attn timprov (recent reading)
Finally laid hands on a copy of Butler's Bloodchild and other stories (second expanded edition). It rocks. Does nothing to change the tone or tenor of my criticism of Butler, but since my criticism of Butler is gushy praise, I'm okay with that.

The more I read, the more pissed off I am at myself that I neglected her work while she was alive. :-( I had read the story "Bloodchild" too, when it was first published, because I was subscribing to IAsfm at that time. Memories flooded back as I was rereading the first half of the story, but the second half of the story seemed all new to me, especially the business with the gun. I think it was just too emotionally intense for me when I was a callow youth. I probably couldn't relate to any of what was going through Gan's mother's head at all, for instance.

Now I find "Bloodchild" an exquisite story.

And those Afterwords. Such admirable control and restraint.

Next stop: Lilith's Brood, formerly known as Xenogenesis.

In other recent reading, I reread Dozois's Eighth Annual collection. That came out in 1990, I think, the year of Bisson's "Bears Discover Fire" (great story). I was also happy with the Egan stories (when have I ever not been?), and particularly impressed with the Molly Gloss and Pat Murphy entries. It was also nice to be reminded of what I do like about Michael Moorcock, even though his fiction can be so annoying at times. On the other hand, I have to say that the squeezed novel by mister skunk reminded me of everything I didn't like about the worst excesses of the New Wave (which, in sf of course, happened when I was a tiny child).

I also found and got a copy of Isaac Asimov's Understanding Physics (thank you Moe's!). I always think of Asimov growing up in a candy shop, because although I'm sad to confess that I'm pretty lukewarm toward the man's fiction, his pedagogical nonfiction has always been purest literary candy to me. It's sweet and simple but intellectually stimulating. For me it's comfort reading, in the same sense in which people use the phrase "comfort food". We're all busy in a joint project of understanding the world we live in (and understanding one another), and Uncle Isaac is here to explain big chunks of the story so far to you, the better for you to participate in it. It's a big wide view into a sane world that makes sense, with people working hard and doing good things for their own and each other's benefit, and for the most part he's talking about things that actually happened in the world we actually live in. I don't think anyone ought to be surprised that I find this sort of reading comforting.