The entire oeuvre of Mrs. Radcliffe ....
Lindsey: Why--why did you... Lorne: One last job. You're not part of the solution, Lindsey. You never will be. Lindsey: You kill me? A flunky?! I'm not just...Angel...kills me. You...Angel... Lorne: Good night, folks.
'Not Fade Away'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Toddson - Aug 11, 2011 12:19:28 pm PDT #15918 of 28293
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"
Dana - Aug 11, 2011 12:34:27 pm PDT #15919 of 28293
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
From the Glen Weldon article:
Gary K. Wolfe, again: "It surprises me a bit that you have to get down to #20 (Frankenstein) before you come to the first work by a woman, or that there are only 5 women authors in the top 50."
I am the opposite of surprised.
Consuela - Aug 11, 2011 12:44:21 pm PDT #15920 of 28293
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
Me too, Dana.
James Nicoll has a list of the women: [link]
Shocking and disappointing that LeGuin doesn't show up until #45, in fact after McCaffrey and MZB. Seriously? ::sigh::
zuisa - Aug 11, 2011 12:49:52 pm PDT #15921 of 28293
call me jacki; zuisa is an internet nick from ancient times =)
I'm about to be blasphemous, I think, but I don't care much for LeGuin. Unless her stuff for adults is better? I read all the Earthsea books for a class in college and was bored to tears. I found that she wrote really fantastic dialogue, but people hardly ever spoke, and that all the narration was presented in an almost condescending tone, as if I were supposed to know the story already.
Consuela - Aug 11, 2011 12:59:20 pm PDT #15922 of 28293
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
Unless her stuff for adults is better? I read all the Earthsea books for a class in college and was bored to tears.
LeGuin's YA is not the same as her adult fiction. However if you found the Earthsea novels boring then I don't think you would like her adult work, either.
all the narration was presented in an almost condescending tone, as if I were supposed to know the story already
Yes, because it's a legend. I wouldn't say it's condescending, but the narrative convention, especially for the first one, is that this is basically "The Legend of Sparrowhawk: The Early Years". The imaginary audience already knows who Ged grows up to be.
Strega - Aug 11, 2011 1:04:59 pm PDT #15923 of 28293
So we traded picks and made our own top ten of just Fantasy and I like our list better.
I like yours better, too. I don't know all of those, but the ones I know, I like. And I'm not even that big on fantasy -- you two should do a separate SF list too.
The NPR list is exactly what people should expect from an internet poll. Well, I'm slightly surprised that Neil Gaiman is only listed 4 times, but other than that.
§ ita § - Aug 11, 2011 1:07:03 pm PDT #15924 of 28293
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
The NPR list is exactly what people should expect from a internet poll
Really? I think it's very good for an internet poll. May not be *my* picks, but I would probably enjoy reading many of those books, and I've known about but not been tempted by Hec's list for a while now.
zuisa - Aug 11, 2011 1:07:29 pm PDT #15925 of 28293
call me jacki; zuisa is an internet nick from ancient times =)
Yes, because it's a legend. I wouldn't say it's condescending, but the narrative convention, especially for the first one, is that this is basically "The Legend of Sparrowhawk: The Early Years". The imaginary audience already knows who Ged grows up to be.
I understood that, but it still just bothered me. I don't know. I think perhaps I would have liked them better in that class had they not immediately followed The Once ad Future King, which is basically my favorite book of all time. We had also just read The Golden Compass and Wicked, which I adored.
I'm sorry! I might give LeGuin another chance, because everyone who is not me seems to love her.
megan walker - Aug 11, 2011 1:10:36 pm PDT #15926 of 28293
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
I loved the Earthsea books when I read them as a kid. When I tried to reread as an adult? They bored me to tears and I couldn't even get through the first one. But I'm not a huge SF/Fantasy reader either.
-t - Aug 11, 2011 1:23:54 pm PDT #15927 of 28293
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
I couldn't get into the Earthsea books (only tried to read them as an adult) but I generally love LeGuin. Try The Dispossessed or The Left Hand of Darkness, zuisa. Or Those Who Walk Away From Omelas if a short story will do. Hey, you said you needed to read more SF, I'm helping!
I'm on a fantasy novella and short story kick right now and it is convincing me that I am definitely not a hardcore fantasy fan. What I like of the genre I like a whole lot, but what I don't like really irritates me.