Some science fiction uses a backdrop of technology or a future dystopian to tell a very human tale. A few novels that come to mind are 'Dune' by Frank Herbert, Orwell's '1984', Huxley's 'Brave New World', 'Darwin's Radio' by Greg Bear, Ursula LeGuin's 'The Left Hand Of Darkness' and (the novel that I am currently reading) 'Fall' by Neal Stephenson. And while those novels that make technology a central feature tend to leave me cold, I do remember enjoying Arthur C. Clarke's 'Rendezvous With Rama'.
Also, I do appreciate the absurdities found in the work of Philip K. Dick. I tend to think his vision of the future may be closer to the truth than either Orwell or Huxley.
As for magical realism, one of my favorite novels is 'The Flounder' by Gunter Grass. Another novel from a lesser known author that you may enjoy is 'Geek Love' by Katherine Dunn.
I'd venture to say that if "those novels that make technology a central feature tend to leave [you] cold", it is because you are not a part of the tech cult, and thus cannot feel the thrill tech-worshippers get from this kind of story. Something akin to what, say, people who believe in reincarnation feel when reading stories in which small children remember things from their "past lives". It's a religious thing.
Many, if not most, of the (great) books you mention are not strict-sense sci-fi, at least not more than, say, alternate history would be. "Science" (or rather tech) is not that important in their stories. Brave New World, for instance, could easily be transformed into a kind of dark fantasy if the artificial uteri and soma were replaced by "magical" equivalents. Likewise, 1984 could be set in a vast anthill-like society, not necessarily human (there's another great dystopian book I can't remember now whose author did it, by the way). Ursula K. LeGuin is in a category all by herself, I'd say, as C. S. Lewis when he dabbled in this kind of thing.
Rendez-vous with Rama, on the other hand, is precisely the kind of thing I am talking about. It is just a fully tech-based retelling of Jules Verne's Voyage to the Center of the Earth, after all. The thrill of all the machine-like beings (or living machines?) is at least as important as the litle plot the book has. Rama's "inhabitants" are dinosaurs for tech-addicted kids of all ages. Oh, I like that book.
And I do love Philip K. Dick. One of the many times I've been bored on a hospital bed, the doctors gave me a drug whose name reminded me of "Palmer" (as in The Three Stigma of Palmer Eldrich). I wrote a short story very vaguely based on PKD's, with some elements that would not be very welcome by fans of hardcore traditional sci-fi. For instance, in it Brazilian auto mechanics had discovered that it was quite easy to improvise spaceships with a few alterations on old VW Beetles (the most popular car in Brazil ever; Brazilian mechanics tendo to improvise a lot, and nowhere more than on old Beetles). It is a clear break with the sci-fi rule that tech must be extrapolation of stuff present science knows, but having spaceships would make it hard to to consider it fantasy. On the other hand, as I use tech without worshipping it, I can't see why that rule could possibly matter, even less improve a story.
Thanks for the interest and the commentary. I'll check those books you mentioned I don't know.
Another novel that matches that description is "A Canticle for Leibowitz", which was recommended to me by the very Mr. Ramalhete we respond to today, and had become since my favorite fiction work.
Some science fiction uses a backdrop of technology or a future dystopian to tell a very human tale. A few novels that come to mind are 'Dune' by Frank Herbert, Orwell's '1984', Huxley's 'Brave New World', 'Darwin's Radio' by Greg Bear, Ursula LeGuin's 'The Left Hand Of Darkness' and (the novel that I am currently reading) 'Fall' by Neal Stephenson. And while those novels that make technology a central feature tend to leave me cold, I do remember enjoying Arthur C. Clarke's 'Rendezvous With Rama'.
Also, I do appreciate the absurdities found in the work of Philip K. Dick. I tend to think his vision of the future may be closer to the truth than either Orwell or Huxley.
As for magical realism, one of my favorite novels is 'The Flounder' by Gunter Grass. Another novel from a lesser known author that you may enjoy is 'Geek Love' by Katherine Dunn.
I'd venture to say that if "those novels that make technology a central feature tend to leave [you] cold", it is because you are not a part of the tech cult, and thus cannot feel the thrill tech-worshippers get from this kind of story. Something akin to what, say, people who believe in reincarnation feel when reading stories in which small children remember things from their "past lives". It's a religious thing.
Many, if not most, of the (great) books you mention are not strict-sense sci-fi, at least not more than, say, alternate history would be. "Science" (or rather tech) is not that important in their stories. Brave New World, for instance, could easily be transformed into a kind of dark fantasy if the artificial uteri and soma were replaced by "magical" equivalents. Likewise, 1984 could be set in a vast anthill-like society, not necessarily human (there's another great dystopian book I can't remember now whose author did it, by the way). Ursula K. LeGuin is in a category all by herself, I'd say, as C. S. Lewis when he dabbled in this kind of thing.
Rendez-vous with Rama, on the other hand, is precisely the kind of thing I am talking about. It is just a fully tech-based retelling of Jules Verne's Voyage to the Center of the Earth, after all. The thrill of all the machine-like beings (or living machines?) is at least as important as the litle plot the book has. Rama's "inhabitants" are dinosaurs for tech-addicted kids of all ages. Oh, I like that book.
And I do love Philip K. Dick. One of the many times I've been bored on a hospital bed, the doctors gave me a drug whose name reminded me of "Palmer" (as in The Three Stigma of Palmer Eldrich). I wrote a short story very vaguely based on PKD's, with some elements that would not be very welcome by fans of hardcore traditional sci-fi. For instance, in it Brazilian auto mechanics had discovered that it was quite easy to improvise spaceships with a few alterations on old VW Beetles (the most popular car in Brazil ever; Brazilian mechanics tendo to improvise a lot, and nowhere more than on old Beetles). It is a clear break with the sci-fi rule that tech must be extrapolation of stuff present science knows, but having spaceships would make it hard to to consider it fantasy. On the other hand, as I use tech without worshipping it, I can't see why that rule could possibly matter, even less improve a story.
Thanks for the interest and the commentary. I'll check those books you mentioned I don't know.
Another novel that matches that description is "A Canticle for Leibowitz", which was recommended to me by the very Mr. Ramalhete we respond to today, and had become since my favorite fiction work.