I waited until I had a chance to finish the book (I'm almost as slow a reader as I am a writer..) before reading Radomir's entire post and commenting on his observations. So here are some of my thoughts on Agnew Bahnson Jr.'s singular novel, "The Stars Are Too High:"
radomir wrote:As much as I might have wanted them to, the main characters do not seem to directly parallel any persons we would know from the TTB narrative.
Except maybe the German, Max Schoeller. He MAY have a parallel in the real world, as I'll be getting to shortly.
I had to wonder if this book was at least partially ghost-written. It's rare that someone writes just one good novel, of any subject matter.
In the biographical sketch of Bahnson printed as a post-script in the original hardcover edition, it says of Bahnson that "of all the hobbies he has undertaken, however, he finds novel-writing the most interesting and baffling." I can relate. Probably a good thing he didn't give up his day job. And, without going into the details, and based on my contact with Bahnson's family, I'm comfortable with the idea that he wrote the book himself -- in longhand, no less.
It has an "atomic" power source (a la Fusor?).
I could never imagine any kind of fission-powered engine that would be light enough to fly. I mean, just consider the weight of the uranium-based fuel. Bahnson never says "fusion" or "fission," but I would presume he means the latter, which was actually in use in those days. And there were even attempts to build an "atomic airplane" in the 50s. So I assume he means a fission power plant, implausible as that seems. Hell, it's just fiction...
There is NOT a gravity neutral field inside the craft--the occupants are subject to the normal G-force limitations we have come to know from conventional fighter-jets.
That's one of the curiousities to me, since most discussion of "gravity-enabled" craft speak in terms of a "gravity neutral" environment for the occupants. Granted, the author needed centrifigual forces to make one of his plot points. But that does raise an interesting question, what WOULD the internal environment inside a gravity-defying (or exploiting) craft be like? Would the occupants of such a craft have any sense of motion at all?
In the novel, the actual "inventor" is a German former scientist/mechanic jack of all trades who is the only surviving member of a secret project team who blew themselves up by accident while developing their technology. He is imported into the USA after WWII--so this is presented as decidedly NOT a home-grown American technology. Is this misdirection away from TTB?
Probably not entirely. I think we've seen that theme surface in other places, and, you know, disinformation is usually derived from a robust mixture of fact and fiction...
We have no idea if Bahnson ever even met Morgan. Still, it appears Morgan has shown up in other books since then...we may never know.
Seems unlikely. Brown's involvement with Bahnson was 57-58 (or 58-59, I can never remember which off the top of my head). Morgan doesn't show up until the fall 1963; Bahnson died in the spring of 64, and Morgan wasn't fully recruited until 65 and 66. So it seems unlikely their paths would have crossed -- at least, not in conventionally delineated time-frames...
part of the "answer" arrives in the form & the influence of a non-aligned, non-governmental, international group of very highly intelligent and creative advisory Committee members. People who are described as brilliant and broad-minded, morally centered, humanistically oriented, very much like the ones we have already encountered in the Caroline mold.
Yes, the Caroline analogy is very apt. Hard to say to what extent Bahnson was a "Caroline" insider. Maybe Mr. Twigsnapper can shed some light on that score. But, from a story-telling perspective, I found the last-minute introduction of these "councils of elders" objectionable. I take exception to adding an entirely new element to the narrative just before the end, and then hinging the resolution on that element. I'm a big believer in planting the seeds of resolution along the way, and the conclusion being predicated in those seeds germinating and reaching full flower.
And, in this story, the hero guy and gal actually are able to have a life together, despite all the obstacles.
Well, at least Bahnson got that part right. I had the same crush on "Sandy" that Victoria's had on Morgan...<g>
There are other concepts in Bahnson's novel that have more relevance for a contemporary audience: For example the notion that the German scientist introduces, that "terror" is the only way to motivate people -- that sounds like a page write out of the current administration's play-book.
And I had to sigh when I read one of the American's saying "I ask you, rich or poor, hasn't this country proved itself the least likely...to go around starting wars?" Ah, the simple days of the Cold War. Would that that were still true today.
Finally (for now) when, in the book, the prospect of global conglaration emerges from the protagonist's miscalculations, Schoeller -- the quasi-villain of the story -- asks, "Should man continue to exist if he cannot solve his problems freely?" -- which is as good a question as any the book poses.
--PS