27 July 2011

"Are you Lithuanian?"

Caught the theatrical revival of The Man Who Fell to Earth last night.

God bless the 1970s.

A question remains for me, though: whose stillsuits came first, Walter Tevis's or Frank Herbert's? The novel The Man Who Fell to Earth was published and Dune began its Analog serialization in the same year, 1963. I can't possibly be the first person to notice that Newton and his family on the home planet are wearing outfits that are clearly functionally stillsuits. Has there been any conflict, from mere fandom drama to outright litigation, about this? (I'm curious, but not so interested to do more than to try some tricky googling to see what turns up.) I haven't read the Tevis novel, so I don't know if he names the clothing or just describes it and lets it go. I guess I'll put it on my mental list of books to pick up if I ever see it cheap or free.

1 comment:

Monsmord said...

Well, the use/purpose/functionality of stillsuits wasn't the invention of either source, so the question may be moot. Of course, the term "stillsuit" is probably owned by Herbert's estate; an IP lawyer may have to answer that one.