>“Time We Left This World Today”
I have a friend who questions my reading of science fiction; he seems to believe that it is a lesser form of writing and as such is not a useful use of time. I should be reading Rimbaud or Orwell, contemplating the plight of man and considering the lessons history can teach us. He considers himself fairly forward thinking and he is undoubtedly well read and even on the verge of over educated; he is also blind to the idea that genre fiction can have value. When he succumbs to Pat Frank or Cormac McCarthy he cannot allow himself to accept they are writing within a genre, for him it would be like discovering Dylan made a great disco album.
Rather than argue with him I decided to read what others consider to be the most worthy efforts that authors have made in the genre of science fiction. This would prove nothing to him, but would allow me to have hours of fun and an excuse to rediscover some of the novels that had excited my young mind, opening it up to the idea of possibilities and improbabilities not being so improbable.
After two weeks of attempting to create a list and keep it manageable I have now given up the idea of a definitive 100 books, it’s too subjective and the cross referencing was giving me an headache. So here are some lists if you like that sort of thing, I certainly do:
http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/sflib.htm
http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/topscifi/lists_books_rank1.html
http://www.listology.com/list/david-pringles-best-100-science-fiction-novels
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3.Best_Science_Fiction_Books
See how hard it gets, and that’s only after a few minutes.
Other fun and useful websites that only served to confuse rather than clarify:
http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/index.html
http://classics.jameswallaceharris.com/
So the project has become for a year Feb 2011 to Feb 2012 take the time to read some of the greatest titles in science fiction past and present. Of course I may get sidetracked by any number of books along the way and then there is always music.
