Customer Reviews

Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Henderson is less well-known than many of the Golden Age masters of sci fi, but her work stands alongside the best of them. Her 'People' stories are the gentlest of her work (If you can find any of her other short stories, anthologized in the out-of-print 'Holding Wonder' and 'The Anything Box,' you'll see her weirder side), but they have superior power to make you see the universe in a new way. Like several other reviewers, I found them during a grim teenage time, and they helped more than I can say.

The 'Booklist' reviewer accuses them of being too 'mawkish' but in fact, the sweetness and enlightenment of 'The People' is well-tempered by very 'human' flaws. Their racial memories include horrendous persecution, and prompt them to try and quelch their childrens' telepathic and other gifts in a way that seems repressive and cruel to an outsider...until she learns the reason. The stories show a people evolving, making mistakes and learning from them, even as they help various physically and emotionally crippled humans toward a new vision. It's WONDERFUL to have these stories back in print! Now all we need is for the publisher to gather Henderson's other (non-People) stories, and get them back out there, too!

That is what I wrote to Zenna several years ago, and I was saddened to receive a letter from her sister, saying that Zenna had been "called back to the Presence" a few years earlier. She had the ability to weave magic into her stories, and to make the reader feel and know what was happening. From Perdita and Low, to Lucine, to Valancy and the rest, Zenna made her characters come alive, and gave the feeling that these were not imaginary people, but real ones. These were not made-up events, but she was describing life somewhere in this world that was as it *should* be. Another reviewer said that there would be less suicide if more teens would read these stories, and I agree wholeheartedly. I know they changed my outlook on life. A special thanks to the compilers of "Ingathering" for their work!And please, AMAZON, keep this one in stock forever!

Be warned that in reading Zenna Henderson's fantasy stories about "The People", they are so naturalistic and convincing that you may find yourself believing you have the gifts: that you can levitate, send telepathic messages, heal with psychic force. When you realize that it's just a dream inspired by the stories, you may wander around in a half-daze, wishing your life were like those stories: that you really did have the gifts, that you endured hardships in the same stoic way, and that you would find safe haven and welcoming arms somewhere in the American Southwest. I know because for weeks after reading one of her collections, I kept thinking that I could levitate -- and I was already an adult!

When a friend at work loaned this book to me, I asked her what kind it was. She thought for a moment and told me, it was a little bit of everything. At that point, I was reading fantasy and science fiction, so I eagerly started reading it. And it changed the way I look at things. Zenna Henderson touches a lot of core issues that affect the society in general. It also defines with clarity what an outside ring side view of our culture and the way we behave towards things we do not understand. It has pathos and surprisingly, there were some stories that kept me on the edge of my seat, biting my nails - which I never do consiously - praying for things to turn out ok for the people. A lovely work, one of its kind.

I am thrilled that the People stories are back in print. I read them years ago. I own all four of the books, including the hardcover edition of Pilgrimage. I love to share these wonderful stories with others. Now they can buy their own copies. For anyone who hasn't read the stories yet I have one caution. This hardcover edition has an introductory story preceding the first titled story "Ararat." "Ararat" is the true first story of the People and originally was published in a science fiction magazine first. I read it in the magazine and almost 40 years later I can still remember the shocking thrill that went through me as I read a certain line that told me that something strange and wonderful was about to unfold. Of course I won't reveal the line and spoil it for others, but all Zenna Henderson readers will know to what I refer. New readers READ ARARAT FIRST!!

A long time science fiction reader

I started reading science fiction when I was a Boy Scout, and discovered Zenna Henderson's stories of the People just before I graduated from high school, nearly 30 years ago. Reading the Golden Age sf authors (such as Asimov, Clarke and Heinlein) led me to my engineering career, but the warmth and depth in ZH's stories have stayed with me the longest. Of all the stories I have read, only J.R.R. Tolkien's short story "Smith of Wootton Major" seems to be in the same league with these. If I could take the works of only one sf author with me to a desert island, I would choose Zenna Henderson's <<Ingathering>>.

I try real hard to dislike Zenna Henderson's stories about The People. I'm drawn to the gritter, more hard-wired brand of science fiction, and these stories about the oh-so-wonderful People are just so darned sweet. Plus there's Henderson's writing...these stories read like she crocheted them while sitting in a rocking chair in front of a warm fire.
But somehow, I just CAN'T dislike them. Henderson's stories of advanced aliens trying to survive among the knuckle-draggers of 19th and 20th century Earth, their struggle to remain true to their high ideals without betrying themselves, are immediately engrossing. And Henderson's plotting can grab you from the first sentence and pull you right along, never letting go. Her portrayal of the rural west is digital-clear.
I highly recommend Henderson's People...five stars. Her afterword to the book, an explantion of how The People came to be written, is a hoot, and worth the price of admission. I also recommend reading the time-line at the end of the book...it will save you some confusion in placing the stories in time and place.

There are only a handful of authors that have moved me to laughter, tears, and wonderment in the same book. Perhaps the fact that Henderson herself was a school teacher, has added so much to her stories. I recently retired but I saw so very many of her 'characters' move through my classes year after year. She has a way of reminding us that there is always hope but she never tries to 'gloss'over the fact that death is still very real and painful.She plays emotions as if they were a harp and all who read her are the better for listening to her music.

I have loved the stories of the People since I was a child. Now over 40, I can still laugh, cry and dream about them. Through the years, I have told so many others about the People, and all have loved them as I have. I know that I will read and reread these stories, and share them with others, until the day that I, too, am called back into the Presence. The stories of the People are life-changing and profound. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

I will never forget the first time I read these stories. My father introduced me to the People. I have read the stories over and over and still mourn that Zenna Henderson didn't write more. These are timeless stories that deal with the great issues of good literature: love, hate, goodness, generosity, self-sacrifice, identity, loyalty, and integrity. Every young person should read them and every older person should re-read them!