I don't even know where to begin with this story other than to say that it took my mind to a whole new level. I've never read anything so ... weird? I understood parts of it, but other parts I found to be impossible to follow. Why did the furniture and the appliances talk to Jane, and how does it fit in with the rest of the story? And what is with Heinie? He totally threw me for a loop .. I've never met a kid like that. And then there is Gott and his imagination. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure of the point or direction of the story. Im thinking that his created images might represent what the world would become if we did not have control over our minds. Reality seemed to win him over at the end of the story ..
Although it was very different, I found the story to be entertaining! I am left with quite a few questions though .. hopefull our class discussion will help to answer them!
I am about halfway through the introduction to the Anthology. It's interesting to see how much work goes into choosing what gets published in the book. I had no idea that there is such a vast array of Science Fiction material. It will be interesting to think about why each particular story was chosen as we move through the course !
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IMO, she left out a LOT of stuff that is more deserving than some of what made it in. Clarke, Asimov and Heinlein are three incredibly famous (and good) names of science fiction (all of them have movies licensed on their work, among other things), and none of them are in there.
George RR Martin, a particular favorite of mine, who may have actually won more awards than LeGuin and didn't START writing until about the seventies isn't in there either. His stuff's been reasonably popular, and he's quite good as well.
No Keith Laumer, who wrote two of the most famous science fiction serials (one is very funny, one is interesting but different).
However, one wonders a bit if they didn't meet LeGuin's standards for what constitutes sci-fi - and one also wonders if they were "too male", which appears to be a problem for her.
As for the story...
Fritz Leiber is ALWAYS weird. I've read several of his stories, and they're ALWAYS pretty weird. There's one where two characters discover giant waterspouts, and decide that their world is a sphere, they're on the inside of the sphere, and that inside those waterspouts are the sun, moon, and stars (one to a waterspout). The damn thing is that it almost makes logical sense, especially from where they're sitting.
There are two interpretations I can think of for the Winter Flies. Either it's a story about weird alien beings trying to drag everyone down into insanity/some strange dimension (in which case it is gawdawful and ought to be burnt).
Or it is a story about how people need other people and family to drag themselves out of the insanity of loneliness. In which case I'm not really sure how it qualifies as science (or even speculative) fiction, and LeGuin ought to be burnt.
Well, maybe just slightly singed.
Holly I was lost with this story too!
If there was some larger message or meaning behind this story it flew right over my head.
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