Can't Tell a Good Thing
For my junior-year literature seminar, my professor chose several works of science fiction for us to read. At first I was leery. A science fiction seminar sounded dangerously trite to me. I considered transferring out of that section into a seminar with a more conventional syllabus. I only stayed because nothing else fit my schedule.
I didn't much like science fiction. Unlike most nerdy, geeky, teenage engineer wannabes, I pretty much detested it. I could never understand what all my nerdy high school friends found so enthralling about science fiction. They snorted the stuff. I thought the whole genre was crap. No, worse than that. It was stupid crap.
But after reading Earth Abides, Stand on Zanzibar, The Left Hand of Darkness, and even the monumentally pretentious, self-important Dune, I discovered science fiction wasn't all crap. You could have reasoned, intelligent discussions. The seminar motivated me to seek out more quality science fiction.
So when this book was published, I bought it. Shikasta sounded so interesting from the cover. I recognized the author's name, Doris Lessing. It was published by Alfred A. Knopf, not Dell. Even the cover looked interesting. Surely this was quality science fiction.
But I could never get into it. Despite several attempts, I found the book dry and boring and pretentious. For me, Shikasta failed as fiction, science or otherwise. Undaunted, I then bought this book, the second in Lessing's Canopus in Argos: Archives series. I hoped that by having a series of books, I'd be compelled to read the first, move on to the second, and not be out $40.
Nope, didn't work. I now had two dry and boring science fiction books from a dry and boring science fiction series. The books were just more crap from the science fiction genre. I eventually pitched both. I decided I'd never again waste my time looking for - let alone reading - science fiction.
Today Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Shows you what I know. If I had only realized that Lessing's dry, boring science fiction was Nobel-Prize-quality literature! I guess the Swedish Academy sees more in Shikasta than I ever did. Am I mortified. So today, if you were to ask me my opinion about science fiction, what would I say? That's easy.
"Yeah, it's crap. Nobel Prize-winning crap."
K-
I didn't much like science fiction. Unlike most nerdy, geeky, teenage engineer wannabes, I pretty much detested it. I could never understand what all my nerdy high school friends found so enthralling about science fiction. They snorted the stuff. I thought the whole genre was crap. No, worse than that. It was stupid crap.
But after reading Earth Abides, Stand on Zanzibar, The Left Hand of Darkness, and even the monumentally pretentious, self-important Dune, I discovered science fiction wasn't all crap. You could have reasoned, intelligent discussions. The seminar motivated me to seek out more quality science fiction.
So when this book was published, I bought it. Shikasta sounded so interesting from the cover. I recognized the author's name, Doris Lessing. It was published by Alfred A. Knopf, not Dell. Even the cover looked interesting. Surely this was quality science fiction.
But I could never get into it. Despite several attempts, I found the book dry and boring and pretentious. For me, Shikasta failed as fiction, science or otherwise. Undaunted, I then bought this book, the second in Lessing's Canopus in Argos: Archives series. I hoped that by having a series of books, I'd be compelled to read the first, move on to the second, and not be out $40.
Nope, didn't work. I now had two dry and boring science fiction books from a dry and boring science fiction series. The books were just more crap from the science fiction genre. I eventually pitched both. I decided I'd never again waste my time looking for - let alone reading - science fiction.
Today Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Shows you what I know. If I had only realized that Lessing's dry, boring science fiction was Nobel-Prize-quality literature! I guess the Swedish Academy sees more in Shikasta than I ever did. Am I mortified. So today, if you were to ask me my opinion about science fiction, what would I say? That's easy.
"Yeah, it's crap. Nobel Prize-winning crap."
K-
Not a big fan of science fiction, either. Greg Bear's Eon was OK if you could get through the boring setup ... but only OK.
1. Never just pitch books. They make great garden mulch. And if they're hardcovers, it's satisfying to rip those suckers off and burn them to keep warm in the winter.
2. Doris Lessing was my mom's favorite author. But ... that was based on her much earlier writings, which were Earth-based (specifically, centered on Rhodesia -- its name then -- and Britain) and long before she ventured into that sci-fi realm. For what it's worth, perhaps because Mom was such a strong Lessing proselytizer, I never cracked a single one of her books.
The original Star Trek series was the beginning and end of my tolerance for anything science fiction.
Rob:
I've not heard of it but thank you for the tip. Now that I've reverted to being a science fiction curmudgeon, it likely won't make my "must read" list.
Dan:
1. Ha! Thanks for the advice. My big laugh for the day.
2. One thing I've noticed about myself is that I rarely read fiction by a female author. A novel by Anne Tyler is all I can remember. I don't know if there's some subconscious sexist thing going on or that the fiction that appeals to me just isn't written by women.
Marie:
I'll watch a little science fiction on TV or at the movies. I liked Star Trek well enough and TNG some. Of course I liked Star Wars.
K-