Twentieth Century Interpretations of Science Fiction: A Collection of Critical Essays (20th Century Views)

In this volume, Mark Rose examines science fiction's affinities with the romance tradition, while Kingsley Amis Identifies the forerunners of today's science fiction in Shakespeare's The Tempest, Voltaire's Micromegas and Swift's Gulliver's Travels.Reminding readers that reading poetry was once considered a trivial occupation, Robert Conquest presents convincing arguments for science fiction's respectability. Science-fiction author Stanislaw Lem discusses some of the logical impliclations of time-travel stories as emploed by Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Frederic Brown, and others, while C.S. Lewis considers the various categories of science fiction. Darko Suvin presents a comprehensive discussion of how SF works.Including among other fascinating articles, Susan Sontag's classic discussion of SF films of cosmic invasion and apocalyptic catastrophe, this collection provides an ideal introduction to the science fiction genre.Among the essays :Starting Point - Kingsley AmisThe Roots of Science Fiction - Robert ScholesOn the Poetics of the Science Fiction Genre - Darko SuvinOn Science Fiction - C.S. LewisThe Imagination of Disaster - Susan SontagThe Time-Travel Story and Related Matters of SF Structuring - Stanislaw Lem