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From: thomas@utah-gr.UUCP (Spencer W. Thomas)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Merit Survey Results
Message-ID: <943@utah-gr.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Oct-83 02:06:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: utah-gr.943
Posted: Thu Oct 20 02:06:19 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Oct-83 00:38:57 EDT
References: sri-arpa.11908
Lines: 19

I found it interesting that so may LeGuin books made it into this list,
especially in light of the fact that she is avowedly moving away from SF
into "mainline" fiction.  For example, "Malafrena" can easily be put
into the "historical fiction" class, the book which came closest to it
in feeling for me was "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by (how could I
forget his name?).

Similarly, Wolfe has been "accepted" by the "mainstream" literary crowd
- I have seen at least one short by him in the New Yorker (ask any
writer friend how hard it is to get into there).  In fact his first
novel ("Peace"?) is not SF.

Just about any "genre" writing is denigrated by the literary
establishment, which to me just points out the narrowness of the
"classical" definition of literary merit.

Oh, well, I've rambled enough, now.

=Spencer