Yes, with hindsight in light of how complex and interesting today's SFF is, sometimes the older groundbreaking stuff kind of falls flat. We know too much now about how the literature has changed and how much is possible in the genre.
For example: I reread Gateway by Pohl, which I remembered so fondly, and it really didn't work at all for me years later.
Even The Dispossed, which has incredibly worldbuilding and is a much-praised LeGuin work, has some really icky male/female sexual stuff in it that makes no sense at all on reread and kind of made me hate the protagonist!
When I read it as a teenager I glossed over that part and only remembered the part about the children and the long haul trucker and the guy who was a hoarder.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 9/18/22 11:23 pm (UTC)For example: I reread Gateway by Pohl, which I remembered so fondly, and it really didn't work at all for me years later.
Even The Dispossed, which has incredibly worldbuilding and is a much-praised LeGuin work, has some really icky male/female sexual stuff in it that makes no sense at all on reread and kind of made me hate the protagonist!
When I read it as a teenager I glossed over that part and only remembered the part about the children and the long haul trucker and the guy who was a hoarder.
It's very strange to reread the SFF classics.