wave to amaebi

[boxofdelights]

I do so love having a friend to whom I can say, "You and I are of Elinor Dashwood's party on that question."

You should all go vote in the NPR BOOKS: Top 100 Science Fiction And Fantasy Poll. I dithered for days but finally settled on

The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
The Female Man, by Joanna Russ
Kindred, by Octavia Butler
The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
Little, Big, by John Crowley
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Parable Of The Sower, by Octavia Butler
The Pride Of Chanur, by C.J. Cherryh
Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban

And you?

Comments

[jinian]

I already voted, but I think it went something like:

Bridge Of Birds, by Barry Hughart
The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
Dreamsnake, by Vonda McIntyre
The Female Man, by Joanna Russ
The Foreigner Series, by C.J. Cherryh
Norstrilia, by Cordwainer Smith
The Swordspoint Trilogy, by Ellen Kushner (trilogy?)
The Vlad Taltos Series, by Steven Brust
The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
Wild Seed, by Octavia Butler

[maize]

Sadly, voting seems to be closed. However, to play the game here, I assume we pick ten?

Hm. That's hard! The first few cuts were easy, but then it got difficult. Here's ten, but I don't know if I'd pick the same ten on another pass through or not.


Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon
The Man In The High Castle, by Philip K. Dick
The Otherland Tetralogy, by Tad Williams
Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson
Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
A Scanner Darkly, by Philip K. Dick
Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem
The Temeraire Series, by Naomi Novik

[wcg.livejournal.com]

And what was the question you found yourself among Elinor Dashwood's party? Because I can easily imagine that I'd share her opinion on a number of questions.

[boxofdelights]

Well, now, I hope Mary Ann will correct me on this, because when I look back on it I am still puzzled.

I was telling Mary Ann about a conversation with my mother in which I was reproached for not caring enough.[*]

Mary Ann asked whether my mother subscribed to the belief that caring was adult.

I puzzled over the question, translated it into "the belief that caring was virtuous", and declared that I didn't know what my mother believed, but I believed that making sure everyone in earshot knew how much you cared was pretty much the opposite of adult.


[*]My mother did not quite say that I was not doing what she would have me do because I did not care about my daughter as much as she cared, but she came way too goddam close.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Ah, so it was a matter of her equating a public demonstration with genuine concern. Yes, I'm definitely with you in this.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Those are some hard choices. I ended up sharing Left Hand of Darkness and LOTR with you. Very difficult limiting it to just ten.

[lcohen]

those are the two that i shared with her, too. which speaks well for their chances of making the top ten ;-) .

[boxofdelights]

I'd love to know your other eight!

[boxofdelights]

Very difficult indeed! I'd love to know your other eight, if you remember.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Not just at the moment, I don't. I'd look them up for you, but I must be off to a funeral now.

[bheansidhe.livejournal.com]

Whoosper. We only overlap in one instance. But I voted!

[boxofdelights]

Good! that you voted!

Which one did we both pick?

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Wow, do you prefer Parable of the Sower to, say, Dawn? Mind you, I haven't looked at the list and likely won't, and maybe that's not available.

I love Octavia Butler so much, and I so wondered whether she ever found anything funny.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Dawn wasn't on the list.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

I'm embarrassed by how few of the books on that list I've read, and how many of the books on that list I've read and hated. (Many "great classics" of science fiction annoy me - Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke is my official Worst Book Ever).

I voted for (in order):
Dreamsnake, by Vonda McIntyre
The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

and then I'd run out of books which are genuinely good and I love without repeating authors (yes, I know I repeated Neil Gaiman already but he deserves it), so I tossed a coin between The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore and The Stainless Steel Rat Books, by Harry Harrison, and Stainless Steel Rat won. (Both of those series are AWFUL in a literary sense but I love them - whenever I buy a Drizzt book I always tell the cashier in the bookshop not to judge me).

I love the book Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett, but it would really be stretching the definition to call it science fiction or fantasy. It's pretty much pure satire. The only thing that makes it fantasy is the fact that some of the characters aren't human.

[plasticsturgeon.livejournal.com]

Sputter--NO TIPTREE??? And no Pamela Sargent? Or Elisabeth Vonarberg? Or James Morrow? Or Lord Dunsany?

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Okay, I did go look, though not all the way down. I'm not qualified to vote-- way too ignorant. :D

I did notice butler's Lilith's Brood, though, and look-up reminded me that that's the whole Xenogenesis series, including Dawn....

[boxofdelights]

I'm not qualified to vote-- way too ignorant.

You do realize that so are most of the people who voted.