My problem with science fiction that has not been Bradbury or Le Guin has been that most of what I've come across (no naming of names) doesn't achieve, as it promises, what I like to call "heightened reality" that all fiction that I'm willing to call "art" achieves. The story needs to tell the underbelly story, the story we never tell anyone and that all great stories deal with.
Here's an example of what I mean:
“Yet, watching Creole's face as they neared the end of the first set, I had the feeling that something had happened, something I hadn't heard. Then they finished, there was scattered applause, and then, without an instant's warning, Creole started into something else, it was almost sardonic, it was Am I Blue? And, as though he commanded, Sonny began to play. Something began to happen. And Creole let out the reins. The dry, low, black man said something awful on the drums, Creole answered, and the drums talked back. Then the horn insisted, sweet and high, slightly detached perhaps, and Creole listened, commenting now and then, dry, and driving, beautiful and calm and old. Then they all came together again, and Sonny was part of the family again. I could tell this from his face. He seemed to have found, right there beneath his fingers, a damn brand-new piano. It seemed that he couldn't get over it. Then, for a while, just being happy with Sonny, they seemed to be agreeing with him that brand-new pianos certainly were a gas.” — “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin
Thanks, yes I see what you mean. I think the "world-building" can get in the way of that, making subtext text and draining the text of its concreteness.
Exactly, John. In fact, the science fiction writer has to shoot for a higher standard than the so-called realist: To build that fantasy world and create verisimilitude inside it. Rarely does the new writer so fascinated by the world of Marvel-comic flicks achieve that level of success--and so many of those "shooting the moon", so to speak, are trying to do that without even learning the basics of craft, let alone, understanding the mysterious process of invention that must remain separate from the study of craft. I'd love to be in greater conversation with you. ~ Mary
My problem with science fiction that has not been Bradbury or Le Guin has been that most of what I've come across (no naming of names) doesn't achieve, as it promises, what I like to call "heightened reality" that all fiction that I'm willing to call "art" achieves. The story needs to tell the underbelly story, the story we never tell anyone and that all great stories deal with.
Here's an example of what I mean:
“Yet, watching Creole's face as they neared the end of the first set, I had the feeling that something had happened, something I hadn't heard. Then they finished, there was scattered applause, and then, without an instant's warning, Creole started into something else, it was almost sardonic, it was Am I Blue? And, as though he commanded, Sonny began to play. Something began to happen. And Creole let out the reins. The dry, low, black man said something awful on the drums, Creole answered, and the drums talked back. Then the horn insisted, sweet and high, slightly detached perhaps, and Creole listened, commenting now and then, dry, and driving, beautiful and calm and old. Then they all came together again, and Sonny was part of the family again. I could tell this from his face. He seemed to have found, right there beneath his fingers, a damn brand-new piano. It seemed that he couldn't get over it. Then, for a while, just being happy with Sonny, they seemed to be agreeing with him that brand-new pianos certainly were a gas.” — “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin
Thanks, yes I see what you mean. I think the "world-building" can get in the way of that, making subtext text and draining the text of its concreteness.
Exactly, John. In fact, the science fiction writer has to shoot for a higher standard than the so-called realist: To build that fantasy world and create verisimilitude inside it. Rarely does the new writer so fascinated by the world of Marvel-comic flicks achieve that level of success--and so many of those "shooting the moon", so to speak, are trying to do that without even learning the basics of craft, let alone, understanding the mysterious process of invention that must remain separate from the study of craft. I'd love to be in greater conversation with you. ~ Mary
Thanks, Mary, and agreed! I've subscribed to your Substack and look forward to exploring it.