(no subject)

[redbird]

I suspect I'm the only person whose reaction to that "50 significant sf/fantasy books" list/meme is the increasing feeling that it's time I reread Dhalgren.

I am also wondering why Shiras's Children of the Atom is on there, since nobody is saying they've read it.

Comments

[elynne.livejournal.com]

Not the only person... it's not on my underlined sublist, but I now have a vague hankering to look up every single one of those books that I haven't read, and read them. It looks like a good place to start, anyway, y'know?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Nope.

[avram]

You’re not.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Actually, I've been having that same feeling. I even managed to lay hands on my old, dog-eared copy. Not sure the bifocals are up to it, but I may give it a try. Every time I read that book, I get new stuff out of it.

[rdkeir.livejournal.com]

Children of the Atom is apparently there as potential inspiration for The X-Men.

It's a frustrating list: I can't find any explanation of what was used to define "significant", but given that the list has Terry Brooks on it and doesn't have The Female Man, I can see why the compilers might not want to explain their criteria.

[timill]

See http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/550005.html for some explanation.

[rdkeir.livejournal.com]

thanks!

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

I 1st read Children Of The Atom 25+ years ago. I hadn't heard the XMen link, but as near as I know it WAS influential… the combination of Nuclear zeitgeist, Zenna-Henderson's-People-Like kids, and a few other themes were pretty noteworthy. The sffworld review seems pretty on-point.

Xmen link

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

the review I just read said that the plot is basically about a bunch of mutant schoolchildren (with special abilities) pulled together into a special school (by Professor Xavier ... no, wait, I made that last bit up!). And the worries about the reactions of non-mutant people if/when they discover the "super humans" at the school.

The mutations were based on their parents being exposed to radiation, having worked with radioactive materials, and then dying shortly after childbirth (or so I recall from the review) though this is the first I've ever heard of this book.

[oursin.livejournal.com]

I have, and it's starred (though I haven't yet read the lovely freebie copy I got of new reprint, but that may be down to current dimensions of TBR pile).

[firecat]

I've seen at least half a dozen folks mention as part of doing this quiz that they should read or finish Dhalgren. You're the first person I've seen say that you should reread it.

[oursin.livejournal.com]

It's been on my re-read someday list since before this list manifested.

[redbird]

I've only read it twice, and not in several years.

There's a theory ...

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

... that you can only read Dhalgren until you reach the age of 17 (or maybe 21), and after that you can only get to page 30 ...

... I scoffed at that theory and immediately went and got (one of) my dog eared copy/ies of Dhalgren and started reading ... I put it down at page 30 to go do something and never got back to reading it ... d'oh!

A bookselling friend saw me reading it in the first 30 pages (which is when he told me the above theory) and then went to check which printing I had ... and was startled to find that I had the first printing (something he'd never seen), but I think the scotch tape holding the front cover on probably reduced the value somewhat!

Re: There's a theory ...

[redbird]

I was in my late 20s or 30s the first time I picked up Dhalgren, so the theory is clearly untrue, or at least wildly overgeneralized: there may be some people for whom it's true, but there are many other books that are also much easier to read for, and more likely to be finished by, people of particular ages.

Re: There's a theory ...

[firecat]

I think I put it down at page 30 before I reached 17. Certainly before I reached 21. We'll see if I can finish it at 45.

[sraun]

I've read Children of the Atom - and I'm willing to bet that nearly everyone on your FL has read "In Hiding", the short story that's the beginning of it. The short has been an all sorts of "Best of" anthologies.