Quote:
Originally Posted by Worldwalker
Mostly, it's the fact that you're trashing an entire field of literature, which is at least as wide-ranging as any other, while admitting that you don't actually read it.
Also, there's the fact that you're criticizing my taste in literature, implying that I'm immature, and impugning my political beliefs, which you actually know nothing about except that they're not hard-right.
Regarding you not reading Starship Troopers: I have, currently loaded on my 505, a book whose premise I find repugnant, by an author I detest. I am slowly plowing my way through it. Why? Because if I'm going to condemn a book, I should at least have read it -- not only out of fairness, but so I can aim my criticism accurately. "Ive never read it but I know it's evil" is the cry of the book-burner.
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Whoah, whoah, whoah, hold your horses there mister. I have read science-fiction, plenty of it over time, and I quite clearly stated that I gave up on it early (that does not mean I haven't delved into the genre over time and enjoyed some of the delving along the way). And I'm not just trashing Science Fiction, but ALL genres (and the ghettos they have become), which are predominantly simplistic and thoroughly predictable and have to be to appeal to a mass market level (exceptions always welcome). Now, I'll admit that my attitude is a by-product of an academic education studying literature at the Masters level. At that level genre is not the same; genre is classified as novel, short story, novella, poem etc....there's no Horror, Science Fiction, Mystery etc. Once you know the ins and outs of the publishing world and the reason why we're stuck with these literary ghettos of genre, then it all becomes rather unappetizing. Plus, I've been writing and studying the craft of writing for nearly twenty years, and that kind of knowledge makes a lot....the vast majority of fiction become unappealing and predictable (it's the chef seeing even the greatest of foods as bland because he knows the ingredients).
Now, let me say that my perception of science-fiction's juvenile nature (along with most other genres) is in part because of my age. I'm in my mid-thirties and it would be a very dull life indeed if I still could muster enthusiasm for the same levels of literature I did at the age of fifteen. My reading has progressed, along with the cinema and music that I favour. As a kid I could easily sit through an episode of the A-Team and even enjoy it, but there's no way to remain at that level forever. Now, you'd have to staple me to a seat and peg my eyes open for me to watch a trailer for the new film. I really do find it hard to understand how anybody beyond the age of thirty can entertain the vast majority of 'genre' as anything but throwaway and dull, especially if they've been exposed to a wide variety of reading material.
There is no way in hell I'd ever force myself to read anything, not even for academic reasons. That seems about the most pointless action anybody could take. And let me just state that I never called out or condemned Heinlein as a fascist, but pointed toward the Verhoeven interview concerning Starship Troopers (which I find much more interesting than the film). Also lets be clear here, I never called anybody far-right or even right-wing, what I did say is that the genre of science-fiction, and especially Baen, has what I consider a right-wing bent. If you think I'm 'impunging' your beliefs, then you've read far more into what I was saying than was actually said. I can only guess at your political affiliations, as I have no idea what they are and I don't have enough evidence to offer a guess.