Rationalizing Genius: Ideological Strategies in the Classic American Science Fiction Short Story

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

Sophisticated, Thorough, Insightful:

This is probably the best analysis of the science fiction of the American 'Golden Age'. After going through all the difficulties in making a selection from the many texts available to him, Huntington settles on analysing the short stories in the 1970 compilation, 'The SF Hall of Fame'. Using these as a representative sample, he runs through them with clear analyses of their ideologies.

Probably more influenced by Freud than he might like to admit, Huntington reveals the repressed anxieties of the sf... more info

Some good ideas, but very dry:

This is a very detailed look at certain aspects of SF - specifically, its 'ideology', including the idea of genius, the (perceived) danger of women, and the genre's love for aliens, robots and monsters. The age of the stories ranges from the earliest SF to the 1960s, which limits the scope of the book somewhat since great changes have occurred in the genre since 1970.

The quality of the writing is far from inspiring, but the case it argues is sound and rather persuasive. Not essential for every SF fan,... more info

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