http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/20/china-mieville-selects-50-science-fiction-and-fantasy-novels-that-socialists-must-read Comments On: China Mieville Selects 50 Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels That Socialists Must Read by Charles Mudede en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Thu, 23 May 2013 10:30:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss I think dismissing Mieville out-of-hand is poor judgment; I can see why he doesn't appeal to everyone (though I *can't* see why anyone would dislike Un Lun Dun), but disliking his prose style and/or his politics doesn't make him either pretentious or terrible. And I'm keen to sift through his list and see what I can add to my to-read list.
Posted by kbryna]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:02:08 -0800 The Stranger
The idea presented in the book is that the Perfect Man can guide people to an ideal existence, and those who can't fit in will be eliminated. It's fascist hippy messianism. It beats Nazism, but it's no freedom loving democracy, it's a light-handed authoritarianism. It's just assumed that after being exposed to the Man From Mars's message, society will eventually conform.
Posted by dwightmoodyforgetsthings]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:13:19 -0800 The Stranger
Posted by betsio]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:26:26 -0800 The Stranger Naw, he only erased people who were direct, immediate threats (and even that isn't completely true, at the end). M.V. Smith was pretty open and accepting of the odd types who challenged the status quo. You should re-read it. Good book. Weird, but good. I'm not even sure I grokked it completely.
Posted by Urgutha Forka]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:54:16 -0800 The Stranger Posted by dwightmoodyforgetsthings]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:42:02 -0800 The Stranger
you can't seriously think he was a fascist after reading Stranger in a Strange Land

his hero starts a free-love hippie commune, for fuck's sake
Posted by DeaconBlues]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:12:12 -0800 The Stranger
the USSR didn't really have a crackdown on expression until after WWII

(with the exception of Trotskyist publications)
Posted by DeaconBlues]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:09:19 -0800 The Stranger Posted by dwightmoodyforgetsthings]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:20:13 -0800 The Stranger
So, The Fountainhead is up there for me, but Atlas Shrugged was way too long and, really, if you've read one Ayn Rand novel, you've read them all. Plenty of Heinlein novels are on my list (e.g., Starship Troopers, Red Planet, and Starman Jones are some of my favorites). But I also really enjoy Vonnegut's novels; (Player Piano,and Sirens of Titan, are tops.

People who are only capable of reading novels that conform to their pre-held beliefs seem closed-minded to me. But to each his/her own.
Posted by Urgutha Forka]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:48:44 -0800 The Stranger Master and Margarita "got past the censors" reveals that he is a complete idiot. Like, total fucking moron.
Posted by minderbender]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:37:02 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Julie in Eugene]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:23:50 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Will in Seattle]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:09:18 -0800 The Stranger Posted by yelahneb]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:57:19 -0800 The Stranger Posted by ScrawnyKayaker]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:39:05 -0800 The Stranger Posted by NateMan]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:36:02 -0800 The Stranger Posted by sisyphusgal]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:34:52 -0800 The Stranger Posted by CATSPAW666]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:29:38 -0800 The Stranger Posted by anonymoose coward]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:17:36 -0800 The Stranger Posted by loopback]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:17:23 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Didn't bother to register]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:00:56 -0800 The Stranger Posted by NateMan]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:51:03 -0800 The Stranger