I'm a science fiction junkie: Space opera, superheroes, epic fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal, cyberpunk ... my shelves runneth over.I sometimes refer to it as my "guilty" pleasure.
Because, for some reason, the literati tend to look down their collective noses at science fiction and fantasy.
There's this myth-perception of "pop fiction" as the brain candy of the huddled, unwashed masses - compared to the lobster-caviar-fine wine "literature" of the Academe.
Bullshit.
I have been a voracious reader my entire life. I can't remember ever not reading scifi of one kind or another. I was hooked before I even knew there was a name for it.
It started with the classic fairy tales, of course - before I could even read them to myself. And some of my earliest book-related memories are of my mom helping me to read Little Witch
at bedtime ... about 100 times. And of wanting to be Pippi Longstocking
.By third grade, I was already scouring my tiny school's tiny library for its meager children's fantasy offerings ... Bunnicula
, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
, A Wrinkle in Time
, and, of course, The Chronicles of Narnia
, which I read so many times that my first set started to fall apart. (Tangent: I named my childhood horse Bree-hee-hinny-brinny-hooey-ha. Yeah, I was a nerd way before it was cool.)By the time I discovered The Lord of the Rings
, I was well and truly addicted. And I was on a first name basis with our town librarian.I can't even remember the number of times my parents came into my room at night to tell me to put-down-that-book-and-go-to-sleep. (That hasn't really changed. It's just that now it's my husband saying "Honey, are you ever going to put down that book and go to sleep?")
In junior high and high school, when other girls were swooning over Harlequin heroes, Teen Beat hearthrobs, and the latest boy-band du jour ... I lived on a steady diet of space adventures, sword and sorcery and the supernatural. With a side dish of a mystery or two.
Of course, I also read - and enjoyed! - all of the standard American and English literature served up in modern American high schools. I loved those, too. (Well, except Moby Dick. That was boring as hell. And I still have terrible flashbacks of that giant biography of Henry Miller that killed several dozens of my little gray cells. That might be the only book in my whole life that I never finished reading. And I have no regrets on that.)
As an English minor (just a few credits short of another bachelor's degree, actually) I spent a lot of time in my college years reading even more "literature" - everything from Byron to the Bronte sisters and Twain to Steinbeck and Greek tragedies to Shakespeare.But, one of my favorite college courses was my "Popular Fiction" class, where I got to read and write about some of my favorite genre fiction books for credit! Yay!
And I was left wondering why we make such a distinction between "pop fiction" and "literature". I mean why is To Kill a Mocking Bird
inherently more worthy of academic study than, say, Harry Potter
?I don't see a distinction in terms of the quality of the writing, themes, symbolism, etc.
Why does SF get such a bad rap?
Yes, I sometimes refer to it as my "guilty pleasure" or "brain candy" ... but, the truth is, the best scifi can hold it's own against "real" literature any day. And most of the smartest people I know read scifi.
Asimov, Bradbury, Wells, Verne, Heinlein, Orwell, Tolkien ... these guys were no literary lightweights. And don't forget Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker. They may have been one-hit wonders, but, damn, what a hit.
More recently, you've got amazingly talented storytellers like Douglas Adams, William Gibson, Spider Robinson, Anne Rice, Anne McCaffrey, Dean Koontz, Phillip K. Dick, Neil Gaiman, David Weber, JK Rowling ... the list goes ever, ever on. ;)
These books are denied a place in the canon of literature, but the irony is that scifi has, arguably, had a greater impact on our culture than any other genre.
That's not to say that all scifi is deep and meaningful. It's not. I enjoy the lighter stuff, too. A lot.
But more on that next time ...
I know what you mean about the "guilty pleasure" thing — there's a stigma associated with the genre(s), a kind of built-in geek factor that enables people who haven't actually put in the time to explore it to look down on it.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, you're completely right: great writing is great writing, and whether it comes from mainstream fiction or genre fiction is ultimately irrelevant. The best work of a Neil Gaiman or Dan Simmons or Sean Stewart can be just as multilayered, meaningful and moving as that of the work of any more traditionally "literary" author.
Harlan Ellison is one who always hated the terms Science Fiction and SciFi... his preference was that his own work be called "speculative fiction," which he felt was less damning and more respectful of its place in the overall canon. And while it's easy to dismiss that as semantics, there's something to be said for the core of the idea — the desire to recognize the work as something not simply labeled and dismissed.
As the comment page was loading, I was all set to give you an answer as to why sci fi has been looked upon with scorn. But I honestly don't know. Maybe it's cause it appeals to a wider audience, and in the mind of artistes, that's not a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI was going to say that sci fi gets a bad wrap because there's so much crappy stuff out there. But there is also a lot of crappy drama out there too. There's good and bad in every genre.
So in short, I have no idea. But as we geeks take over the earth, I think we'll be able to rewrite history.
Great post! It's definitely a pleasure for me, but I refuse to feel guilty for it. Growing up my (very educated) parents didn't care what I read, as long as I was reading. I read a lot of stuff I probably SHOULDN'T have (Cujo at age 9, anybody?).
ReplyDeleteI've slogged my way through stuff someone said I "should" be reading (yeah, Moby Dick, YAWN) and then gone back to Harry Potter. I've done the same thing with allegedly 'brilliant' pop fiction (hello, Twilight, I'm looking at you) and needed a strong dose of Jane Austen afterwards. The bottom line is, if it's not good writing with compelling characters, I'm not going to read it!
I think in many circles, some sci-fi authors have started to be considered "literature" and not just pulp.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned Orwell... his stuff is required reading in Canadian high schools.
Other examples off the top of my head of authors that are primarily sci-fi but considered lit:
Aldous Huxley
H.G. Wells
Jules Verne
I also expect some more current authors like Rowling and William Gibson to get the "lit" moniker in due time.
Thanks everybody for the great comments! :)
ReplyDeleteTwo Busy: "good writing is good writing" ... well, there you go. Sums it up nicely. Wish I'd thought of that. ;)
DGB: Actually, you may be on to something there. I wonder if the ubiquitous pulp fiction of the 40s and 50s might have something to do with SciFi's bad rap? You know, all those covers with scantily clad martian girlies and the like? Kind of takes away from the gravitas, yeah?
Oh! Or maybe you are both right:
Maybe it's a combination of the over-saturation AND and the very "speculative-ness" of the fiction.
Maybe it's easier to dimiss the genre as a whole because so much of it back then seemed so "far fetched" as to be "childish" - not something for big strong manly men to take seriously? Harumph Harumph.
Keely: I agree - no guilt is necessary. A good book is a good book. :) I hope you'll come back later in the week, because I'm planning to babble on some more about some fun "light" scifi with good writing and compelling characters. I'll be interested to hear your opinion on them. :)
SFD: It is true that some of the old dead white guys are starting to get some credit. :)
I would be thrilled, though, to see more "pop" fiction taught in junior high and high school. Reading is SO important. And yet we force kids to read stuff that is largely irrelevant to them, at a time when we really need to be stoking the fires of their literary interests.
Yes, I think everyone should study classic and modern literature. But, today's tween is going to relate to Harry Potter a heck of a lot better than to Huck Finn. Why not mix it up a little?
I read everything as well, but scifi has a special place in my heart.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on A Wrinkle In Time and all it's friends. Great stuff.
I don't know it gets such a bad rep. It definitely inspires the imagination (and is probably one of the reasons I became an engineer.)
I, your friendly publisher's rep, am going to send you a book that I think you will like. You may not swoon, but you will like! Watch your mail. The Chronicles of Narina are a favorite. I can't wait to read them to my kidlets!
ReplyDeleteHuggarooadoodles!
I'm curious. Who the heck said SF writing wasn't a part of great lit?
ReplyDeleteRocking Horse Winner?
Kurt Vonnegut?
And the best-selling SciFi book ever, something called "The Bible." I haven't read it, but in it a fanciful being, unknowable to anyone creates an amazing new universe. In six days! Creates light and snakes and bananas and new life forms.
Then, in the sequel? Ultimate gasglob being comes to life through a human woman! Tries to save the world, but ends up having to take a magic gold chariot up to the alien skies...after coming back from the dead!
I hear it's good stuff.
PS--What does a Publisher's Rep do?
Thanks Jen! Looking forward to it! :)
ReplyDeleteMintz: Who said it's not "lit"? Wel, pretty much every lit teacher I every had ... with one or two exceptions.
Plus, it's just this general feeling I get from some people. Like, you strike up a conversation about books and it's al going fine until you bring up scif ... and then it's like, well, okay, but we were talking about "real" books.
It's true that the big guns of SF have come to have some recognition. And I'm glad of that. But many people who only read mainstream lit have no idea the bounty of great stories they are missing out on because they dismiss the whole genre.
Oh, and "publisher's rep"? In Jen's case - she does college textbook marketing. :)