Talk:M. P. Shiel
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[edit] Parentage
Although the previous description of Shiel's mixed race background was accurate -- cited from Billings -- I've revised the section to update Billings's antiquated language (like mulatto and the vague use of "mixed race" for slaves of African descent). I've relied on and cited the Shiel family genealogy page, which has recently been published. --Junius49 (talk) 15:27, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Who decided to redirect 'The Purple Cloud' to this page?
I remember a page dedicated to his book 'The Purple Cloud' being available. Why would someone delete that page and redirect it to here, as there is quite a substantial amount of information and synopsis that has seemingly been discarded, especially regarding the information about its serial publication and detailed description. Pedantic and over enthusiastic full-time Wiki "editors" strike again? 195.92.168.164 03:46, 22 August 2007 (UTC)
- I've tried to find the old Purple Cloud page, but I can't. I've restarted The Purple Cloud as a stub. Very poor editing on someone's part. --Junius49 (talk) 15:52, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Any Truth to This?
Granted, I found this on the (ahem) IMDB message board for "The World, The Flesh and The Devil", but I wonder if there is any truth to it? I just did not see anything remotely like this in the article but do not feel that I have the knowledge to add it based on the source...
"by Swift-12 (Thu Sep 8 2005 14:03:39)
Sam Moskowitz said this about M. P. Shiel who wrote the 1901 novel "The Purple Cloud" from which this 1959 end-of-the-world drama was adapted -- "It is indeed ironical that a man (flawed but occasionally brilliant) who was an anti-Oriental, ardent believer in Aryan superiority, and a war lover is to be posthumously ennobled as an apostle of peace and racial tolerance every time The World, the Flesh and the Devil is shown, as it will be for many years to come."
This quote appears in David Kyle's great book, "Pictorial History of Science Fiction" (pp 37, 38). Kyle went on to say, "When Matthew Phipps Shiel, the strange, often brilliant man, died after still writing sf in his old age, he left behind a strange, often brilliant body of works. One would be tempted to feel that if you ignored his incredibly intolerant comments they would somehow go away."
Needless to say when they adapted a film from his book 58 years later, extensive reworking was done. The last "good" man is now black instead of white; the last "bad" man is white; a white woman is caught between them.
Shiel's intolerance was all over the map. Another 1901 novel, "The Lord of the Sea", was a "complicated plot about floating fortresses controlling the seas. It was violently anti-Semitic, yet paradoxically it had a Jew for the hero and a Jewess for the heroine, and ended up with the establishment of a Jewish homeland very much like Israel."
Saudade7 09:21, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
