Kurt Vonnegut said (in his memoir i think) that he never set out to be a science fiction writer. in his perspective, he just wrote fiction, but the identity of “science fiction writer” was assigned to him by literary critics.
these were the people who had invented “science” fiction as a way to compartmentalize it and set it apart because they were too dim to contemplate science or technology.
So many of that era of writer prefer the term speculative fiction, and I can see why. Maybe doesn’t feel great to be lumped in with Five cent comic slop
the vibe i got from KV’s musing was that doofuses likely invented it to describe other, smarter authors because they didn’t want to compete with actual intelligence and creativity.
He also said he wouldn’t mind being a science fiction writer if critics didn’t constantly mistake the science fiction drawer for a urinal
Science Fiction as a genre has matured a lot since Chandler’s time, I think. But also it’s a bit rich to be a writer of another incredibly formulaic type of genre fiction and get real precious about a different one.
the Bryllis shrank to half an inch long (…) and Google had told me it wasn’t enough
we’ve all been there
I was in a vat of cryogenic blorgon!
Quantum shrinkage is a real phenomenon, I swear!
deleted by creator
Apparently a genuine coinkydink
Genuinely jumpscared me
Google had a definition before the search engine
Just an incomprehensibly large number, just 1 with a hundred zeroes
Thats googol
My approximate knowledge of things fails again!
it’s a gabagoogol and it’s delicious, alright?
Shit, time traveler
Hehe. Yep, that’s a good description. And if you like it, you like it. I really enjoy working out what the hell is going on.
Dodge swinger 1973
Chandler was a big influence on Philip K Dick, and I could totally see him writing : “my breath froze into pink pretzels”
You’d think he’d love a genre where he could spend ages describing scenery, interiors, and people’s clothes.
That said, he didn’t actually live in LA so all his writing was a science fiction style LARP anyway
