3 ms·

I enjoyed the Hyperion books but this got him put on my "never read anything from ever again" list: https://web.archive.org/web/20060424105133/http://www.dansim

I enjoyed the Hyperion books but this got him put on my "never read anything from ever again" list: https://web.archive.org/web/20060424105133/http://www.dansimmons.com/news/message.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20060424105133/http://www.dansim...

fatbird 8mo ago
Same here. It's a fading memory, but the decade following 9/11 really did feature a lot of big brains turning THE COMING CALIPHATE into an existential threat to humanity. Which seems quaint, now.
RemainsOfTheDay 8mo ago
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ZpJuUuNaQ5 8mo ago
>never read anything from ever again I think it's a poisonous and reductive mindset to have. You can separate art from the character of the artist. If you cared about everything everyone has ever said or done in various stages of their lives, you wouldn't have much left to enjoy or appreciate.
- isr 8mo ago
  He's referring ... to his "art". Thats what the piece he linked to was a part of. Its not poisonous nor reductive to decide not to follow an "artist" because his "art" is repulsive.
  - ZpJuUuNaQ5 8mo ago
    "I will never read anything by [AUTHOR] because some things [AUTHOR] wrote are now in my no no list." Sorry, that just doesn't make sense to me.
    - weavejester 8mo ago
      With the amount of fiction available to read, why give your money to authors who are bad people?
    - BigTTYGothGF 8mo ago
      Did you read the thing I linked? It's on the same level as the Turner Diaries or Fu Manchu or the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I'm only on this earth for so many years, and the number of words I can shove in my eye holes is finite. Dan Simmons thought it was a good idea to write that, and publish it on his own blog. SF is the kind of genre where you run the risk of getting hit with a big bolus of the author's politics at any time, and why would I drink from a well somebody's already pooped in?
  - lxgr 8mo ago
    Sure, but at the same time it's debatable whether even an artist themselves gets to retroactively reinterpret their own art that way.
- ses1984 8mo ago
  On the other hand, there is so so much art out there, I could never hope to consume it all. It’s simple for me to use the character of the artist as a filter. I can break that rule whenever I want, but by default, other things being equal, I would prefer to consume art for pleasure from artists I respect as people. I do consume art from outside this bubble but more to satisfy academic curiosity than pleasure.
petsfed 8mo ago
So he had a pretty good (not perfect) run up until the final 1/3, then had a staggering turn that only the author thought was profound or earned? That's a man who lived his craft right there.
ses1984 8mo ago
Can you perhaps explain what is objectionable so I don’t have to read the objectionable thing?
- weavejester 8mo ago
  I skimmed it. It's a story about a time traveler warning his ancestor about the horrors of Islam taking over the world. It's pretty yikes.
pragmatic 8mo ago
Interesting. I don’t think he was particularly kind to any proselytizing religion. Did you read the Cantos?
- BigTTYGothGF 8mo ago
  You might have missed this part of my post: > I enjoyed the Hyperion books
e40 8mo ago
Bizarrely, Reply is one of my favorite scifi books. One of the only books I’ve read more than once.

fatbird 8mo ago

Same here. It's a fading memory, but the decade following 9/11 really did feature a lot of big brains turning THE COMING CALIPHATE into an existential threat to humanity. Which seems quaint, now.

RemainsOfTheDay 8mo ago

[dead]

ZpJuUuNaQ5 8mo ago

>never read anything from ever again I think it's a poisonous and reductive mindset to have. You can separate art from the character of the artist. If you cared about everything everyone has ever said or done in various stages of their lives, you wouldn't have much left to enjoy or appreciate.

isr 8mo ago
He's referring ... to his "art". Thats what the piece he linked to was a part of. Its not poisonous nor reductive to decide not to follow an "artist" because his "art" is repulsive.
- ZpJuUuNaQ5 8mo ago
  "I will never read anything by [AUTHOR] because some things [AUTHOR] wrote are now in my no no list." Sorry, that just doesn't make sense to me.
  - weavejester 8mo ago
    With the amount of fiction available to read, why give your money to authors who are bad people?
  - BigTTYGothGF 8mo ago
    Did you read the thing I linked? It's on the same level as the Turner Diaries or Fu Manchu or the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I'm only on this earth for so many years, and the number of words I can shove in my eye holes is finite. Dan Simmons thought it was a good idea to write that, and publish it on his own blog. SF is the kind of genre where you run the risk of getting hit with a big bolus of the author's politics at any time, and why would I drink from a well somebody's already pooped in?
- lxgr 8mo ago
  Sure, but at the same time it's debatable whether even an artist themselves gets to retroactively reinterpret their own art that way.
ses1984 8mo ago
On the other hand, there is so so much art out there, I could never hope to consume it all. It’s simple for me to use the character of the artist as a filter. I can break that rule whenever I want, but by default, other things being equal, I would prefer to consume art for pleasure from artists I respect as people. I do consume art from outside this bubble but more to satisfy academic curiosity than pleasure.

petsfed 8mo ago

So he had a pretty good (not perfect) run up until the final 1/3, then had a staggering turn that only the author thought was profound or earned? That's a man who lived his craft right there.

ses1984 8mo ago

Can you perhaps explain what is objectionable so I don’t have to read the objectionable thing?

weavejester 8mo ago
I skimmed it. It's a story about a time traveler warning his ancestor about the horrors of Islam taking over the world. It's pretty yikes.

pragmatic 8mo ago

Interesting. I don’t think he was particularly kind to any proselytizing religion. Did you read the Cantos?

BigTTYGothGF 8mo ago
You might have missed this part of my post: > I enjoyed the Hyperion books

e40 8mo ago

Bizarrely, Reply is one of my favorite scifi books. One of the only books I’ve read more than once.