The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

This month's short story is a post apocalyptic story, "Learning Letters" by Carrie Vaughn. It can be found here:
https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...

Fun story. Post-apocalyptic is usually not my favorite genre but this one did the world-building well, and in a different way from most stories in this genre. Although I do wonder how society broke down to lead to the world in the story, and how it might develop from its current point.

In many ways the illiteracy of Enid's community is similar to the illiteracy of the past: if you're busy subsistence farming you have little time for education, and little use for it.

The story is well-written, but I disagree with the premise as I understand it: that different people save different things during the end of the world. I guess it is less of a choice and more of a blind chance

The story reminds me of David Brin’s The Postman and even more of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. It is not science fiction,but it is one of the best stories to come out of the Vietnam War.

Thomas wrote: "The story reminds me of David Brin’s The Postman "

Yes, I also thought about it.

I have read several post apocalyptic stories and it seems a common feature that people would be cut off from one another. No telephone, internet, etc... I wonder why people would prefer to be cut off, instead of developing some kind of postal system or meeting together in a central location periodically.
In this story, the man just appears and disappears. I agree it leaves questions as to what happened before. Instead we get insight into the thoughts and feelings of a few characters.

Oleksandr wrote: "... different people save different things during the end of the world ..."

Whether through chance or choice, in the story one group has saved the ability to create gasoline, while the other has focused on farming.

I'm not sure what the point of this story is, but it may be something related to that. That people have to choose what to save when they can't save everything.

The main character at the start of this story doesn't see any point in saving reading/writing, but maybe she has a different opinion by the end.

For me, reading/writing would be important to save. If for nothing else, you can look up, or write down, information about what crops grow best in what areas and what specific fertilizers they need, etc.

Natalie wrote: "... I wonder why people would prefer to be cut off, instead of developing some kind of postal system or meeting together in a central location periodically. ..."

In this story, the people in the west seemed to be in communication, at least in their local region. There just may not be long-range communication, like between NY and California. If that is so, there could be many reasons why. Like, it could be very difficult or dangerous to cross the country.

Natalie wrote: "I have read several post apocalyptic stories and it seems a common feature that people would be cut off from one another. No telephone, internet, etc... I wonder why people would prefer to be cut off..."

I assume this is based on disasters we can read about + assumptions:
1. from hurricanes to floods to apoc-level bombings - no power, no clean water, no phone connections
2. deficit of necessities often causes crimes - so it is prudent to barricade in your small community
3. most people don't know how to get food except in stores/canteens - post-apoc often means no food not only right now but years to come - so feeding a smaller group can be sustainable but not a lot to trade for with others

Ed wrote: "I'm not sure what the point of this story is, but it may be something related to that. That people have to choose what to save when they can't save everything."

I guess most SFF stories should have a point, even if it is a punchline like in "Serving Men" or "Earthmen Bearing Gifts"...

That's a good point Oleksandr: deficit of necessities. Shortages of food, medicine, clean water, clothes, etc would make people much less likely to venture out of their community.