Pulp magazine: Don't judge it by its cover

Before L. Ron Hubbard founded the Church of Scientology, he was a prolific writer in pulp magazines. When he passed away on January 24, 1986, not many remembered him as an author. He would be associated with Scientology (and Tom Cruise). But not a few authors of pulp stories couldn't be compared to him.

Pulp magazine would make a great study. It won't be right to compare it to the other literary genres, which have been written countless times. Victorian literature, for instance, have been studied because of a particular era it represented. Pulp, on the other hand, would be universal. Many of Hubbard's stories were blast from the past. Some were glimpse into the distant future. It would be up to readers to visualize how these renowned Victorian authors would pen a pulp story.

Charles Dickens would set his tales in Hell job, where his young laddies encountered problems that would test their courage and self-belief. Jane Austen would be suited in the Fantasy series, probably set in an alternative universe. As for the Brontë sisters, they would be better off in mystery/suspense. (The fans of the siblings knew that the moors have a great influence in their works.) As for Hubbard, how would he see himself during the Victorian period? Readers could only make a good guess.

I read this story before

Before finding Scientology, Hubbard was no different from the other aspiring writers. He traveled the world and wrote his experience. Pulp magazines became known due to the material where the stories were printed. It was cheap and affordable. It was escapist in nature. Readers were rather serious about the current events back then, so the last thing they needed was more bad news. Pulp don't seem to have a place in the modern world. Young-adult fiction, for instance, would cover the same themes that the authors of pulp magazines did. It would feature younger characters instead. However, they may not be able to come up with short stories like "The Trail of the Red Diamonds". It was one of Hubbard's most popular tales.

The story took place in Inner Mongolia, which was far from the (World War II) battleground. There was a diamond mine, with the finest bloody-red diamonds that couldn't be seen anywhere. There were slaves who risked intense heat and deplorable conditions. The narrator was obsessed about the diamonds. Fate seemed to bring him to the mine. He was lucky to get away from it.

An author like Rudyard Kipling would have made the plot more imaginative. Not that Hubbard was incapable of doing the same thing, but those who knew his works would never know. Hubbard may be the nameless narrator who crossed the Pacific Ocean in search of adventure. He might have escaped death while exploring the streets of Peking. He could be teasing his readers, as his exciting tale came from a local (who told him the real story over a cup of hot tea). The outcome would be the same, as readers forgot their troubled lives.