Rachel Manija Brown's Blog, page 143
December 4, 2017
Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or so since then, with still not much murdering, but probably, I don't know, a little under 35,000 hours of movies, serials, books, plays, and music consumed. As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.
That is a cyborg who calls itself Murderbot. Created and enslaved by a heartless society and used by otherwise fairly decent people who don’t think of it as a person, all it wants is to be left alone so it can catch up on its favorite TV shows. I think we can all identify.
(I think Murderbot refers to itself as it? If not, I will change the pronoun. It's definitely genderless.)
Murderbot’s voice is great, and it’s a very sympathetic and unusual character. It doesn’t long to be human and connect with others and be less lonely, but quite sincerely wants to be left alone. While some of the story is about it connecting with others and very grudgingly coming to care about them, it’s much more about it coming to grips with its own situation and deciding to do something about it. Stories about characters who think they don't need human connections and find that they do are great, but there's a lot of them so it was fun to see something different for a change. There will be sequels and I expect that there will be more connecting with others along the way, but that's not the ultimate journey of this book.
The one part where “killer cyborg as misanthropic fan” fell down for me was the lack of Murderbot being fannish about specific shows. I completely believed it as someone who really would rather be watching TV. But while it mentions specific shows and talks about what it enjoys about TV in general, it doesn’t talk about specific characters it loves or hates or specific plotlines it’s excited about. I think more detail on the shows it loves would have been a fun addition to the story, and I missed it. Especially since based on the reactions I’ve seen, everyone who liked this was reading for Murderbot’s perspective, not for the rather plodding action/conspiracy plot. I’m sure no one would have cared if we’d lost an action sequence in favor of more detail about Murderbot’s favorite soap opera.
While all the elements were solid and the voice was terrific, something about the novella failed to grab me, so I found myself plowing through rather than reading with pure enjoyment. I have had this exact same reaction to literally everything I’ve ever read by Wells, and I am baffled as to why as they’ve all had extremely different plots, characters, and narrative voices. Her premises, tropes, and opening lines often really appeal to me, and this and the Raksura series are favorites in my online circles, which is why I keep trying. I’m not sure what the commonality is that keeps de-grabbing me, but there’s definitely something because Murderbot is completely different from any of her other narrators, and yet my reaction was the same.
If you like the paragraph I quoted at the beginning, you will probably enjoy this more than I did. I think my reaction is pretty idiosyncratic. In fact, I bet that most people who weren’t wowed by this either didn’t like the voice or wanted Murderbot to be more human/emotional or to have more/deeper relationships; that is, they were turned off by my favorite parts.
All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries[image error]
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That is a cyborg who calls itself Murderbot. Created and enslaved by a heartless society and used by otherwise fairly decent people who don’t think of it as a person, all it wants is to be left alone so it can catch up on its favorite TV shows. I think we can all identify.
(I think Murderbot refers to itself as it? If not, I will change the pronoun. It's definitely genderless.)
Murderbot’s voice is great, and it’s a very sympathetic and unusual character. It doesn’t long to be human and connect with others and be less lonely, but quite sincerely wants to be left alone. While some of the story is about it connecting with others and very grudgingly coming to care about them, it’s much more about it coming to grips with its own situation and deciding to do something about it. Stories about characters who think they don't need human connections and find that they do are great, but there's a lot of them so it was fun to see something different for a change. There will be sequels and I expect that there will be more connecting with others along the way, but that's not the ultimate journey of this book.
The one part where “killer cyborg as misanthropic fan” fell down for me was the lack of Murderbot being fannish about specific shows. I completely believed it as someone who really would rather be watching TV. But while it mentions specific shows and talks about what it enjoys about TV in general, it doesn’t talk about specific characters it loves or hates or specific plotlines it’s excited about. I think more detail on the shows it loves would have been a fun addition to the story, and I missed it. Especially since based on the reactions I’ve seen, everyone who liked this was reading for Murderbot’s perspective, not for the rather plodding action/conspiracy plot. I’m sure no one would have cared if we’d lost an action sequence in favor of more detail about Murderbot’s favorite soap opera.
While all the elements were solid and the voice was terrific, something about the novella failed to grab me, so I found myself plowing through rather than reading with pure enjoyment. I have had this exact same reaction to literally everything I’ve ever read by Wells, and I am baffled as to why as they’ve all had extremely different plots, characters, and narrative voices. Her premises, tropes, and opening lines often really appeal to me, and this and the Raksura series are favorites in my online circles, which is why I keep trying. I’m not sure what the commonality is that keeps de-grabbing me, but there’s definitely something because Murderbot is completely different from any of her other narrators, and yet my reaction was the same.
If you like the paragraph I quoted at the beginning, you will probably enjoy this more than I did. I think my reaction is pretty idiosyncratic. In fact, I bet that most people who weren’t wowed by this either didn’t like the voice or wanted Murderbot to be more human/emotional or to have more/deeper relationships; that is, they were turned off by my favorite parts.
All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries[image error]
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December 2, 2017
rachelmanija @ 2017-12-02T12:09:00
Mad as hell and not going to take it any more? In a blue state and feeling like there's nothing you can do?
swingleft.org helps Americans find the House swing district closest to them, and work to flip it in 2018. I'm in the bluest of blue states, and I found one within easy driving distance of me. That district is going to flip so hard it squeals like a dolphin.
flippable.org operates on the same principle, but also focuses on the Senate.
I signed up for both organizations, and will attend a Flip the House party on January 13, via swingleft.org. If you're in LA, want to join me?
The Republicans achieved a lot of what they did by getting elected at a local level. We can do the same. Let's make 2018 a better year!
comments
swingleft.org helps Americans find the House swing district closest to them, and work to flip it in 2018. I'm in the bluest of blue states, and I found one within easy driving distance of me. That district is going to flip so hard it squeals like a dolphin.
flippable.org operates on the same principle, but also focuses on the Senate.
I signed up for both organizations, and will attend a Flip the House party on January 13, via swingleft.org. If you're in LA, want to join me?
The Republicans achieved a lot of what they did by getting elected at a local level. We can do the same. Let's make 2018 a better year!
comments
November 16, 2017
Mary Stewart thrillers and gothics cheap on Amazon!
Old-school thriller/romance/gothic author Mary Stewart (possibly better-known for her Merlin trilogy beginning with The Crystal Cave) has a bunch of books on Kindle for cheap - possibly for a limited time. Nine Coaches Waiting[image error] and The Ivy Tree[image error], Madam, Will You Talk?[image error], Touch Not the Cat[image error], and Thunder on the Right[image error] are $1.99 each, The Moon-Spinners[image error] and This Rough Magic[image error], Wildfire at Midnight[image error], Stormy Petrel[image error], and Thornyhold[image error] are $2.99, and Rose Cottage[image error], My Brother Michael[image error], The Gabriel Hounds[image error], and Airs Above the Ground[image error] are $3.99. Also a pair of short stories, The Wind Off the Small Isles and The Lost One[image error], for $4.99.
I am poking through these and can't recall if I've read some or not. I know I haven't read them all. Which do you recommend or disrecommend?
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I am poking through these and can't recall if I've read some or not. I know I haven't read them all. Which do you recommend or disrecommend?
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November 13, 2017
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November 12, 2017
I missed the grannies...
...because I was busy enjoying an amazing free street concert, by a group of musicians playing rock on classical Japanese instruments! The men (on taiko drums and shakuhachi (Japanese flute) wore jeans, shirts, and sneakers, and the women (on shamisen and koto) were in kimono and geta (wooden sandals). All of them rocking out. I have never heard anything like it, and it was fantastic. I was sitting on the curb right behind the taiko drummer.
This was at Kagurazaka, a neighborhood I never heard of before, in Tokyo's French quarter, which I had not known existed. It was blocked off for pedestrians, and lined with cafes, restaurants, and cool little shops. I had crepes Suzette for the first time in my life, flamed at the table by an elderly French waiter. When I walked in he addressed me in French, but I gave him such a panicked look that he switched to Japanese. (Some of you may recall my half-hearted attempt to learn French after getting all the "I look forward to speaking THE FRENCH with you in Paris" letters from my mother's Parisian Baba-lover friend. Literally all I remember is "bonjour.")
Tomorrow I have a kaiseki lunch at Kozue, on the 40th floor of the Tokyo Park Hyatt. This was masterminded by Setsuko, who knows the chef! This is a very famous posh restaurant and a splurge, but not as much as it could be due to it being lunch.
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This was at Kagurazaka, a neighborhood I never heard of before, in Tokyo's French quarter, which I had not known existed. It was blocked off for pedestrians, and lined with cafes, restaurants, and cool little shops. I had crepes Suzette for the first time in my life, flamed at the table by an elderly French waiter. When I walked in he addressed me in French, but I gave him such a panicked look that he switched to Japanese. (Some of you may recall my half-hearted attempt to learn French after getting all the "I look forward to speaking THE FRENCH with you in Paris" letters from my mother's Parisian Baba-lover friend. Literally all I remember is "bonjour.")
Tomorrow I have a kaiseki lunch at Kozue, on the 40th floor of the Tokyo Park Hyatt. This was masterminded by Setsuko, who knows the chef! This is a very famous posh restaurant and a splurge, but not as much as it could be due to it being lunch.
comments
November 11, 2017
Follow the grannies
Facebook pics of probably the single best stroll garden I've ever visited. It's Ginkakuji, inexplicably better known for a giant mound of sand representing Mt. Fuji. (I understand the theory behind sand gardens and rocks that represent things, but aesthetically they leave me cold.)
I appreciate the compliments on my photography, but a garden like this makes it easy. It frames a bunch of shots for you, and gives strong hints on composition for the rest. The leaves there had partially turned, with a few sprays of maple leaves at their full intensity, a bright translucent red like the juice of a maraschino cherry.
I am now in Tokyo, staying at the Airbnb of Setsuko and her mini poodle Piccolo. Setsuko worked in Santa Monica for a year (!) and met me at the station with Piccolo in tow.
"So, are you an otaku?" she asked.
"Umm, I guess a little bit, sort of, well actually I only started watching anime because I wanted to learn Japanese, OKAY YES," I replied.
When we arrived at her apartment she took off her jacket, revealing a T-shirt of Princess Leia and Chewbacca dancing a la Beauty and the Beast.
"Ah-ha!" I exclaimed. "Are YOU an otaku?"
"Umm, I guess a little bit..."
She has directed me to a "granny neighborhood" where I can find traditional Japanese goods like hanten, and a park where there should be some good leaf peeping. Ominously, there are no specific directions to the park other than "a ten-minute walk from the train station" and "a hidden gem," plus notes from tourists saying things like "very poor signage" and "hard to find," and one outlier claiming, "it's a large park, you can't miss it." (I have never not gotten lost when looking for things of which people say "You can't miss it.")
Setsuko said of finding the traditional neighborhood, "When you get off the train, just follow the grannies."
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I appreciate the compliments on my photography, but a garden like this makes it easy. It frames a bunch of shots for you, and gives strong hints on composition for the rest. The leaves there had partially turned, with a few sprays of maple leaves at their full intensity, a bright translucent red like the juice of a maraschino cherry.
I am now in Tokyo, staying at the Airbnb of Setsuko and her mini poodle Piccolo. Setsuko worked in Santa Monica for a year (!) and met me at the station with Piccolo in tow.
"So, are you an otaku?" she asked.
"Umm, I guess a little bit, sort of, well actually I only started watching anime because I wanted to learn Japanese, OKAY YES," I replied.
When we arrived at her apartment she took off her jacket, revealing a T-shirt of Princess Leia and Chewbacca dancing a la Beauty and the Beast.
"Ah-ha!" I exclaimed. "Are YOU an otaku?"
"Umm, I guess a little bit..."
She has directed me to a "granny neighborhood" where I can find traditional Japanese goods like hanten, and a park where there should be some good leaf peeping. Ominously, there are no specific directions to the park other than "a ten-minute walk from the train station" and "a hidden gem," plus notes from tourists saying things like "very poor signage" and "hard to find," and one outlier claiming, "it's a large park, you can't miss it." (I have never not gotten lost when looking for things of which people say "You can't miss it.")
Setsuko said of finding the traditional neighborhood, "When you get off the train, just follow the grannies."
comments
November 9, 2017
rachelmanija @ 2017-11-09T23:34:00
Photos on Facebook.
My apartment is across the street from a shrine to the God of sports. There is a tori watched over by a rather cute marble dragon, and an altar with soccer balls, baseballs, badminton shuttles, etc.
The Kyoto Imperial Palace is a 15-minute walk from my apartment! I went to its gardens for a picnic (cream puff from local bakery, the rest from local combini) and leaf-peeping session. It was quite chilly, so when I saw a gate I went out, certain that I would find a hot drink vending machine within eyeshot. I did not. But I figured if I walked just one short block I would, so I did. And I did! Seriously, what is wrong with America that we don't have hot canned or bottled drinks in vending machines on every corner? They make life so much nicer.
A few ginkgoes were at their height, but the tourist office lady was correct that I came too early for autumn leaves. A month early, from the looks of it. It was beautiful anyway.
Previously, I visited Nishiki Market, an extremely crowded and touristy but very fun food market. I had a skewer of scallops: delicious. Also a whole lot of samples. I would have had more, but I had earlier stopped at a bakery in the basement of a department store and purchased a pretzel roll studded with ham, a bacon-and-cheese roll, a soft mochi studded with black beans (which I had mistaken for blueberries), and a truly extra concoction consisting of 1) a custard danish, 2) a square of pound cake atop the custard, 3) a lavish blanket of chestnut paste over the whole thing. I'm not sure it all really needed to be the same item, but it was delicious and I'm not complaining. No pics as I only remembered that photos would have been nice after I'd devoured it all like a chestnut paste-starved wolf.
Also at Nishiki, a soap display succeeded in catching my attention with captions like "SQUISHES!" and "LIKE A MOCHI!" The soap did live up to those promises but I have to say that it seems to be filling a niche that does not need filling, unless lots of people are out there who really wish their soap squished like a mochi.
comments
My apartment is across the street from a shrine to the God of sports. There is a tori watched over by a rather cute marble dragon, and an altar with soccer balls, baseballs, badminton shuttles, etc.
The Kyoto Imperial Palace is a 15-minute walk from my apartment! I went to its gardens for a picnic (cream puff from local bakery, the rest from local combini) and leaf-peeping session. It was quite chilly, so when I saw a gate I went out, certain that I would find a hot drink vending machine within eyeshot. I did not. But I figured if I walked just one short block I would, so I did. And I did! Seriously, what is wrong with America that we don't have hot canned or bottled drinks in vending machines on every corner? They make life so much nicer.
A few ginkgoes were at their height, but the tourist office lady was correct that I came too early for autumn leaves. A month early, from the looks of it. It was beautiful anyway.
Previously, I visited Nishiki Market, an extremely crowded and touristy but very fun food market. I had a skewer of scallops: delicious. Also a whole lot of samples. I would have had more, but I had earlier stopped at a bakery in the basement of a department store and purchased a pretzel roll studded with ham, a bacon-and-cheese roll, a soft mochi studded with black beans (which I had mistaken for blueberries), and a truly extra concoction consisting of 1) a custard danish, 2) a square of pound cake atop the custard, 3) a lavish blanket of chestnut paste over the whole thing. I'm not sure it all really needed to be the same item, but it was delicious and I'm not complaining. No pics as I only remembered that photos would have been nice after I'd devoured it all like a chestnut paste-starved wolf.
Also at Nishiki, a soap display succeeded in catching my attention with captions like "SQUISHES!" and "LIKE A MOCHI!" The soap did live up to those promises but I have to say that it seems to be filling a niche that does not need filling, unless lots of people are out there who really wish their soap squished like a mochi.
comments
November 8, 2017
My Trick or Treat story
Stillwater Feast. Narnia. Danger and joy lie beneath the waves, where the sea is sweet.
My recipient wanted Edmund and Lucy, with Edmund doing some politics and Lucy being badass and/or exploring Narnian customs. My favorite book is Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and one of my favorite moments in it is when Lucy and a Sea Girl lock eyes for a few seconds, and become friends without ever exchanging a word.
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My recipient wanted Edmund and Lucy, with Edmund doing some politics and Lucy being badass and/or exploring Narnian customs. My favorite book is Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and one of my favorite moments in it is when Lucy and a Sea Girl lock eyes for a few seconds, and become friends without ever exchanging a word.
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November 7, 2017
Things to do in Kyoto when it rains
Open to suggestions. I can tell you where I'm not going today: anywhere that's out of the city and requires lots of walking and multiple changes of transportation. Offhand, there is the elevated option (many temple gardens are especially beautiful in the rain) and the less elevated (department store. Food floor.)
Also, have some photos on Facebook:
Pretty things
A temple, a wooden Starbucks, and an ox
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Also, have some photos on Facebook:
Pretty things
A temple, a wooden Starbucks, and an ox
comments
Lost In Kyoto
Up until tonight, I had amazingly not gotten lost much. And since I didn't know Fukuoka but I know parts of Kyoto fairly well, I thought that streak would continue. Ha ha.
I shall copy some emails I sent, with timestamps, as that will give the best idea:
6:32 PM: Here, have a Lego Model of Kyoto Station.
Taken in Kyoto Station, where I have been wandering in circles for the last hour. I swear it has either been enlarged since the last time I was here or there are great swathes I never encountered last time. You wouldn't think it should be this hard to find the goddam gigantic front entrance.
6:54 PM: OMG, STILL lost. This is so aggravating. My feet hurt and Kyoto Station has 100 restaurants which I KNOW are great, and so far all I've found is the ridiculously expensive business dinner one. I also found the same subway stop THREE TIMES.
7:18 PM: FREAKING FINALLY.
One of my very favorite dishes, and almost impossible to find in LA: ochazuke. Rice and stuff (salmon, salmon eggs, and seaweed, in this case) with broth (traditionally, tea) poured over it.
Obtained after fight with ticket machine in which I accidentally ordered three beers. I think the waiter thought I was drunk already. (I've never seen this in the US, but some Japanese restaurants have machines where you punch in what you want to eat, feed in the payment, get a ticket, and give the ticket to a waiter.)
While I was lost I ran into the same, increasingly cranky-looking pair of tourists two or three times. I saw them for the last time right before I went into the ochazuke place! Guess they too were hunting for the food court.
I still can't believe I got lost in Kyoto Station for an hour and a half. WTF.
Upon arriving in Kyoto Station, I made a beeline for the tourist info office for an autumn leaf map. I am what I have been told by my friend Halle's Canadian boyfriend is called a "leaf-peeper" over there. (Still not sure if he was pulling my leg or not.) The tourist office lady informed me that I came to Kyoto at the wrong time and the leaf season is only just beginning. I dragged her over to a leaf listing entirely in kanji where several places had four autumn leaves, which means they're at their best, and demanded to know which ones they were. She told me they were very hard to get to.
"But just tell me which ones they are," I begged.
"They're not even in Kyoto! They cannot be reached by train! You would have to have a car." Grudgingly, she gave me the name of the third temple, Shoko-Do, which can be reached by two trains and a bus. When I looked it up, I found that it is also not in Kyoto, but somewhere called Yawara. It seems pretty off the map.
I think tomorrow I'll check out some two-maple-leaf temples, and if they're unsatisfactory I will consider Yawara. Or maybe just consider doing my leaf-peeping in and around Tokyo. I bet they're nice in Nikko right about now. And there's a ginkgo festival in Tokyo at Meiji Jingu on the 15th. When I looked it up just now, I found this: The Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Festival, organized to coincide with the leaf peeping season, attracts a large crowd with stalls offering gourmet food and fine merchandise, as well as family events.
Sorry for my unfair suspicions, Halle's Canadian boyfriend! The phrase sounded extremely funny the way you said it.
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I shall copy some emails I sent, with timestamps, as that will give the best idea:
6:32 PM: Here, have a Lego Model of Kyoto Station.
Taken in Kyoto Station, where I have been wandering in circles for the last hour. I swear it has either been enlarged since the last time I was here or there are great swathes I never encountered last time. You wouldn't think it should be this hard to find the goddam gigantic front entrance.
6:54 PM: OMG, STILL lost. This is so aggravating. My feet hurt and Kyoto Station has 100 restaurants which I KNOW are great, and so far all I've found is the ridiculously expensive business dinner one. I also found the same subway stop THREE TIMES.
7:18 PM: FREAKING FINALLY.
One of my very favorite dishes, and almost impossible to find in LA: ochazuke. Rice and stuff (salmon, salmon eggs, and seaweed, in this case) with broth (traditionally, tea) poured over it.
Obtained after fight with ticket machine in which I accidentally ordered three beers. I think the waiter thought I was drunk already. (I've never seen this in the US, but some Japanese restaurants have machines where you punch in what you want to eat, feed in the payment, get a ticket, and give the ticket to a waiter.)
While I was lost I ran into the same, increasingly cranky-looking pair of tourists two or three times. I saw them for the last time right before I went into the ochazuke place! Guess they too were hunting for the food court.
I still can't believe I got lost in Kyoto Station for an hour and a half. WTF.
Upon arriving in Kyoto Station, I made a beeline for the tourist info office for an autumn leaf map. I am what I have been told by my friend Halle's Canadian boyfriend is called a "leaf-peeper" over there. (Still not sure if he was pulling my leg or not.) The tourist office lady informed me that I came to Kyoto at the wrong time and the leaf season is only just beginning. I dragged her over to a leaf listing entirely in kanji where several places had four autumn leaves, which means they're at their best, and demanded to know which ones they were. She told me they were very hard to get to.
"But just tell me which ones they are," I begged.
"They're not even in Kyoto! They cannot be reached by train! You would have to have a car." Grudgingly, she gave me the name of the third temple, Shoko-Do, which can be reached by two trains and a bus. When I looked it up, I found that it is also not in Kyoto, but somewhere called Yawara. It seems pretty off the map.
I think tomorrow I'll check out some two-maple-leaf temples, and if they're unsatisfactory I will consider Yawara. Or maybe just consider doing my leaf-peeping in and around Tokyo. I bet they're nice in Nikko right about now. And there's a ginkgo festival in Tokyo at Meiji Jingu on the 15th. When I looked it up just now, I found this: The Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Festival, organized to coincide with the leaf peeping season, attracts a large crowd with stalls offering gourmet food and fine merchandise, as well as family events.
Sorry for my unfair suspicions, Halle's Canadian boyfriend! The phrase sounded extremely funny the way you said it.
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