Thursday, August 07, 2008
The Dystopic Earths of Heinlein’s Juveniles. It seems to me that in some sense most SciFi concerns itself with Dystopias. Most detective fiction is about crime and corruption. Westerns are about societies that are wild and lawless, or have wildness and lawlessness inflicted upon them. Romance novels are about societies that are repressive and make True Love impossible.
And it isn't just genre fiction. What's "The Corrections" about? It is a novel about contemporary society where everyone is unhappy. That's Updike, and Cheever, and Hemingway, and everybody else I can think of off the top of my head. There are only two stories, right? A man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town.
And it isn't just genre fiction. What's "The Corrections" about? It is a novel about contemporary society where everyone is unhappy. That's Updike, and Cheever, and Hemingway, and everybody else I can think of off the top of my head. There are only two stories, right? A man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town.
// posted by Bill @ 8:01 AM 
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