Almost all vintage SF is unreadable garbage. Iām probably forgetting something, but Starship Troopers is the only pre-Vietnam SF I can think of that isnāt shit. Asimov had clever ideas but couldnāt write at all.
I would love to go back in time and give Asimov some writing help.
I vaguely remember The Moon is a Harsh Mistress not having all the dry-humping relationship crap Heinlein did in his later books, will have to try that one next.
Thatās a pretty good cutoff date. Really anything before 1960 is tough. I image the space race has a lot to do with that along with all the other important civil and cultural movements of that decade.
Old Sci-fi I have read and enjoyed including the '60s (admittedly some were read 20+ years ago):
Dune (1965), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), 1984 (1949), Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), A Brave New World (1932), Childhoodās End (1953)
Thereās more that Iād like to read, but few are pre 1960s.
Iām reading a book called Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. Published in 1937 (which worried me since my Sci Fi era is normally 60ās onward). Itās incredible in scope. A man looking out at the stars one night is transplanted into the cosmos and observes the universe as a pseudo deity that can travel anywhere as a consciousness. Right now, heās inhabiting the mind of a prophet on an alien world that has advanced technology to great heights and then falls to authoritarianism and fascism from the religious and war mongers that are opposed to technology. Itās fascinating.
NYT is doing their best 100 books of the 21st century. I have to admit Iāve only read two of what theyāve posted so far
The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century 100 Best Books of the 21st Century - The New York Times
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
9/10
I likes this book a lot. The author dispenses with the sentimentality and morality and tells the stories as they were. The Comanches werenāt noble savages. They were the apex predator on the plain, a place so foreign to white peopleās sensibilities that most of them died easily. The Comanches were the best mounted riders in the world, full stop. No single American unit would hope for anything more than a decimination. As such they were hegemonic on the Staked Plains, the area ranging from mid Kansas to El Paso and Austin and Fort Worth.
Their way of life was raiding, full stop. They raided the more domesticated people around them like the other Native Americans, the Mexicans and then the Texans and the settlers.
But the encroachment of the settlers kept coming and eventually the US and Texas governments decided to move away from merely trying to manage the border and travel deep into Comanche country to hunt for their villages. The Texans had the Rangers who adopted the Comanche fighting style, that is total warfare including the killing and raping women and children, and the US government had a new technology, the revolver which was superior to the Comanches in their fighting style of shooting fast and quickly getting out of there. By 1900 the Comanche empire had crumbled and they were forced onto reservations.
Only two for me, tomorrow and tomorrow, and new Jim Crow, both are great tho
Iām at zero and Iām guessing that wonāt change based on the choices so far.
I was involved in a production of Nickled and Dimed which is as close as I got to reading it, very depressing.
Station Eleven and The Plot Against America for me. I expect to know way more in the top 40. Cormac McCarthy etc.
Ahh yeah Iāll have NCFOM and The Road assuming those make it.
If you are a dopey white guy who likes literature and you somehow havenāt read any George Saunders yet, you should remedy that at your earliest convenience
From todayās batch, Iāve read Life After Life, Nickel and Dimed, and (I think) Persepolis
Donāt think Iāve read anything on the earlier batches
Finished life after life two days ago, liked it a lot, been meaning to read nickel and dimed
Halfway through Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021 collection of short stories. Each story is around 5-10 minutes to read and so far has been very satisfying. Iām pleased that a lot of them have been straight suspense instead of relying on gimmicks or twist endings.
Got 15 of the top 100-20
For me the best of the books I read on this list
Middlesex. So good
Cloud atlas
Atonement
Goldfinch
Sympathizer
Bringing up the bodies
Station 11
The only book I read and didnāt like was life after life. But probably because Iām dumb
Canāt recommend middlesex enough.
Ever read James Lee Burke?
Dave and Clete for life