Dinosaur-sized bigotry

Sarah Hoyt speaks at length about the disturbing nature of the short story ‘If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love‘ by Rachel Swirsky which was a story I could — and did — do a better version of in one sitting, in less than an afternoon. And I did it without ripped off IF YOU GIVE  A MOUSE A COOKIE. Now my yarn might not be to your taste, but at least it is a story, and it contains science fiction. That makes it a (1) science fiction (2) story. Miss Swirsky’s work is neither.

I, for one, congratulate rather than belittle Miss Swirsky for her award. She deserves heartfelt congratulations. It is the voters I belittle. They betrayed their trust. They deserve the whipping post.

Sarah Hoyt talks about what the story’s choice of theme and antagonist implies:

http://accordingtohoyt.com/2015/01/31/if-you-were-a-grown-up-my-love/

When I was very young I used to think that stories where everyone died, or stories where pointless but sad things happened were about the best thing ever. They were profound and so different from every other story I’d read till that time which were all boys-aventures or fairytales that ended well and with a moral.

If You Were A Dinosaur my Love’s win bothered me at a level I can’t begin to explain, and it still bothers me, like an aching tooth to which the tongue keeps returning.  It’s not just that could have been written by me at 12 and would have got, from my middle school teacher, exactly the sort of praise it got from science fiction professionals.

It’s the ideas packed into the story that are truly disturbing.

A story that reveals a total lack of knowledge of an entire class of people (manual laborers) and instead others them as sort of scary all purpose evil that will beat to death anyone who doesn’t look/act like them won an award voted on by – supposedly – adult professionals. Not only that, but adult professionals who keep claiming their tolerance and love of the “other.”  What’s more, adult professionals who would almost certainly embrace “Marxism” as a good or at least correct idea.  When did Marxists start loathing and fearing the working class?

And admitting it?

Read the whole thing. I found it shocking. Her remarks open up the gangrenous wound and show the maggots already swarming among the dying flesh.

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Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.