Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 06:37:50 -0800 (PST)
From: Cathy Green <dalek_cag at yahoo.com>
Subject: [WSFA] reading likes and dislikes
To: WSFAlist at keithlynch.net
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

I'm afraid I fall into Candy's camp where Bester is
concerned.  I've enjoyed some of his short fiction,
but The Stars My Destination really didn't do anything
for me.  I think perhaps my expectations were too
high, since everyone kept telling me what a
masterpiece it was. don't think I hated it quite as
much as Candy though.  I kind of feel the same way
about Arthur C. Clarke.  Love the short fiction, but
while I didn't actively dislike Rama or Childhood's
End, I don't consider them masterpeices that I would
encourage eveyone I know to read.  Of course, I also
feel that way about lots of nonSF authors too.
Virginia Woolf comes to mind.  I know she's supposed
to be brilliant, but while I enjoyed her nonfiction
essays A Room with A View and Three Guineas, I've
never liked her fiction, but I've ended up reading a
fair amount of it because everytime I mention not
liking one of her great masterpeices, someone always
says "try this one. it's much better."

Of course, if my critical abilities weren't still at
the Beavis and Butthead "liked it/it sucked" level,
and I could actually articulate why I liked or
disliked a particular book, then maybe my friends
would actually be able to recommend books suited to me
tastes in fiction.

--cathy

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