Confusing Hugos

[julieandrews]

One of my projects is to read all of the Hugo novels. But more recently I also plan to read all of the short stories that won the Hugo. The short stories are a little tricky, because there were a few years where it was only a 'short fiction' category, so I'm sure some longer stories made their way in there.

But I went to look for the first novel, "The Mule" by Isaac Asimov, only to find out it's a novella. And then I looked at what won in the novella category for 1946 and it's "Animal Farm", which I (and probably thousands of school children) always considered a novel.

Aren't categories fun?

So "The Mule" may or may not be in this Foundation omnibus the library has. The book's checked out, so I can't check. And honestly, the idea of reading a Foundation story at the moment leaves me cold. Maybe I'll skip to 1951. Oi, Heinlein.

I'd read them in the opposite order, but I tried a Chabon I thought I'd like better than Yiddish Policemen's Union and couldn't finish it.

Hrm, I could read all the women first.. that wouldn't take me long. *pauses to count* Yea, I could do that in a month. Except starting with the most recent means Jonathan Strange, which is a rather daunting-looking book to be honest.

T'heck with it, maybe I'll work on the Nebulas.

So on either end of that we have Dune, ugh, or Yiddish PMU again. But it is a shorter list overall. Maybe I'll start with Babel-17. I need to read some Delany.

Comments

[tomomi.livejournal.com]

I actually liked Dune.

I started Jonathan Strange but I never finished it. I got maybe 25% in? There were not yet any interesting female characters, and I have less and less tolerance for that kind of crap. Unless you're writing fiction based in the -real world- of a certain era and in certain situations, you have no excuses. And even then the excuses are pretty thin.

[shweta-narayan.livejournal.com]

Heh, no interesting female characters is what I'd have said about Dune, but then I wasn't interested in the male characters either.

I'd say the interesting female character in JS&MrN is the narrator. Partly because it seems so much a book where one laughs with the narrator, at the characters, or not at all.

[tomomi.livejournal.com]

Dune did have the whole 'females as appendage to awesome male' thing going on. Definitely a strong negative mark against it.

[julieandrews.livejournal.com]

I'd seen your userpic before, but it still amuses me. :)

[shweta-narayan.livejournal.com]

Jonathon Strange is a delightful book if you're in the mood for atmospheric snark; I love it for the same reasons I love Austen, which is to say, not for the thrilling action.

There actually is some of that by, y'know, page 500 or 600,but it's not what I like best.

A suggestion: try The Ladies of Grace Adieu.It's Clarke's short fiction, and has all the delight of JS&MrN in a zillionth the length. and more generally --maybe you want to start at *now* and work backwards?

[julieandrews.livejournal.com]

Just need Little Brother or The Graveyard Book to win this year and I'll have this year sewn up. :)

[keyan-bowes.livejournal.com]

Yes. What Shweta said.

"Ladies" actually has ladies, plus some explanation of why you don't see too much of them in JS&MrN. The only thing I found disappointing was that Grace Adieu is a place. It's the Ladies of Grace-Adieu, not "The Ladies of Grace, Adieu." But that's trivial.