Triffids Beard 2 - The Bearded Triffid

Foreword
Unlike most holics, (if, as Alan would say, I may be permitted a neologism) (p13), biblioholics (p164)
serve a distinct social function. Unlike the alcoholic, whose yarns tend to be maudlin and repetitive, or
the workaholic, who rarely has time to talk anyway, biblioholics entertain and enlighten, especially when
they are prepared to parade their vice with as much abandon and relish as the Bearded Triffid. Not for
him the closet, though that may at times provide a sanctuary for the happy indulgence of a page or
three (p95). No, unashamed and unrepentant, the Triffid declares his addiction, and we all profit, as the
pages of this second volume of Trimmings amply demonstrate.
Alan de Triffid (p198) is monstrously well read. While his focus is mainly on Science Fiction, he ranges
widely embracing (if that is the word) Horror Stories, Who-dunits, Cowboy Yarns and occasionally
Fantasy (p267). But the listing of these genres only tells half the story. All the opinions which he offers
on the books mentioned in this volume, have as their background, a deep and wide-ranging literary
awareness -- and this, be it remembered, is one of the hallmarks of a polymath. We are not surprised to
discover that Alan has a degree in Chemistry (p166) or that his maths (p36) is more than adequate, (as I
discovered to my advantage when I was writing Pioneers) or that his knowledge of computers (Macs
excepted) is wide ranging. Such qualities are shared with many other lovers of Science Fiction. What we
are less prepared for is Alan's ability to refer to (say) the thoughts of Chairman Mao tse-Tung (p164),
Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky (p10), the works of Kafka (p57), Karl Popper's "paradigm of disprovability"
(p166) etc. The list goes on as you will discover as you read these pages. This context of understanding,
drawn from world literature, history and philosophy, gives Alan's writing its authority. He can soar
beyond genres and swoop, critically, when need be.
But Alan wears his scholarship lightly and his characteristic voice is affirmative rather than severe or
prescriptive. "I enjoyed it so much I went out and bought all the other…" (p202) "The book held me
enthralled from page one…" (p206) "This book deserves to win every award going." (p268) He takes no
pleasure in the disembodied voice of the invisible critic: No! Alan is an enthusiast, and his articles and
commentaries are the passionate expression of his informed mind as it explores new texts or revisits
old and loved ones. Reading through his book, I had the impression that Alan likes nothing better than
finding a new writer to fall in love with.
At the same time, Alan is aware that the role of critic carries certain important responsibilities. One entire
article Gosh -- Haven't You Grown, is devoted almost exclusively to an analysis and explanation of his
own critical practice. It is an article written to celebrate the tenth birthday of Phlogiston and what a
splendid present for Alex the Editor to receive. And what an honouring of Science Fiction too, that Alan
the Critic is prepared to sit down and explain the mixture of erudition, plain common sense and simple
caring that he brings to his art. The essay is superbly written -- a mixture of wit and wisdom -- and is the
one I think should be read first as it establishes the ground rules which guide Alan's work, and in its
writing, epitomises all that is best in Trimmings. Besides, it primes the palate for more.
One of the endearing characteristics of Alan's critical approach stems from his deep love of language in
general, and the English language in particular. No writer can complain about a critic who relishes
grammar rightly used or who celebrates in such a forthright manner the richness of vocabulary and the
peculiarities of English syntax. But woe betide the writer who, through sloppiness or ineptitude,
diminishes the language. As I have noted already, Alan is rarely harsh in his judgements, but when he
does choose to demolish he has formidable powers of linguistic analysis at his command. Witness the
Article Do You Speak English (p15) in which he takes sloppy writing to task. And this, surely, is one of
the prime functions of a critic for by attacking the churn-it-out mile-a-minute formulaic writing which is
so often careless of the beauty and precision of the language, the critic is clearing the ground for those
writers who do reshape and refashion language to serve a distinct creative and literary end. Most writers
would agree that when they are "running hot", their normal sense of language vanishes and is replaced
by something sensuous and strange -- a bright fusion of thought, feeling and word. Too often, critics of
Science Fiction concentrate solely on the ideas in a book and not on the way those ideas are expressed.
While a case can be made for Science Fiction being essentially a literature of ideas, how refreshing it is to