Posted by guillermo maynez
on 24/10/2011, 11:15:47, in reply to "Re: The Tunnel and other tunnels"
189.140.167.94
Interesting discussion. In the case of Poe, there is an exception to what Sterling says: "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym", which of course is not only horror, but a strange mix of adventure, horror, and science fiction in novel form. Just like Sterling, I also refuse to read pulp and genre fiction, and only include sci fi, horror, and fantasy when they can be considered good literature. Not that I haven't done it, of course. As a boy and teenager, I read everything that fell into my hands, including things like Irving Wallace's "The Sins of Philip Fleming" and "The Fan Club". I'm blushing...
Besides that junk, I also read interesting curiosities, like a book with Soviet sci-fi stories, which I remember liking a lot, and another compilation of American sci-fi stories (you can see I belonged with the Non-aligned group!). All I remember of this collection is that it included a story by Theodore Sturgeon, who is perhaps known by Steven. Finally for the moment, I also read collection of horror and mystery stories, often including stories not only by Poe and Lovecraft, but also writers like Maupassant, Nerval, Bulwer-Lytton and others.
--Previous Message--
: Very interesting, Steven. I certainly agree that
: science fiction is primarily a literature of ideas,
: which is why it works well in short form. I also
: agree that science fiction potentially works very well
: as either a short story or a novel.
:
: I can not agree that horror tends to be a literature
: of ideas. It is, almost by definition, a fiction
: aimed directly at the emotions. Its purpose is to
: shock, horrify, or frighten. It is probably easier to
: frighten in short form than in a novel. You only have
: to scare the reader once in a short story; you must
: find ways to sustain or repeat the scares in novel
: length. The two most famous writers of horror that
: come to mind are Poe and Lovecraft, both of whom wrote
: exclusively in short stories or novelettes. Horror's
: narrowness of desired response is shared by humor and
: pornography.
:
: The traditional mystery of the Agatha Christie sort is
: partially a riddle or puzzle. Several suspects are
: introduced, and the reader is invited to solve the
: mystery along with the sleuth. Obviously, an author
: needs a reasonable amount of space to do this.
: Therefore, mystery is a natural for novel length.
:
: Fantasy, even more than science fiction, involves
: world-building. Pulp fantasy of the sword and sorcery
: type works fine in short story form (Howard, Leiber).
: Most of the finest fantasy, however, involves creating
: another world with its own rules and logic. This can
: not be done in a short story.
:
: I suspect that you are right about historical fiction
: and romance relying on plot and character. I am only
: familiar with these types of stories when they shade
: into literary fiction. I have never read them as
: genre fiction.
:
:
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: --Previous Message--
: It is difficult to sustain the theme for too
: long without turning it into some over-the-top
: silliness.
:
: I'll have to come to the defense of the science
: fiction novel on this one. I don't think science
: fiction is any less suitable a genre for long fiction
: than any other. In my opinion it's not any weakness of
: its novels that makes SF short stories so popular.
:
: My theory (which I developed this afternoon while
: watching my granddaughter's soccer team get
: slaughtered 9-0 by the mighty "Purple
: Panthers") is this: Science fiction is primarily
: a literature of ideas, and it is relatively easy to
: present a single idea in a short format. Horror is
: also a genre based on ideas and thrives in the short
: story. Mystery, fantasy, historical fiction and
: romance depend more on plot or character, which take
: longer to develop. Not that science fiction and horror
: can't have well-developed plots and characters too,
: but, unlike the other genres, they don't have to.
:
:
:
Message Thread
« Back to index