I'm sorry, but I have to strongly disagree. Find a major science fiction author who has won one of the major prizes for literature. Good luck. I won't comment on what you said about "most" science fiction authors. I'm tired and have to travel in the morning. Let's just say that I strongly disagree and leave it at that. Goodnight.
Okay, lol. You probably despise The Big Bang Theory also because you feel strongly about the nerd lifestyle is being exploited by a generic portrayal. Anyway, you and I am approaching this from vastly different points of view. You seem to really care about awards, while I am more into the stature of the book beyond awards. Also, I'm not going to say anything about the comment that you aren't commenting about, which is "most" sci-fi writers, but you have to look no further than Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? This is what I consider purple prose (a 17 word noun phrase before we get the verb): 'A merry little surge of electricity piped by automatic alarm from the mood organ beside his bed awakened Rick Deckard'
and men are willing to read pages and pages of conan the barbarian and other similar crap to enjoy pointless descriptions of bloodbaths and orgy scenes that is going to validate their masculinity. For someone who reads so much you certain fall in the trap of generalisation don't you? Men as well as women read a lot of crap. It just so happens that most crap in the world of literature catered to the male readers because women were denied the education or the free time to be able to read. Only after the 18th century you can find books that catered to women. But somehow now we have found a target audience the whole gender? That likes to read 50 shades of gray? okay. And of course the best books of any genre are recognised...by the people who read them. Some sci fi books offer such a panorama such a completely new view point that it overcomes problems in prose. My examples are first and foremost DUNE (the original) and the Galactic empire. These two aren't just spaceships and black holes. And let's not act like all masterpieces were beautifully written either. Were Marquez or Henry James books beautifully written? Didn't charles dickens and Emile Zola used to fill their books with pages and pages of pointless descriptions that as you said "didn't move the plot forward" ? It made me want to bang my head on the wall when I in the middle of a plot twist read Zola describing in TWO pages the appearance of some curtains! And lets' not start on Melville either. But I suppose when someone is named a "classic" people suddendly aren't so objective but when is a genre that most experts think its low quality as sci fi it can be easilly critisized and dismissed. That's why reading is a personal experience. What you may have no patience for, for someone else it opens their horizons. And I have another question. Coming from a different culture than most people here I found some of your posts...weird. "Black author" ?? What does it matter what someones race is ? When you read a book you say aha that's a good BLACK book?? Or that's a good white book?? Letters and sentences are the same whether were written by a black white asian or whatever race person. I certainly understand the classification based on the languange, (american, french, russian) or the epoch it was written. But race? Does a race make people use the language differently? Write differently? I don't get it. If someone in my culture, as a European, came and said this is a good black author it would be seen as racist. I don't want to offend you or anyone else here but help me understand. I suppose it has to do with american history this classification but it still goes on? In todays society? Some writer is classified as "black writer" and another as white writer??
I admire Ibsen greatly but he's not a personal favorite -- I have a hard time getting past the enormity of his exposition. Chekhov is among my favorite writers.
I've read a decent number of books and short stories by Philip K. Dick. I actually agree that he's not a great writer, but he had a lot of really interesting ideas.
You didn't understand anything I said at all. If you really think your comments addressed to me here is what I think, and if your comments about literature, including science fiction, amount to what you think, discussing this with you is a waste of my time. Too bad. I really enjoy literature. A lot. Literature of all kinds. Where you are coming from here is a place I simply don't know, and don't care to know, with all due respect. Oh, and I am a huge fan of Big Bang.
I'm not a sir. I don't know how these posters post and what you mean really, but if you find my posts too big you can ignore them. I'm trying to make a genuine conversation here.
Personally for me it's Edgar Allen Poe. He passes all of the tests for me. He's critically acclaimed. His work has passed the test of time. He is equally good with poetry and stories. His work is both taught and just read for the pleasure of reading.
Recently: David McCullough, Krakauer, Caro, Junger, Bowden. A few years ago I would have added Ambrose.
Probably my favorite novelist is Philip Roth. Other writers that have stayed with me over there years: Vladimir Nabakov. Franz Kafka. Gore Vidal. E.L. Doctorow. Joyce Carol Oates. Mikhail Buglakov. Don DeLillo. Richard Ford.
