Science Fiction, An Important Genre

Science Fiction (and Fantasy) is a hellova genre. Its what got me into reading a lot, turning me into a hardcore book worm. I used to read a lot of the classics around 2011, back when I was a college student. I was into things like Shakespeare, Moby Dick, Walden, and The Sound and Fury. Once I dropped out of college I stopped reading altogether for a while. Then around 2013, I started reading again, mostly inspired by science fiction.

I've read a lot of science fiction novels and short stories since then. Phillip K. Dick, Ursula K. LeGuin, William Gibson, Issac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Alfred Bester, Octavia Butler, Douglas Adams, Neal Stephenson, you name it. I began to build a love for ideas through these writers, at first enamored with the video game-ish ideas that can come from science fiction but eventually coming to an understanding that ideas from science fiction can help me to form ideas about real life. From Dune I learned about sociology and ecology. From Ursula K LeGuin I learned about anthropology. From Robert Heinlein I learned how conservative values can impact ones' writing. From Alfred Bester I learned that writing doesn't have to be fanciful to make an huge impact. These things are important.

Science Fiction is one of the most important genres today. Sci-Fi movies and novels help shape people's ideas and development of ideas when it comes to AI, automatons in the work place, consciousness, etc. This is an important ethical dilemma. Which is where science fiction has led me.

One day I was bored and typed in on google "oldest science fiction novels". It brought me to a Wikipedia page that listed Sir Tomas More's Utopia, Francis Bacon's New Atlantis, Margaret Cavendash's Blazing World, and Kepler's Somnium.

I read Utopia and New Atlantis and didn't look back (although I want to read both of them again). At first the archaic writing style of the 1500s was super difficult to understand. However, I kept reading and reading until it eventually made "more" sense, which took quite a while and a lot of google dictionary searching. The ideas of Utopia and New Atlantis were very utopian, socialistic, and communistic. From there I read The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels, which I found on a pdf through google.

That's not even the end of this quest (thumbs up fantasy nerds). After I read up on some socialist/communist ideas I went even farther back to Thomas Hobbes' political economy-Leviathan, which I'm almost done with. From there I read Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy, a collection of essays in which he aims to prove the existence of God, quite an undertaking! For a while I became influenced by his writing, and even started to live a more holy life as a result. Holy as in being a nicer person, not fucking up at work, occasional prayer, diet and exercise. However, I am by no means religious. But the writers from the 1500s and 1600s who inspire me were mostly highly educated men from the Catholic schools.

Once my dad saw I was reading all of this without a context he recommended a great primer for me, which was Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy. This book has everything, as in every great idea of man and their originators from early man all the way to Marx and Engels. Russell is not only a philosopher who understands ideas but he's also an engaging writer that knows how to write in a highly educational way without being too technical, meaning anyone can understand if they put in the time and the effort. He's a mathematical person, this is very rare to find in people who are overly mathematical. The Russell book gave me a context for all the philosophy I was reading and will continue to read. If you read this book you will know more about ideas than most of the people you will run across in the general public. It was a great feeling once I finished it, its an 840 page book.

I also read classicist Madeline Miller's two novels Circe and The Song of Achilles, two books based on Greek mythology. From there I learned that I don't have to read fiction/nonfiction standard prose. I started reading the actual Iliad and from there started reading epic poetry of the Western canon. Now I'm reading Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's Inferno. Although Miller's work isn't science fiction, not quite fantasy, it might as well be because its so highly unusual. Poetry is something I want to explore more of now.

Now we've completed the quest and earned some experience points. The point here is that science fiction has led me to the important things in Western literature. Its one of the most worthy genres out there despite what some people might say. A reader I was conversing with told me, "Science fiction gets a lot of shit but its done much for literature." I couldn't agree more.

Thoughts on Literature

Hello, what's up? I've been reading a lot lately and finished quite a few as well. Here I'd like to jot down some thoughts, impressions of the readings.




Bertrand Russell A History of Western Philosophy
This is an excellent primer and I recommend it to well, anybody interested in philosophy really. Russell starts with the early civilization, pagans, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, thru the Christian period, to Renaissance, and 1600s through late 1800s.

What makes this book so great is in fact learning about the great ideas as they've developed through the ages, but its also Russell's writing style. His voice isn't your typical textbook philosophy book. He seems to speak to the reader in a much more personal way, making the 840 page book a lot smoother than it otherwise could've been.

I was interested in reading this because I read Sir Toms More's Utopia and Francis Bacon's New Atlantis. These books came up when I typed in "oldest science fiction novel" on google. From there I read Descartes' Objections and Replies, and I'm reading through Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan as well. Not light reading, but at the same time I read it because I find it fun and interesting.

This book helped put a context for a lot of the things I read. I can understand where the writers are coming from what I learned here. Its a great beginning to philosophy. Of course I still have a lot to learn, and in fact I would like to never stop learning, for it is a fun as well as enlightening endeavor.

The Iliad
I just started reading this epic beginning story of Western Literature. I'm in Book 2 in the translation I'm reading. I find the lines to be quite beautiful, describing every detail in excruciating detail. One of the things I love about the Iliad is that there are some lines that end with exclamation points. With these you always get a sense for the voice of the story, of the characters, plot, and subplot. Madeline Miller's two novel prepared me for these epic poetic legends. I plan on finishing it soon.

Black Music by Amiri Baraka
This book is a collection of essays by Amiri Baraka (Formerly Leroy Jones), a black poet, musician, and writer from beat era. I know a guy that said he used to hang out Baraka when he came to LA. The book is quite fascinating, we see a jazz critical perspective from a black artist himself. What I find great is that Baraka seems to understand the so called new thing, or free jazz when it first appeared. He spoke highly of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Eric Dolphy, late period Coltrane, and Don Cherry. He knows whats up musically, artistically. Baraka's writing style is interesting, descriptive, and sometimes captivating when you realize he knows what he's talking about. Worth a read if you love jazz.

Also on my reading list is Dune, Tales From Earthsea, Seduction and Betrayal, Paradise Lost, and Dante's Inferno. A wide range of stuff, some fun, light, serious, classical, and captivating.

As I think back about all the great stuff I've read since spring to pre-fall, all the things I've learned, about words, reading, and writing,  I feel a great sense of wonderment. Reading has really enriched my life, and time seems to be very pleasant when I spend it in this manner. Finding the time to read is difficult for most people, that's why I'm grateful that I can even do all this, lol. Its a good obsession.