Life, Interrupted

Here's an article over on NPR.org talking about why one young woman thought the hero of Dune was a perfectly good transitional hero -- because instead of being trapped in whining, like the hero of Catcher in the Rye, for example, Paul adapted.

I think that was a major point for me, the reason that I haven't gotten back to a lot of so-called literary novels. They wallow in angst -- their lesson is that life stinks and there's not a lot you can do about it, so accept it.

That hasn't been my experience, and as someone who has had some very rough patches? Yes, I can say that. Fantasy and science fiction taught me a great deal about recognizing useful adaptation strategies. We all have favorite books, that we took comfort in, learned from, return to -- I even have a nonfiction book I re-read from time to time, Le Guin's The Language of the Night, essays collected by Susan Wood.

So -- visit with this writer as she recalls how Dune taught her useful survival skills, and share, if you'd like, a few of your favorite survival F & SF. (Other areas of Story welcome!)