Visit My Huffington Post Column on Political Fiction?
Jeff VanderMeer • August 14th, 2008 @ 1:10 pm • News
Just breaking in for a second to let readers know that the first installment of my political fiction column is up on the Huffington Post. This time around, most of the books reviewed are in some way science fiction. I do capsule reviews of Jessica Z, Little Brother, Pisstown Chaos, and several others. In the future, the column will focus on one or two books at a time, in more depth, and include non-genre fiction.
The visibility and longevity of this column will depend on clicks and comments. If you like the idea, or are just curious, please go check it out.
August 15, 2008 at 4:29 am
Hi Jeff, you might consider sharing this on Facebook. I’m going to do it - it’ll appear on my Posted items folder and newsfeed for my FB friends. All publicity is good publicity, right?
August 15, 2008 at 7:12 am
Little Brother is such a great title! It harkens back to the classic Orwell “Big Brother” meme, evokes the young hacker outlaw sensibility of early William Gibson (at least that’s the impression that I get), and sets the stage for future activism (I hope).
Jeff, thanks for this review of refreshingly contemporary political novels. I signed up to the Huffington Post but haven’t received my confirmation yet. As soon as I do, I’ll post a comment there.
August 15, 2008 at 7:47 am
Thanks, Johanna and Bill!
August 15, 2008 at 9:57 am
Jeff, though we are not on the same political page, I really enjoy your writing. It’s, also, nice to see your success. It’s well deserved. I thought you did great in this article and am looking forward to more. Keep up the great work.
August 15, 2008 at 10:30 am
Hey–thanks for that. That’s very kind, considering what you’re saying about our respective political orientations. If you want to recommend political fiction, on this thread, that’s more on your political page, and also fits the definition of really great fiction, period, that’d be wonderful. (And useful.)
Politics are a funny thing, because I don’t think they always come out in the fiction. Like, I know Mark Halprin is right-wing, but in a book like A Soldier of the Great War, which I loved, there’s no bias expressed that bothers me in the story. (I’m sure mileage will vary for others, but…)
jeff
August 15, 2008 at 10:46 am
Mark Halprin is right-wing? Holy S#it. Did not see that coming. I will burn my copy of A Winter’s Tale forthwith. Kidding. Weird though. I loved Memoir From Antproof Case.
August 15, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Yep, he is. See what I mean? LOL.
Jeff
August 15, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Actually, though I am about as far to the left as anyone I know, I love a number of right wing writers. Well, not the people, but what they write.
I think it is not a bad thing to delve into the thoughts of people with different ideologies, though of course one has to be prepared on many occasions to feel disgust.
Not saying that I don’t have my limits . . .
August 15, 2008 at 7:10 pm
I’m wondering if Tom Kratman will be reviewed in the next installment…
August 15, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Speaking of left/right politics, years ago I read Atlas Shrugged and really dug it. Very intriguing kind of mystery drama adventure. I could identify with the character Hank Reardon because all he thought about was engineering, even at the dinner table, and all I think about is writing and literature (well, I’ve learned to make room for family & friends now, but I understand how he felt: His bliss and his profession were one in the same).
Later on, I mentioned liking Atlas Shrugged to some of my friends and they were like, “Argh! Ayn Rand, big business, fascism!”
I said, “Damn, I don’t know about all that - I just thought it was an exciting story.”
You know?
August 16, 2008 at 9:01 am
Thanks for the offer of recommending. I don’t know that I could. The stuff I have been reading lately (China Mieville, Terry Pratchett, You and James Morrow) is not what I would call right leaning. Other than Mr. Morrow, I didn’t even pick up on politics in the books as either right or left, just aspects of the book.
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand was better than Atlas Shrugged, but I don’t know if it’s great fiction.