tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33813337.post9175871608202437014..comments2023-09-12T06:18:38.552-04:00Comments on The World in the Satin Bag: Science Fiction and Its Future -- To the Literary DenAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13571452656553970472noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33813337.post-51410876897573617352011-06-14T17:00:25.970-04:002011-06-14T17:00:25.970-04:00Ben: And you've every right to love that stuf...Ben: And you've every right to love that stuff. I love it too, as much as I love "serious" SF. There's nothing wrong with an action-packed scifi romp. Hell, sometimes such stories can also be "serious" works of literature. You're a segment of the SF community who prefers the action-packed romps, and I think SF proper has fallen short of pushing such things into the public eye. We get attention for our "serious" SF, which is great too, but we don't push what brings people to the genre (and what has always brought people there): good old fashioned sensawunda.<br /><br />Yona: What do you mean by a subculture-fetish? People who love SF are drawn to it because, well, that's what they like. They don't much care for works that don't fit into that category. Sometimes, anyway. (I don't mind a mixture, but I certainly find books about "real life" dull and uninspiring). The divisions, though, are created not by genre readers so much as by publishers and non-genre critics. The division between "literary" and "genre" were always ideological selections by the literary elite, and then publishing categories which made it easier for people to find what they were looking for. The categories are problematic, but they serve a purpose which has been very useful in the past.<br /><br />But you do raise a question: if there is a shift, as you say, is this a good thing for readers or writers?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13571452656553970472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33813337.post-48463002913297386292011-06-14T16:08:21.360-04:002011-06-14T16:08:21.360-04:00as long as bloggers and fans love to have their li...as long as bloggers and fans love to have their little subculture-fetish which sets them apart, and as along as a writer you make more money on one shelf than on the other,and as long as people like to divide complex things in small digestible parts there will be divisions between so called "literary" fiction and "genre" fiction.<br />maybe the labels change, but i think people just like create boundaries, however random they are.<br />so i dont think one thing is moving to another thing in all, but there will always be shifts. how that is good for readers or writers, that is a different question...Yonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05716480639098424002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33813337.post-30487779402025345042011-06-14T15:35:15.020-04:002011-06-14T15:35:15.020-04:00All I know is, I've never been a big fan of &q...All I know is, I've never been a big fan of "srs" SF. I remember reading Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars," and there was this scene where they were making bricks, and I was like... dubya-tee-eff. I mean, making bricks is pretty useful, but... but I just don't read books for the bricks, is all. Anyway, this scene was greatly made up for in the finale when they started shooting some kind of weapon from either Phobos or Deimos, which brought with it much destruction and attendant "DOOM" flashbacks.<br /><br />My point, I guess, is that science fiction in the highly speculative sense can be really great and impressive - I certainly don't disrespect people who take the time to stop and think about this stuff, and then make cool stories from it - but, personally, I just like deathrays and alien babes. Perhaps I am a cynical half-wit; or perhaps I am a highly discerning consumer. Either way, I think the "S" is best when it stands for "Spaaaaaaace!"Ben Godbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15450579203940093977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33813337.post-2387231369352659172011-06-14T14:07:05.224-04:002011-06-14T14:07:05.224-04:00Do you want to add anything more extensive than th...Do you want to add anything more extensive than that, sir?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13571452656553970472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33813337.post-41516464067735288132011-06-14T14:03:49.451-04:002011-06-14T14:03:49.451-04:00I think this is exactly the future history of SF. ...I think this is exactly the future history of SF. It's at once sad and hopeful, because if there is one thing sorely lacking from SF right now, it's adventure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com