larue (04/18/83)
I have been following the SF vs literature debate for some time...
guess I might as well join in!
The way I see it, a book is a book, no matter where you categorize it.
There are good science fiction books, and bad science fiction books,
just as there have always been good and bad books in every category.
While it is true that the quality of what we call "literature" is,
on the whole, far above the average quality of what we call
"science fiction", this will not be true forever. The fact is, there
have always been "junk-writers" and always will be. The stuff they
write just doesn't last. Now, I wasn't around in Dicken's time, but
I can imagine that there were many authors of that era who are now
totally forgotten. In 100 years the same will be true of what we
call science fiction. Some of it will survive and be required
reading for high school literature students, and some of it will
disappear forever.
(Now don't get upset over what I said about the average quality of
science fiction. I mean that to be an average over everything that
is published these days under that categorization. I read books
in almost all categories except westerns and gothic romances, and
I have my favorite science fiction authors, my favorite mystery author, etc,
etc, etc.)
So, even though my tastes run more to the Ursula LeGuin type of
science fiction (and she is not even true science fiction, I suppose),
I appreciate hearing about other SF authors,too. I would also appreciate
hearing about non-SF authors, but if most of the contributors are
interested in SF, so be it.
To change the subject slightly...
I watched "Star Trek II" last night for the first time, and was
delighted to see the way in which science fiction and literature
were intertwined. Spock gives Kirk a copy of Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities"
at the beginning of the movie ( I don't know if the title was visible,
but I recognized the quotes ),and Kirk quotes the book at several
appropriate times. I also noticed that much of Khan's dialogue sounded
surprisingly literary, but I didn't recognize anything specific. If
anyone did recognize his dialogue, I'd appreciate knowing the source
of the quotes.
(By the way, "Tale of Two Cities" is anything but dull and boring,
once you get into it. The fact that I recognized the quotes
after having read it only once, 12 years ago in high school,
should attest to that. Try it if you have never read Dickens. )
Martha LaRue
decvax!brl-bmd!hao!larue