3. I think 3 is symptomatic of reading nothing but schlocky space opera and young adult urban fantasy, frankly. (Not that I disapprove of people reading those genres sometimes, but my experience is that lots of people read them almost exclusively.) Those tend to be read and written by roughly similar demographics in the US, which is where most of that type of discussion seems to emanate from, lots of it post-Race Fail. I think when people make statements of this sort, it's often just code for wanting to read science fiction where the aliens seem like aliens and not space!Japanese or urban fantasy where New York is not primarily inhabited by bond goyim.
I haven't seen people express the same views about non-fiction, which probably reflects the delusion that non-fiction consists of "facts" or else evil lies spread by people one disagrees with. The idea that there could be a point of view or artistic elements in a work of non-fiction seems to escape a lot of people. Bah humbug.
In periods when I'm reading a lot, I read more fiction. When I get busier or I get fed up with whatever genre I've been reading, I tend to read a few reference works instead of many novels. (I don't read much popular science writing, true crime "novels", autobiography, or other chatty, narrative-y non-fiction.)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-06 07:23 pm (UTC)I haven't seen people express the same views about non-fiction, which probably reflects the delusion that non-fiction consists of "facts" or else evil lies spread by people one disagrees with. The idea that there could be a point of view or artistic elements in a work of non-fiction seems to escape a lot of people. Bah humbug.
In periods when I'm reading a lot, I read more fiction. When I get busier or I get fed up with whatever genre I've been reading, I tend to read a few reference works instead of many novels. (I don't read much popular science writing, true crime "novels", autobiography, or other chatty, narrative-y non-fiction.)