Laying a foundation

[macmoyer]

My friend shadroe and I started up a local reading group for classic science ficion. We settled on the Classics of Science Fiction list to guide us, a compilation of several critical lists of the best and most important science fiction novels. While I consider myself a science fiction fan, I went through the list and checked off only about a dozen titles

Comments

[biomekanic]

I was lucky enough in college that Dr. Palumbo, one of my favorite profs, taught a course in SF as film and literature.

We read Dune, Do Androids Dream, Flowers for Algernon, and A Clockwork Orange and contrasted the movie/print versions.

When you get around to reading Clockwork, make sure it's the full version. The original American printing left off the 21st chapter as it was considered "too disturbing" for sensitive American readers. /em eyerolll.

I've read a huge chunk of that list, both my parents are SF/Fantasy fans, and I was lucky enough that I had a lot of those books around growing up.

[macmoyer]

A Clockwork Orange was one of my paltry dozen. And I was fortunate enough to get a restored edition. That last chapter definitely gives the rest of the story a layer that would be completely missing without it.
I was surprised, when I read it, to find how closely Kubrick followed the novel. It's impressive that he stayed so faithful to the source material, but managed to put his own indellible stylistic stamp on it, too. I really think it may be my favorite adaptation of anything, ever, because he so successfully accomplishes both.
But, because he follows the novel so closely, but didn't use (wasn't aware of?) the expunged chapter, I wasn't expecting that ending. The kind of empty nihilism in everything leading up to that last chapter was all I thought there was... then that last chapter frames it in such a totally different way... now this evil, selfish, monstrous human being, who has just been hollowed out by society's order, is an adult. He's the grownup now. It gives the whole story a place in a grim cycle rather than just a tale of

[macmoyer]

both my parents are SF/Fantasy fans, and I was lucky enough that I had a lot of those books around growing up.
That's why Joellen and I decided to buy the books as our book group selects them. We'll have a great library of the best science fiction for our daughter, when she's old enough to be corrupted enjoy it.

[gwyd]

I loved dangerous Visions as a kid. I used to read those and the hugo Winners alternating. They are more fun with Harlan and Asimov hurling extremely well written editorial abuse at each other.

[macmoyer]

I look forward to it! I enjoy the contemporary sensibilities of the later scifi more than the older ones, but I have an urge to build my foundation chronologically. There's a part of me that wants to read that list from oldest to newest, but that ain't how our reading group works... which is probably for the best, because a lot of that stuff feels so dated. If you went by science fiction, you'd think women were invented around 1965.

[gwyd]

Oh I read the classic stuff two. There's a very nice anthology of golden age stuff that gets reissued now and then. i have reread the sturgeon one with the bleshing that had the story "Baby is Three" at it's core several times, along with any number of other stories and novels. C. L. moore was quite nice.