMessengerMinority ReportProdigyFarewell to EdenOne Foot and the GraveWhat Dead Men TellThe Hurkle Is a Happy Beast
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 06 Baby Is Three 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-750-0, North Atlantic Books
Shadow, Shadow on the Wall / Тень, тень на стенеThe Stars Are the Styx / Звезды это СтиксRule of ThreeMake Room for MeSpecial Aptitude / Особая способностьThe Traveling CragExcalibur and the AtomThe Incubi of Parallel X / Инкубы из параллели ХNever UnderestimateThe Sex Opposite / Нерасторжимая связьBaby Is Three / Малышу пока что три
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 07 A Saucer of Loneliness 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-751-7, North Atlantic Books
A Saucer of Loneliness / Летающая тарелка одиночестваThe Touch of Your Hand / Руки твоей прикосновеньеThe World Well Lost / Благая потеря... And My Fear Is Great ...The Wages of SynergyThe Dark RoomTalentA Way of Thinking / Образ мышленияThe Silken-Swift / Быстрый, как молния, гладкий, как шёлкThe ClinicMr. Costello, Hero / Мистер Костелло, геройThe Education of Drusilla Strange
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 08 Bright Segment 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-752-4, North Atlantic Books
Cactus DanceThe Golden Helix / Золотая спиральExtrapolation (= Beware the Fury)Granny Won't KnitTo Here and the EaselWhen You're Smiling / Когда ты улыбаешьсяBulkhead (= Who?)The Riddle of RagnarokTwinkBright SegmentSo Near the DarknessClockwiseSmoke!
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 09 And Now the News ... 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-753-1, North Atlantic Books
"Won't You Walk ... ?"New York VignetteThe Half-Way Tree MurderThe Skills of Xanadu / Искусники планеты КсанадуThe ClaustrophileDead Dames Don't DialFear Is a Business / Бизнес на страхеThe Other ManThe Waiting Thing InsideThe Deadly InnocentAnd Now the News ... / А теперь послушайте новостиThe Girl Had GutsThe Other Celia / Другая СелияAffair with a Green MonkeyThe Pod in the Barrier / Барьер Луаны
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 10 The Man Who Lost the Sea 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-754-8, North Atlantic Books
A Crime for LlewellynIt Opens the Sky / Ключ от небаA Touch of StrangeThe Comedian's Children / Дети комедиантаThe Graveyard ReaderThe Man Who Told LiesThe Man Who Lost the SeaThe Man Who Figured EverythingLike YoungNight RideNeedHow to Kill Aunty / Как пришить тетушкуTandy's Story
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 11 The Nail and the Oracle 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-755-5, North Atlantic Books
Ride In, Ride OutAssault and Little SisterWhen You Care, When You Love / Когда любишь…Holdup a la CarteHow to Forget BaseballThe Nail and the Oracle / Оракул и гвоздьIf All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister? / Окажись все мужчины братьями, ты бы выдал сестру за одного из них?Runesmith / Чернокнижник СмитJorry's GapBrownshoes (= The Man Who Learned Loving) / Человек, который научился любитьIt Was Nothing - Really! / Настоящее ничтоTake Care of Joey
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 12 Slow Sculpture 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-756-2, North Atlantic Books
The (Widget), the (Wadget), and Boff / Пансион для экспериментовThe BeholdersIt's You!Slow Sculpture / Медленная скульптураThe Girl Who Knew What They MeantThe Patterns of DorneCrateSuicideUncle FremmisNecessary and SufficientThe Verity File / Дело ВеритиOccam's Scalpel / Скальпель ОккамаDazedPruzy's Pot
The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon v. 13 Case and the Dreamer 2013, epub, ISBN: 978-1-58394-757-9, North Atlantic Books
Tuesdays Are WorseCase and the Dreamer / Кейз и мечтательAgnes, Accent and AccessIngenious AylmerThe Sheriff of ChayuteThe Mysterium"I Love Maple Walnut"Blue ButterThe Singsong of Cecily SnowHarry's NoteTime Warp / Время - назад!The Country of AfterwardLike YesterdayWhy Dolphins Don't BiteVengeance Is. / Мне отмщение…SeasoningNot an AffairBlack MoccasinsThe TrickGrizzly
A Way Home 2016, epub, Pickle Partners Publishing
Introduction by Groff Conklin Unite and ConquerSpecial Aptitude / Особая способность Mewhu's Jet / Ракета Мяуса Hurricane Trio / Трио на фоне бури The Hurkle Is a Happy BeastThunder and Roses / Громы и розы BulkheadTiny and the Monster / Крошка и чудовище A Way Home / Путь домой
The Complete Short Fiction 2021, epub, Jerry eBooks
HEAVY INSURANCE
GOLDEN DAYPERMIT ME MY GESTUREWATCH MY SMOKETHE OTHER CHEEKONE SICK KIDHIS GOOD ANGELSOME PEOPLE FORGET [b]EXTRAORDINARY SEAMANFIT FOR A KINGEX-BACHELOR EXTRACTEAST IS EASTEYES OF BLUEHER CHOICECAJUN PROVIDENCECONTACT!THE CALL / Зов TO SHORTEN SAILETHER BREATHER / Дитя эфира A GOD IN A GARDENTURKISH DELIGHT
MAHOUTTHE LONG ARMTHE MAN ON THE STEPS / Человек на ступенях PUNCTUATIONAL ADVICEDERM FOOL / Таксидермист PLACE OF HONORHE SHUTTLES / Туда-сюда IT / Оно BUTYL AND THE BREATHERCARGOCOMPLETELY AUTOMATIC
SHOTTLE BOP / Борговля тутылками THE ULTIMATE EGOIST / Абсолютный эгоист POKER FACE / Покер MICROCOSMIC GOD / Бог микрокосмоса (1941 published version) THE HAUNT / Дом с привидениями NIGHTMARE ISLANDYESTERDAY WAS MONDAY / Вчера был понедельник THE PURPLE LIGHTARTNAN PROCESS / Тайна планеты Артна BIDDIVERTHE GOLDEN EGG / Золотое яйцо TWO PERCENT INSPIRATION / Два процента вдохновения BRAT
MEDUSATHE JUMPERTHE HAG SÉLEEN
THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER / Привидение поневоле THE BONES / Кости
CELLMATE / Сокамерник SMOKE!MATURITYBLABBERMOUTHFLUFFY / Пушок BIANCA'S HANDS / Руки Бьянки TINY AND THE MONSTER / Крошка и чудовище THE SKY WAS FULL OF SHIPS / Небо было полно кораблей LARGOTHUNDER AND ROSES / Громы и розы WHAM BOP!
THE DEADLY RATIO (= It Wasn't Syzygy) / Это был не сизигий THERE IS NO DEFENSE / Нет никакой защиты WELL SPICEDTHE PROFESSOR'S TEDDY BEAR / Любимый медвежонок профессора ABREACTIONTILL DEATH DO US JOINMEMORYTHAT LOWUNITE AND CONQUERTHE LOVE OF HEAVENTHE PERFECT HOST
FAREWELL TO EDENMESSENGERTHE MARTIAN AND THE MORONPRODIGYDIE, MAESTRO, DIE! (= Fluke) / Умри, маэстро! SCARS / Шрамы MINORITY REPORTONE FOOT AND THE GRAVE [b]THE HURKLE IS A HAPPY BEASTWHAT DEAD MEN TELL
THE STARS ARE THE STYX / Звезды это Стикс
RULE OF THREE“SHADOW, SHADOW, ON THE WALL ...” / Тень, тень на стене LAST LAUGH (= Special Aptitude) / Особая способность MAKE ROOM FOR ME!THE TRAVELING CRAGEXCALIBUR AND THE ATOMTHE INCUBI OF PARALLEL X / Инкубы из параллели Х
NEVER UNDERESTIMATETHE SEX OPPOSITE / Нерасторжимая связь BABY IS THREE / Малышу пока что три
THE MUSIC (= In the Hospital) / Музыка SAUCER OF LONELINESS / Летающая тарелка одиночества THE WAY HOME / Путь домой THE WORLD WELL LOST / Благая потеря ... and my fear is great ...THE DARK ROOMTHE WAGES OF SYNERGYTALENTTHE TOUCH OF YOUR HAND / Руки твоей прикосновенье A WAY OF THINKING / Образ мышления THE SILKEN-SWIFT / Быстрый, как молния, гладкий, как шёлк MR COSTELLO, HERO / Мистер Костелло, герой THE CLINIC
THE EDUCATION OF DRUSILLA STRANGEBEWARE THE FURY (= Extrapolation)GRANNY WON'T KNITTHE GOLDEN HELIX / Золотая спираль TO HERE AND THE EASELCACTUS DANCE
WHEN YOU'RE SMILING / Когда ты улыбаешься WHO? (= Bulkhead)HURRICANE TRIO / Трио на фоне бури THE HEARTTHE RIDDLE OF RAGNAROKTWINKBRIGHT SEGMENTSO NEAR THE DARKNESSTHE [WIDGET], THE [WADGET], AND BOFF / Пансион для экспериментов (First of Two Parts) THE [WIDGET], THE [WADGET], AND BOFF (Second of Two Parts)
WON'T YOU WALK—THE SKILLS OF XANADU / Искусники планеты Ксанаду FEAR IS A BUSINESS / Бизнес на страхе THE CLAUSTROPHILETHE OTHER MANTHE WAITING THING INSIDEAND NOW THE NEWS / А теперь послушайте новости
THE GIRL HAD GUTSTHE OTHER CELIA / Другая Селия AFFAIR WITH A GREEN MONKEYTHE POD IN THE BARRIER / Барьер Луаны A CRIME FOR LLEWELLYNIT OPENS THE SKY / Ключ от неба
A TOUCH OF STRANGETHE COMEDIAN'S CHILDREN / Дети комедианта TO MARRY MEDUSATHE GRAVEYARD READER
KILLDOZER! / Киллдозер (1959 revised version) THE MAN WHO TOLD LIESTHE MAN WHO LOST THE SEA
THE MAN WHO FIGURED EVERYTHINGTUESDAYS ARE WORSELIKE YOUNGNEEDNIGHT RIDE
VENUS PLUS X / Венера плюс икс (Part One of Four Parts) VENUS PLUS X (Part Two of Four Parts) HOW TO KILL AUNTY / Как пришить тетушку VENUS PLUS X (Part Three of Four Parts) TANDY'S STORYVENUS PLUS X (Conclusion) ASSAULT AND LITTLE SISTER
WHEN YOU CARE, WHEN YOU LOVE / Когда любишь…
NOON GUN / Сверхоружие
HOLDUP À LA CARTEHOW TO FORGET BASEBALL
THE NAIL AND THE ORACLE / Оракул и гвоздь
IF ALL MEN WERE BROTHERS, WOULD YOU LET ONE MARRY YOUR SISTER? / Окажись все мужчины братьями, ты бы выдал сестру за одного из них?
JORRY'S GAP
THE MAN WHO LEARNED LOVING (= Brownshoes) / Человек, который научился любить IT WAS NOTHING—REALLY / Настоящее ничто
IT'S YOU!SLOW SCULPTURE / Медленная скульптура THE GIRL WHO KNEW WHAT THEY MEANTRUNESMITH / Чернокнижник Смит THE PATTERNS OF DORNECRATE
TAKE CARE OF JOEYUNCLE FREMMISSUICIDENECESSARY AND SUFFICIENTTHE VERITY FILE / Дело Верити OCCAM'S SCALPEL / Скальпель Оккама DAZED
PRUZY'S POT
AGNES, ACCENT AND ACCESSRIDE IN, RIDE OUTTHE SHERIFF OF CHAYUTECASE AND THE DREAMER / Кейз и мечтатель HELIX THE CAT / Кот по кличке Хеликс INGENIOUS AYLMER
ALTER EGOMAILED THROUGH A PORTHOLEA NOOSE OF LIGHTSTRANGERS ON A TRAINACCIDENTALLY ON PORPOISETHE RIGHT LINETHREE PEOPLESTRIKE THREETHANKSGIVING AGAINNIOBETHE ANONYMOUSTWO SIDECARSMICROCOSMIC GOD (unfinished early draft)
POOR YORICKCROSSFIREBULLDOZER IS A NOUN
THE BLUE LETTERTHE ORIGINAL SECOND HALF OF “MATURITY”
QUIETLYTHE DARK GODDESS ... MORE TO MARRIAGE ...
NEW YORK VIGNETTE
THE HALF-WAY TREE MURDERDEAD DAMES DON'T DIALTHE DEADLY INNOCENT
THE BEHOLDERS
THE MYSTERIUMBLACK MOCCASINS
1THE FABULOUS IDIOT
THE IDIOT LIVED IN a black and gray world, punctuated by the white lightning of hunger and the flickering of fear. His clothes were old and many-windowed. Here peeped a shinbone, sharp as a cold chisel, and there in the torn coat were ribs like the fingers of a fist. He was tall and flat. His eyes were calm and his face was dead. Men turned away from him, women would not look, children stopped and watched him. It did not seem to matter to the idiot. He expected nothing from any of them. When the white lightning struck, he was fed. He fed himself when he could, he went without when he could. When he could do neither of these things he was fed by the first person who came face to face with him. The idiot never knew why, and never wondered. He did not beg. He would simply stand and wait. When someone met his eyes there would be a coin in his hand, a piece of bread, a fruit. He would eat and his benefactor would hurry away, disturbed, not understanding. Sometimes, nervously, they would speak to him; they would speak about him to each other. The idiot heard the sounds but they had no meaning for him. He lived inside somewhere, apart, and the little link between word and significance hung broken. His eyes were excellent, and could readily distinguish between a smile and a snarl; but neither could have any impact on a creature so lacking in sympathy, who himself had never laughed and never snarled and so could not comprehend the feelings of his gay or angry fellows. He had exactly enough fear to keep his bones together and oiled. He was incapable of anticipating anything. The stick that raised, the stone that flew found him unaware. But at their touch he would respond. He would escape. He would start to escape at the first blow and he would keep on trying to escape until the blows ceased. He escaped storms this way, rockfalls, men, dogs, traffic and hunger. He had no preferences. It happened that where he was there was more wilderness than town; since he lived wherever he found himself, he lived more in the forest than anywhere else. They had locked him up four times. It had not mattered to him any of the times, nor had it changed him in any way. Once he had been badly beaten by an inmate and once, even worse, by a guard. In the other two places there had been the hunger. When there was food and he was left to himself, he stayed. When it was time for escape, he escaped. The means to escape were in his outer husk; the inner thing that it carried either did not care or could not command. But when the time came, a guard or a warden would find himself face to face with the idiot and the idiot’s eyes whose irises seemed on the trembling point of spinning like wheels. The gates would open and the idiot would go, and as always the benefactor would run to do something else, anything else, deeply troubled. . . .
CHAPTER 1
“I’ll bus’ your face, Al,” said Gurlick. “I gon’ break your back. I gon’ blow up your place, an’ you with it, an’ all your rotgut likker, who wants it? You hear me, Al?” Al didn’t hear him. Al was back of the bar in his saloon, three blocks away, probably still indignantly red, still twitching his long bald head at the empty doorway through which Gurlick had fled, still repeating what all his customers had just witnessed: Gurlick cringing in from the slick raw night, fawning at Al, stretching his stubble in a ragged brown grin, tilting his head, half-closing his sick-green, muddy-whited eyes. “Walkin’ in here,” Al would be reporting for the fourth time in nine minutes, “all full of good-ol’-Al this an’ hiya-buddy that, an’ you-know-me-Al, and how’s about a little, you-know’; an all I says is I know you all right, Gurlick, shuck on out o’ here, I wouldn’t give you sand if I met you on the beach; an’ him spittin’ like that, right on the bar, an’ runnin’ out, an’ stickin’ his head back in an’ callin’ me a—” Sanctimoniously, Al would not sully his lips with the word. And the rye-and-ginger by the door would be nodding wisely and saying, “Man shouldn’t mention a feller’s mother, whatever,” while the long-term would be clasping his glass, warm as pablum and headless as Ann Boleyn, and intoning, “You was right, Al, dead right.” Gurlick, four blocks away now, glanced back over his shoulder and saw no pursuit. He slowed his scamper to a trot and then a soggy shuffle, hunching his shoulders against the blowing mist. He kept on cursing Al, and the beer, and the rye-and-ginger, announcing that he could take ‘em one at a time or all together one-handed. He could do nothing of the kind, of course. It wasn’t in him. It would have been success of a sort, and it was too late in life for Gurlick, unassisted, to start anything as new and different as success. His very first breath had been ill-timed and poorly done, and from then on he had done nothing right. He begged badly and stole when it was absolutely safe, which was seldom, and he rolled drunks providing they were totally blacked out, alone, and concealed. He slept in warehouses, box-cars, parked trucks. He worked only in the most extreme circumstances, and had yet to last through the second week. “I’ll cut ‘em,” he muttered. “Smash their face for them, I’ll ...” . . .
UPD Релиз обновлен 31.12.2021
Добавлено: Sturgeon, Theodore - A Way Home - 2016.epub
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OldOldNick
UPD Релиз обновлен 20.05.2017 Добавлено: Sturgeon, Theodore - A Way Home - 2016.epub
OldOldNick
UPD Релиз обновлен 31.12.2021 Добавлено: Sturgeon, Theodore - The Complete Short Fiction - 2021.epub (сборник журнальных публикаций от Jerry)
