ROFL, Peter! Did you go to UC Berkeley, too? And take a literature class? From that professor? <VBEG>
I'm perfectly capable of putting together a syllabus and class for SF, would love to have the opportunity to teach such a class sometime. Mine would include fantasy as well as science fiction, of course. It would include a book originally written in a language other than English -- "The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende, IMHO the only fantasy writer who equals Tolkien in the 20th century. It would include "Starship Troopers", "Stranger in a Strange Land", "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", and "Time Enough for Love" at very minimum. It would include "Ender's Game", the Mars Trilogy, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", "Android's Dream" (Scalzi), and probably the first couple of Thieves World and Wild Card collections. It would not include Delaney's Dhalgren or any number of other books that I've never been able to finish, or finished only by forcing myself to slog through the literary muck.
It would doubtless expose me as a puerile reader who actually insists upon a decent plot, interesting and sympathetic characters, and entertainment value. <wry grin> No proper university literature department would *ever* let me in the door with it.
I expect a number of you could do the same, coming up with different lists of books except (of course) the large quantities of good Heinlein books, which would doubtless be the common factor. 
|
Le Guin's "Left Hand of Darkness"? Any mention of Zenna Henderson/the "People"? Any mention of Manley Wade Wellman, Roger Zelazny, Harlan Ellison, Orson Scott Card (no "Ender's Game"?), Kim Stanley Robinson....