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03/03/2007: "Science Fiction Literacy"
Since I got my library card several few weeks ago, I have been reading quite a bit when I can, and there are several books I’ve never told you about. You may have noticed the book graphic in the left-hand column changing now and again. To refresh you memory, I am trying to focus on the Hugo Award (best science fiction) winning books in the St. Joseph library. I’m trying to diversify my reading base.
Many books I have read lately have had religious undertones in the stories. I’m not sure if this pure coincidence, or typical of science fiction novels written in the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s.
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Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land is the 22nd or 23rd century story of a human born on Mars and raised by Martians. He is captured by visiting humans and brought back to Earth. The story focuses on his struggle to adapt, and his triumph in teaching his new human friends his Martian ways. Heinlein uses a doctor/lawyer figure to be his mouthpiece to criticize Christians and religion in general. The character is not actually an atheist, but more of a skeptic against snake-oil salesmen posing as ministers. There are long stretches of the book where you ask yourself if this is a science fiction novel, or a fictionalized conversation on philosophy. Heinlein also attacks other social, political and cultural institutions in the long conversations. I am reminded of Gulliver’s Travels, which uses the various races that Gulliver encounters as metaphors to attack the political conditions of the author’s era. If you don’t mind reading the lectures of a religious skeptic, this book is worth reading.
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Robert Zalanzy’s Lord of Light seems not so much science fiction, as it is fantasy. It is undoubtedly science fiction, though, because of the basis for the characters and their situations. In a future time, humans encounter a habitable planet with sentient energy beings. The humans learn to control and conquer these beings, and set themselves up as “gods.” The vast majority of book focuses on the infighting and bumbling of humans who have superhuman powers, and have stylized themselves after Hindu gods. They are immortal, and somewhat bored, and are living out some sort of Nirvana fantasy. The one Christian mentioned in the book is the god of the dead, ironically enough, and commands a vast army of what amounts to zombies. Although this book is award winning, I had a hard time following along. The same characters have several names. Perhaps if I were more familiar with the Buddhist and Hindu religions, I might have enjoyed the book a bit more. Although I am glad I read it – I needed to be taken out of my traditional sci-fi comfort zone – I would not recommend it to you.
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Within about twenty minutes after starting Philip Jose Farmer’s To Your Scattered Bodies Go, I felt like I had found a winning book, and it was a throwback to the stories I always loved. Take a set of human beings, throw them in a situation they do not understand and cannot control, and see what happens as they slowly solve the mystery of the unimaginable forces surrounding them. It’s almost like the old fish-out-of-water type of story.
We see what amounts to an afterlife. Human beings are seemingly reborn in a tranquil river valley, and have their basic nutrition needs provided. All of the characters know they died while on Earth, but at various points in history across thousands of years. Alliances form across centuries of culture and history.
Each religion of the world has it vision of what the afterlife should be. The afterlife described in Farmer’s book meets no one’s expectations, so people of all religions are confused, frustrated, and looking for answers. I won’t spoil the explanation that comes near the end of the book of why billions of people live along the long winding river. This book is also one of several in a series that Farmer wrote. When I was done reading it, and did some research on-line, I discovered that three of his characters were actual people: Sir Richard Burton, 19th Century British explorer, diplomat, and jack-of-all-trades; Alice Pleasance Liddell Hargreaves, the real life inspiration behind Alice in Wonderland; Hermann Göring, brutal SS officer from Nazi Germany.
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Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama is one of those oddly-satisfying works that leaves you with more questions than it answers. It’s a meaty and satisfying story that leaves you wanting more and more answers . . . but part of the charm of the story is not having everything answered. Approximately two centuries from now, a fifty-kilometer long cylinder appears in our Solar System. A lucky exploratory ship in the area gets to rendezvous with the cylinder for about a month before it is captured by the gravity of the Sun and thrown out of our solar system to continue its unknown journey. The human heroes explore what appears to be an artificial world inside the cylinder, as if it were some sort of interstellar ark. Make no mistake, this is a work of “hard” science fiction . . . much of the story is based upon scientific possibilities as they were known and understood in the late 1960’s when Clarke wrote this novel.
There is one minor subplot in Clarke’s book concerning a new religion that worships Cosmos Christ. This is a spin-off from Christianity that evolved once man was able to travel around and colonize the Solar System.
For those of you old enough to remember, the original Star Wars trilogy was hugely successful not only because of the amazing characters and special effects, but because of all the speculation behind little hints dropped here and there. Why was Darth Vader in that hideous suit? What was the Clone War? What was the history behind the Empire? We thirsted and hungered for more and more answers. Didn’t you have the same feeling after watching The Matrix? Clarke’s novel gives us a taste of that mystery, and does not attempt to explain everything going on. I honestly feel that you don’t have to be a huge science fiction fan to appreciate this book.
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I have felt invigorated in recent months now that I am reading again. I appreciate the change, and it feels really good to push my traditional boundaries. Yes, I had to endure Lord of Light, but it was a good experience to get out of the norm.
The last time I went to the library, I picked up Larry Niven’s Ringworld, and I will tell you a bit about that novel at a future time. I also picked up the book right beside it, Larry Niven’s A World Out of Time. It’s not an award-winning book, and Larry Niven is not on my core list of authors. However, I read the book jacket, and was intrigued by the plot summary. I realized that I could not limit myself to reading books just on a few lists, the likes of which you can see in the left-hand column of this web page.
I want to have a core set of lists to attack. I want to focus on the classics and the award-winning novels. However, if I am moved to read something out of the established range, I have to allow myself the flexibility to do so. That’s why I started another list of “Buck’s Sci Fi Reads.” This allows me to keep track of other books I read in the future, and it also allows me to document and celebrate all of the other past books I have read in my life.
I read a lot of science fiction novels from my hometown library when I was a kid. I can remember bits and pieces of plots, and I can even remember a couple of book titles. However, my list will forever be incomplete unless I can get back to that library and see if those books are still there right where I left them. After all, I remember one child’s book that had not been checked out for fifty or sixty years until I had done so in the 1970’s or 1980’s.
By the way, if you look at the books I have on that list, you will notice some Stephen King and Dean Koontz books are there as well. Strictly speaking, these are not science fiction books . . . these authors fall under the horror genre. I did not want to create a separate list for horror books. I’m taking that liberty.