[pbradley]

Yes, well, I'll be taking a Philosophy and Science Fiction class coming September (yes !@#$!, I did graduate... or walked... just making up credits for some early pre-"declaration of major" mistakes) and I just got the list of reading material.

• Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (Anchor) 376 pp.
• Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward (Applewood) 220 pp.
• Octavia Butler, Dawn (Aspect) 256 pp.
• Don Delillo, Cosmopolis (Picador) 224 pp.
• William Gibson, Neuromancer (Ace) 288 pp.
• William Gibson, Pattern Recognition (Berkley) 348 pp.
• Robert Heinlein, Orphans in the Sky (Mass Market) 224 pp.
• Michel Houellebecq, The Elementary Particles (Vintage) 272 pp.
• Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (Vintage) 324 pp.
• Ursula Le Guin, The Dispossessed (Perennial) 400 pp.
• Chuck Palahniuk, Rant (Anchor) 320 pp.
• Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time (Mass Market) 384 pp.
• Kim Stanley Robinson, Red Mars (Spectra) 592 pp.
• Alex Shakar, The Savage Girl (Harper Perennial) 288 pp.

I'm on ebay right now buying a number of them for summer reading since we'll be going over them quickly when class begins. I already queued Looking Backward (first book we'll be covering in class so that is required), Red Mars and The Dispossessed (the longest, therefore should read them now), as well as Neuromancer and Pattern Recognition (because, as we know, their influence on the Yoof). But the question remains, are there any particularly exceptional titles among these that I should also purchase for this preliminary reading?

[Dead-Air]

I haven't read Dawn, but the two Octavia Butler books I have read, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents were both really, really good. That said, I don't personally care about owning books in general, and many of my favorite reads are checked out from the library. The Gibson books and The Dispossessed are the only ones on the whole list I've actually read, but those three were great. I've heard good things about the Piercy book and look forward to reading it sometime.

I'd be really into reading your reviews of this stuff as you read them all. If you don't want to post them here, you should do so on This Board.

[pbradley]

Thanks.

[me.]

The Elementary Particles?,i think that was released under the title of Atomised here in the UK,which was a good read.I've read Cosmopolis by Delillo,but didn't think it was one of his stronger books,the only other one on the list i've read is the Ishiguro,which i thought was written in a really understated way which i couldn't really get on with,so out of the 3 i've read,i 'd say Elementary Particles or Atomised,i'd be intrested to know what the Heinlein's like?

[demonrail666]

That's an odd list, I have to say. The science fictional elements of quite a few of those books is quite marginal, I'd say. Given the quite philosophical nature of the course you're going to be attending, I'm quite surprised no mention has been given to either Ballard or Dick. Sounds like a fascinating course, nonetheless.

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

That's an odd list, I have to say. The science fictional elements of quite a few of those books is quite marginal, I'd say. Given the quite philosophical nature of the course you're going to be attending, I'm quite surprised no mention has been given to either Ballard or Dick. Sounds like a fascinating course, nonetheless.

Such courses inevitably end up representing a particular professor's favorites more than anything. I can tell looking at that list that there is going to be a heavy feminist element, which could go either way depending how truly open the instructor is to discourse.

[foxforce5]

I named my dog Oryx. Don't have a Crake yet.

If I were you I'd hold off buying any more books unless you read them first and enjoy them. Either make use of the library, or ask your instructor to put the book on hold at the school for you. I don't know why some of those books got wonderful reviews.

[pbradley]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

That's an odd list, I have to say. The science fictional elements of quite a few of those books is quite marginal, I'd say. Given the quite philosophical nature of the course you're going to be attending, I'm quite surprised no mention has been given to either Ballard or Dick. Sounds like a fascinating course, nonetheless.

Quite.

[pbradley]

Originally Posted by foxforce5

If I were you I'd hold off buying any more books unless you read them first and enjoy them. Either make use of the library, or ask your instructor to put the book on hold at the school for you. I don't know why some of those books got wonderful reviews.

If I were me, I would purchase as many as I can from the used bookstore just a walk from here and then sell back whatever I dislike.

I don't enjoy library deadlines.

[demonrail666]

Screw that list, buy a copy of Thomas Disch's book, Camp Concentration and feel your brain slowly begin to capsize.

[!@#$%!]

im no scholar of any kind, but-- hey, congrats on the graduation one way or another. heinlein is ok, old skool but entertaining, and had some interesting ideas; margaret atwood & ursula leguin put me to sleep a bit, don delillo ive only read white noise (twice, voluntarily) so i'd put my money there, if i had to guess; rant is one of the palahniuk books i havent read, but he's uneven-- haunted was a piece of shit while lullaby or choke for example were pretty cool-- he's no genius, he's derivative, yet often very entertaining.

my suggestion would be go to your local b&n, get yourself a nice pile, a cup of coffee, and browse through the motherfuckres, and see how you like/dislike the language & so you choose what you wanna buy.

in other words what im saying is that telling you what to read is sorta like telling you who to fuck-- sure you can try a suggestion but theres no guarantee it will be to your taste. hm this came out a weird metaphor. bordello of books! anyway, whatever happens, enjoy.

Originally Posted by pbradley

Yes, well, I'll be taking a Philosophy and Science Fiction class coming September (yes !@#$!, I did graduate... or walked... just making up credits for some early pre-"declaration of major" mistakes) and I just got the list of reading material.

• Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (Anchor) 376 pp.
• Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward (Applewood) 220 pp.
• Octavia Butler, Dawn (Aspect) 256 pp.
• Don Delillo, Cosmopolis (Picador) 224 pp.
• William Gibson, Neuromancer (Ace) 288 pp.
• William Gibson, Pattern Recognition (Berkley) 348 pp.
• Robert Heinlein, Orphans in the Sky (Mass Market) 224 pp.
• Michel Houellebecq, The Elementary Particles (Vintage) 272 pp.
• Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (Vintage) 324 pp.
• Ursula Le Guin, The Dispossessed (Perennial) 400 pp.
• Chuck Palahniuk, Rant (Anchor) 320 pp.
• Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time (Mass Market) 384 pp.
• Kim Stanley Robinson, Red Mars (Spectra) 592 pp.
• Alex Shakar, The Savage Girl (Harper Perennial) 288 pp.

I'm on ebay right now buying a number of them for summer reading since we'll be going over them quickly when class begins. I already queued Looking Backward (first book we'll be covering in class so that is required), Red Mars and The Dispossessed (the longest, therefore should read them now), as well as Neuromancer and Pattern Recognition (because, as we know, their influence on the Yoof). But the question remains, are there any particularly exceptional titles among these that I should also purchase for this preliminary reading?