From: steinly@topaz.ucsc.edu (Steinn Sigurdsson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.misc
Subject: Re: Designing a Course (was: Re: What _ought_ to be in a proper course on sf?)
Date: 23 Jan 93 01:36:21 GMT
Organization: Lick Observatory/UCO
NNTP-Posting-Host: topaz.ucsc.edu
In-reply-to: jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com's message of 21 Jan 1993 13:34:39 GMT

In article <1jm8pfINNfc8@transfer.stratus.com> jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com (Jim Mann) writes:

   NNTP-Posting-Host: gondolin.pubs.stratus.com

   In article <STEINLY.93Jan20155707@topaz.ucsc.edu>  
   steinly@topaz.ucsc.edu (Steinn Sigurdsson) writes:
   > In article <1jkg52INNs55@transfer.stratus.com>  
   jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com (Jim Mann) writes:

   >    In article <Dave_Wetzel-200193154716@dwetzel.mis.stratus.com>  
   >    Dave_Wetzel@vos.stratus.com (David Wetzel) writes:
   >    > In article <1jk7poINNc47@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu>,
   >    > phydeaux@guru.med.cornell.edu (Dave Weingart) wrote:

   >    >> Things I'd like to see in the SF class (off the top of my  
   head):
   >    > * LeGuin - one of: The Disposessed, The Left Hand of Darkness,  
   The  
   >    Lathe of
   >    > Heaven
   >    > * Asimov - Nightfall
   >    I suppose, though there are a dozen Asimov stories I like
   >    better than this.
   > Maybe one of his Robot shorts...

   After thinking about it a bit, I think one of the Foundation
   stories (possibly "The Mule")  would be a good choice.

It's been a while, but wouldn't one of the earlier ones be better?

   >    Now, lets also identify the authors who we'd like to represent  
   (and
   >    perhaps a work by them):   (Note, not all of these are  
   represented
   >    in the anthologies I listed above.)

   [I've deleted chunks of the original, since my newsreader doesn't
   like it when I include too much text from previous posts.]


   >    Heinlein  "By His Bootstraps"
   > All you zombies

   "All You Zombies" is a good story also, but I think "By His
   Bootstraps" is better because it develops as a real story. "All
   You Zombies" is mostly an elaborate joke (though a good one).

Joke or ultimate parable of time travel paradoxes?
I always found "by his bootstraps" to be a little too
contrived ;-)

   >    Bradbury  "Mars Is Heaven"
   > Fahrenheit 451!

   But that's a novel. It's good, but Bradbury was at his very
   best (and most influential) with his short stories.

oops. were we at this point on shorts only?
Ah well, 4-5 novels are far too few for a term
long class. Let's pretend this is for a UK University.

   >    Smith     "The Dead Lady of Clown Town" or "The Ballad of 
   > 	      Lost C'Mell"
   > Yes!
   > Also "Game of Rat and Dragon" - that's by Smith isn't it?

   Yes, that's also Smith.

   > 
   > As a genre issue I suppose some cyberbunk should be included.
   > Also some Moorcock, I'd say Warhound and the Worlds Pain if it
   > were not so unrepresentative, perhaps Dancers at the End of Time?

   I think Sterling is a good representative of cyberpunk, though
   perhaps we should also include something by Gibson.  Moorcock

Are there any "good" reprentatives of cyberjunk?

   is a writer who probably should be represented, but none of the
   his novels seem to be worth being one of the 4 or 5 the course
   reads. Maybe the short version of "Behold the Man" would do.

   > For more modern hard stuff, how about Timescape by Benford,
   > Postman (the novella) by Brin, and maybe Startide Rising
   > or Crystal Spheres, and "True Names" by Vinge?
   > Oh, and Thor meets Captain America by Brin is a must too!

   I never liked "The Crystal Spheres."

   I like Timescape a lot, and it's worth including if we have the
   space.

   > An author noticably missing so far is Stabledon, but I'd have
   > a very hard time picking which novel; perhaps Odd John,
   > or maybe Sirius, except Last and First Men and Star Maker
   > are too de riguer. Make 'em (want to) read 'em all, kids nowadays  
   watch
   > too much tv anyhow...


   I never liked Stapledon, though he is influential enough that
   maybe he deserves space. Perhaps an excerpt from Last and First
   Men (the chapters of which to some degree stand on their own)
   will do.


To go back to the shorts, Tiptree's "Screwfly Solution" and
"Houston, Houston do you read" should probably be mandatory.

|  Steinn Sigurdsson	|I saw two shooting stars last night		|
|  Lick Observatory	|I wished on them but they were only satellites	|
| steinly@lick.ucsc.edu |Is it wrong to wish on space hardware?		|
| "standard disclaimer"	|I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care - B.B. 1983	|
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.misc