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From: jtb@phs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: sri-arpa.11908: Merit Survey Results
Message-ID: <2005@phs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 26-Sep-83 11:25:05 EDT
Article-I.D.: phs.2005
Posted: Mon Sep 26 11:25:05 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 27-Sep-83 04:52:24 EDT
Lines: 13


     I am provoked into rising to the defense of the literary merit of sci-fi.
I agree no work of science fiction is even in the same class as Moby Dick or
War and Peace but then what modern mainstream work is?  I would maintain
that no "GREAT" novel has been written since the two named above.  If
we compare science fiction to mainstream works written in the same period
I would say that the best science fiction (Tolkien, LeGuin) is supieror to
mainstream writting and the average level is equal to the average mainstream
work.  Remember in evaluating the average mainstream work we have to include
the run of the mill dectective and spy trash.

 Jose Torre-Bueno
 decvax!duke!phs!jtb