RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s Comments

RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s comments from the 2025 Reading Challenge group.

Note: RJ - Slayer of Trolls is not currently a member of this group.

I finished the overrated thriller (now a streaming series!)


Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading a near-forgotten gem of a horror story written by a former actor


The Other by Thomas Tryon

#39 in 2024:

I finished the overrated thriller (now a streaming series!)


Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading a near-forgotten gem of a horror story written by a former actor


The Other by Thomas Tryon

SarahKat wrote: "If you like audio books and/or the movies, listen to Andy Serkis narrate the book! It's so wonderful"

I agree. I listened to his audio version of The Hobbit and it was fantastic (well, except his singing isn't the greatest, but then again neither is mine). This is a great way to revisit the book if you've already read it. Serkis was the voice of Gollum in the LOTR and Hobbit movies, of course.

I finished the terrific anthology of classic Science Fiction novellas


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume II B edited by Ben Bova
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the next volume in the series


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume III: The Nebula Winners edited by Arthur C. Clarke

#38 in 2024:

I finished the terrific anthology of classic Science Fiction novellas


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume II B edited by Ben Bova
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the next volume in the series


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume III: The Nebula Winners edited by Arthur C. Clarke

I finished the Fantasy re-telling of the Rumpelstiltskin story


Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the fourth installment in the Flat Earth series


Delirium's Mistress by Tanith Lee

#37 in 2024:

I finished the Fantasy re-telling of the Rumpelstiltskin story


Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the fourth installment in the Flat Earth series


Delirium's Mistress by Tanith Lee

I finished this short novel about bitter disappointment and the American Dream


The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

#36 in 2024:

I finished this short novel about bitter disappointment and the American Dream


The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

Also, I finished the fifth book in the John Corey series, a disappointing follow-up to The Lion's Game


The Lion by Nelson DeMille
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the third book in a hard-boiled detective series written by a noted Fantasy author


The Man Who Tried to Get Away by Stephen R. Donaldson originally published under the pseudonym Reed Stephens

#35 in 2024:

I finished the fifth book in the John Corey series, a disappointing follow-up to The Lion's Game


The Lion by Nelson DeMille
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the third book in a hard-boiled detective series written by a noted Fantasy author


The Man Who Tried to Get Away by Stephen R. Donaldson originally published under the pseudonym Reed Stephens

I finished the short novel


The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading another short novel


The Day Of The Locust by Nathanael West

#34 in 2024:

I finished the short novel


The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading another short novel


The Day Of The Locust by Nathanael West

Keli wrote: "...I felt like I was simply waiting for the story to transition to the inevitable..."

I think that's a really good point. I actually prefer the original short story to the full novel and that's one of the reasons why. Although the short story is - obviously - short, it does keep moving at a brisk pace and keeps the reader turning the page to see what happens next. Whereas the novel seems to really drag in parts, particularly in the middle.

Terri wrote: "...Q: Which genre do you think this novel belongs to: ​Science fiction or horror? Explain.
Fantasy. Science is too sophisticated now to suspend disbelief that a doctor could perform an operation to fix Charlie's IQ which is the result of genetic abnormality..."

You have touched on a debate that has played out for many, many years within Science-Fiction fandom. At what point does a book which appears on its surface to be "Science" Fiction become instead "Fantasy?" In other words, is there a plausibility requirement for a book to be labeled Science-Fiction? This raises some larger questions, such as Who decides if the plausibility requirement has been met? and What happens when science renders prior scientific theories impossible or even just improbable? Is the book then reclassified from Science-Fiction to Fantasy? Maybe most important, how does one classify Space Operas such as Star Wars or Buck Rodgers? Most people recognize those franchises as Science-Fiction, yet they contain absolutely nothing that is remotely scientifically plausible.

On the other hand, Fantasy as a genre has come to be associated with mythical folk such as Elves and Dwarves and Magicians (and Rings?). While there are certainly many varieties of Fantasy, most of them involve living in a different world than ours where science is not advanced and various fantastic elements are crucial to the plot. There are "Urban" fantasies which often reimagine Earth as a place where magic and/or fantastic creatures exist but are usually hidden from the general population.

And in the 1970s there were many "Science Fantasy" books, although you don't see many these days. Most of the time, the stories had typical fantasy trappings but were said to have been discovered through space exploration. Good examples of Science Fantasy would be Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny or the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey.

Another similar wrinkle is "Magical Realism" in which seemingly magical or supernatural happenings occur in a world which otherwise appears to be ours. I wouldn't say Flowers for Algernon falls into this category, but I mention it for sake of completeness.

While I respect your opinion and your reasoning, Terri, I think I will disagree with your conclusion. To me, Flowers for Algernon is Science Fiction in the same vein as Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Both books are implausible in many ways, yet both suggest a way that scientific advances could lead to unforeseen outcomes. Although the technology for a medical procedure to "cure" Downs Syndrome might not exist today, who is to say what the future might hold? It reminds me of a fascinating news article I saw just today about a man who, through radical lifestyle changes (with a few medicines and supplements), was able to eliminate many signs of Alzheimer's Disease in his own brain in a matter of weeks:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/18/health...

No one is saying that Alzheimer's and Down Syndrome are the same; they definitely are not. But results like this can make people question what is and isn't possible to change about our own bodies. Stories like Flowers for Algernon encourage us to think about what the future might hold. To me, that's Science-Fiction.

Of course, the point of the story isn't just the science. Think about the time in which the story was originally published in 1959 - that's 65 years ago, a mere 14 years after the end of WWII (which is 9 years less than the time that has elapsed since the terrorist attack of 9/11). 1959 was the height of the Cold War, a time when a nuclear WWIII seemed like an inevitability and Americans feared we might be trailing the Russians in technological advances due to the successful Sputnik launch of 1957 (but prior to the turning point of the Cuban Missile Crisis). While post-war scientific advances had made many improvements possible in domestic life, science was also seen as something scary that could potentially end all life on Earth at any time. Hospitals were just beginning to be viewed as a place where you could go to get better, rather than as a place you went to die. Flowers for Algernon did suggest ways in which science might improve one's life in the future, but perhaps its most enduring impact might be the firm point it made (as has been noted in the comments above) about how people with mental or physical disabilities were treated at the time. Although the story can't take sole credit for the changes in the public mindset, it's worth noting that 5 years after the publication of the short story Flowers for Algernon, critical anti-discrimination legislation was included in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, followed four years later by the Architectural Barriers Act.

To me, Flowers for Algernon is Science Fiction (the short story won the Hugo Award in 1960 and a few years later the novel was a co-winner of the Nebula Award - these are generally considered the two most prestigious awards in Science Fiction) but maybe more important than that it is literature that successfully appeals to even people who don't normally read Science Fiction. The reason for this, I think, is the focus on the feelings the story inspires within us as Charlie is teased by co-workers, and the mixed feelings we have as Charlie's treatments progress and how it changes the way he is treated by others.

For those who enjoyed this story, you might also like the short story "Understand" by Ted Chiang which is included in his collection Stories of Your Life and Others (the title story was filmed as "Arrival" and is also an excellent read).

I also finished the historical non-fiction book


Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

#33 in 2024:

I also finished the historical non-fiction book


Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

I finished Don Carpenter's oft-overlooked debut novel


Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

#32 in 2024:

I finished Don Carpenter's oft-overlooked debut novel


Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

I finished the short story collection


The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading another collection


Dubliners by James Joyce