Babelizing
Reading the Masterpieces of Science Fiction series from Easton Press, I've found that there are many books I'd either read already or would have bought anyway. However, there are any number of them that would never have occurred to me. One such is Samuel_R._Delany's Babel-17.
And it would have been a real pity to miss out on it. Although it isn't on the same level as such surprises as Tau Zero or Lord of Light, it was still an extremely pleasant read that takes you away from the humdrum of everyday existence into a future world that is credible enough even if it isn't quite 100% convincing. But the idea behind it is interesting enough to make the book memorable.
Now that Easton Press has discontinued the series, I will read the ones I have, and probably look for the rest in some lesser editions, just because I have come to trust the selection.
Babel-17 is definitely worth the time to read, even if only in cheap paperback form. Although I'm not entirely convinced at the extremes to which he takes the idea (nor was I entirely convinced by the insiduousness of Newspeak, BTW, so I am clearly unreliable), it does inform some of the beliefs about language and its effect on reality that get bandied about by a lot of interest groups.
Anyone read it? Thoughts?
And it would have been a real pity to miss out on it. Although it isn't on the same level as such surprises as Tau Zero or Lord of Light, it was still an extremely pleasant read that takes you away from the humdrum of everyday existence into a future world that is credible enough even if it isn't quite 100% convincing. But the idea behind it is interesting enough to make the book memorable.
Now that Easton Press has discontinued the series, I will read the ones I have, and probably look for the rest in some lesser editions, just because I have come to trust the selection.
Babel-17 is definitely worth the time to read, even if only in cheap paperback form. Although I'm not entirely convinced at the extremes to which he takes the idea (nor was I entirely convinced by the insiduousness of Newspeak, BTW, so I am clearly unreliable), it does inform some of the beliefs about language and its effect on reality that get bandied about by a lot of interest groups.
Anyone read it? Thoughts?