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<blockquote cite="mid:4DBCCB09.80406@io.com" type="cite">
<blockquote type="cite">James Wynn:<br>
I think Wolfe's problem with it was that there was no reason not
to have
<br>
written the story in the Realistic genre. It was a Naturalism
story with
<br>
SF scenery. Pointless. It didn't deal at all with all the "other
stuff"
<br>
that Wolfe thinks Realistic fiction cannot address.
<br>
<br>
Of course the same could be said of Heinlein's "Starship
Troopers" --
<br>
just War fiction with lasers.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Jeff Wilson:<br>
Can you tell me what page the lasers appear on?
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
"Lasars" was only intended as a cipher for a SF. "ST" is at its core
a fictionalized military service memoir.<br>
Honestly, I was only attempting to consider SF literature from the
POV of what I think were Wolfe's problems with 'The Dispossessed'.
The counter-argument could be "Oh, then Wes Craven's 'Halloween' is
just a Crime Thriller with a supernatural killer", or "Star Wars is
just King Arthur with extra shiny swords". <br>
But if one see SF (as Wolfe here is arguing it should be IMO) as an
opportunity to put Reality on trial to better understand its limits,
then "ST" falls short.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:4DBCCB09.80406@io.com" type="cite">Jerry
Friedman:<br>
<pre wrap="">Both <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>The Dispossessed<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i> and <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Starship Troopers<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i> had to be SF because they're
about societies that have never existed.</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
Wolfe's comment was:<br>
<br>
"It was about the college professor who's married to a college
professor, only science fiction, and this planet is Russia and this
planet is the United States."<br>
<br>
Wolfe is saying that *really* the societies are *not* intended to be
ones that have never existed. We're supposed to see that they are
actually quite close.<br>
<br>
J<br>
<br>
<br>
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