It’s funny how Sci-Fi (as a lit genre) tires me. I’ve tried Isaac Asimov back in college and now Ursula LeGuin (can’t find the one has The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, so I picked another short stories collection.) I love Sci-Fi when it’s presented visually. You know that I’m a trekker (I think I’m entitled to call myself that for owning a uniform (operation); Babylon 5 is my all time fav; Firefly my newly-discovered love, thanks to Erich, and I watch(ed) SeaQuest: DSV, Space: Above & Beyond, Andromeda, Battlestar Galactica, so on and so forth.
But still, Sci-Fi reads bore me. They always seems silly. No offense. I guess for this genre, I need visualization.
Then again, Chinese martial art/kung fu is actually sort of like the oriental version of Sci-Fi, with people who can jump so high that almost like flying, people who have unimaginable strength, and who can smash people’s internal organs without any external trace. For that, I can never stand TV/movies adapted from novels. They, too, look silly to me. They can never match my expectation/imagination. I wonder why.
I gave up on Sci-Fi (novels) long ago. The reason I picked them up again is people keep talking about them around me lately, including the book I’m reading right now (Grigg tried to persuade Jocelyn into reading LeGuin as Jocelyn boldly challenged Grigg, saying that she prefers “real” people. Real people are complicated, she said.) I believe you can find real people in situations and with struggles and whatnot within their heart that I can identify with. Afterall, I don’t hold prejudice against genre fiction. Many mystery writers occupy my list of favorite authors as an evidence. It just seems unnecessary/incomprehensible for me to put people on planets where they… oh, why the heck would I know what they do on their little planets, OR, to have people who change sex everyday to express a different look on humanity. I have no disrespect towards sci-fi (novels), please. They just don’t get me. (or is it the other way around?) This evening, I tried Unchosen Love by Ursula LeGuin. I didn’t make it to the end. Things like Ekumen, Gethenean killed it for me. Yeah, it’s fun to read about the marriage system (morning person, night person, moeity and etc), but that’s about it. The setting intrigues me but I had no patience with the story. I put it down and opened Nebula Awards 2007 Showcase. Wait, isn’t it Sci-Fi as well? You protested. Well, I have a special thing for Sci-Fi (as a genre). You wouldn’t see me reading Agatha Christie or any other classic mystery (Ellery Queen? ergh) that’s for sure. But Sci-Fi, it deserves more than one chance. I picked I Live With You by the widow of the late Ed Emshwiller, Carol Emshwiller, and finished it. I quite like it actually. But I hate that I wasn’t sure what REALLY happened and that left me unsttled.
I’ll definitely try Sci-Fi again if pushed, or hoaxed, but now I’d like to stick to general fiction and mystery. So much out there, so little time.
