The Problem With Classic Sci-fi.
and why you should try obscure authors.
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THE MODERN HIDALGO: Entry_018
Written: Tuesday. July 23, 2019.
Something feels wrong with my right arm, around the elbow area. When I move it, I feel a slight pain. I don’t know why that is, or how it came to be. But it’s there. And it’s irritating.
It might be because I’ve been editing for hours straight on our desktop computer. And there isn’t really a place for me to rest my right elbow besides the slab of wood placed on the wall right beside me.
And I can’t help but rest it there, cause where the hell else am I gonna rest my goddamn elbow?
Anyway, as I’ve said, I’ve been editing a very long video regarding the books I bought back in 2018.
I usually only take about a whole day to finish a single video. But yesterday, I had to sleep a bit early, so that I could wake up early, so that we could send our dad to the hospital for his bypass operation.
Today, we went to the hospital. The Chinese General Hospital, which is also where I was born.
We spent the whole day there, but went back home to rest. Cause we couldn’t stay there overnight. I think there are visiting hours in that hospital.
So when we got home, I immediately went back to editing the video I was working on. Right now, as I’m typing, the video is being rendered. And I’ll probably post it tomorrow before I go back to the hospital to visit my dad.
I’m also gonna be going to my college tomorrow. Going to have to deal with fixing my situation there. As of now, I technically don’t have an adviser yet.
But the good news is that the Book Illustrations category thesis doesn’t have screenings anymore. Meaning they allow anybody to partake in that kind of topic now.
So I’ll probably take it, if the slots are still available.
If not, then all hope is lost for me. Cause I’m definitely not gonna be happy with any other category available. Or do the thesis, at all.
At least, if I do Book Illustrations, I’m doing something I’m interested in. Rather than doing something that I hate or just don’t give a damn about.
Plus, it just really makes sense for me to take the Book Illustrations category. Cause I’ve literally been obsessing over books, not just these past few days, but these past few years, man.
Meanwhile, when it comes to the status of what book I’m reading right now:
I gave up on reading The Three Musketeers book. Yeah, I just couldn’t handle wasting my time on something I could not understand, or imagine while I’m reading it.
It was really the translator’s fault for doing a poor job of translating the novel.
Now, I’m reading a book called Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper. It’s a Science Fiction novel. I bought it off of Book Sale for like 25 pesos.
So far, I’m liking the pacing of the book. I’m also liking the story of the book. I don’t normally get a good experience when it comes to reading the more popular science fiction novels, but this sci-fi novel is quite easy to read, apparently.
Well, aside from it having more monologue than actual dialogue. But the way the monologue is written, I could give it a pass for its longevity, because it’s not too hard to read.
I’m liking the story so far.
Man meets a race of Ewok looking creatures that possess sapient-level intelligence, and the Government running the planet of these creatures does not want these creatures to be declared sapiens. Because that would mean the humans who have inhabited their planet would have to vacate. Because the laws prevent them from colonizing an inhabited planet, which before, they thought as uninhabited.
At least that’s what I could understand for now. I hope the Fuzzy Sapiens, as the creatures are called, get to have their planet for themselves. Or at least find a middle ground, where Humans and Fuzzy Sapiens could live harmoniously with each other.
I dunno. We’ll see. I’m only at chapter 6.
But the book so far, or the way it’s written, is gradually finer than how the other sci-fi writers tell their stories.
I think the reason why Litte Fuzzy is fun to read, is because the author gives us time to enjoy reading about what the Fuzzy Sapiens are doing. And every time there’s a Fuzzy scene, I get this happy feeling, cause in my head, they’re these cute and innocent creatures, who just wanna spend time with the nice humans who took them in and are feeding them wonderful meals.
Compare that to sci-fi novels that deal with, I dunno, the implications of economic instability of a planet that they give like five minutes to explain for the reader. And also all about how the galactic empire is being run by such people whose names I could imagine came from a Random Name Generator app, if those things existed back then…
The problem I have with those novels, is that the author spends a lot of time on something, an idea, that doesn’t make sense, at all. Or that it isn’t clear to the reader what the idea is, or what new concept the sci-fi author is trying to make the reader understand in the novel.
They treat their readers in a difficult way, where the readers have to keep up.
“I’m not gonna slow down and try to explain this thing that I’m writing about for the readers, cause they better know this shit already by the time they get to read whatever it is that I’m writing about!”
No, man. That’s not how people should write stories.
When you’re writing a story, any story, whether its a novel, a short story, an epic fantasy, or a daily journal entry such as this, you better take the goddamn time to explain certain things, in order for the readers to come along with the story!
Is that so hard to understand?
Word of the Day: Redambulation
- the proper word for retracing your steps.
