Gérard Klein (1937– ) is a well-known French writer, anthologist, critic, and editor. An economist by profession, Klein has used the pseudonyms Gilles d’Argyre (most frequently) and Mark Starr, and, jointly with Patrice Rondard and Richard Chomet, François Pagery (based on the collaborators’ first names, PAtrice plus GErard plus RIchard). His first stories, heavily influenced by Ray Bradbury, appeared in 1955 when he was only eighteen, beginning with “Une place au balcon” in Galaxie (the French edition of Galaxy) in 1955. He soon made a major impact on the field in France, publishing more than forty delicately crafted tales between 1956 and 1962 (a total that reached sixty by 1977), while also establishing himself as a forceful and literate critic of the genre with a series of thirty penetrating essays in various publications.
In the late 1970s Klein remarked upon the pessimism of American science fiction, finding it lacking in its ability to envision a future with better social constructs. Yet this very “accusation” was leveled against many French science fiction writers, for leaning toward the dark, psychological side of science fiction, rather than a perceived (and more common) American optimism from prior decades of science fiction. Klein called to task writers for not taking it upon themselves to imagine a different societal setup, instead falling back on the status quo and therefore seeing only a dark, bleak future. Joanna Russ, in How to Suppress Women’s Writing, agreed with Klein about the lack of political honesty in much of the science fiction being written at that time. Klein’s later works were compared to Cordwainer Smith and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in their ability to evoke a certain awe about the universe.
This story was first published in 1958 in French. It was translated into English by Damon Knight and published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1961 and reprinted in the Knight-edited 13 French Science-Fiction Stories (1965). Perhaps Klein was also influenced by the Belgian writer Jean Ray when creating “The Monster,” as there is a certain sense, along with resignation, of horror and fear of the unknown.