Hello!
I’ve decided, after being asked by an editor at Abrams Image (publisher of lovely art books) what science fiction and fantasy he should be reading, and after many conversations too unremarkable to convey at length by people who dismiss sci-fi but would probably enjoy it, and after a re-read of Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (which is itself wondrous), I’ve decided to start a project on this blog.
Twice each week (usually on Tuesday and Saturday), I’ll post a sentence from a work of science fiction or fantasy that belongs to a book worth reading, and a little on why you ought to read it.
This is not a definitive list, nor an attempt to create a canon. What it is, is a quick demonstration of the quality of writing that’s out there. And despite my disavowing the whole canon thing, I’m also going to take the opportunity to include works that aren’t generally thought of as science fiction or fantasy, or works that are that come from authors who don’t think of themselves as writers of either. We don’t have a really good word yet for imaginative literature (people have tried labeling it fabulism, and speculative fiction, and sci-fi, and so on, here in the States, and none of it really works, and imaginative literature is on the mark but too much of a mouthful), but I’m including everything that belongs under the wider umbrella.
By the end, I hope this list will expose literary readers to sf/fantasy they should consider, sf/fantasy readers to literary fiction they should consider, to both groups, some classics they may have missed (or should re-read), and to people who don’t read as often, books that they might get something out of, which will ideally induce them to pick a couple up and have a go. And I hope some of you will suggest things you think I should read.
Today’s sentence is from Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury, 2004):
A great magician has said of his profession that its practitioners “… must pound and rack their brains to make the least learning go in, but quarrelling always comes very naturally to them,” and the York magicians had proved the truth of this for a number of years.
First, the quote-within-a quote speaks to the reader. It feels true. It’s philosophical, but not in an intrusive way. In my case, I was reminded of how I have trouble retaining little details, and also of how, when there’s a cyclist who wants to blow past people on a crowded street, I want to give him a flying tackle. But I shouldn’t, and don’t, tempted as I may be to dive into one of those Critical Mass twerps.
Next, the sentence hints at a wider conflict among the York magicians. It turns out there’s a lot more going on in the story than their academic infighting. Susanna Clarke creates a wonderful alternate history of England (the novel is set during the Napoleonic Wars), and skillfully uses magic as both a multi-level metaphor and an engrossing part of the world she creates with her novel. I find her writing elegant, and the book’s a page-turner. The first time I read it, I plowed through its thousand pages in eight hours of riding the bus to and from Boston.
So if you’ve not read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, it’s well worth your time and energy. When you’re done, feel free to discuss with other readers (or fire off a missive) in the comments section below.
You’ll find this in the fantasy section of your local bookstore.
Filed under: 100 Sentences, Adventures, Writing | Tagged: books, culture, fantasy, fiction, junot diaz, lists, literary fiction, literature, magical realism, novels, sci-fi, science fiction, susanna clarke, the brief wondrous life of oscar wao | 10 Comments »
