Even though I'm not a member of the apposite organization, I've followed the story of the Hugo Award nomination ballot and what the hell is that all about with sinking fascination all week. It was probably inevitable I'd blog about it.
Because this is going to be a relatively brief post, I'll refer you to more in-depth takes here and here,
First of all the bloc voting strikes me as in really bad faith. While nobody reads everything except for the people that do, the idea is to at least do some comparative reading and vote for books that strike your fancy over books that don't. If you have 2,000 voting pretty much in unison, the odds are great that some of them haven't even read the stuff they claim to like.
Also, the issue here isn't that a bunch of right-wingers have entered the picture. If only it were just that. Way back in the Vietnam days an ad ran from a number of science fiction luminaries who were against the war on one page and pro-war people on another. The pro-war side has some distinguished names on it, and while not all of them were necessarily down-the-line conservatives, surely some were.Because this is going to be a relatively brief post, I'll refer you to more in-depth takes here and here,
First of all the bloc voting strikes me as in really bad faith. While nobody reads everything except for the people that do, the idea is to at least do some comparative reading and vote for books that strike your fancy over books that don't. If you have 2,000 voting pretty much in unison, the odds are great that some of them haven't even read the stuff they claim to like.
No,, by their own account this is a vote - a bunch of votes, obviously - for reining in abstract ideas and weirdness. And anti-intellectualism is never really a sign of good times to come
2 comments:
On the list of people opposed to the Vietnam War it was good to see P.K. Dick, Samuel R. Delaney and Ursula K. LeGuin among a few other remembered favorite authors. Maybe it would be a good thing if a few of them who won Hugos in the past gave the awards back along with a few choice words about how a right wing twit had removed any residual value the award still had. Ursula LeGuin would be my first choice as someone to give that lecture.
To his credit, George R. R. Martin has been very upfront on this, very articulate, and what with his novel series being bestsellers and the source of a popular HBO series he stands as a counterexample to those who think only right wingers had heard the voice of the people. I'd be thrilled to hear from Le Guin, as well. When she speaks she has something to say.
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