The art of the short story in science fiction/fantasy seems to have fallen off in recent years. We have more books of course but some of the classics of the genre are in short stories. One of the greatest, Flowers for Algernon, told as diary is now available as a blog. I remember reading it as a teenage and being touched by the poignancy of gaining and loosing of intelligence. Another example would be Killdozer, written during the second world war, but expressing the potential horror of the residues of warfare. The original I Robot stories (I really want to forget the film) wich explored issues of humanity and compliance and is relevant today. Neutron Star introduced us to Niven's Known Space which in turn has the wonderful idea that we are a transitionary stage before we become Protectors. Winter's King took us to the planet Gethen in which Le Guin later situated her all time greatest novel Left hand of Darkness. An awesome exploration of sexuality and politics for which we are still awaiting the film promised in 2004. The title of the blog comes from Flowers for Algernon, its the expression of hope that finally fails, but hope none the less.
I could go on, but those are among my top selections, none of them are recent ....
Comments (3)
... and what about Ray Bradbury's "The Illustrated Man"? SF is really a very wide genre, and with creativity & innovation a condition sine qua non it is not surprsing that some of it touches very human parts of the universe ...
Posted by Ivan | September 3, 2008 10:20 PM
Posted on September 3, 2008 22:20
Dave,
A lovely bouquet of classic sci fi. If my wife gets me a Kindle (or hopefully an open source reader that does similar things, I'll celebrate by downloading LeGuin's novel.
My taste led me through the wonderful world of Philip K. Dick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick), especially "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep," in which the main characters struggle with their own identities as humans or robots. Often his characters are tormented by tiny buzzing mechanical flies that invade their homes and play annoying commercials until swatted.
The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling is a great read about a world where mechanical nanotechnology is the great info-leap rather than silicon.
But nothing beats Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. A review in The Economist turned me onto cyberpunk by introcucing me to this near-term dystopia where the hero, Hiroshi Protagonist, fights an evil that is either a disease, a computer virus, a religion, or some combination of the above.
*****COMMERCIAL MESSAGE***
I'm now engaging the Deputy Director of our agency about the pilots you and John and I have been discussing. There seems to be interest and our agency director is visting our office Friday and my director agrees that I should advocate for projects when they visit my office. The behavioral risk factor folks are very keen and this may be a good place to start.
Should an opportunity arise, we need to be clear on exactly what we propose, outputs, outcomes, and costs.
I hope we can Skype or email about this in the next week or so.
There are so many doors to open....
Mark
Posted by Mark White | September 4, 2008 1:55 AM
Posted on September 4, 2008 01:55
Mark,
I have two 40-minutes commutes in the train every day, and as an e-book reader (and for some other purposes) I use a Nokia 770 internet tablet and FBreader software. It has a good high-res screen, it is small and robust, the Battery last very long (good power management), it' Linux-based, almost open source ... and there are many other programs it as well. It's Nokia's spearhead into OpenSource technology.
Successors models are the N800 and N801.
And: yes, I've read the Difference Engine on the 770. Currently I'm reading Stendhal's "Chartreuse of Parma" - about political games and intrigues at court, reminds me of company-internal affairs, and a commented version of The Travels of Marco Polo (approx 2000 pages). Just to incicate that the screen is really good, and it does not hurt the eyes ;-)
Posted by christianhauck![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.cognitive-edge.com/blogs/dave/nav-commenters.gif)
|
September 5, 2008 8:15 AM
Posted on September 5, 2008 08:15