Do You Ever Have To Defend Reading SF?

[nicba]

kray3, I think it's actually supposed to be: IMHO = In My Humble Opinion.

But usually there aren't that much humble about the opinions stated, so on the other hand, your translation probably comes closer to the real thruth

.

 

[Elessar]

nicba.. *laugh
well said ;-)

as for the topic, yes, I have. A lot of people seem to poke at SF&F. For instance, I had to defend myself for reading Asimov. That was when I was around 17..
I'm 23 now, I study, I have other friends and I lent "the hichhiker's guide to the galaxy" to quite a few people, many friends bought them, some started to read asimov...

*shrugging*
It is true that SFF is considered poor literature by a lot of people. I think *most* of these fall in one of the following categories:
(1) they rarely read anything at all and/or
(2) have heard these facts from some friends of them
(3) they have never read any good sff


-- Elessar

 

[The Iron Orchid]

True ... people who mock sf and fantasy are usually people who don't really care for reading. You rarely meet a real book lover who has complete disdain for these genres.

 

[Cadfael]

Nicba... my opinion is always humble

I know lots of friends who have read Tolkien... loved it, but would not dream of reading another fantasy book... it has now become fashionable to say "Oh Yes... I have read Tolkien"... but these same people pull their nose up when I recommend other SF and fantasy books.

I think SF though has always been the more 'acceptable' of the two genres.

 

[Vitriol]

I think fantasy has always been seen as 'books for kids', while SF is perceived as 'books for geeks'. However, books like Harry Potter, which it is now acceptable for adults to read openly, may help challenge these assumptions.

 

[Bond]

I'd just like to inquire: What other reading fare did those who read Tolkien and said they loved it but didn't continue reading fantasy partake of? Were they just saying they liked it so as not to appear contrary? I don't see why if they really meant it they wouldn't try another fantasy book unless they confine themselves to high brow reading.

 

[SusF]

My guess would be they continued to read SF. I prefer SF to fantasy most of the time myself, though lately I've been catching up on a fantasy reading backlog.

Susan

 

[Ogg]

I believe they now read mattress tags....

 

[estranghero]

Hey, don't knock 'em 'til you tried 'em!

 

[Aylis]

The only time I've ever had to defend myself was when my parents used to think that all sci-fi/fantasy was trash - basically because you don't read those books in school. I'm assuming it's because they were both brought up in Taiwan, so don't really know what's 'trash' and what's not. But, I think they're learning - after seeing LotR:FotR, my mom decided that she wanted to read LotR even though she found the movie kind of boring

. But she's going to read the chinese version cuz her english kind of sucks.

 

[Zsinj16]

Well, I don't usually pay any attention to people that criticize me for the books I read. I just think "Heh! What do those jerks know anyway?!" and just move on.

 

[Hobbit]

Geekdom rules!

Given up trying to defend my reading tastes. I always go back to my old English teacher who told me that 'I would be good if I could just stop reading 'that Sf stuff' '.

30+ years on - still reading and enjoying, and educating others!

The tide has turned a little in recent years - SF/Fantasy has now become big sellers (unlike many other novels and genres), so there are more people around reading more SF/Fantasy. Consequently it's not so much of a surprise as the genres become more mainstream that SF/Fantasy becomes more widely known. There's enough of us out there to make a difference, I guess.

As a side note - when people see some of the 'stuff' out there, I can partly sympathise with their misguided view. There is a lot of 'troll-by-numbers' dross out there.

But as a general rule of thumb, Sf/Fantasy readers are intelligent and deep-thinkers who care a lot about what they read, IMHO. They are usually people with the greatest imaginations/visions, they have a greater ability to think 'outside the box' and usually have a greater IQ than the majority of 'readers'. (Have read this somewhere following a Time/Life sort of poll, but can't remember where, sorry).

Alternatively, we're the people with the least interest in Fashion (unless 'Hobbit-dressing' is in this year)and gossip - other worldly concerns...

So, if others don't want to read it - their loss. I prefer to try something first, then deride it.

An opinion is an opinion, after all.

Hobbit

 

[Ogg]

But as a general rule of thumb, Sf/Fantasy readers are intelligent and deep-thinkers who care a lot about what they read. They are usually people with the greatest imaginations/visions, they have a greater ability to think 'outside the box' and usually have a greater IQ than the majority of 'readers'.

HA! You said I was intelligent!

 

[Sammie]

He did say "usually", Ogg.

 

[Hobbit]

There are always exceptions, Ogg. I suppose, thinking a little deeper, the ultimate conclusion of what I said earlier was that your thinking is so far out of the box that they give you medication for it....

Ha! Ha! And they thought I was mad....bwahaaahaa!

Hobbit

 

[lemetsky]

Started to read SF in old USSR, when almost any critical thought/writing was banned, one has to find other ways, sf was one of those ways- have been "hooked" ever since, so my answer would be no, no need to defend my reading. I could just tell to friends that i'm widening my horizont- learned to read/speak/write english that way. Among the banned books/authors were e.g. Orwell, Tolkien, Bradbury - but Asimov was OK. + others
lemetsky

 

[Loque]

'mixed crews of humans, dolphins and chimps cruising in deep space and communicating in haikus' hey GevuldeKex i think i've read this book, was there something in it about different alien species in some way 'raising' each other up to a fully sentient level but we humans were patronless? Sorry, I'm totally out of synch I know but you've got me curious now.

 

[nicba]

Yes Loque, I believe that the book that GevuldeKex talked about is 'Startide Rising' by David Brin. It is part of his (excellent, IMO) uplift series.

 

[Kamakhya]

Today I got another of the "Wow, you are always reading" comments (made as if I have two heads). Godz forbid, I mentioned that 95% of what I read is Sci-Fi. I just can't fathom why people are shocked and amazed at those of us who read when we get the opportunity. Few things are better (e.g., sex) than a well written novel or short story. I have had ribbings from not only being a voracious reader, but also because I am almost always reading Sci-Fi. Yet, by and large (though not exclusively), the most articulate, intelligent and well read people I have met have been into sci-fi.

 

[The Fortyish Man]

I don't have to defend reading SF so much as explain that there is more to science fiction than 'Star Trek'. People assume because I read 'sci-fi books' I must be a Trekkie. I like Star Trek, but I'm not a huge fan and it is hard to get some people to understand that.