From: higgins@fnalo.fnal.gov (Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey)
Subject: Hugo & Ralph (was Re: 'Science Fiction' Stage Plays)
Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 11:34:27 GMT
X-Posted-From: fnalo.fnal.gov
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

In article <d=!npd-@lynx.unm.edu>, lundgren@vesta.unm.edu (Chad Lundgren) writes:
> In article <1992Aug14.175234.1@fnalc.fnal.gov> higgins@fnalc.fnal.gov (Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey) writes:
>>You say you want classics? How about a musical adaptation of *Ralph
>>124c 41+*?  Now THAT would be entertainment!
> 
> I've never heard of it.  At the very least, Mr. Capek is credited
> in many circles as being the first to use the word robot, although
> Asimov probably did more to popularize it.

*Sigh* Kids these days... 

Ever heard of Hugo Gernsback?  Ever heard of the Hugo Awards?  They're
named after him.  Ever heard of a magazine called *Amazing Stories*? 
He started it.  Ever heard of "science fiction?"  He coined the phrase
(after toying briefly with "scientifiction.")  Ever heard of the "SF
Ghetto?"  Hugo is blamed for it.

He was a Luxembourger who got involved with writing and publishing
around the turn of the century.  He published magazines devoted to
new technologies called "radio" and "electronics" (ever heard of
them?), of which he was an enthusiastic booster.  (Next time you're in
the drugstore, look at the fine print in *Radio Electronics*
magazine-- it's still a Gernsback Publication.)

*Ralph One Two Four Cee [space] Four One Plus* is Gernsback's most
famous novel.  It's awful. (And yet strangely wonderful.)  There is
some reason to believe that all his other published fiction was *more*
awful.

First published in 1912, *Ralph* is a long parade of gadgetry and
technical lecture interrupted occasionally, but briefly, by plot.  I
think Hugo wanted to be Jules Verne, but thought that coming up with
clever inventions was all it took.  The book presages a number of real
inventions, most notably radar, but also suggests that interplanetary
spacecraft will have running boards, and that restaurants will
eventually serve all food in liquefied form through hoses.  (Who
knows? it may yet happen!)

I guess the amusement in reading *Ralph 124C 41+* stems from Hugo's
intense determination to impress the reader with his technical
innovations, to the detriment of all other story elements.  As a
lifelong techie I can sympathize with this, but it really does become
ludicrous.

You probably won't be able to find a copy of this; it's out of print,
for reasons which should be clear by now.  I managed to find a
hardcover edition from the Fifties in the huckster room last Worldcon.

There was a nice article on Gernsback in *Smithsonian* a couple of
years back, if you want to do some more reading.  

Bill Higgins                      | "[Theatregoers], if they did not
                                  | happen to like the production,
Fermi National                    | had either to sit all through it
Accelerator Laboratory            | or else go home.  They probably
                                  | would have rejoiced at the ease
                                  | of our Tele-Theaters, where we
Internet:  HIGGINS@FNAL.FNAL.GOV  | can switch from one play to
                                  | another in five seconds, until we
SPAN/Hepnet:      43011::HIGGINS  | find the one that suits us best."
                                  | --Hugo Gernsback predicts
Bitnet:      HIGGINS@FNAL.BITNET  | Channel-Flipping in
                                  | *Ralph 124C41+* (1912)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.theatre