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ksmithMuch said here, here, and here about the self-ghettozation of SF, the definitions of the genre, SF as literature...or not, and other topics.
My two-minute take? I look for character, but will read a book for ideas, or the puzzle. I reread for character, and the realization that I have read a book I can't reread makes me feel cheated. A little empty. Like, wow, that was a waste of time.
I think that with books, as with movies, some critics and reviewers will find greater value in the obscure, the overintellectualized, simply because it's different.
Two essays by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
malkingrey illustrate some of what I'm trying to say. One, on the problems with SF trying to become mainstream lit, and another on one aspect of the character-based vs idea-based argument. Both of which I reread every so often because, well, they make me laugh. I do get a little angry, though, when I recall a panel a friend/writer of character-based space opera sat on a few years ago during which two editors dismissed her work and the work of other character writers and proclaimed the New Space Opera of scope and ideas.
If a character doesn't stick with me, It's not a long-haul book. It doesn't have to be the protag, but someone has to strike a responsive chord.
My two-minute take? I look for character, but will read a book for ideas, or the puzzle. I reread for character, and the realization that I have read a book I can't reread makes me feel cheated. A little empty. Like, wow, that was a waste of time.
I think that with books, as with movies, some critics and reviewers will find greater value in the obscure, the overintellectualized, simply because it's different.
Two essays by
malkingrey illustrate some of what I'm trying to say. One, on the problems with SF trying to become mainstream lit, and another on one aspect of the character-based vs idea-based argument. Both of which I reread every so often because, well, they make me laugh. I do get a little angry, though, when I recall a panel a friend/writer of character-based space opera sat on a few years ago during which two editors dismissed her work and the work of other character writers and proclaimed the New Space Opera of scope and ideas.If a character doesn't stick with me, It's not a long-haul book. It doesn't have to be the protag, but someone has to strike a responsive chord.
