None So Blind: A Short Story Collection

Joe Haldeman is probably the best active living writer of science fiction. He also writes much more like a poet than other SF writers. He never uses too many words, and never too few. He write to get a point across, and succeeds much of the time. Of course, because of this, when he fails he misses the mark by a wide margin. His novels "The Forever War" and "The Hemingway Hoax" are two of the best SF novels of the last half century. Of course, after reading NONE SO BLIND, you find that Haldeman does write poetry. The collection is more short stories, but the poems in this are very good. My personal favorite of his poems here is "The Homecoming", which many in SF can very much relate too. But the short story "None So Blind", from which the collection takes it title, is here. And that is a great short story. "The Hemingway Hoax" is also included here, as is "Graves". I am of a younger generation than Haldeman, and you would think a short story set, more or less, in Vietnam wouldn't connect with me. But for some reason, it still gives me the willies. Haldeman is somebody all intelligent people should be reading. This collection of short works is some of his best stuff.

I don't usually turn to short stories for a good read, but I was completely fascinated and satisfied by this collection of 11 tales and 4 story poems.Haldeman's unbounded imagination has yielded a variety of most curious beings and circumstances, augmented by many of his personal experiences that sparked or helped to form these vignettes.I appreciated the biographical insights that he provided in his introduction and in the brief addenda that follow each piece.Some short, some quite long, but each one a thought provoker with haunting images that will continue to pull at you after you believed that you'd laid this one down.

A very enjoyable collection of short stories, a novella, and poems that compose a detailed portrait of the author. Admittedly, "The Hemmingway Hoax" is pretty darn confusing, but the first two short stories are so good, I just didn't care. As for the poems, it's been a while since I've had any desire to read modern poetry, but Haldeman got my attention with them. In each part of this collection, he shows the amazing ability to compose very vivid images with the use of few words, something most authors these days know nothing about. Oh yes, the author's notes at the end of each piece are fascinating. I wish I could give this 9 out of 10.

Not every story in Haldeman's new short story collection "None So Blind" is great, but all are interesting because of notes by Haldeman explaining his intentions and what in each story draws from his life and what has been invented. Of course, Haldeman, science fiction's most famous veteran, has plenty of tales here that draw from his Vietnam experience. In "Images" what a battle-scarred 'Nam veteran sees while he secretly watches the actresses of his theater company undress makes up for the somewhat contrived plot of oh-so-compatible love. "The Monster" is a Lovecraftian tale about an imprisoned man narrating how he discovered an unearthly presence in a remote area, Vietnam, and how it destroyed his life. Of course, he comes to a bad end. The story is also interesting for what Haldeman has to say about the reality of the much glamorized Long Range Recon Patrols of the Vietnam War. "Graves" is the most vivid distillation of Haldeman's war experiences even though he says he made

Haldeman exhibits a wide span of points of view, settings and themes--each written with a forthright clarity and inspired sense of imagination. "Feedback" begins the collection; an erotic and ultimately uplifting modern fable of inner scars and metamorphosis told by the gay protagonist who electronically links with clients to produce original works of art. Haldeman uses marvelous foreshadowing in "Passages", telling an edgy account of an intergalactic poacher's rite of passage. And "Job Security" shows that even a two page story can have something significant to say, especially when told by the janitor at an astronomical observatory. As an added bonus, Haldeman has added a short blurb with each of the stories explaining specifics such as conceptual, thematic and character development. It offers a most welcome look into the writing process--for readers and aspiring writers alike. This is Joe Haldeman at his best