Hi everyone! Hope your week is going well! I read a lot of dystopians and science fiction. They are two of my go-to genres. But many times I struggle with believability. If I'm reading a fantasy book I don't have to worry about this. It's magic. It's not explainable. You just have to believe. And I love that. I love just going with something and getting lost in the world.
But what about those dystopians and science fiction books? And time travel books? And parallel universes? Many times there is a lot of science talk in these books. Explanations as to why things are the way they are.
3:59 by Gretchen McNeil is about parallel universes. There was a lot of science talk in that book giving explanations as to how the parallel worlds worked. I'm going to tell you right now. Most of it went right over my head. I didn't understand the vast majority of what the author was talking about. But it was okay. I chose to believe. And I still liked that there was an explanation because to me, it gave the author credibility.
The same thing happened in All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill. I was better able to understand the science in that book, but still not entirely. There are plenty of other books that give scientific explanation as to how things work. Most of the time, I don't understand what they're talking about. I'm not a science person. But I still like when it's explained. When there are zero explanations I get frustrated with the book even if I wouldn't understand the explanations. It makes me feel like the author didn't put forth the effort to ensure that the story was believable.
So my question to you is this: do you like when there are complex scientific explanations in books? Even if you don't understand them? Or do you prefer to just have faith and believe?
Hmmm..I like when they explain the basics. But, especially for time travel books, if they try to push too many details it gives me a headache. I spend my time thinking about well what if this happened or if this did -- and then right when I think I may understand it something will come a long and rearrange everything I just thought I had. Usually for those, I have to just "shut off" my brain and believe. Or I'll over think everthing. It's the same for movies with time travel too
ReplyDeleteAlso, I see you currently reading some Bronte. Get those classics, girl!
Yes! Great point. Time travel is kind of an exception for me. I will try to follow, but I honestly don't believe time travel is possible so I just go with it and believe it works even if I don't necessarily understand "how" it works. All Our Yesterdays is a good example of this. The science was there and it was explained, but a lot of it went right over my head. I just had to step back, tell myself it worked, and enjoy the story.
DeleteJane Eyre is kicking my ass. I feel like such a failure. I tried reading last night and gave up after less than an hour. I'm trying to push through, but this one is really hard. It doesn't help that it's ridiculously long either! You should read with me! I'm reading it for my coffee and classics feature I do once a month (as a way to force myself to read more classics)
I appreciate it if the author gives some explanation, but more than that and I can't follow so it's not really that helpful and sometimes bogs the story down. I tend to treat time travel and parallel worlds like fantasy books, I just go with it. With time travel books, I do like explanations for the "rules" of time travel as far as what changes will do and not do.
ReplyDeleteAs far as dystopian, sometimes the premise is just pretty far-fetched and it's hard to believe it would happen, but again, I just sort of go with it. ~Pam
That's a great point about time travel and I wholeheartedly agree. I definitely need to know the rules of what will change what.
DeleteYeah it depends on how far-fetched the idea is. Most of the time I can just go with it though.
I work with scientists and engineers, so it doesn't bother me, but the two books you mentioned deal with abstract concepts, and that can be really hard to wrap your head around since it's not the kind of science you can see or touch.
ReplyDeleteKate @ Ex Libris
Yes, definitely. When they are talking about quantum physics in a book I'm all like "what???" I do my best to understand, but generally if I don't I kinda just go with it.
DeleteI'm a bioengineering student, so I love explanations! I usually do understand what they're talking about, but sometimes I feel like the author tries too hard to make a scientific explanation without fully understanding it themselves - Wither and Allegiant come to mind. Then it's just annoying because the so-called "scientific explanation" is just a lazy way out because it doesn't actually make sense.
ReplyDelete- Kritika @ Snowflakes & Spider Silk
I always wonder if what they're saying is accurate or not! Since I don't understand most of it, I don't even know if they are BSing or not. That would super annoy me.
DeleteI'm totally cheating answering this question, but yes I love all the science :D *is grad student studying biology and computer science >.>* But this also means that I'm suuuuper nit picky if an author tries to explain things and gets the science wrong. This was a big problem I had with Waterfell since they kept using scientific terms completely incorrectly D:
ReplyDeleteSome of the really complex explanations I wonder about the accuracy. It's interesting to hear that oftentimes they aren't even correct. Shows how much research the author cared to do. :(
Delete