If you want to be more like me — and why wouldn’t you? — you should read the following books.
- Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson.
- American Gods, by Neil Gaiman.
- The Vorkosigan series, by Lois McMaster Bujold. (Start with Cordelia’s Honor, then Young Miles.)
- The Principia Discordia, by Malaclypse the Younger.
- Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut.
You may have noticed that all five (well, six) are science fiction or fantasy. This is entirely appropriate, because it’s in the realm of speculative fiction that we can best explore the cultural and philosophical implications of our society.
American Gods explores our spiritual desolation:
“This is a bad land for gods,” said Shadow. As an opening statement it wasn’t Friends, Romans, countrymen, but it would do. “You’ve probably all learned that. The old gods are ignored. The new gods are as quickly taken up as they are abandoned, cast aside for the next big thing.”
Cat’s Cradle is a parable on emptiness and the absurdity of love:
Man blinked. “What is the purpose of all this?” he asked politely.
“Everything must have a purpose?” asked God.
“Certainly,” said man.
“Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this,” said God.
And He went away.
The Principia Discordia responds with both mysticism and a call to chaos:
“Gentlemen,” he said, “why does Pickering’s Moon go about in reverse orbit? Gentlemen, there are nipples on your chests; do you give milk? And what, pray tell, Gentlemen, is to be done about Heisenberg’s Law?” He paused. “SOMEBODY HAD TO PUT ALL OF THIS CONFUSION HERE!”
Snow Crash offers a stateless dystopia full of metaphysical confusion and low-level heroism:
“Wait a minute, Juanita. Make up your mind. This Snow Crash thing—is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?”
Juanita shrugs. “What’s the difference?”
The Vorkosigan books give us whole worlds, with vastly different human cultures, but always return to backwards, neo-feudal Barrayar, a planet the Nisbetcons should love:
“Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself. Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards.”
There’s far more to all of them than this, of course, and if you are unconvinced I’d be thrilled to discuss at length.
Nisbetcons! Yes!
In other news, thanks for the embarassing reminder that my reply to an e-mail thread on this topic has been sitting in my Gmail drafts bin for about a month now… (although it might end up disagreeing on whether speculative fiction is all that)
Cat’s Cradle, Principia Discordia, and Vorkosigan series sound particularly fun. Thanks!
I maintain that (much as I love American Gods) it would be about ten times better if only he gave the cult of the Virgen de Guadalupe its due.
As is it fails to recognize that which is legitimately premodern in contemporary life, which is sad because it’s so much of the fun…