Weekly Short Stories: 1977 Science Fiction, Part 3

Below are my reactions to two more 1977 science fiction short stories, as they appeared in the anthology The 1978 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and featuring his selections of the best in that genre the previous year.  As I've mentioned before, 1977 was a year of transition as I moved from Hollywood in South Florida to Gainesville in the northern part of the state. Having lived in the same house since I was four and having done very little traveling during my childhood, the change was challenging if not a bit traumatic for me.  Still, the roommates with me in my dormitory were friendly and responsible...greatly putting my concerns at rest...and I managed to finished my first semester at college with decent marks.  And here are my reviews of those two stories...

JEFFTY IS FIVE by Harlan Ellison

The title character to this story is a twenty-two-year old, the same age as the narrator who knew and played with him when they were both five. But Jeffty is very different: in essence he is STILL five years old, never having grown physically or mentally.  But the fact that he still listens to old shows off his radio that had ended years before makes his story all the more chilling. The author makes the point that the barrier between the ongoing present and the past is fragile and can be easily upset...as if the present wants to consume the past.  I can't help but think that this tale is also a sort of analogy about how people hold their own versions of the past close to the vest and can be defensive about it if someone calls on them to live in the present...

THE SCREWFLY SOLUTION by Raccoona Sheldon

Not very far into the future a scientist working in Colombia has hit upon the solution to eliminating the disease-carrying screwfly by interfering with its reproductive process.  Meanwhile, across the world there is a quasi-religious cult growing whereby men attack and kill women after they are promised that God would provide a cleaner, holier means of reproduction.  Realizing he is "infected" and won't be able to control his own homicidal urges, he warns his wife in time for her to escape...at story's end she discovers the ominous cause of it all.  The connection between the scientist's work and the cult phenomenon couldn't be more obvious...  

Next week I conclude my look at short science fiction from 1977...