Science fiction is a genre in which believable or explainable settings and ideas are portrayed to tell a story, usually these stories have a message which can be applied to the modern man. This is one of many different ways of defining science fiction and admittedly this a loose definition that I use to define science fiction after completing my semester long Cold War Science Fiction class. Through this class I was able to obtain a more in depth and scholarly outlook on science fiction novels in a zoom class of my peers and Professor Gelderloos. We educated ourselves and discussed in class discussions, smaller break out rooms, and blogs posts that we posted weekly. I am proud to say that the whole experience was very enjoyable comparatively to my other classes. My name is Jesse Strack, and this is my experience and journey with Cold War Science Fiction.
All of the novels that we read were great in their own ways, some more than others, but all of them we have written accounts on at least once through our use of blog posts. Let’s start at the beginning with the first blog of the semester. On 8/31 as a class we were asked to write our first blog post for the semester, the task was easy enough for those who did the readings. It was at this point that I was worried about the readings due to the boring nature of recounts on what science fiction was and how to dissect it. I was bored up until “Robot Dreams”, the final reading for that week’s homework. To put it shortly, I loved Robot Dreams. I was immediately hooked on science fiction and the idea behind it, and now I understood what Stanislaw Lem wrote about in his paper that we were also assigned. Picking the story apart in my head again and playing the game that Isaac Asimov created the world becomes more real and important in its meaning.(1) After looking at my own time capsule I looked at Justin Huczko’s first blog post and saw what he thought about the readings. His particular post stood out the most because he also chose to compare Robot Dreams to another reading. Justin chose to compare Robot Dreams to Russ’ writing and concept of science fiction.(G1) I personally found his writing to be very attentive to detail and very well written. After seeing his thoughts I reflected on mine and found similarities but most noticed the difference in thought process on the same topic. This change in perspective was just as exciting as discovering my take on the short story.
The next reading response that I feel was of importance to me was the 10/5 reading response. For this blog I wrote about Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr.’s “SF and the Thaw.” I personally do not enjoy the reading we read on Perusall, except for Robot Dreams, but found the significance to be at last interesting when compared to science fiction as a whole in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This particular reading on Perusall stuck out to me because of its significance. After this blog post I had a better understanding of the ideals and setting that the science fiction writers of the Soviet Union wrote under. It is because of this understanding and appreciation that I was able to better interpret the readings not only for what they say but who is saying it.(2)
The third blog post I have presented is important to my experience in this class because simply put The first half of Solaris contained the most interesting scene for any of the readings we have read. When I finished the reading we were assigned I found myself excited to continue. The concept of Solaris and the mystery that was presented to us was amazing because in my opinion it is an answer that even the author doesn’t have. Solaris was one of my favorite readings because of the aspect of life it was questioning, and the novel itself was questioning human cognition and life as we know it. When I was writing my response I was excited to talk about and discuss with the other student Chris’ discovery that Harey, and probably the other visitors, didn’t have any atoms. This piqued my curiosity as a scientist due to the concept that atoms are the basic building block of the universe. This made me question exactly what Harey and the other visitors are even more because in my mind the lack of atoms puts them closer to being ghosts or hallucinations more than actual aliens, which if that is true then that brings Chris back to square one once again.(3) As this reading response was one of my favorites it made me realize how interesting having a question within a novel that doesn’t have an answer necessarily is. Also because of how much I enjoyed this reading response I chose to consult another student’s blog for this reading response. Enter Devin Mongan, a beautiful writer if I have ever seen one. I loved reading her blog post because of how perfectly it was crafted and how amazingly she informed the reader. Critiquing the entire human race on how exactly they perceive or believe the interaction of alien and human life would go down was decisive. She pulled no punches and when I looked at her writing I saw a masterpiece.(G2) If I had read this sooner I would have tried to read her response for every week and tried to follow her example and talent to better craft my responses.
My next blog post comes from the reading response for 10/19. For this week we watched the movie based on Solaris and all I can say is “what a let down.” My expectations were probably identical to that of many readers seeing their favorite novels coming to the big screen. I had high hopes and expectations but when push came to shove it couldn’t compare to the masterpiece that Stanislaw Lem produced. Besides the major let down we were tasked to take a scene from the movie and analyze it for all that it has to offer. I personally analyzed the opening scene and dissected it for any information that could give the scene more life or portray a theme. I took into consideration the sound of the scene and what was being shown as the main character Chris wandered through the woods near his home. This reading response was eye opening because of how it challenged me to take a second look at a scene from the movie and try to pick it apart for everything that it has to offer.(4) This type of movie analysis was new to me and the process itself was very enjoyable.
The fifth blog post I have chosen was written for the reading response we were given and tasked to complete for 10/26. This reading response challenged us to question the idea of contact in the new novel we started called “Roadside Picnic.” I will say that I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as I did Solaris. Though it wasn’t far off from being just as enjoyable, I personally liked the mystery presented in Solaris more but the character and some of the unanswered questions Roadside presented were very creative. I’d say going into this weeks reading response I felt more prepared and reading to assess a new novel and it’s tropes with the half of the story that we have read, and in my humble opinion I noticed some improvement and noticed my growth from this response compared to the responses I gave for the other novels concerning contact. This blog post just like the others is important to me because it is a milestone or a marker in the year that shows my growth or is a reminder of an enjoyable part of the year.(5)
The 6th blog post I have chosen comes from the reading response for 11/16. During this week I was tasked to compare and contrast Le Guin and Delany’s novels. I have to say comparing both the novels seemed pretty easy on paper but some thought and planning was required to assess these novels and properly compare the two. Through the experience I used my understanding of both novels, the lessons learned through the semester, and the skills I have acquired to write about the two novels and in the process I felt like I learned more about each novel when thinking about the other. This particular reading response wasn’t complicated but in the process I feel like it was just as important if not more important as a learning opportunity than other more complicated responses.(6)
For the final reading response I chose to look at a reading response that was taking a look at who is in my opinion the most hated character we have read about, Bron. I wanted to see how the other students felt about him and the novel itself. In my quest to see some of the heated debate about him I stumbled upon Megan Barber’s blog post and was pleasantly surprised by the response she crafted. Admittedly I saw nothing absolutely eye opening but the response itself used a wide array of recollected information and was detailed in its response. I would say that Megan’s blog post embodied the growth and skills we have acquired and earned through the semester to a tee.(G3)
In my time with my class of Cold War Science Fiction and my professor Mr. Gelderloos I have learned and experienced many new things. I now have a heightened understanding and appreciation for science fiction and the events of the Cold War, more so science fiction, and I feel like I have refined my writing ability if only a little bit. My time in this class has been nothing but enjoyable and I’d be happy to encourage others to take a class with Professor Gelderloos. I am only sad that it was only for one semester.