Popular Literature: Will it die?
It’s interesting what you find on the Interwebs these days. Not too long ago Stephen King went on record saying some rather entertaining things about Stephanie Meyers and J. K. Rowling: King compared the Mormon author to JK Rowling, saying that both authors were “speaking directly to young people”. “The real difference is that Jo […]
The Kindle Two: Audio Controversy or Industry Stupidity?
No release of a new and improved version of an already powerful piece of technology would be as interesting without a little controversy. Apparently the Authors Guild is upset about the new Kindle’s text-to-speech feature, claiming that it could “undermine the market for audio books” (Associated Press). The Wall Street Journal has a bit more […]
Aliens and Spaceships Do Not a Science Fiction Make
Recently in my South African Literature course my professor, in talking about Nadine Gordimer’s July’s People, mentioned that the story, while not based on any sort of reality that we understand to exist, is also not a science fiction story because it doesn’t contain aliens or spaceships or anything like that. I, obviously, disagreed, but […]
Readers, Authors, and GRRM: Angry Over Waiting (for the next book)?
Apparently the blogosphere is alive with discussion of fan reactions to George R. R. Martin’s rather long writing periods between installments of the A Song of Fire and Ice series. Some folks agree and are either dropping GRRM from their libraries or simply bitching about it; others are defending GRRM and bitching about everyone else. […]
Science Fiction/Fantasy Awards: The Hugos and Other Things
Recently the blogosphere has been somewhat up in arms about the whole SF/F awards thing, particularly the Hugos. After reading some of what Adam Roberts had to say and what some others said in response, I decided that I should give my two cents on the issue. Apparently there are two primary items that folks […]
Literary Snobbery (Part Two): To Participate or To Consume
To hinge off yesterday’s post, I’d like to talk about a few more of the arguments presented here. Last time I talked about this idea of “artistic expression” and how, generally speaking, it’s a load of crap to assume that one form of literature is artistic and the other isn’t. This time it has more […]