tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post8372304444590827150..comments2024-03-28T17:53:43.541-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: Fifty Essential SF AuthorsDarwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-8105717311312435892015-09-25T10:43:26.892-04:002015-09-25T10:43:26.892-04:00I think the list was intended as a foundation of S...I think the list was intended as a foundation of Sci Fi, not an all-inclusive list of Sci Fi worth reading. The implication being that, if one wanted to be an informed critic (or writer!) of the genre, one would have to have at least read all these works.<br /><br />Almost half-way through! Joseph Moorehttp://yardsaleofthemind.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-59820521509940642232015-09-21T16:24:23.159-04:002015-09-21T16:24:23.159-04:00Oh well. I forgot that the list was of writers, no...Oh well. I forgot that the list was of writers, not of individual books so Crichton may not be classified as "SF writer". Although, from this aspect, Jules Verne wrote quite a lot of adventure books not SF themed. A little off topic, but his novel "Mathias Sandorf" features a fictitious Hungarian freedom fighter around the 1848 European freedom and reform fights, and also is a tribute to Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo. I loved Verne's books on fights for freedom/justice/other noble causes as a child and teen but of course the one with Hungarian reference was one of the closest to my heart. <br />By the way, I'm not sure I understand how "mainstream" is defined as a separate genre, even if it is a separate section in bookstores.<br /><br />I haven't seen the 2002 Solaris movie either. I'll have to look at it. Agnesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-30707268294045007622015-09-21T10:32:43.561-04:002015-09-21T10:32:43.561-04:00Douglas Adams definitely seems like a significant ...Douglas Adams definitely seems like a significant omission to me. Crichton was probably left off because he's often classified as "mainstream" rather than science fiction even though a number of his books clearly deal with science fictional stories. (I'm not really sure why this is, other than that he sold more books than most SF authors and he tended to get shelved in the mainstream fiction section rather than the science fiction section in bookstores.)<br /><br />I'd heard of (but not seen) the 2002 movie of Solaris, but I didn't realized there'd been two earlier ones. I'll have to look into Tarkovsky's film.Darwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-49448811858260813172015-09-16T17:00:03.874-04:002015-09-16T17:00:03.874-04:00I was thinking of SF books I read that aren't ...I was thinking of SF books I read that aren't on the list, and while a lot of them are Hungarian and other Easten European authors unlikely to be ever translated to English, I miss Douglas Adams, and Michael Crichton's The Sphere and Andromeda Strain. Stanislaw Lem's Solaris affected me also, but probably because I saw the movie adaptation by Russian director A. Tarkovsky - the very rare case of a movie adaptation surpassing the book in emotional intensity and cathartic effect... at least for me.Agnesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-27009139561755309442015-09-15T11:01:57.964-04:002015-09-15T11:01:57.964-04:00Brandon,
That probably has a lot to do with the f...Brandon,<br /><br />That probably has a lot to do with the fact that both of our genre reading slowed down a lot starting in college, which is also when we met. Looking over the ones I've read, every single one is something I first read before meeting MrsDarwin, though I know a few of hers she read since meeting me.Darwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-83496386128455087672015-09-15T00:01:19.239-04:002015-09-15T00:01:19.239-04:00I thought it was interesting how relatively little...I thought it was interesting how relatively little overlap between the two of you there was; only about a third, if I'm not mistaken.Brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06698839146562734910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-80574025781058290592015-09-14T15:40:31.988-04:002015-09-14T15:40:31.988-04:00Great list. I never thought of Flowers for Algerno...Great list. I never thought of Flowers for Algernon as SF genre though. Jules Verne's books that are obviously SF from his own time point but the scientific background is not futuristic in our time and they did not feel like SF when I read them as a teenager. There are quite a few recommendations though, thank you!Agnesnoreply@blogger.com