Are Jane Austen and Charles Dickens science fiction?

Now, my title question might strike you as bizarre, if you know the least thing about literature. However, it is a question that my life experience posed for me, recently.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the Times Bookshop in Sri Hartamas, in Kuala Lumpur. I had gone in search of a book for Ainan. (He wanted a copy of Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams, since he had enjoyed Life, the Universe and Everything. Of course, I already have copy many thousands of miles away in England, but that is not much use to me here!) So, there I was browsing the shelves for Douglas Adams’ work. Despite the most careful search, it was clear that they didn’t have a single book by the amusing Mr. Adams. However, they did have something most strange. In a very prominent position, on the top shelf of the Science Fiction and Fantasy section, was a pile of books by Jane Austen. You know the ones: such “science fiction” classics as Emma and Pride and Prejudice. Next to this, were some books by Charles Dickens, such as A tale of two cities. At this sight, I pause a moment, in reverence at the stupendous obtuseness, of the person who had categorized these books so.

Did I miss something? Has period literature of the 18th and 19th century been reclassified as “Science Fiction/ Fantasy”, whilst I was looking elsewhere? Is the modern attitude to the past so distorted, that works of relative realism about past times, can now be seen as so outlandish that they must be filed in “Science Fiction/Fantasy”?

This incident does make me wonder, however, whether the bookshop assistant who did this, is actually able to read the books he or she so files. Are they completely unable to recognize what type of book, a book is, from a brief glance? Do they not know the reputations of some of the most famous authors in history? I would have thought that anyone who had studied English literature for even the most basic qualification, would be familiar with the type of oeuvre of famed authors, even if not with the works themselves. Perhaps this incident is an indicator that a little more effort, in the education system, could be put into the humanities. Like most parts of Asia, the sciences and maths are emphasized, often to the detriment of all else. This is harmful. A scientist who does not read, is probably one who cannot write – and that is one who cannot communicate his or her work. I would suggest, therefore, that an appreciation of literature be inculcated, in Malaysia’s youngsters, in addition to their grasp of maths and science. Otherwise, oddly categorized books, in bookstores will be the least of Malaysia’s problems with its workforce, in the long term.

It should be noted that, although I saw this happen in Malaysia, that it is very easy to believe it could happen in Singapore, too and other South East Asian countries. Here, in Asia, science and maths are all - and the rest can often be forgotten, to an unfortunate degree.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html

and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks. You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

The differences between examining boards.

Ainan sat for the O level at the London Edexcel examining board. However, the Board we prepared for was the Singapore Cambridge Board.

Why did we do this? Well, we didn't know that there were any real differences. Indeed, we were told at the outset by someone who should know, that the Boards were much the same. This did not prove to be the case.

Ainan studied Singapore Chemistry textbooks for his O level. They cover the Singapore Cambridge syllabus. He did not study the London Edexcel syllabus - the one he actually went on to take.

About a week or two before the exam, we got a chance to look at the London Edexcel papers and syllabus. We were shocked at what we saw. The papers were VERY different in style and content. The London Edexcel questions were more difficult in many ways: they demanded greater chemical understanding and they covered topics and areas that are NOT covered in the Singapore Cambridge syllabus. As a result, I did not know whether it would be possible for Ainan to sit the exam at all. It was too late to do anything about it.

We tried to get London Edexcel textbooks to see if he could cover the major differences between the syllabuses at the last moment. We tried every major bookshop in Singapore - but NONE of them stocked ANY of the recommended texts. We thought this strange - but it just goes to show how major the differences between the two syllabi are. Clearly, the bookshops judged the London Edexcel recommended books useless for the local Singapore Cambridge syllabus - and vice-versa presumably, since they had elected not to stock any of them. We asked at Borders to check their ordering system - and not one of the books was available even to be ordered by Borders.

We elected, after some heartache, to go ahead with the exam, because Ainan would get bored if forced to wait another six months to sit for it. He went ahead and passed. So, it was a good decision. Yet, had the Board been the one he had prepared for - and not one distinctly different, I think he would have had a lot easier time of it.

We have learnt a lesson though: all exams are not the same - and the syllabi may differ greatly, contrary to expectations.

Anyway, Ainan passed the London Edexcel Chemisty O Level without even having seen the right textbooks. How did he do it? Well, he told me that he had to work out some of the questions himself, using his knowledge of chemistry in general as a guide, with no prior experience of the areas in question - in other words, he had to "wing it", as we used to say when I was younger.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, and his gifted brothers, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks).