Andrea has found a list of 10 Sci-Fi Novels People Pretend to Have Read. (I’m glad he said “sci-fi”. “SF” is so pretentious.) I do not pretend to have read books. First, I have actually read enough classic, highly acclaimed, really big books to impress almost anyone I might want to impress. Second, most of the people I run into in “real life” (i.e. not on the Internet) are impressed (or sometimes puzzled) that I read any books at all, especially science fiction. And third, I would hate to get caught pretending.
It seems like an odd list. Why these 10 books. I have read some of them and I want to read others but not all of them.
1. Cryptonomicon – Yes, I’ve read it. It was an interesting and fun book.
2. Dune – Yes! (I include the first three books in the series) I read these several times before the movie came out. There’s nothing like reading Dune for the first time. Really blew me away.
3. Gravity’s Rainbow – No. I might or might not read this someday. To be honest, I generally find WWII era Germans to be dull and tedious but curiosity will likely lead me to read it eventually.
4. Foundation – No. Don’t know if I’ll ever read it or not. I know this is practically heresy but I haven’t liked any of Asimov’s fiction that I’ve read so far.
5. Johnathon Strange & Mr. Norrell – No. Never heard of it before but I am somewhat interested. I’ll put this one in the “definitely maybe” category.
6. 1984 – Yes. I feel that a lot of people don’t really get this book but I won’t comment because I’m sure someone would think I don’t get it either.
7. First and Last Men and Star Maker – No. Never heard of these either but they sound sort of interesting and they’re old enough to be available for free on Project Gutenberg so I will definitely read them.
8. The Long Tomorrow – No. The title sounds slightly familiar. I doubt I’ll ever read this one. Doesn’t sound like my cup o’ tea.
9. Dhalgren – No. Another slightly familiar title. Although I’m not a huge fan of Samuel R. Delany this sounds just interesting enough that I might give it a try.
10. Infinite Jest – No. Another one that doesn’t sound like my cup o’ tea.
July 18th, 2012 - 10:07 am
I’m laughing over the sci-fi/SF distinction. I remember one of the faculty at my grad school (who, now that I look back on it, WAS rather pretentious) lecturing one of my friends that “It’s not ‘sci-fi,’ it’s SF.” and also that it was an insult to call a Star Trek fan a Trekkie, that they were Trekkers.
I liked Jonathan Strange…. It’s a long slow read and there are some odd spellings (I think the author is trying to mimic Regency/early-Victorian writing but it takes some getting used to, and I know some people who HATED that trope.)
July 18th, 2012 - 3:15 pm
I’ve read Foundation and 1984 and that’s it. I started reading the Neil Stevenson book once but for some reason, I lost interest. Same with Dune. Some day I may finish them—but it won’t likely be this week. Or even this month. Or year…
July 18th, 2012 - 5:17 pm
You aren’t alone. I don’t care for Asimov, either. Tried Foundation and got like 20 pages in. Blah. Not my thing.
July 18th, 2012 - 6:03 pm
1, 2, 4, and half of 5. I want to read all of them, and own most of them! (And I like Asimov. And I call it SF. So there!)
(Well, on the SF thing: I think it fits better when I refer to the larger genre of “fantasy and science-fiction” as F&SF. F&SciFi doesn’t cut it. But anyway, then along comes horror and screws everything up!)
July 19th, 2012 - 7:07 am
What really bugs me about the “SF” thing are the Rules people – the people who insist that you Must Not Say Sci-Fi or that saying sci-fi instead of SF means that you are less serious about science fiction or that you’re disrespecting the genre somehow.
SF could stand for Speculative Fiction which would cover a much broader area: science fiction, fantasy, horror, alternate history and anything else that comes along that’s not strictly real world. I would have no problem with that if certain people would stop having a problem with “sci-fi”.
July 19th, 2012 - 5:16 pm
I never had the urge to “pretend” to read, and most of these are actually decent reads, even if a bit weird or unpleasant the authors were competent workman and had something to say.
I haven’t read #3 or or #10 (yet).
Many of the others I read decades ago – I know that #8 and #9 are on my shelf for example, but I can’t recall what was in them.
I really enjoyed Jonathan Strange, but I think you really have to be in the proper mind set – it is slow, and meandering. If you can finish Moby Dick then it should be a snap.
Looking at the list, with 1984 and TLT being the exceptions, they are all pretty long books. I have to wonder if the list’s original author has, perhaps, a bit of a problem with books over 300 pages.
July 20th, 2012 - 6:41 am
I don’t always dislike slow and meandering books. It depends on where the meandering takes you.
July 20th, 2012 - 7:59 am
The thing with “pretending to read” bugs me. As does the “being apologetic for liking…” And then there’s the whole judging-people-for-what-they-like thing, which seems to have exploded with the internet: for every book that’s out there that someone thinks is good, there is a person who will explain how that other person is a dweeb (or worse) for liking that book. (Or tv show, or movie, or whatever).
July 20th, 2012 - 3:24 pm
Exactly! Even in the 21st century we’re still as tribal as ever.
July 21st, 2012 - 10:01 am
I’ve read a couple of the Foundation books, and honestly I don’t care for Asimov’s fiction. His NON-fiction stuff, essays and books about numbers and science, are great and if you haven’t read any of them, I suggest that you do.
I loved “Cryptonomicon”. Very technical book in some places. He goes on for four pages about a bicycle chain. Formulae and all.
I’ve also read George Orwell’s (Eric Blair, actually) “1984″. I’d reccomend “Brave New World” in addition to “1984″. I believe it’s written by Aldous Huxley.
January 17th, 2013 - 3:24 pm
People do that? Geez louise, I never cease to be astounded by the odd things people do. I’m a sci-fi fan too – have you ever read any of Peter Hamilton’s books? I really enjoyed them but I rarely see them on any lists.
January 17th, 2013 - 9:18 pm
Peter Hamilton… name sounds familiar. I think I read one of his books a long time ago. If it’s the one I’m thinking of I might still have it.