I feel a bit sad about van Vogt, because clearly people a generation or so older than me got lots of pleasure out of his work, but I didn't at all. I read a few of his books when I was a kid, but even then I thought they were pretty rubbish. And looking again now doesn't change that view. The comparison with Weinbaum's still-valuable 'A Martian Odyssey', which Pohl makes, is telling.
But perhaps I'm being too harsh. What do you think about A E van Vogt's work?
Poll #1836368 Non-Aristotelian checkboxes
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 26
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| Never heard of him (I assume it's a him) tbh |
   4 (8.9%) |
| Heard of, but never actually read |
| 4 (8.9%) |
| I might have read something, but it didn't really stick |
| 4 (8.9%) |
| Awful |
| 3 (6.7%) |
| Bad |
| 6 (13.3%) |
| Mediocre |
| 7 (15.6%) |
| Fair |
| 1 (2.2%) |
| Good |
| 3 (6.7%) |
| Great |
| 2 (4.4%) |
| A badger with a gun, without a gun, or something inbetween |
| 11 (24.4%) |
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Comments
(Disclaimer: Actually the only thing of his I've read is "Empire of the Atom".)
(But yes, absolutely. Olaf Stapledon is in that category, for me.)
Go read Heinlein or Asimov if you want a classic writer who is still enjoyable.