R.A. Lafferty: The Final Frontier

Raphael Aloysius Lafferty, or simply R.A. Lafferty, was born in 1914 on November 7th in Neola, Iowa. He was one of five kids born to Hugh David Lafferty and Julia Marie Burke. He was named Raphael because he was supposed to be born on St, Raphael’s day, October, 24th, but was fourteen days late. At the age of four, his family moved to Perry, Oklahoma. Later his family moved to Tulsa and Lafferty graduated from Cascia Hall High School, in the early 1930s.

After graduation, Lafferty began taking correspondence classes in electrical engineering at the University of Tulsa. He left the university after only one year and began to work for Clark Electrical Supply Company. In 1942, Lafferty enlisted in the United States Army and served in World War II until 1946. He achieved the rank of Sergeant and received a New Guinea Campaign Star.

Lafferty did not have what people call to day a normal life style. He was of Irish descendant. He was a devoted Roman Catholic. At the age of ten, he did something very abnormal for ten year olds; he memorized Groliers History of the World. This childhood accomplishment could help explain all of his historical based stories. Lafferty did not driv

Robert Scholes also takes a look at the more distant past of science fiction . He takes a look at nineteenth century writing and brackets it in to four ‘strains’ of writing: metaphysics, hardware, futurism, and adventure. He gives examples of each with writers like Poe, Verne, Bellamy, and Burroughs. This is a good example of how past writers influence writers of modern times. Lafferty wrote books that could fall into each one of these categories. This displays the evolution of a writer.

More takes it all pretty calmly. It seems that time travelers often stop and chat with him. On Astrobe, the world of the future, he finds allies and enemies, Adam and Eve, the last Pope, a friendly alien called an "ansel” and a race of artificial beings who have no souls or even real consciousness, but who are supplanting human beings. These synthetic beings worship Ouden, the "Great Nothingness." They are More’s real enemies, and plan to exterminate humanity and then themselves. At one point they admit to More that they are old-fashioned Demons. Past Master is a good example of how Lafferty likes to use history. In using time travel, he can define historical figures to the reader. The reader, in a sense, meets Thomas More and is introduced to the idea of Utopia. This allows the reader to learn and be entertained at the same time.

Darrell Schweitzer published a collection of interviews with sci-fi writers in 1971 . This gives a good comparison of different styles of writers, comparing not the styles of sci-fi, but that of his writing to the writers he interviewed. Schweitzer’s questions and comments seem very monotone when compared to the responses of the writers like Theodore Sturgeon. Science fiction writers bring a ‘life’ to even responses to simple questions.

Okla Hannali is one of the more well know of Lafferty’s works. This work is not a science fiction, but rather an epic narrative of Indian history in Lafferty style. . Being raised in Oklahoma probably sparked the interest in the Five Civilized Tribes. It is the biography of a fictional character "Hannali Innominee”, a Choctaw chief, which begins around 1830 and ends after the Civil War around 1870. The main character is well established in the Choctaw lands before removal. He is very considerate and giving to his people and others. Lafferty describes Andrew Jackson as “the Devil of the Indians,” because he was the president that started the actual removal process. The fascinating aspect of the book is, that anyone can come in touch with a part of American history that America is hardly aware of, nor really likes to know of any better, but that in drama and outrageousness beats such familiar history highlights like the "Boston Tea Party". Lafferty has captured the essence if Indian writing very well. This is shown by his description of day to day living of the Indians.

The Devil is Dead is probably Lafferty’s second most well know book, after Okla Hannali. He called it a "do-it-yourself thriller or nightmare. Its present order is only the way it comes in the box. Arrange it as you will." The puzzle pieces include the Devil himself as also an ogress, and a mermaid, passing as ordinary women to blind people, also there's a millionaire, a hobo called Finnegan, and a trip around the world. There's a body buried in the sand, and a mystery with it. There are doppelgangers and fetches, and almost-irrelevant stories told around campfires. There's a plot to drown the world in blood, and a horrifying resurgence of an ancient master race. No, maybe not. Shake the box again and look. This time it's a weirdly charming novel of innocence and experience layered onto a mystery seething with vivid characterizations and magical realism. Shake again. The exact latitude and longitude of Paradise: go there and see, Shake, the exact name written upon the Devil's tombstone. This book is a strange twist of myths and monsters. The Devil is Dead i

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