Genre Fiction as Literature

Like many men of my generation, I enjoy what is typically referred to as genre fiction, that is science fiction and fantasy as it is presented both in print and on film. In fact, I think that I am probably a bigger fan most, with an extensive array of quotes and pop culture references at my disposal, often so obscure that even other nerds don’t get them right away. However, almost since the advent of literary and film criticism, these genres have been dismissed as irrelevant by the critics.

Now, to be honest, there is good reason for this. In most science fiction and fantasy, there is a great deal of action, slender women in revealing clothing carrying huge swords and/or lasers and a cadre of adjectives that even Roger and his thesaurus find daunting but very little in the way of plot and character development. Even in classics such as the Martian Tales books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the story exists solely to serve the action and the whole comes off as though Burroughs was simply writing out his childhood fantasies. There is much better out there of course but the bulk of it really is junk fiction.

In recent years though, there has been a growing appreciation of the fact that there is also quality science fiction and fantasy out there. Literature has softened up a bit due in no small part to the crusading efforts of Stephen King who simply demands that quality be recognized no matter where it be found, and also the rise in popularity of things like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and comic books. Film in particular has come recognize quality genre fiction. Iron Man was well received, District 9 was graced with a Best Picture nomination and Return of the King is one of the most decorated films in history.

Why the sudden turn around? It is hard to say. Personally, I think it has a lot to do with amount of money such properties bring in. That said, it is also possible that there is a genuine recognition of what such stories have to offer. Which brings me to the issue at hand, does genre fiction have something unique to offer as opposed to what is generally referred to as literature? Or if it doesn’t offer anything unique, does it at least present what is offers in not just a unique, but valid way?

Perhaps the most obvious thing differentiating literature from genre fiction is the setting. Literature is generally set in the real world, typically, but not always contemporary with the time and place of the author. They also concern events that could plausibly happen. Even the world war scenarios of Tom Clancy’s novels could possibly occur given the right circumstances. There are of course exceptions such as the gods and goddesses actions in the work of Homer. Such works are included in the canon of respectable literature for the simple reason that they have stood the test of time.

The ways in which genre fiction differ here are obvious. Lightsabers, giants, far away worlds in habited by aliens who send out black monoliths and trigger impossible novas are clearly not part of our everyday experience. Even in more restrained science fiction such that of Jules Verne, one finds ideas and props that are typically slightly beyond the current time and place. They are also very often essential to the story, sometimes absolutely so as in the case of H.G. Well’s Time Machine or the Martians of his War of the Worlds.

This brings us to another difference, the nature of the central conflict, or rather, the way the conflict is portrayed. In literature, the action is very often (though not always) character driven, filled with lots of dialogue or introspective narrative. And the conflict often involves a relationship, whether it be natural tension between personalities or the subtle class/social status conflict of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. The English Patient is driven by a love triangle, as is the movie The Piano; whatever the case, the issue at hand usually revolves around a relationship.

Social issues are also a central feature such as in the book and movie How Green Was My Valley about how the Industrial Revolution gradually tore apart a family in a small mining town in Wales.

There is of course plenty of plot-driven literature out there as well such as Homer, John Grisham, Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton (for the record, I am not putting any of these other guys in the same league as Homer, just making a point).

With science fiction and fantasy, the action and conflict are generally plot driven. There is a sword to be found, and alien invasion/meteor/virus/dragon to be stopped. Relationships are often important, the greatest example being the friendship of Frodo and Sam in the Lord of the Rings. Others abound such as the father and son relationship in Star Wars and friendship of Jim, Bones and Spock in Star Trek. However, these relationships are not necessarily what the story is about, or the mover of the action, regardless of how essential they may be to resolution of the action.

Superficially then, genre fiction is often about an invasion, the restoration of a kingdom, or some other outlandish set up. But such settings usually mask what the story is truly about. The aforementioned District 9, superficially is about one man’s transformation into a member of an alien race that he used to oppressing. What it is really about is racism, apartheid and how it takes walking in another man’s shoes (or skin) before one understands him. The novel War of the Worlds is at least in part about the scarcity of resources, while the movie is also about man’s tendency to descend into irrational fear on one hand and the power of faith on the other. Remember, at the end, everyone is praying in Church when the germs get the aliens. The stories of Philip K. Dick generally explore the nature of free will and just what it is that makes us human, such as in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (better known as Blade Runner). A lesser known work is the Pre-Persons which takes place in a world in which children can be aborted up to twelve years of age, the age at which (it has been decided) a person is able to handle basic algebra. The main character, an adult male, challenges this foolish notion by saying that he can’t remember how to do algebra and therefore must not be fully human either.

In the realm of fantasy, there is none greater than Tolkien and his Lord of the Rings. In this work, we find issues of destiny, sacrifice, the power of grace over physical might, the value of friendship, etc. Even more impressive is the fact that is was done unconsciously. All these were simply elements of the story he was trying to tell.

The point of all of this is to illustrate that not only do the highly imaginative settings and props of genre fiction not impede the exploration of serious ideas, they often aid it by throwing the ideas into sharper relief. In fact, it could be argued that in some ways genre fictions is better than mainstream literature at doing this. The settings allow for thought experiments that take many ideas of today out their logical, or at least logically possible conclusions (just think of how Huxley and Heinlein used trends in entertainment and manufacturing in Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451) which in turn provide excellent opportunities for exploring the human condition in ways that rarely seen in any other medium except formal philosophy. Mainstream literature is capable of this as well but it’s focus on present-day realism and the subjective experiences of the characters makes it much more difficult. Again, there are exceptions, such as the aforementioned Jane Austen and those works of fantasy and science fiction that have been around long enough to be accepted by the critics (Frankenstein, the works of Verne and Wells).

In terms of sheer literary achievement, a good genre fiction story also has much to boast about, considering that they can take characters in utterly fantastic situations and make them engaging believable. That takes a fair amount of talent as well as a thorough understanding of human nature. More conventional mainstream literature has a different, though no less difficult challenge; take characters living ordinary lives and make them interesting enough that you want to take a few hours out of your life to read about theirs. This ability is what made authors like Mark Twain, Shakespeare, and Austen famous. Both tasks are daunting and worthy of admiration, even if one prefers on brand over the other.

So, does genre fiction offer something substantial that mainstream literature does not? That is debatable. What I do hope to have show though is that genre fiction can do as good a job as mainstream literature at examining the highs and lows of human nature and even of exploring various issues of import. Happy readying.

John Carter of Mars

For some time now, I’ve been promising a review of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Martian Tales Trilogy. At last, here it is. Of course, I read them several months ago now, so my memory is a touch fuzzy. The good news for you is that this should be a relatively short post.

First, a note on presentation. I bought the Barnes and Noble edition which is great in terms of price ($9.99 for the three book collection) but horrible in terms of quality presentation. First, the cover is a rather bland picture of Mars, which is quite the contrast with vivid fantasy art that normally goes with these books. The book is also riddled with typos. Apparently Barnes and Noble couldn’t be bothered to run it through the spell checker. It is also a flimsy glued binding which will start to fall apart after just a few readings. But again, it was only ten bucks for three books.

It also has a forward that reads like it was written by a bachelors in humanities at Berkley. There were numerous times during the book that I found myself wondering if that person had read the same book I was reading. For example, he was talking about Carter’s attitude to the Martians as being like that of a British officer to the people in the various colonies. To make his point, he quotes Carter saying something like “I am a better master by being a kind master.” Presumably this quote would have come from the third book, Warlord of Mars when Carter is basically made king of the whole planet. But no, it doesn’t refer to the Martians at all, not the sentient ones anyway. It actually comes from the first book and refers to a beast of burden used by the green Martians much as we use horses.

Moving on to the story, it quickly becomes clear that the author the forward got one thing right, it is an action-adventure story, with the closest modern counterpart being probably Indiana Jones. That is, character, plot, and setting all exist largely to facilitate the action. Not that all these other story elements are completely neglected, they simply aren’t the point. The point is that John Carter is an unstoppable warrior who leaps first and looks second, and fortunately usually finds himself on the side of right.

Things begin with an introduction to our hero, who knows well that he is “not like other men,” for a number of reasons. These include the fact that his nephew cannot remember Carter ever looking any different, even though he first met his uncle as a small child and is now a full-grown man. In fact, Carter himself really doesn’t remember ever being any different, seemingly perpetually to be aged in his mid-thirties and in peak physical condition.

The adventure begins in Arizona where John Carter is prospecting for gold. Naturally, not all is peaceful and he winds up taking refuge from a band of natives in a cave where is seemingly overcome by some gas from within. This triggers a kind of out of body experience in which he is transported to Mars. It is a “kind” of out of body experience because we quickly realize that he has a fully functioning body on Mars, in addition to the one left in the cave on earth. This isn’t explained, and frankly doesn’t need to be. As I said, such things really aren’t the point.

Once there, he quickly is captured by a tribe of green Martians. These are four-armed green giants who live a brutal existence among the deserts and ancient ruins of Mars. While a prisoner, he actually becomes a chieftain of the tribe, basically by killing everyone who pisses him off (don’t worry, they deserve it) and so earns the respect of this warlike people, especially of Tars Tarkas, apparently just about the only green Martian with something like a conscience. He also makes the acquaintance of Deja Thoris, who is a red Martian and looks human, in fact, like a very beautiful human. She is also the princess of Mars and thus a great prize of the green Martians. Carter though, eventually helps her to escape. Through a number of other adventures, he gets her back to her home city of Helium, marries her and forms an alliance with all the green Martians after Tars Tarkas becomes their big chief. First book ends with Carter rushing to restart the air production facility that continually replenishes Mars’ thin atmosphere. But not before passing out and waking back up in the cave in Arizona.

The second book involves John Carter’s return to Mars ten years later. Rather than a quick reunion with Deja Thoris and their child (who had not quite hatched – yes hatched – at the end of the first book) he is plunged into the deep south of Mars. This is where their religion thought Heaven was. However, we quickly find out that this Heaven is more like Hell, populated with great white apes and strange plant-men who rend nearly everyone who gets down the river. If they make it past them, they are taken prisoner by a race of white Martians who essentially are the priests of the land. They, however are not the top of the food chain though as they are themselves enslaved by a race of black Martians, whose leader is the goddess of Mars. Naturally, over the course of the book, Carter exposes the whole brutal deception, leading right to the third book in which he leads the red and green Martians in the defeat of the a coalition of surviving and discontented black and white Martians who are joined by some discontented red Martians and the long-last race of yellow Martians who hide in a secret city at Mars’ north pole.

As I said, though, they real star of the books is Carter’s physical prowess and loyalty to Deja Thoris and Tars Tarkas, all of which are demonstrated through a never ending series of sword and fist fights. All in all, the action is written well, and Tars Tarkas is as good of a character as John Carter. Deja Thoris though is a largely forgettable damsel in distress, bringing little to the story except motivation for Carter. Which now that I think about it is a very good thing. After all, no motivation equals no story. So while her visible role is small, the whole series of books couldn’t exist if not for her. Something to ponder.

My personal recommendation is that if you want a fun read to just let the brain relax a bit, pick up a John Carter book and enjoy the ride. However, I wouldn’t recommend reading multiple stories in a row since they constant battles and demonstrations of Carter’s invincibility do start to get a tad repetitive after a while.

Electronics Update

That new Asus I last posted about has been working out great so far.  The night I set it up, I wound up playing Starcraft 2 for 5 hours straight and it barely blinked.  It also does a great job streaming Netflix movies and runs Stellarium beautifully.  I highly recommend you get one. 
On the cell phone front, it turns out that the Sienna phone tends to drop calls in the house after all.  That means we won't be dropping ATT in favor of them.  We may wind up doing Vonage instead. 
In other news, my work and my basement are going smoothly.  Well, mostly.  However, they are keeping me from getting to the numerous sci-fi related posts that I want to do.

Predators

So, I went to go see Predators last night. First of all, I enjoyed the heck out of it. It wasted no time getting right into the thick of things, beginning with our unlikely band of "heroes" literally falling from the sky onto the alien planet. We then spend the next half an hour waiting for them to figure out that they are being hunted by they have no idea what. Naturally, we know exactly what is going on but it is still fun to watch them figure it out. During this phase, there is a rather pretentious scene where several of the band of tough guys tries figure out what is going on, reading their own experience into it. The Russian, thinks it is a military test, the cartel enforcer seems to think they may be hallucinating or have been kidnapped for ransom, the convict thinks it's a drug experiment, you get the idea. Basically, it's the whole "people always force the unknown into their own experience," thing. Not that there isn't some truth to that but given the circumstances in this movie, they're really reaching. A far better application of this idea is how they use there experience to interpret the tactics of the Predators, such has how the mercenary (played by Adrien Brody) is the first to figure out that they are being hunted and the death-squad member figures out that one of them was wounded and turned into a trap for the rest because he's done the same thing.
Speaking of the characters, we never learn much about them except that they are not a nice bunch of people. In fact, the one woman (played by Alice Braga) comes to believe they have been chosen has prey because they themselves are predators, monsters, inhuman. Naturally, some humanity comes out (for most of them anyway) as they need to band together to struggle to survive, with a measure of redemption being achieved for several members who sacrifice themselves for the rest.
What of the Predators themselves? They are every bit as scary and ruthless as you would expect them to be, using maiming traps and stabbing people from behind with their giant writs blades. We get to see some new technology in their hawk-like probe that they can use to track their prey. We also see some "dogs" which are every bit as tough and scary as the alien baddies themselves. We also learn that there at least to races of Predator, the kind we saw in the original (and presumably all the other movies) and the three hunting Brody and company. As it turns out, these to races don't much like each other which leads to Predator versus Predator throw down. Unfortunately, it is also a bit of a let down, with the fight apparently being modeled off of beginner training videos for the WWE.
The final fight between Brody and the lead Predator (the other two have already been killed) is well done, with Brody using a very simple and clever trick to scramble the Predator's infamous infrared vision and then smacking the heck out of the evil bugger. Well, it also got shot through the chest by Braga's sniper rifle...
The next morning, they wake up to the sight of another bunch of parachutes falling from the sky, the whole process apparently starting over. Perhaps, there will be a sequel with them somehow getting off the planet. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
The only other thing worth mentioning is when they meet Noland (played by Laurence Fishbourne, who has been on the alien planet...a long time. Long enough that he's just a little be crazy. In fact, as I type this, it occurs to me that he is almost a warning to Brody's Royce of what he might become since they seem to have the same "do whatever it takes to survive" attitude. In any case, this little interlude doesn't really go anywhere and frankly just breaks up the movie. It would have been better, if a tad predictable to have Noland lead the rest in a real knock-down-drag-out fight with the Predators. Oh well, maybe our survivors will fill that roll in the next one...
At the end of the day, the movie had it's flaws but I would strongly recommend it fans of the original and anyone who want a good sci-fi/action fix.Re