Anna’s Reviews > Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions > Status Update
Anna
is on page 108 of 448
While the topic of this book is of the greatest interest to me, the writing is often dense as a neutron star. Yet Jameson comments in chapter 5 that, 'I am probably not alone in finding the latest hard SF based on informational processes (even by so estimable a writer as Greg Egan) relatively unreadable'. Authors who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
— Apr 10, 2024 06:32AM
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Anna’s Previous Updates
Anna
is on page 308 of 448
I'm into it now! Around page 150 I became accustomed to Jameson's prose, transforming the book from exhausting to enjoyable and rewarding.
— Apr 12, 2024 10:44AM
Anna
is on page 23 of 448
Recently I've been reading unusually compulsively even by my standards; six books in the past week. Don't know what that's about, but to make best use of it I'm having another crack at my great white whale. I've been trying to read Archaeologies of the Future for thirteen years! Not letting myself start another novel until I'm more than 100 pages in.
— Apr 06, 2024 04:38PM
Anna
is on page 12 of 448
It has been a while. A guy on Livejournal recommended me this book in 2006, I got it from the library in 2011, managed to reach page 124 in 2012, then someone else borrowed the one university library copy. I bought my own paperback in the Christmas 2016 Verso sale and am now ready to have another crack at it. I still have the glossary notes I made in 2012 to refer to. Come at me, Jameson.
— Oct 24, 2018 01:42AM
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Jan
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Apr 10, 2024 06:45AM
Think it's so easy to write dystopia because imagining worst-case-scenarios invites conflict, which in turn drives a story right along. It's a greater challenge to imagine a better world... does he do this?
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@ Jan That concept is central to the book, as it's a critical analysis of utopian fiction. Jameson discusses the difficulty both of writing a better world and of including a plot: most utopias that I've read are essentially travelogues.
Anna wrote: "@ Jan That concept is central to the book, as it's a critical analysis of utopian fiction. Jameson discusses the difficulty both of writing a better world and of including a plot: most utopias that..."Thank you, Anna!
