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Wherein I ramble about books, movies,
music, TV shows, my life, and occasionally, hot emo boys.
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Wednesday, November 07, 2007
This thread tickles me. You can go read it for yourself by clicking the title of this post, but I'll share the crucial bit.
I'm beyond astonished. Good grief, these books made him moan with disgust? *wide-eyed* But the funny bit is the addition of the word 'temporarily'. You think he finished the books as a mercy read?
The first thing that occurs to me, however, is that sci-fi has long been the province of adolescent males. Understandably so, the genre offers tales of adventure without the added weight of mature relationships, which carry with them the danger of sexual contact.
*whispers* Coitus.
I'm madly curious as to what's in these books that got them dubbed "pornographic". It's hard for me to imagine venerable authors like Silverberg and Clarke writing in a sweat-soaked frenzy to come up with something truly filthy, just for the sake of shocking this poor reader. Perhaps Silverberg and Clarke are dirty old men?
Heh. I must rebut!
In any event, it makes me wonder how 'classic' sf readers are going to respond to my work. The protagonist is a female -- and not a man in a woman's body, as some SF heroines seem to be. A real honest-to-God woman, complete with emotions and everything. Do you think people will complain that I'm smearing my girl cooties all over the purity of the genre?
We have our romance novels. Why must we write in other genres too?! SF should be a manly bastion without sex, emotion, or other squishy stuff, right? It should be solely devoted to killing aliens and flying ships and discovering new worlds. The male hero, if he ever had a relationship, should be alone now. Perhaps his wife died. Yeah, that works. That way, he's had the sex, but readers aren't confronted with the horrid reality of recreational coitus. (I said it again!)
Coitus.
So our lone wolf hero can sail away into the stars. Alone. Maybe he can have a robot as his sidekick. But not one who cusses, like Bender from Futurama. That would be dirty and perverted. And his adventures should always glorify violence, and show that the best way to solve a problem is with a ball-peen hammer. Or a laser pistol. Whatever. As long as something dies.
Why are emotional arcs and sexual content dubbed dirty / pornographic? American television is the same way. Insane levels of violence are permitted, but flash a little boob, and people freak out. It's definitely a yin / yang sort of thing, but yin is seen as more deviant than passive these days. So tell me. Why do we celebrate a cult of death and destruction?
I'm no prude, but I hate reading about sex in SF, especially when it's pornographic or dirty. Am I alone in this, or do others hate it, too? Here is a small list of books which have had me wince, moan with disgust and temporarily throw the book down:
Dawning Shadow - Somtow Sucharitkul
Throne of Madness - Somtow Sucharitkul
Alien Years - Robert Silverberg
The World Inside - Robert Silverberg (THE worst book I've ever read)
Camouflage - Joe Haldeman
Cradle - Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee
Ringworld Engineers - Larry Niven
Of these authors, Gentry Lee and Silverberg are the most perverted. I read reviews that Rama II (written with Gentry Lee)was perverted so I haven't read that one. Anyone else has any more books to add and avoid?
I'm beyond astonished. Good grief, these books made him moan with disgust? *wide-eyed* But the funny bit is the addition of the word 'temporarily'. You think he finished the books as a mercy read?
The first thing that occurs to me, however, is that sci-fi has long been the province of adolescent males. Understandably so, the genre offers tales of adventure without the added weight of mature relationships, which carry with them the danger of sexual contact.
*whispers* Coitus.
I'm madly curious as to what's in these books that got them dubbed "pornographic". It's hard for me to imagine venerable authors like Silverberg and Clarke writing in a sweat-soaked frenzy to come up with something truly filthy, just for the sake of shocking this poor reader. Perhaps Silverberg and Clarke are dirty old men?
Heh. I must rebut!
In any event, it makes me wonder how 'classic' sf readers are going to respond to my work. The protagonist is a female -- and not a man in a woman's body, as some SF heroines seem to be. A real honest-to-God woman, complete with emotions and everything. Do you think people will complain that I'm smearing my girl cooties all over the purity of the genre?
We have our romance novels. Why must we write in other genres too?! SF should be a manly bastion without sex, emotion, or other squishy stuff, right? It should be solely devoted to killing aliens and flying ships and discovering new worlds. The male hero, if he ever had a relationship, should be alone now. Perhaps his wife died. Yeah, that works. That way, he's had the sex, but readers aren't confronted with the horrid reality of recreational coitus. (I said it again!)
Coitus.
So our lone wolf hero can sail away into the stars. Alone. Maybe he can have a robot as his sidekick. But not one who cusses, like Bender from Futurama. That would be dirty and perverted. And his adventures should always glorify violence, and show that the best way to solve a problem is with a ball-peen hammer. Or a laser pistol. Whatever. As long as something dies.
Why are emotional arcs and sexual content dubbed dirty / pornographic? American television is the same way. Insane levels of violence are permitted, but flash a little boob, and people freak out. It's definitely a yin / yang sort of thing, but yin is seen as more deviant than passive these days. So tell me. Why do we celebrate a cult of death and destruction?
if a person says, "not be a prude, but"... it means they're a prude in the same way someone says, "not to be racist, but..." then they're gonna say something racist.
i like a little relationship in all my books, its why i read mostly women authors. men just don't pay enough attention to the details.
I'm not sure if it's sex he objects to, or if those books had something of "Gor" in them where there was sexual subjugation involved. I haven't actually read them.
Regarding the cult of death and destruction, I think it's humanity's way of processing and coping with so much violence in our past. That's a very simplistic observation, I know (especially coming from a therapist). But to really address the issue, someone would have to write a whole book. Or maybe 100.
I grew up reading SF first, but I love that more books are emerging with romantic themes. There's room for both, frankly. I'm in the process of shopping around an SFR, and while I'd love to report there's a lot of interest (from romance agents), I've only had one request for a full (still pending) (i know, my story could suck, too).
But even if I can't get my book out there, I sure hope to be able to read more. Can't wait for GRIMSPACE; I keep telling everyone I know about it.
Oh, good points. Very well put too.
Thanks, Clara. I'm really flattered that you're looking forward to the first Jax book, and that you're telling people you know. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising, and it's one an author has very little control over.
The Sirantha Jax books are pretty close to a new thing under the sun. The nearest thing I can think of is the StarDoc books by SL Viehl (which I actually haven't read). That is, strong female protagonist, where the emotional / relationship arc is balanced against the action / adventure in an ongoing series.
I had a whole screed about the Gor books but I won't waste the space.