Spider Robinson reads Varley's "The Persistence of Vision"

Spider Robinson's latest podcast installment is a reading of John Varley's towering and brilliant 1979 novella, "The Persistence of Vision," winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. I'm a gigantic John Varley fan (especially of his short fiction) and this story may be the best of the lot.

"The Persistence of Vision," is the story of a drifter crossing America during a terrible depression who happens upon a Taos commune run by and for a community of blind-deaf people, the adult cohort of a decades-gone German measles epidemic. In the commune ("Keller"), the narrator discovers important, unsuspected truths about independence and interdependence, communication and community, and the power of hope and perseverance.

This story pulls off one of science fiction's best tricks: exploring the fundamental question of whether disasters demand that you bug out, heading for the hills to wait out the disaster, or bug in, grabbing your go-bag and heading for your neighbors' to see how you can help.

This is a timely reading -- and not just because the economy is in free-fall. Technology is rupture -- each new wave of technological change displaces and remakes us. Today's technocratic winners are tomorrow's superannuated losers. The future of human history will be about how we answer the bug in/bug out question.

Every time I read this story, it fills me with sorrow and hope and makes me mist over, and Robinson's reading is no exception. If you only listen to one piece of audio this week, make it Spider's reading of "The Persistence of Vision."

MP3 link to "Persistence of Vision, Spider on the Web podcast feed, Spider on the Web homepage

The John Varley Reader: 30 Years of Short Fiction

[#1 posted by Takuan , December 3, 2008 2:10 AM]

very good choice Cory, thanks.

[#2 posted by ender_sb , December 3, 2008 3:09 AM]

Correction: Not only has Spider Robinson put out an all-music podcast since the one with the reading of Persistence of Vision, he should be about to put out another of his normal podcasts with a mix of music and science fiction - his podcasting schedule is supposedly the first and third Friday of each month, but I almost never remember to check on those dates.

[#3 posted by Zig , December 3, 2008 4:37 AM]

I'll have to give this a listen. I've read that story more than a couple of times over the years.

Actually, I think I need to put some of Varley's stuff on my too big pile of books to read/re-read. I haven't revisited his work for a good five years or more.

[#4 posted by eustace , December 3, 2008 6:29 AM]

I read this when my high school librarian pointed it out to me; lifelong Varley fanhood resulted. I've re-read the Titan/Wizard/Demon trilogy more than once - what a great, humane adventure story!

[#5 posted by Christiana Ellis , December 3, 2008 7:18 AM]

I didn't pick up any of Varley's short fiction until after I had read and loved "Steel Beach", but "The Persistence of Vision" really captured me. It's now my favorite short story of all time, and I think about it often.

Now Spider Robinson is doing a reading of it? Awesome. Made my day.

[#6 posted by michaelannb , December 3, 2008 10:49 AM]

I read this story when it first came out and it's haunted me ever since. It changed my ideas about ableism before I knew there was a word for it. It's been years since I've read the story but I often loan it out to others. I remember: the joke that spread around the room told by human bodies touching each other.

[#7 posted by Alli , December 3, 2008 3:32 PM]

Varley *happy sigh* One of my all time fav books is Ophiuchi Hotline. I reread ALL his books at least once a year.

No, I tell a lie; I read all his OLD stuff at least once a year (e.g. Titan trilogy, Steel Beach, Millenium, Blue Champagne & Barbie Murders short story collections, etc) but I find the newer stuff like Mammoth kinda...boring. They are just missing something. Mind you, I still own them *grin*

Think it's time to pick his old ones up again...

[#8 posted by Roger Stanton , December 4, 2008 9:47 AM]

Okay I listened to this and for the most part it was pretty good. But was anybody else creeped out by the guy in his forties sleeping with a 13 year old girl?

[#9 posted by jewelley , December 4, 2008 8:08 PM]

thanks for reminding me of one of my favorite stories ever!

[#10 posted by Kabur Naj , December 9, 2008 2:01 PM]

As a graduate student in an acoustics lab, I watched the 2001 Academy Award nominated documentary "Sound and Fury", which paints a surprising (to those not in the know) portrait of the sense of culture and identity that exists within the deaf community. At the time I was shocked to hear a deaf father proclaim in the film that he would take away his child's hearing if here were allowed to, and truth be told, I'm still rather perturbed by this sentiment.

Varley's story does a fantastic job of conveying to me that my "ableist" world-view, while not directly prejudicial, is actually missing out on the full picture. In my opinion, the story quite capably makes this point well before it ever gets to the mystical thump-thump-thump stuff.