Marjorie Salzwedel writes about...

Ray Cummings’ The Girl in the Golden Atom

Dear Mr. Cummings,

I'm wondering if your e-mail address is Ray_Cummings@Heaven.all. If the realm of Heaven includes some kind of communication from earth by link providers and this fan mail reaches you, I would like you to know I thought your story of two worlds is charming in the manner of Gulliver’s Travels but with its own greater dimensions of exploration and observation. The point of view in The Girl in the Golden Atom is wonderful!

I was glued to the words of the Chemist as he planned his adventure, shrank himself under the watchful guard of his friends, came back to tell them of what he discovered, and then went back to the concave world hidden from our view in the ring, but did not return, And there is that faithful bond with having fallen in love with the girl. I love the ending. I want to go to the museum and stare.

You portray the Chemist’s descriptions of surfaces and observations and perspectives with visual detail so that we feel we have followed him on his trip in the world inside the ring. It all reads so well it is hard to stop; I had to proceed through one part, right on to another.

I loved the ideal of Lylda’s people and her country, and I enjoyed the Chemist’s being able to fit right in with everybody. I loved the idealism of Lylda too. You portrayed her with all the beauty of the best of womankind.

The perspective is terrific: the chemist’s ordinariness becomes extraordinary in proportion to his size. I enjoyed the chemist’s willingness to embrace both worlds. He is accepted in each, and is called to be a hero in each because of the formula in his head. But the formula is a dangerous drug in both worlds, and he is a careful observer of human nature as well.

That he does not return is perfect. Our big warring world and the small inner world experience the same struggle to defend a people against those who want power over others.

Your characters of the Big Businessman, the Doctor and the Very Young Man show how loyal and benevolent they are, because the chemist does not give them a chance to take advantage of the drug.

How wonderfully patient the Doctor, the Big Businessman and the Very Young Man are as they faithfully listen to the Chemist telling of his experiment of shrinking his size and exploring the inner world that is in the dimension of matter within the crack in the gold ring.

The Big Businessman with his view of the world and the doctor with his, and the very young man with the intense interest of youth make your story a delightful adventure. Thanks for taking us along.

Margie

Copyright © 2007 by Marjorie Salzwedel

Thank you for your enthusiastic report on The Girl in the Golden Atom, a very pleasant novel from the early days of 20th-century science fiction. I’m sure Ray Cummings is beaming appreciatively down upon you at the moment, Marjorie.

Don