I am a science fiction fan, and I am a mystery fan, and I am also a fan of book deals, so I subscribe to the Amazon Kindle Daily Deals list. When books are two or three bucks, you tend to be open to trying new things.
Or old ones. I've had a tendency to purchase books by classic science fiction and mystery authors whose titles I remember seeing on the shelves of the used bookstore I worked at in Boston. Stuff that was popular in the 70s and 80s. The series about the rabbi detective; the series about the journalist with a cat; the wizard in spite of himself, and so on. Some of them are remarkably decent. Certainly I was pleasantly surprised by the Dorothy Sayers mystery series and Agatha Christie.
Lately I have found, though, that any narrative pleasure is severely diminished by the rampant sexism in these old genre stories--even those written by women! Maybe it is the Me Too movement, or maybe I am just getting old(er) and (more) curmudgeonly. I no longer have patience for characters who judge women by the attractiveness of their bare knees (or more erogenous features).
I am aware of the recent hullabaloo in the fantasy/science fiction fan universe over the increasing popularity and success of feminist, gender- and race-inclusive, and politically concerned work. Such work has always been among my favorite (I'm thinking of Ursula K. LeGuin, here, but there are certainly others) and I am glad that more of it is being recognized now.
As for series like The Cat Who... and The Warlock in Spite of Himself, I'm just done. I guess that stuff used to be invisible to me. Maybe the impact of Me Too is that none of it is invisible anymore.
Or old ones. I've had a tendency to purchase books by classic science fiction and mystery authors whose titles I remember seeing on the shelves of the used bookstore I worked at in Boston. Stuff that was popular in the 70s and 80s. The series about the rabbi detective; the series about the journalist with a cat; the wizard in spite of himself, and so on. Some of them are remarkably decent. Certainly I was pleasantly surprised by the Dorothy Sayers mystery series and Agatha Christie.
Lately I have found, though, that any narrative pleasure is severely diminished by the rampant sexism in these old genre stories--even those written by women! Maybe it is the Me Too movement, or maybe I am just getting old(er) and (more) curmudgeonly. I no longer have patience for characters who judge women by the attractiveness of their bare knees (or more erogenous features).
I am aware of the recent hullabaloo in the fantasy/science fiction fan universe over the increasing popularity and success of feminist, gender- and race-inclusive, and politically concerned work. Such work has always been among my favorite (I'm thinking of Ursula K. LeGuin, here, but there are certainly others) and I am glad that more of it is being recognized now.
As for series like The Cat Who... and The Warlock in Spite of Himself, I'm just done. I guess that stuff used to be invisible to me. Maybe the impact of Me Too is that none of it is invisible anymore.
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