The Fantasy and Science Fiction/Theory Reading Group is a casual, convivial group that meets once a month. We gather to discuss works (partial list of previous readings) that we have chosen collectively and to put those works in some sort of theoretical perspective, the sort, of course, depending on the works and the viewpoints of those assembled. The Group is open on a drop-in basis, because we are always interested in the views of those who are especially interested in a particular work or author, but most participants try to attend regularly. Our currently active members include faculty, graduate students, and staff from the University of Michigan,Wayne State University, and other local residents with strong interests in the field. (We are not open to undergraduates. Interested undergraduates may want to consider joining a local science fiction club such as the Stilyagi Air Corps in Ann Arbor.) The Fantasy and Science Fiction/Theory Reading Group normally meets year round from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. although occasionally our schedule varies, so please consult the calendar below. Our current location is 3184 Angell Hall in the Department of English of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Eric Rabkin, the group's convener, always provides something like peanuts; others sometimes bring additional snacks.
At our meeting of 12 Oct 2010, we agreed to continue meeting generally on the second Tuesday of the month. If all goes according to custom, at the October meeting listed below, we will pick books for at least a few subsequent months, so participation in person or by prior contact for that meeting is especially invited.
All of the works listed below were available either new or used when the schedule was set, but some books may require ordering, so it is advisable to begin acquiring texts early. Our schedule follows:
| Dates |
Works |
|---|---|
T 8 Nov |
Walter Moers, The City of Dreaming Books. This uproarious fantasy (translated from German) follows a quest for an author in an alien universe made of books: metafiction for the happily ironic. |
T 13 Dec |
Hayao Miyazaki, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: This acclaimed work by the most popular master of anime, follows, as IMDB writes, "warrior/pacifist Princess Nausicaä [as she] desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet. This, our annual view-and-pizza meeting, in order to show the video, will be in 2455 Mason Hall. |
T 10 Jan |
Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita: One of the greatest Russian novels of the twentieth century, the cast of this astonishing satire, which interweaves several socially revealing plot lines in Soviet Moscow, includes even the Devil himself. |
T 14 Feb |
Robert Silverberg, Dying Inside: Perhaps the greatest work of an undervalued mid-century SF master, this poignant character study explores what happens when one's youthful powers (in this case telepathy) wane without having borne fruit. |
T 13 Mar |
Ted Chiang, Stories of Your Life and Others & The Lifecycle of Software Objects: These volumes contain almost all of the work-to-date of a slow, careful, amazing writer who, with almost every publication, wins another major SF award. |
T 10 Apr |
Olaf Stapledon, Star Maker: Often thought to be the most philosophically and spiritually gripping SF novel of all time, what Brian Aldiss called "the great, grey book of science fiction" challenges the reader to see poetry in prose and feel awe in a story spanning billions of years. |
T 8 May |
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games: This wildly popular Young Adult novel, reputedly standalone start of an infectious trilogy, is set in a post-apocalptic future in which child-gladiators are the necessary tribute to the loose authority holding civilization together, for better and worse. |
T 12 Jun |
Bill Willingham, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall & Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile: A double-Eisner award winner here presents the backstories and first episodes that launch an acclaimed graphic narrative series about fairy tale characters in New York City, refugees from the Adversary. |
T 10 Jul |
Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress: Often considered the greatest novel by perhaps America's most popular and influential SF writer, this novel of revolution, social commentary, and artificial intelligence recapitulates the author's major themes with a Twain-like serious humor. |
T 14 Aug |
Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A wild work of comically inexact time travel and incomplete physics, the themes of self and self-revelation are worked out in a Tristram Shandy-like SF novel that the New York Times extolled. |
T 11 Sep |
John Scalzi, Old Man's War: In this widely-admired modern work compared favorably to Heinlein in craft, theme, and attitudes, our protagonist enlists after retirement in the army that needs soldiers' accumulated experience to protect humanity. |
T 9 Oct |
Book selection meeting! Please come ready to suggest books for the group to read. If you wish, bring a copy of each suggested book and/or bring reviews. Please check in advance to make sure that the books you suggest are available. In case our selection discussion takes less than our two-hour allotment, Eric will bring copies of a short-short story for us to read together and chew on, but anyone else who wants to do that should feel free to do so. If you can't make the meeting but want to make a recommendation, please send it to our mail group. |
T 13 Nov |
Cordwainer Smith, Norstrilia: In the only novel by this infrequent writer who made a permanent mark on science fiction as the creator of the Underpeople, those genetically engineered animals figure in the second half of the story of an ordinary human protagonist struggling to survive in a eugenic future. |
If you want to send an electronic message to this Reading Group, please address FantasySF@umich.edu. If you want to see this message on the World Wide Web, please point your browser at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~esrabkin/fsftsched.html. If you want to add your name to the mail group or make suggestions or inquiries, please contact Eric Rabkin by e-mail (esrabkin@umich.edu) or snail mail at Department of English, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1003.
Come join us!
| Eric | This page was last updated on
Tuesday, 13-Dec-2011 00:23:11 EST
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