• more about #kazuoishiguro
    Roklimber: Charlie, I think you're judging this woman too harshly. She didn't ask for a way to *stop* the kid from reading sci-fi (as you suggest), but only for ... more »
    bookwench: My favorite thought about kids reading is actually from the Ghostbusters animated series, where Ray is describing his reading habits as a child and hi... more »
    Anekanta - Go Play!: Whenever I read something like this, I realize that I was lucky enough to have a really really good high school English curriculum. We had a good mix... more »
    Sunshineyness: As a kid's bookseller you get this attitude all the time- and never as polite as that letter writer. I suggest comics: "Oh, I want them to actually R... more »
    omgwtflolbbqbye: Actually it reads to me like she just wanted him to read more stuff + sci-fi and not instead of. Nonetheless, the discussions bellow remind me of my ... more »
    SnehalMarten: I wouldn't include China Mieville on that list of modern sophisticated Sci-Fi writers. more »
    zenzer: God bless my Mom (a school teacher) for encouraging me to read NO MATTER WHAT IT WAS. She fed my teenage addiction to post-apocalyptic pulp (Deathland... more »
    Rocketknight: Maybe she WAS being a little condescending about sci-fi, but I still think it would be beneficial to the kid to get him into something besides sci-fi.... more »
    HerrIssyvoo: I appreciate the intention and in general her examples are well-chosen, but man is Godzilla a bad choice. The original is one of the best sci-fi movie... more »
    Zyg: I don't understand why people think scifi isn't a smart read. Who give a s#!t anyway what people read as long as they do so. more »
    Lewen Stonewar: Whatever you do don't start them with DUNE. My cousin, who I worshiped, gave me DUNE for my thirteenth birthday. It took me 4 years to read it. more »
    Cpt. Obvious: I started reading SciFi at an early age. What could be more mind expanding. Besides, what else is there for the young, Hardy Boys? more »
    drukus: My eight year old is reading the Lord of the Rings. He has read a bunch of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells already. Why would I want to stop that? None o... more »
    foolish-rain: I would even argue that the success and mainstream acceptance of authors like Audrey Niffenegger, Alice Sebold and Michael Chabon prove that genre dis... more »
    NerD: Blattella: I agree, start early. I've got a two year old who is in love with Gamera and Gorgo the great because of clips from this site. When he gets older I to... more »
    OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear: When will people learn sci-fi can be intelligent? I was in a job interview for a law firm. Law student resumes for some reason have an "interests" f... more »
    knyne: As the freshman ur-geek of my high school (and ladeez/germs, this was the early 70's in the upper midwest--not even a simple patina of residual coolne... more »
    Dr Emilio Lizardo: Poor deranged teen, he thought Brave New World was SF when clearly it can't be because it's literature. Books about Eugenics, a drug addicted culture... more »
    BlueBeard: 1) Thought it was Sci-fi? 2) What 13 year old reads "the classics?" What the hell does she want him to read? When I was a kid and doing summer re... more »
    Srynerson: My father got very distressed with the fact that I almost exclusively read sci-fi and fantasy in middle school. My mother got him off of it by pointi... more »
  • #books

    Don't Ask The Wall Street Journal How To Wean Your Kids Off Reading Science Fiction

    Somebody wrote to the Wall Street Journal's book advice column to ask how you go about convincing your 13-year-old nephew to stop reading science fiction. Thank goodness the WSJ's in-house book nerd was smart enough to say: You don't. More »
  • #judgedredd

    Does Judge Dredd Movie Have A Screenplay Already?

  • #neverletmego

    Keira Knightley's Clone Bits Are Up For Grabs

    Diminutive British actress Keira Knightley is starring in the cloning drama Never Let Me Go, based on Kazuo Ishiguro's acclaimed novel. So thinkThe Island, but probably with fewer people exploding and more actual character development. More »
  • #posthumans

    Posthumans Go Hollywood! (Maybe.)

    Are we finally going to get a posthuman mass culture? With movies like Surrogates and Avatar hitting theaters later this year, it may be now or never. More »