[PREV - MODERN_DECAY]    [TOP]

HOPE_OF_THE_SLANS

                   ((Boy this node is badly named. 
                    Put something else here and 
                    shuffle this material off to 
                    something like 
                        SKIFFY_TOLERANCE ))     



This is the common mythology of the   
science ficiton fan: reading SF 
requires different skills to read 
than mainstream fiction.  

The science fiction reader is
expected to make inferences about
the background technology, social
structures, and history
underlying the foreground story.

Direct lectures to the reader on
these subjects are regarded as        TELL_ME_TRUE
crude and clumsy, a violation of
the "show don't tell" rule.

SF readers like to pat themselves       (on the head,    
for being more intelligent than         back, whatever.) 
mainstream readers...                  


There's probably *some*
truth to this point of
view, but I've an
uncomfortable feeling that
it's exaggerated.
             
I've often thought about conducting    
a literary experiment on human     
subjects:  Have two groups of      
people read the same two novels    
in different orders:

   Larry Niven's "A Gift From Earth"
   Roger Zelazny's "Lord of Light"
                     
My expectation would be that comprehension 
of "Lord of Light" would be much easier for
the group that read "A Gift From Earth"    
first, because Larry Niven, being the      
straight-forward (some might say, simple   
minded) writer that he is spells out the   
historical background.  Zelazny, in his    
more Literary mode in those days, was            
trying hard not to insult the reader with        (The setup: A large     
explanations.  You have to piece together        colony space ship, with 
the background from more oblique hints, and      passengers in suspended 
the scenario has many features in common         animation, and a crew in 
with "A Gift from Earth".                        charge of transporting  
                                                 them and setting up the 
                                                 colony... after which   
                                                 the crew decide to      
                                                 retain their privileged   
   Which is to say, that it                      position, and create a  
   may be that the reason                        new aristocracy.)       
   the regular SF reader has                                   
   an edge in reading more                                           
   SF, is that they're
   already familiar with all
   these standard tropes.   
                                          
   It's not necessarily superior          
   intelligence that let's you   
   figure it out.  It may be a  
   superior tolerance for trashy
   fiction which allows you to  
   develop your familiarity with
   the genre.                   
   
   
                      
--------
[NEXT - TELL_ME_TRUE]