See? We fans struggle for years against you mundanes, trying to get you to admit that our books - the ones we love - have value, and you keep throwing back this "well, SF isn't literature" stuff back at us. Romance novels get more respect, for pete's sake! You know what? Every book on my top ten list is SF or straight fantasy, and yes, I read mysteries and westerns and what you would consider regular novels. What makes Lord of the Rings less worthy than The Old Man and the Sea, why is The Moon is a Harsh Mistress less respected than Atlas Shrugged? Aside from the fact that ordinary people genuinely like the books I've mentioned without having to say, yeah, they're good except the characters are wrong, or yeah, it's a great novel but I fell asleep halfway through it.
I've never read From Here to Eternity. I have read Lord of the Rings, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Doomsday Book, Dune, Foundation, Against the Fall of Night, 1984, Animal Farm, Lest Darkness Fall... classic SF or fantasy, and incredibly good books, deep looks into humanity and society... I cannot think of a more relevant genre than that of SF.
That came out a little harsh; I'm sorry. But I thought the days of hiding Astounding Wonder Stories behind the newspaper were gone forever.
I can but I'm not saying that SF is bad. I've read quite a bit of it including most of the Vonnegut books. However, like it or not, SF is treated as a different genre than novels. Otherwise your libraries and bookstores would have SF mixed up with literary novels. Even you wouldn't want that. Better for SF to be in a separate section. I know I appreciate that distinction when I am hunting for an SF book. And quit treating books like they are people. You are acting as if some horrible act of discrimination is taking place. I support segregation....of books. It just makes things easier.