How many times have you heard this?

zoran said:
A friend of mine, named Darko Macan, is a comic book writer / artist. So he did a short comic strip of a person (himself) standing and reading a comic. The other person comes by and says: "Hey, aren't you too big for reading comic books?" Then, the first person visualizes himself growing huge and trampling the other underfoot, and says: "No, I think I'm not big enough." :D
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LOL! Good one!
 
I don't think folks in the "used to" category have necessarily lost their sense of wonder or the *cough cough* ability to understand sff. I think that they have gotten a bit busy witht heir lives, maybe a little lazy when it comes to reading.

My own mother shocked me last year when she asked for a Heinlein book for her birthday. Heinlein! My mom used to read thrillers when I was a kid and over the last dozen years or so has been reading romance. Turns out she was a sf nut when she was young, but had gotten away from the genre slowly over the years.

I think reading became less of a priority when she became a single mom, and less still when she remarried and expanded the family. Maybe she leaned toward books that required less active thought to read (not that I'm saying thrillers and romance don't stimulate the ol brainpan, but I haven't come across many that push beyond easy understanding yet).

Just a theory.
 
BookStop said:
I don't think folks in the "used to" category have necessarily lost their sense of wonder or the *cough cough* ability to understand sff. I think that they have gotten a bit busy witht heir lives, maybe a little lazy when it comes to reading.

Maybe she leaned toward books that required less active thought to read (not that I'm saying thrillers and romance don't stimulate the ol brainpan, but I haven't come across many that push beyond easy understanding yet).

Just a theory.
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And an interesting one at that. I think it DOES take more effort. I also found that when I was raising the kids or working, I couldn't write (except some children's books that never got off the ground). All my creative energy was spent on my kids or my job. At least that was my excuse. Maybe I was just lazy, too.

Maybe it's our mission to remind them all what fun SF can be. And how deep and thought provoking.

Lock and load people. Spread the word...
 
I've had a couple of booksellers tell me to "get a life" before. One in a SFF themed shop. I was just buying a book

I used to read horror when I was younger. Mostly YA stuff - Point Horrors, Christopher Pike. Moved onto Stephen King and John Saul and then I went through a Star Trek/Wars kick.

Then Mills and Boon (no really - hundreds of them)

Then came the LOTR movie, read the books, realised that hey fantasy wasn't actually all that bad, worked my way through the Discworld series and haven't looked back.

Started reading trek/wars again. I save the M & B when I want a guaranteed happy ended and not too demanding reading - like before I go to bed. Don't know about anyone else but if I read anything else my mind completely races and I can't sleep.
 
They produce missions of romances methinks unless I am mightily confused and had some kind of anniversary lately.

A lot of people at school find it weird that I read fantasy/sci fi but not because it's deemed as kids stuff. In fact a lot of people I know tried to read LoTR after the films were made but most gave up becausee they couldn't handle it. i think it's a shame to read any genre exclusively and have recently started to read 'comics' agains such as Watchmen, The Crow, Maus &c and found that in any genre there can be found books which both make you think and which stimulate the imagination.

To me, at least, it would be more interesting to find out their reasons and perceptions of the genre, rather than the rapid put-down. Then again, tis their loss.
 
I started reading fantasy (not including Mother Goose and Aesop and other nursery rhymes read to me) when I was 8. A book called My Father's Dragon.
 
To an earlier comment, a lot of the reason I read sf&f is because of escapism. My life isn't bad, in fact my new business is doing very well, but why read about something I can live, see on the news, or read in the paper?
 
Loads of people have laughed at me when I tell them what I read/write.

To be honest with you, I don't care.

But someone saying they used to read in the genre when they were younger does not automatically strike me as an insult. I just ask which author they read and chat about the book if I know it.

Engage in a conversation about fantasy/sci fi, and they are more likely to try it again now memories have been poked, than say getting a smart answer that makes you look like the literary snob not them.

You may have more in common with them than you think.

Otherwise, of-course, if they insist upon being rude about your (our) chosen genre, I would be tempted to crack them one with a hardback copy of Wizards First Rule (it is a big book) and be on my way.

:)
 
A lot of people who say they don't read fantasy and science fiction, actually do. Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Gregory McGuire, and Nora Roberts are all mainstream authors who include a lot of fantasy, and occasionally sf in thier works.
 
Some see Harry Potter as fantasy, and heaps of top-grossing movies are sff, LOTR, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, E.T, Spiderman, etc.
 
If you'd like to be stingy just find one of the weak points of that person and say:
-I used to listen to classical music when I was a kid.
-I used to recycle a lot when I was a kid.

Then they react heavily and say:
-that doesn't mean you can't listen to that music now or that doesn't mean you should stop recycling now.

Then you say: my point exactly.:p
 
I've heard this too,usually from people who've not read a great deal of SF and who tend to call it sci fi(yee,that really grates)
I tell them that most kids wouldn't be able to comprehend some of the ideas in SF so how can it be for kids?
Kids read sci fi,adults read SF
 
Worldbuilder said:
Anyhow, I think we all need an intelligent answer for people who think they can outgrow sf/f.

I hope you have some ideas for me. SF is for grown ups, darn it!
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I would just politely ask them what they read now. Whatever their answer is, I would ask them to explain to me logically why that genre is for grown-ups or, if they don't read at all, they need to explain logically why that is for grown-ups.

Turning the tables always works for me. :)

I also might mention some of my favorite books, such as Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, or Gulliver's Travels and ask them if they consider these books to be something you can outgrow when they still have an impact on our world today.
 
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