Tales from the White Hart

infobox Book |
name = Tales from the White Hart
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover of the 1st edition
author = Arthur C. Clarke
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Fantasy Short stories
publisher = Ballantine Books
release_date = 1957
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 151 pp
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Tales from the White Hart" is a collection of short stories by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, in the "club tales" style.

Thirteen of the fifteen stories originally appeared across a number of different publications. "Moving Spirit" and "The Defenestration of Ermintrude Inch" were first published in this book and hence presumably were written specifically for it. "Defenestration" rounds off the cycle of stories and explicitly mentions their book publication.

The White Hart is a pub (modelled on the White Horse, Fetter Lane, just north of Fleet Street, once the weekly rendezvous of science fiction fans in London) where a character named Harry Purvis tells a series of tall tales. Incidental characters inhabiting the White Hart include science fiction writers Samuel Youd aka John Christopher, John Wyndham aka John Benyon, and Clarke himself in addition to the narrative voice as his pseudonym Charles Willis.

The style and nature of the stories was inspired by the Jorkens stories of the writer Lord Dunsany, whom Clarke admired and with whom he corresponded, a fact humorously acknowledged by Clarke in his introduction to the first Jorkens omnibus volume. [Portland, Oregon, 2004: Night Shade Books, The Collected Jorkens, Volume One]

According to Clarke's preface to the book, the book was his third collection of short stories, which were written between 1953 and 1957 in such diverse spots as New York, Miami, Colombo, London and Sydney.

Although Clarke is well known for inventing the concept of geostationary satellites, the story "Silence Please" additionally shows that he also invented the idea of using real-time wave cancellation to quiet noisy environments. Present-day products using this idea include electronic truck mufflers and noise-cancelling headphones. However his device was supposed to be capable of deadening sound over areas of hundreds of square meters, rather than at a point source, or as it reaches the ear.

One additional story from the White Hart 'universe', "Let there be light", is reprinted in "Tales of Ten Worlds".

Contents

This collection, originally published in paperback in 1957 by Ballantine Books, includes:

*Preface
*"Silence Please"
*"Big Game Hunt"
*"Patent Pending"
*"Armaments Race"
*"Critical Mass"
*"The Ultimate Melody"
*"The Pacifist"
*"The Next Tenants"
*"Moving Spirit"
*"The Man Who Ploughed the Sea"
*"The Reluctant Orchid"
*"Cold War"
*"What Goes Up"
*"Sleeping Beauty"
*"The Defenestration of Ermintrude Inch"

Footnotes

References

*cite book | last = Clarke | first = Arthur C. | authorlink = Arthur C. Clarke | title ="Tales from the White Hart" | publisher = Sidgwick & Jackson | date = 1972 | location =London | isbn = 283-98624-7
*cite book | last=Tuck | first=Donald H. | authorlink=Donald H. Tuck | title=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy | location=Chicago | publisher=Advent | pages=102 | date=1974|id=ISBN 0-911682-20-1