Keoma (1976)

Cast

• Franco Nero
• William Berger
• Olga Karlatos
• Orso Maria Guerrini
• Gabriella Giacobbe
• Antonio Marsina
• Joshua Sinclair
• Woody Strode

Inventory

• A banging door
• Two wagon loads of plague victims
• A smoke-filled saloon, noticeably devoid of smokers
• A banjo with three strings
• Pissing on a man's boot
• A hair-raising experience
• A crucifixion
• Birth and death
• Four bullets

Summary

We begin in a battle-blasted town, in which one grizzled crone is picking through the debris. She hides when our hero rides into town, but confronts him when she recognizes him. From the bitter, bile-laden conversation it is apparent that the two know each other from way back. How far back becomes clear when he looks around at the chaos and says, "I thought you could change destiny."

In a surprisingly nice cut, she turns and the camera follows her gaze to an Indian encampment, where the bodies are piled high and the tee-pees are all aflame. "I changed destiny when I decided that you alone would survive that useless massacre." A little boy is seen running though the encampment, shouting, "Mommy! Mommy!" We see an attractive young Indian woman lying dead on the ground, just as a gentlemen wearing fancy duds rides into the camp and looks around, apparently in dismay. The camera then pans back to the crone, in the battered town.

We meet the evil henchmen as they haul a load of plague victims off to a mine. As the wagon pauses for some unnecessary conversation between the henchmen, one of the plagued turns to a beautiful woman and tells her not to touch him, so that she doesn't catch the disease and pass it on to their unborn child. He then tries to provide her an opportunity to escape by taking off himself, which leads to everyone else in the cart breaking for the hills as well, except for the woman. Of course, all are shot dead in their tracks. One of the henchmen decides that it's too much trouble to bring one victim to the mine and is about to put a bullet in her when he suddenly discovers a knife sticking out of his arm, thrown by Keoma from a hilltop a good fifty yards away. After trading a load of buckshot for a henchman's horse, he takes the woman to the local town.

Here we discover that everything went bad when the henchmen arrived, along with someone named Caldwell, who bought the mine and whatever parts of the town that he wanted. Strangely, the plague broke out at about that time. About this time, Keoma sees a banjo-picking black man, played by the always wonderful Woody Strode, who we quickly learn was George, a mentor to the young Keoma, although now that he has been emancipated, he's moved on from being noble and talented to being a drunk.

We briefly meet Caldwell, but before we can get anything out of him, a series a random flashbacks, mixed with present=day conversation, cues us in on the fact that the dude who showed up at the Indian camp was the father of the young Keamo. We also learn that three of Caldwell's men are Keoma's half-brothers and that their mutual father was the fastest gun in the West

While Keoma is having a pleasant chat with his father, the henchmen show up at the saloon and drag off the pregnant woman. As Keoma goes to rescue her from the mine, he meets the crone (who has been wandering around for the whole movie, dragging a cart) and she tells him that it's no use; he cannot save her.

As crones go, she's not particularly prescient, as Keoma does rescue the woman and, at the same time, confronts his half-brothers. Between this scene and the flashbacks, it's pretty clear that holiday dinners in this family are filled with awkward moments. After Keamo publicly thrashes his brothers, Caldwell berates them and says that he'll do things his way, which means taking his whole band of henchmen into town to roust the place looking for Keoma and the pregnant woman.

After the town doctor and George bring back medicine to save the townspeople, Caldwell gathers his gang to take care of the problem once and for all. At this point, it's worth observing that despite the fairly consistent attrition, his gang manages to grow larger every time they ride into town. Clearly, the man has Hedley Lamarr doing his recruiting for him.

The result is a tremendous shootout that includes some genuinely excellent stunt work, particularly on horseback. It also features Woody Strode with a bow, which, if you have to ask, you ain't never gonna know.

Since the three brothers fell out with Caldwell, they're counting on him and Keoma killing each other, so that they can step in as strongmen. When Keoma foils their scheme by surviving, the inevitable ending involves the four brothers working out a lot of pent-up aggression. Again, I'll note that crone really gets around.

Amazingly, a sequel, Keoma Rises, has been made and is scheduled for release in 2017. Franco Nero will once more play Keoma and  Enzo Castellari will direct again. Presumably, they have found another crone.

The actor who plays the youngest brother, Joshua Sinclair, is a medical doctor, specializing in rare tropical diseases. He's worked in India and Africa. He also has two Ph.Ds in Theology and has received commendations from the United Nations for his work against Apartheid. To provide an income, he's also been a highly successful author, actor, and director. In his spare time, he's a professor of Filmmaking and Biblical Anthropology at the London School of Economics and New York University. Go figure.

Dialogue

"He can't die. And you why? Because he's free and a man who is free never dies."

Story

Okay, the plot is pretty much the same one that has been used for half the westerns between Randolph Scott and Silverado. I'm pretty sure that it can be traced back a couple of millennia further, as well. So what? It's the execution that counts and this movie manages to throw in enough plot to fill a whole season of most television programs. It even manages to include a bit of supernatural creepiness with the crone.

Frankly, I was a bit surprised at how well the whole thing held together. The only thing holding it back from the legendary sixth bulls-eye is a certain lack of tension. Once the plot gets moving, there's a certain inevitability about it.

Music

Imagine Kate Bush channeling Grace Slick. Now imagine her singing lyrics that basically are an outline of the plot (just in case you weren't following along). She sings the opening theme and the first half of the movie. In the second half, she's joined by Tommy Chong, also reading from a summary of the script, except in a different key and about three-quarters of a note flat. He alternates solos and duets with her until she handles the closing credits on her own.

I've heard some really, really bad music in these movies, but this is truly spectacular.

Acting

With the exception of Franco Nero, the acting is actually pretty good. Most of the leads appear to speak English and to have delivered their own lines. In Nero's case, that was probably a mistake. He doesn't sound remotely like his father or brothers. In fact, he doesn't sound like anyone else in the movie.

Although it doesn't actually qualify as acting, it is necessary to point out that Keoma is the hairiest Native American since the first men walked across the Bering Straits. Serious, this dude makes Grizzly Adams look like he'd been bikini waxed.

More Movie Remakes: A – M

So, long ago, I wrote a post on movies that didn't need to be remade. The inspiration was a remake of Conan the Barbarian. At that time, I threatened a sequel, as there certainly were many more films that I hadn't addressed. Well, today I will follow up on that threat, in honor of the new Ghostbusters.

To be clear, I haven't seen the new Ghostbusters, and I have seen reviews that are generally favorable. That's beside the point. By remaking a movie, you're making the statement that the original was unsatisfactory and that if only someone more competent, such as yourself, was acting in it or directing it, it would be more perfect. The fact that the new version has a female cast is completely irrelevant. There are a lot of really funny women who can act.

In the case of Ghostbusters, the problem is that the original was as nearly perfect as possible. The casting included some of the great comic talent of the day and virtually everyone contributed some of their best work to what was an ensemble movie. The only person who clearly isn't thrilled to be there was Sigourney Weaver, who, from the stories that have escaped, was utterly frustrated by the fact that the rest of the cast freely ad-libbed new lines, played cheesy practical jokes, and generally behaved like a bunch of middle-school students with a substitute teacher. Personally, I believe that those stories are probably true, because you can see that the cast, minus Weaver, has developed that pitch-perfect timing that can only happen when funny people hang out together, being funny.

The biggest and most important character of all in the original movie was the city itself. New York City is one of the greatest character actors ever to grace the silver screen and New York in the early eighties was as good as it got. The mayor, the police and fire commissioners, the archbishop, Larry King, Casey Kasem; all of these were New York City. Who would you pick today to so epitomize the city? Donald Trump and Derek Jeter? What does New York look like now? It's safe, professional, clean, and successful. As a character, it's nothing but a walk-on.

Could a great movie have been made as a sequel? Possibly. Maybe even probably. Let the boys claim credit for turning New York into what it has become. Let them be successful and balding and sloppy, mourning Egon Spangler's passing. Make Walter Peck the Director of the EPA. Let Venkman see the opportunity to sell out one more time to a bunch of kids who grew up worshiping the Ghostbusters. After all, what could go wrong? Except somewhere, deep in a basement, one of Egon's last contraptions reboots and comes up to the password screen. Without him to type it in, a series of unfortunate events takes place and suddenly ghosts start popping up again. 

It might work, with good casting and a good director. But in any case, it would be better than remaking a brilliant original.

So what else has been remade, that didn't need it?

Annie — Not because the 1982 version was terrific, but because there was no way that any version was going to be any better. Making Annie and Warbucks black didn't change the characters, it just changed their skin color. A meaningful black version would be a very different story. It could be very good, but it would be as much like Annie as West Side Story is like Romeo and Juliet.

Arthur — I hated the original, but you're not going to beat Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, and John Geilgud. Oh yeah, and Burt Bacharch and Christopher Cross wrote the theme, which was played at every slow dance for a decade. The original brought in seven times as much, adjusted for inflation.

Assault on Precinct 13 — Uh, yeah. If only John Carpenter knew how to make a creepy action movie on the budget that most movies put aside for breakfast pastries. Oh, that's right. He did. Good acting, lots of close-ups, claustrophobia, and paranoia. And keep the plot really, really simple. Boy, it's a shame that the 2005 version couldn't remember any of those.

Bedazzled — Here we have Harold Ramis on the other side of the mistake. Once again, the problem is that the original is perfectly matched to its time and brilliantly cast. I have nothing against Brendan Fraser or Elizabeth Hurley. I love seeing Elizabeth Hurley. Two hours of Hurley walking around on a stage would be fine by me. But she is never going to be a better Devil than Peter Cook. And there are very, very few comedy teams to match Dudley Moore and Peter Cook.

Of course, the original had Rachel Welch playing Lust, and to be fair, I'd certainly be willing to put up with watching two hours of Rachel Welch pole-dancing.

If I had to.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari — Your smartphone camera and a $1.99 app can take a photo of people lying on the ground at Fredericksburg, Virginia that has the same acid edges and excessive contrast of a Matthew Brady print. That doesn't make the two equal in value.

Dawn of the Dead/Day of the Dead — Go back to the comments for Assault on Precinct 13. Substitute "George Romero" for John Carpenter. I am reminded about a quote made about Willie Mosconi: "He could beat you with a broom that had a felt tip glued on the end and then he'd sweep the joint out afterwards." It's not the tools that make the craftsman. It's the craftsman who makes the tools.

Death Race — Okay, Death Race 2000 is not art. It's not even close to art. Paul Simon is better friends with Art Garfunkel than Death Race 2000 is with Cinematic Art. Still, once again you have a movie that perfect captures the time when it was made, with camp and political commentary, being remade into an special effects extravaganza that tries to combine The Fast and Furious with a Mad Max movie.

The Day the Earth Stood Still — Why? Keanu Reeves as Klaatu? For the love of god, why?

Fame — We didn't need the first one, so why would we need the second? I don't watch television, but from what Aphrodite and the Bug tell me, Glee worked quite well and had the advantage of being funny and poignant.

The Fantastic Four — As a rule, I don't like superhero movies. I find them formulaic and boring. I think the fact that they can be rebooted multiple times with more or less the same plot, but with different actors says a lot about them.

Flight of the Phoenix — What a waste of talent, including the wonderful Miranda Otto. Giovanni Ribisi is a great character actor, but convincing people that he knows how to design an aircraft? I wouldn't trust him to successful design an outhouse. In the original, you had Jimmy Stewart (who was a former bomber group commander), Richard Attenborough, Earnest Borgnine and Peter Finch. Looking at the bookshelves, I don't see any particular shortage of decent stories that could be made into good movies, especially given a quality cast and a big budget. Why remake a relatively obscure movie that most who have seen it would agree was a classic?

Fun With Dick and Jane — Fame meets the Flight of the Phoenix. Let's take a bomb of a movie that certainly didn't fail because of a lack of acting talent, replace those actors with a new set and make a bomb of a movie that certainly didn't fail because of a lack of acting talent.

Get Carter — Because when I ask myself the question: who is the next Michael Caine? Sylvester Stallone is the first name to pop into my head. 

Godzilla / King Kong — Eventually someone will do the perfect giant creature destroying Tokyo/New York movie. This will precipitate the End Times, as predicted by the Mayans.

Guess Who — Because a 2005 movie about a mixed-race couple is bound to be more risque than the same movie in 1967. Especially when the earlier one was saddled with Stanley Kramer as director and could only scrape up Sidney Portier, Spencer Tracy, and Katharine Hepburn to fill out the cast.

Halloween — What's the idea behind remaking horror movies? You know the plot. You know the twists. It's not like you can't simply write a new one. All you need is a gimmick.

A summer camp built on the site of an old logging camp (axe-wielding serial killer). A youth hostel built on the site of an old abattoir (meat hook-wielding serial killer). A hipster coffee shop built on the site of an old diner (spatula-wielding serial killer). Okay, maybe not that last one.

High Noon — [head thunk]

The Hitcher — If I were faced with the choice of Sean Bean or Rutger Hauer as a psychotic serial killer stalking me, I'm going with Bean, every time. The guy turns out to be a loser in every movie.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas — They're doing it yet again in 2018. The original had Boris Karloff narrate and Thurl Ravenscroft sing. If you need more than that, maybe Dr. Suess isn't for you.

The Italian Job — Because when I ask myself the question: who is the next Michael Caine? Mark Wahlberg is the first name to pop into my head.

The Longest Yard — I sincerely doubt that there is any movie ever made that could be improved by reshooting it with Adam Sadler replacing the leading man.

The Manchurian Candidate — A psychological cold-war thriller about McCarthyism should be redone as a crappy sci-fi movie. Also, I despise Meryl Streep.

The Mechanic — They did remake it. From all accounts, if you cared at all about the first movie, you hated it. If you never saw the first movie, you were apathetic. That's the kind of response that would keep me making movies.

Trochoidal Grooving Training with Sandvik Coromant

It is common medical training in parts of Europe to practice the debridement of diseased adenoidal tissue by scraping grooves in the trochoids of certain species of aquatic aves. These structures are vestigial in this genus of birds, serving as one of the last remaining features in common with their saurian predecessors, who would, during combat with mating rivals, open their jaws widely and rapidly pump bursts of blood into the tissue, which would simultaneously cause the trochoids to flare bright red and to slap together. This slapping, known as trochoidal ferientes, would resonate within the cavernous jaws to make a sound much like a Louisville Slugger being knocked against a dugout water cooler.^[1]

In Scandinavia, the most commonly used bird is the Sandvik Cormorant, Phalacrocorax lemmykilmister. which happens to be of about the same size as a human infant of the age when this type of surgery is most often done, as well as being hardy enough to survive the capture, surgery, and subsequent release. In the United Kingdom, the birds of choice are the Avocado Shag and the Harvest Gold Shag, of the same genus^[2], both of which are commonly (and mistakenly) considered to be Kitchen Albatrosses.^[3]

In other areas of Europe and in all parts of North America except for three counties in central Kansas the practice has been banned as unnecessarily cruel. Oddly, despite the fact that neither cormorants or shags are indigenous to Kansas, that state has converted an abortion clinic into a medical school where would-be otolaryngologists spend their internships waiting against the possibility of a sadly misguided seabird turning up.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Brown, David (08 October 2015). "Pirates player turns cagefighter against defenseless water cooler." CBS Sports
2. ^ "Taxon: Genus Phalacrocorax". Project: The Taxonomicon.
3. ^ Vider, Elise (24 January 1988). "Shades Of The '60s! Avocado And Harvest Gold Are Returning." Phily.com.

Wakipedia

So, an old friend sent an email the other day, saying that he had received an advertising message from his company's AutoCad distributor that had the subject: Trochoidal Grooving Training with Sandvik Coromant.

Said friend went on to report that he certainly didn't read the message, because it was more fun to contemplate what the content might be than it would be to know what it actually was. After an afternoon of thought, his best guess was that it is an offer for "a class for some new death metal dance craze utilizing a trochar and taught by some Scandinavian Euro-trash instructor wearing a dead sea bird on his head."

I considered that to be a perfectly fine explanation and would have been quite happy to complement him upon it, if he did not proceed to end his e-mail with a challenge to top him.

And that is where things started to go wrong.

As my family and friends will tell you, I have an over-developed competitive streak and so I proceeded to expend an hour or so of my life writing a suitable response. Upon completion, it occurred to me that it would make a darn fine entry in Wikipedia.

Rather than doom some lazy high school student by providing source material even more bogus than usual for a term paper, I've decided to add a category of posts to this blog, to be tagged "Wakipedia". They'll be inspired by the spam that slips into my inbox, the self-spoofing headlines that appear everywhere, and in the random comments that are heard in passing.

Hate Thy Neighbor (1968)

Inventory

• George Eastman
• Horst Frank
• Robert Rice
• Nicoletta Machivelli
• Paolo Magalotti

Inventory

• A map
• A squeezebox
• A barrel of "WHISEY"
• Steel tiger claws
• Shields the size of an iPad Mini
• A pit of snakes
• A cage of rats
• Hair pulling
• Flying dynamite

Summary

Our story begins with Bill Dakota driving a wagon carrying his wife and young son into town, hell bent for leather. Moments later, after the warm and caring townspeople run for cover, Bill's son is an orphan, but not before Bill has been forced to hand over a map. At the cemetery, a handsome stranger rides up and admits to being Bill's brother, Ken.

Ken, of course, does the only honorable thing and has his girlfriend babysit the boy, so that justice can be administered. After roughing up the sheriff and a couple of deputies, Dakota enlists the help of a garrulous funeral director to head of the border to continue his crusade.

We then cut to Mexico to where Chris Malone, played by always brilliant Horst Frank, has a pair of minions fight it out, octagon style, with steel claws. Of course Malone is in cahoots with Gary Stevens, the new rightful owner of the map, which provides pre-Google directions to a gold mine. Malone directs Stevens to rob the local bank, which he (Malone) happens to own, to generate funds for the mining operation. Of course, Malone double crosses Stevens.

In the fine tradition of movie villains, Malone leaves Stevens in a deadly torture intended to inspire Stevens to tell where the other half of the map is hidden. Rather than wait for results, Malone departs with Stevens in the good hands of four incompetent yahoos, who are quickly dispatched by Dakota, allowing him to return Stevens to justice whereupon he is hung the next morning.

Okay, not really. He has the rope around his neck when Malone's men rescue him. A healthy mix of the usual double crosses ensue when Jose, the least Hispanic looking member of the cast, demonstrates the loyalty that can be generally expected from henchmen. Malone returns the favor as he demonstrates how he earned "Boss of the Year" honors from the local Chamber of Commerce for three years running.

The ending moves terrifically, until it collapses into a comical gunfight, a green-screen wagon chase, and an utterly unsatisfying conclusion.

The opening credits are displayed using the device of a newspaper. Strangely, while the some of the credits are in Italian, the title is in German: "Hasse Deinen Nächsten". There are a few English language credits mixed in, as well. This marks the first movie that I can recall in which the script girl got credited before the movie. I suspect that this may have been copied from a print originally dubbed and shown in Germany. It was then redubbed, which is a bit of a shame, as most of the actors were clearly speaking English and the dubbing has the reverb of a soundstage in many scenes.

Dialogue

"Order. Order in the court. Now let's make this fast. I intend to back on that stage ten minutes from now."

Story

You've seen it all before: murder, revenge, "They took the little boy." And, as I mentioned, so many double crossings that it looked like a Los Angeles street map. Still, credit must be given to a movie that can steal twists from so many other sources. At least you'll never lose track of the plot (assuming that you've seen a few dozen of these) and the number of gaping holes was kept to a minimum.

Music

Great incidental music, on occasion being played by one of the characters. Unfortunately, the overall effect is ruined by the opening and closing themes, which sound remarkably like the theme to "The Love Boat", with the exception of the references to revenge.

Acting

Horst Frank does a great job. He basically plays the role that Leonardo DiCaprio does in "Django Unchained", but with just a hint of Christoph Waltz mixed in. Frankly, it's as good a job as you'll see in one of these movies and you can understand why he was such a busy actor.

Roberto Risso played the undertaker with style. He was clearly a fine character actor and it's odd that this was his last film. In his early days, he was dashingly handsome and usually played the boyfriend role. Apparently, he moved into fashion design when he left acting.

None of the other actors added much, although George Eastman, whom we have met before under his birth name, Luigi Montefiori, in "The Unholy Four", spends a lot of time without his shirt.

Must Read Science Fiction Published Before 1985

And so it came to pass that a younger relative (of whom there are nearly boundless quantities) asked for suggestions for "older" science fiction. Since he's about thirty, I made the assumption that anything older than he is qualifies as older, so I used 1985 as the dividing line. Here is the list that I sent him, with my notes:

The Foundation Trilogy - Isaac Asimov

The original trilogy was a series of novellas published in pulp magazines. They're a great read, but a bit uneven at times. Skip the other books in the series and read I, Robot and the R. Daneel Olivaw novels. You can go back to the later novels and see how they tie together with the Robot series.

A Canticle for Liebowitz - Walter Miller

He only wrote one book, but it will blow your socks off. Post-apocalyptic, but about as far away from The Road Warrior as you can get.

 

The Past Through Tomorrow - Robert Heinlein

Twenty-one novellas creating his "Future History" series. I met Heinlein when I was in Antarctica. He was on a cruise ship with his wife. I spent an entire afternoon with the two of them. His novels are a mixed bag. The early ones are often written for teens (of the fifties) and the later ones are an attempt to be hip, sexy, and happening. The middle ones, from Stranger in a Strange Land to Time Enough for Love, are really good.

 

Childhood's End- Arthur Clarke

Genuinely creepy. Some people claim that Clarke was a 'technology' writer — that he didn't have big ideas or good characters. This novel proves them wrong.

 

Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur Clarke

Just brilliant science fiction. The later books in the series, written with (by) Gentry Lee, are not unworthy, but they fall past 1985 and are unfortunately not in the same class as the original.

 

The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury

A collection of short stories. If you haven't read them, shame on you. If you have, go and read Fahrenheit 451, Dandelion Wine, The October People, and I Sing the Body Electric. Go ahead. I'll wait until you catch up. The first two are novels (although Dandelion Wine is more a series of vignettes). The other two are collections of short stories. You will not do yourself a better favor than to have these around to go back to when you're having a really crappy week. If Clarke is technology, Bradbury is all people and ideas.

 

Stand on Zanzibar and The Shockwave Rider - John Brunner

The first is a dystopian novel that makes all the books like The Hunger Games read like children's stories. It's a hard read, but it will shake up your idea of what a novel can be. The second was the first cyberpunk novel. It's amazing how Brunner wrote a book in 1975 that could easily be written today, with only slight changes. I prefer it to Zanzibar, but I know that I'm hugely outnumbered on this.

 

The Stainless Steel Rat Series - Harry Harrison

Sci-Fi version of it takes a thief to catch a thief. Tongue very much in cheek. The books are like potato chips. Once you read one, you'll need to read the rest. Bill, the Galactic Hero is also fun. It's Harrison making fun of Heinlein. Read Starship Troopers first or you won't get the jokes.

 

The Riverworld Series - Phillip Jose Farmer

What if everyone who ever lived came back to life on a strange planet with an eternal river? I seem to recall that the series ground down near the end, but the first three were good.

 

Dune - Frank Herbert

It should go without saying. Whether or not to read the rest of the books is a good question. I'd read the other books listed here before I read any of the other Dune novels.

 

Roadmarks - Roger Zelazny

Imagine a road that runs through time, where, if you know how to use it, you can go forward and back as you wish. Now think about who would use it.

 

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny

A personal favorite, but you need to know a bit about Hindu mythology to really follow the plot. Zelazny wrote without real regard to genre. His books use mythology extensively, particularly as a framework upon which the plot can hang. His characters, especially his protagonists, remind me of Brunner's, in that they are quietly, but preternaturally competent.

 

Ringworld - Larry Niven

So this gets tricky. Niven's stories are almost all set in "Known Space", which is sort of like Heinlein's "Future History". Read Ringworld, Protector, and the Tales of Known Space (short stories) in that order. After that, finish up the Ringworld books. I haven't read the ones written after Ringworld's Children, so I can't recommend them.

 

The Word for World is Forest - Ursula Le Guin

Le Guin is challenging reading, since she intentionally writes from a feminist perspective. Avatar owes a lot to Le Guin and this novel in particular.

 

Anything by Robert Scheckley

He wrote a ton of short stories. They're often funny, always cutting, and just a good read.

 

The Well World Series - Jack Chalker

A very complicated series of books filled with an amazing array of alien life and one interesting human. The Four Lords of the Diamond is an series involving the idea of planting the mind of agents into brain-dead bodies and sending them to kill the galaxy's worst crime lords. Not as interesting as the Well World, but still worth reading.

 

Empire Star - Samuel Delaney

Read it. Put it on your shelf. Read it again in five years. Repeat. Each time you'll get a little more out of it. It's really short, just an evening's read.

 

The Mote in God's Eye - Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven

I didn't much like this the first time I read it, but it was much better when I re-read it. I'll put it down to my mood at the time. I've met Pournelle as well. He's an insufferable twit. It's ironic that the two writers I have met are both right-wingnuts. Some of his other stuff with Niven is worth reading. I don't care for his own work.

 

Harlan Ellison

As a writer, Ellison is infuriating, offensive, annoying, and eight other negative adjectives. As a human being, he's all that, plus an asshole and a sociopath. He also wrote the "City on the Edge of Forever" episode of the original Star Trek series, the story that was stolen for The Terminator, many episodes of Babylon 5, as well as a whole bunch of other television. Read his short stories , especially "Deathbird", "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream", "and "Repent, Harlequin, Said the Tick-Tock Man". Just don't read Ellison when you're in a good mood.

 

Mockingbird - Walter Tevis

Another dystopian novel. If you suffer from depression, you probably should talk to your shrink before hitting this list of books too hard.

 

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

Gripping. It's both a novel and a short story. Try to find the novel version.

 

Terran Empire Series - Poul Anderson

Anderson wrote several series of good, old-fashioned space opera. The Dominic Flandry books, describing the career of an officer of the Terran Empire are a great example of the art form. If you're looking for new ideas and milieus, you've come to the wrong place. If, on the other hand, you thought that the original Star Wars trilogy was great, but it got bogged down with too much plot and not enough action, you've just found Nirvana. 

 

Gateway - Frederik Pohl

The first novel of the Heechee Saga. So what happens when we find an abandoned space station filled with spaceships? The remaining novels in the saga are worth reading, too, but were written after 1985.

 

Callahan's Crosstime Saloon - Spider Robinson

A collection of short stories about... well you can figure it out. He wrote several other collections as well. Light reading. 

I'm sure that I've forgotten a huge number of others that are absolutely critical reading, but I was working from my library, so what you are seeing are the books that I think are significant.

 

I specifically excluded Phillip K. Dick and Norman Spinrad, because frankly it's impossible to recommend them to anyone that you don't know really well. Actually, it's probably impossible to recommend them to anyone. If they're your thing, you'll eventually find one and read it. If not, you'll eventually find one and put it back onto the shelf.

Finally, I didn't recommend Kurt Vonnegut, because I'm not certain whether or not he wrote science fiction. It's probably easiest to say that what he wrote touched upon topics that are commonly thought of as SF, but that he did so in a rather unusual way. Here is a link to one of the great stories of the twentieth century: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html