Reading the blog of a favorite author of mine (a fantasy writer), I came upon this question.
It reminded me of one of my stronger preferences in reading. Many books on my shelf that are fully read are works by Gaiman, Rothfuss, Adams, Rowling, Snicket (Handler), Tolkien, and Card, among others. Some half-read books remain -- two physics books by Stephen Hawking, a handful of economist and development books, politics & current affairs, plus a couple of G.G.Marquez's.
It is a preference I have not seen many others around me share. And something I have not questioned often, if at all. But being interested in argument and debate, it has merit to be discussed. To not just take an opinion of, but to know what drives that opinion.
I submit then this question for debate -- are works of fantasy or science fiction mostly creative 'escapism', or do they represent part of our history's insightful 'literature'?
To give examples of these works - not limited to written form -- turn to popular culture... the Star Trek or Star Wars series, Harry Potter, tv shows like 'Battlestar Galactica' or 'Babylon 5', the Lord of the Rings, hundreds of paperback novels with illustrations of non-human facial features on the cover, comics / graphic novels, Spiderman, Batman, Superman... ad infinitum.
The argument is not that these works do not have intrinsic value. I think most of us agree they have value. For entertainment, definitely. For some immediate emotional release - humour maybe, or tension-release. Hardly anyone would argue that the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy was not enjoyable.
Enjoyment aside, the question is... do these works add enlightenment and improve the human condition, like many generously praised mainstream literary works do?
I invite anyone who reads this to post a few thoughts by replying to this post.
An opinion, strung from a few phrases, would be generous. An insight into what my friends, or even complete strangers think, is mostly my gain.
I would share my own opinion in my next post.
Your thoughts, Messrs and Mses?
P.S. Procrastinator's Hour, Day#3 spent on 3 1/2 chapters of "The Island of the Day Before"
1 comment:
Definitely literature. I strongly recommend you red Ursula Le Guin's introduction to her classic "The Left Hand Of Darkness". She writes about the nature of the fantasy novel, and makes the point that good fantasy should not be read as a factual description of an imagined world. Instead, it should be read as a thought experiment or a metaphor. It is an indirect way of communicating the author's view of a present truth. For instance a strong undercurrent in Tolkien's work (which he first started writing during the world war) is his view that a pastoral way of life was giving way to a mechanized industrial one.
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