Nan, what sci-fi did you all read

[Veronica in VA]

Nan,

You mentioned in the post on lit analysis that you and your sons read sci-fi instead of some of the 20th century lit. We are doing 20th century history next year, and I could use some ideas.

Thanks!

Veronica

[RhondaM.]

Oh, I'd love to know too. I'm planning a year of fantasty, sci-fi and horror for my 15 year old ds. I have some ideas, but would love to hear others.

RhondaM.

[Lori D.]

I would classify these as good literature that happens to fall in the catagory of sci-fi or related genres; all of these works would prompt some good discussion and cause you to "dig deeper" into worldview. Enjoy! Warmest regards, Lori D.


- Frankenstein (Shelley)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stevenson)
- something by H.G. Wells: The Time Machine; War of the Worlds; Invisible Man
- Farenheit 451 (Bradbury)
- "There Shall Come Soft Rain" short story (Bradbury)
- Flatland (Abbot)
- A Canticle for Lebowitz (Miller)
- short stories from Italio Calvino's "Cosmicomics" -- from an existential worldview
- space trilogy by C.S. Lewis: Out of the Silent Planet; Perelandra; That Hideous Strength
- Brave New World (Huxley)
- Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde)
- A Wrinkle in Time; A Wind in the Door (L'Engle)
- Animal Farm (Orwell)
- 1984 (Orwell) -- preview first for mature themes


These are considered to be some of "standards" of sci-fi; not as much depth of theme as the list above, but worth considering. Preview the ones marked with (*) for sexuality, crudity or mature content:

- Journey to the Center of the Earth (Verne)
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*; Restaurant at the End of the Universe* (Adams) --
- Jurassic Park* (Chrichton)
- Dune* (Herbert)
- Left Hand of Darkness* (LeGuin)
- The Lathe of Heaven (LeGuin)

[elegantlion]

I plan on doing a historical study on sci-fi when my ds is in 7th grade.

We plan on using

20k leagues under the sea
here's a link to an online study of the book http://webpages.charter.net/stoneturtle3/20K/ this was written for a 6th grade level, but might have some great ideas.
Time Machine
Out of the Silent Planet
moving into some studies into Star Trek and Star Wars.
We will also watch some great cultural sci-fi movies, which I have yet to condense the list.

[Mama Lynx]

I'm only being horribly nitpicky in case someone goes off to search for this story. It is actually titled "There Will Come Soft Rains."

It's one of my very favorites :)

Along with most of what has been mentioned, we also plan to have our children read Asimov's Foundation trilogy, and, in high school, some of Heinlein's works ... most likely "Stranger In a Strange Land" and "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress." Those works will not appeal to everyone.

[Moira in MA]

Also not Nan but you should check out Eric Rabkin's course for the Teaching Company, Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind. The second half is science fiction. He teaches the same material to students at U-Michigan and his syllabus is accessible online.

HTH

[percytruffle]

Dd studied scif fi lit for a semester. We started using a series on sci fi lit from The Teaching Company, but discontinued it due to the very mature themes addressed by the lecturer. I don't recall the professor's name, so I'm not sure if the lectures on the imaginative mind are by the same person. I would say to just be sure to preview them first before using them with dc.

[Nan in Mass]

The cat is on my lap and she hardly ever sits still, since she is still young, and I don't want to disturb her to go check the list.

Dune
1984
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Canticle for Leibowitz
I, Robot
Thomas the Proclaimer
The Eye of the Heron
Farenheit 451
Star Trek books, movies, and TV series
Star Wars movies
Matrix movie (his choice - I know nothing about it except my family has warned me that I probably wouldn't like it)
Starship Trooper (picking out the flaws in his preachy bits GRIN, not that we didn't enjoy the book...)
Gravity Dreams (only because it dealt with nanotechnology, somehting I wanted to cover, NOT because it is well written)
2001: A Space Odyssey (movie)
Ultraviolet (someone gave it to him to read while he was travelling - I know nothing about it)
V is for Vendetta (ditto)

I chose by trying to pick either books that are commonly considered literature (Canticle, 1984) or have authors that were considered scifi "greats" when I was growing up (like LeGuin, Bradbury, Heinlein, Asimov, Silverburg, Clarke).

He'll probably read a few more, also, but if he wants to stop here, it is fine with me. Many of them are rather, ahem, male, so I tried to pick carefully. I'm not overly worried about it, though, so not all of this is clean. I remember skimming over bits of 1984, Dune, and 451 at his age, so if you are trying to avoid certain subjects, you probably want to skip those.

I think scifi is important because it is where the artists (in the form of authors) get to influence the engineers, politicians, etc., who invent the future world we are all going to live in.

-Nan

[Korillian]

If anyone is interested in Sci-Fi short stories, I would recommend The Science Fiction Hall of Fame. I'm partial to Volume 1A:

http://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Hall-Fame-Vol/dp/0380512017/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206926606&sr=1-12

There is a newer version of this out and from the description it looks like the same stories are included:

A Martian Odyssey -- Stanley G. Weinbaum
Twilight -- John W. Campbell
Helen O'Loy -- Lester del Rey
The Roads Must Roll -- Robert A. Heinlein
Microcosmic God -- Theodore Sturgeon
Nightfall -- Isaac Asimov
The Weapon Shop -- A. E. van Vogt
Mimsy Were the Borogoves -- Lewis Padgett
Huddling Place -- Clifford D. Simak
Arena -- Fredric Brown
First Contact -- Murray Leinster
That Only a Mother -- Judith Merril
Scanners Live in Vain -- Cordwainer Smith
Mars is Heaven -- Ray Bradbury
The Little Black Bag -- C. M. Kornbluth
Born of Man and Woman -- Richard Matheson
Coming Attraction -- Fritz Leiber
The Quest for Saint Aquin -- Anthony Boucher
Surface Tension -- James Blish
The Nine Billion Names of God -- Arthur C. Clarke
It's a Good Life -- Jerome Bixby
The Cold Equations -- Tom Godwin
Fondly Fahrenheit -- Alfred Bester
The Country of the Kind -- Damon Knight
Flowers for Algernon -- Daniel Keyes
A Rose for Ecclesiastes -- Roger Zelazny

These stories are all classics, IMO. Definitely a worthy purchase for anyone who likes science fiction

[Veronica in VA]

I have lots of reading and planning to do!

Veronica

[Virginia Dawn]

I second Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, also I haven't see Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles mentioned.

[Nan in Mass]

I can't remember much about it now. Something to reread. I picked I, Robot to represent Asimov because my son reads slowly and I didn't want to spend 3 books on Asimov. I picked Eye of the Heron it deals with pacifism. I picked Dune just because I remember loving it and I thought as a gymnast he would enjoy it. I KNEW he would adore Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a definate not-to-be-missed. I picked 2001, 451 instead of a different Bradbury, and 1984 instead of a different Orwell because they are show up other places. If I were picking for my youngest, I'd pick a different batch, probably. He reads more quickly, and some things, like Hitchiker's, he's probably not going to want to read for school. I'll probably stick with scifi as a substitution for 20th century lit even though he's read quite a bit on his own (unlike my oldest) because I think it is worth reading, discussing, and thinking about. I think it is closer to "great books" than lots of other 20th century non-greats. Its purpose generally is to explore possibilities and make people think, like many of the greats, less to entertain.
-Nan

[Lori D.]

Mama Lynx -- thanks for the title correction. : ) I'm usually nit-picky, too. : )