The job of the writer is to take a close and uncomfortable look at the world they inhabit, the world we all inhabit, and the job of the novel is to make the corpse stink.
Walter MosleyRead
Science fiction [is] the kind of writing that prepares us for the necessary mutations brought about in society from an ever changing technological world and as a result. The mainstream hasn’t excluded SF; the mainstream has excluded itself. No one told Jules Verne he was a science fiction writer, but he invented the 20th century.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Science fiction helps society adapt to technological change and highlights its significance in shaping the future.
In this quote, Walter Mosley asserts that science fiction is an essential literary genre that prepares humanity for the changes and advancements brought about by technology. He emphasizes that mainstream culture often dismisses science fiction, but the genre plays a pivotal role in innovating ideas and concepts that can lead to societal evolution, as exemplified by the influential works of Jules Verne, who shaped the future even if he wasn't recognized as a science fiction writer in his time.
Themes
Science FictionTechnologySocietyInnovationLiterature
In practice
Example use cases
During a panel discussion on the impact of literature on technology, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of science fiction.
More from Walter Mosley
All quotes →At one time if you were a black writer you had to be one of the best writers in the world to be published. You had to be great. Now you can be good. Mediocre. And that's good.
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My father cared about the world he lived in, and so he admitted his confusion about his place in America because he didn't want me to make the same mistake in my life.
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Many & most moments go by with us hardly aware of their passage. But love & hate & fear cause time to snag you, to drag you down like a spider's web holding fast to a doomed fly's wings. And when you're caught like that you're aware of every moment & movement & nuance.
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We are not trapped or locked up in these bones. No, no. We are free to change. And love changes us. And if we can love one another, we can break open the sky.
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All writing is that structure of revelation. There's something you want to find out. If you know everything up front in the beginning, you really don't need to read further if there's nothing else to find out.
Walter MosleyRead
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