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i have a specific fun rec for anyone who's curious: olaf stapledon is an old-school SF writer who wrote in the 1930s and his work is really wild. try "last and first men" and then "star maker." nobody's heard of him but he's cited as an influence by some big names

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Visa

SF (Aug 2-14)

@visakanv

· Oct 20, 2021

I kinda wanna say, stop everything guys, stop everything and everybody go read a really old book from a different time, from a different place. You, over there. old russian novels. you. start reading dante. you. read some goethe. everybody share your notes and findings

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QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)

@QiaochuYuan

Oct 20, 2021

there's a way that modern science fiction can feel bloodless. stapledon bleeds on the page. it's really something to see

QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)

@QiaochuYuan

Oct 21, 2021

as a taste here is the foreword of last and first men

QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)

@QiaochuYuan

Oct 21, 2021

oh man this reread was a good idea. i’m sorry to say this but olaf stapledon is so good that reading him makes me not want to read twitter. there’s something about the scale at which his prose operates that feels like a relief. twitter feels claustrophobic by comparison