I would be grateful if we could accept this and move on to The Man with the Compound Eyes? It is a nonsense to say that The Handmaid’s Tale is either serious literary fiction or science fiction. The argument, correctly thought out, should be: I didn’t think I liked science fiction – but – I did like The Handmaid’s Tale – therefore – it turns out I do like some science fiction. The argument most people believe is this: I do not like science fiction – but – I did like The Handmaid’s Tale – therefore – The Handmaid’s Tale cannot be science fiction. Todd is not a lone wolf of snobbish cultural ranking though, his assertion is the norm not only in critical circles but also in the reading population in general and it is based on a false interpretation of logical argument. In his book, Consuming Fictions, Richard Todd asserts that “Serious literary fiction tends to exclude the best-selling genre-fiction categories such as crime or science fiction but may make use of some of the conventions of theses genres.” I’m pretty sure this is criticism’s greatest Get Out Of Jail Free Card what he is saying is essentially, science fiction becomes serious literary fiction when I, Richard Todd, personally decide it is good enough.
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