SciFi Literature

fic·tion [fik-shuhn]

–noun; the class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration, esp. in prose form.

got that?
okay.
so if fiction is paired with the word "science,"
then you would obviously think of the types
of books with time travel and aliens and
experimentation and the sort, right?
right.

reading these novels, you wouldn't even think
to say something so retarded, as
"this isn't even possible. this author has no
idea what they're talking about."

because every person who has enough
common sense paired with intelligence knows
IT'S FUCKING FICTION.
FAKE.
IMAGINATIVE.
NOT. REAL.

today, 5/7 of my science fiction class
broke out into what i like to call an
"agreeing discussion with undertones of anger and confusion."

i believe these people were confused
because they didn't understand the definition
of the word fiction (see top of page).
the anger i believe is a defense mechanism.

i'll give you a bit of background to set the scene:

our class is reading The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.
it is essentially composed of multiple
short stories that tie into one another.

the book, as far as we've read, focuses on
4 trips to Mars made by Americans.
The first 3 were unsuccessful in that
the crews were killed by the Martians.

Trip #1: Rocket launched from OH.
Heat from rocket creates artificial summer.
Martian chick foresees arrival of rocket.
Rocket lands on Mars.
Martian chick's husband kills crew.

Trip #2: Crew lands on Mars.
Crew tries to convince people
they are from Earth.
Crew figures out Martians
communicate telepathically.
Crew sent to insane asylum.
Martian psychologist thinks they are
hallucinations and shoots the captain.
"Hallucinations" remain,
psychologist shoots the rest,
then kills himself.

Trip #3: Man runs to launchpad demanding
to go to Mars & is arrested.
Crew lands on Mars.
Village looks like past neighborhoods
where crew members grew up.
"Relatives" show up & reconnect
with crew members.
Caskets emerge and "relatives" mourn.
"Relatives" shape shift into Martians.

Trip #4: Successful in that Martians
are dead/dying of the chicken pox
brought by the last trip.
Archaeologist wants to preserve ruins.
Kills 5 crew members to try to stop
manifest destiny. Captain decides to
kill him. Archaeologist snaps out of daze
just before captain kills him. Captain
carries on archaeologist's request &
tries to preserve the Martian ruins.


OKAY.
so now that we have that down,
we can discuss.

sounds like a good story so far, yes?
i thought so.

what did the other people think?

"the people from Earth don't even have guns!
this is so unrealistic. that wouldn't happen in real life"

[it isn't real life, because it's a book. this was said by an ex-marine.]

"i don't get why the martians just died. what did they die of? chicken pox? but how? i mean aren't they supposed to be a superior being? i don't get it. this doesn't make any sense."

[just because they're smart in this novel doesn't mean they can't be killed. how do you think the native americans died once the europeans invaded their land? also, scifi novels don't have to make sense, because they are fiction.]

"i thought Martians didn't have emotions."

[nowhere in the book does it say they don't have emotions.]


there were other various retarded comments,
but i can't remember all of them.
mostly because i repress things that i hate.

the real question at hand:

do these people know what class they're in?




i don't think so either.