Kenneth’s Comments (group member since Sep 04, 2014)

Kenneth’s comments from the Discourse in a Digital Age group.

More things that I couldn't help pointing out before I removed all my stickers. I know the page numbers won't help you since I've taken your books back, but here goes.

At least the butter was organic, as they used to say (97). Were people loving organic things back in 1985 too?

"But who can remember pain, once it's over? (125)" Too true. It's crazy how easy it is to forget how sick you were or how much that one thing hurt. Ditto on page 128 about how you start seeing things when you're really tired, or 135 about dreaming being the brain going through its back files. Atwood does a good job of pointing out human truths.

The descriptions of the Commander, especially when he's flirting with her in his room, keep talking about pirates. It personally made me think of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mos.... Also, Scrabble! I feel like I would totally do that.

Monetizing prayer was an interesting thing, at the Soul Scrolls store (167).





There were some particularly notable monologues in a book filled with them. I liked "That's why I'm not allowed a knife. (228)", "Here is what I believe. (104)" and especially "I remember a television program I once saw. (144)" (This one was about interviewing the woman about concentration camps.) I would develop these for performance if they weren't one and all perfect for, well, women.

Can anybody point to societies using Darwinism to support ideological practices in history, as is claimed on 306?

Particicution still gives me shivers. Anybody have insight into the Earth-goddess cults the book mentions (308)?

Aunts were apparently named after commercial products (308), but I don't know what Elizabeth or Lydia refer to. I just assumed it was biblical.

On 311, I would have loved to hear some of the questions the audience asks.

Phew. Okay, done.

This is a fun link that I'm leaving here to consult tonight. See you guys soon! http://www.bookdrum.com/books/the-han...

This has had a film adaptation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Han.... Turns out there are some issues with making a film based on a one-woman interior monologue, according to Wikipedia, but it seems to have been reasonably reviewed. There is still one copy available in the library system. Schlafly's copy is checked out - I'm betting on Sylvester.

Also, they're making a Hulu Miniseries: http://www.tor.com/2016/04/29/hulu-th.... I may have to check that out.

Also, in collaboration with Naomi Alderman, she wrote The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home as a sort of web serial. It's available for free on a website called Wattpad, and I'm rather enjoying it. Check that out too: www.wattpad.com. It requires a sign-in, but seems to be a fascinating collection of free writing.

Opinions on another classic dystopian novel? Margaret Atwood is another author that has made some amazing contributions to science fiction. The Handmaid's Tale is one of those novels you've always seen on lists of best fiction (like the Reader's List from this link. I'm glad I've finally gotten a chance to put it on my list.

Visit Atwood's website to see what she has going on. I especially like the Blind Assassin Cartoon series (http://margaretatwood.ca/cartoons-art/) and the Royal Canadian Air Farce video (http://margaretatwood.ca/videos/royal...). (Oh yeah, she's Canadian.) She's also a huge environmentalist, and was the first author announced for Norway's Future Library project (https://vimeo.com/104917141).

Sound off!

Mr. Delany is fairly active on Facebook. Here's a quote from one of his later books (and masterpieces), Dhalgren.

“The problem isn't to learn to love humanity, but to learn to love those members of it who happen to be at hand.”

I definitely identified (or tried to identify?) with the Mouse more, even though he was seen as culturally backwards. I try to distance myself from know-it-alls like Katin, but I do see aspects of myself in him as well.

Here's a question to possibly spark some conversation. There are two potential point-of-view characters here, and it's not the captain, because he's crazy. Did you identify more with Katin or the Mouse?

Mr. Delany is very much alive. This is his 9th novel, written at the age of 25, and his last one before he really started focusing more on sexuality. It was a Hugo Nominee rather than a Nebula Winner, but he did win Nebulas for other works. This book is also considered a forerunner of the cyberpunk trend, which we have examined in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Neuromancer.

Lots to enjoy here. Let's start with a couple of his articles.

Here is a reproduction of Mr. Delany's review of the first Star Wars film back in 1977.

Here is his essay Racism in Science Fiction.

Thank you for your comments, everybody. I wanted to say something I couldn't fully form during the discussion last night.

My first impression after reading the book was that I really enjoyed it. After consideration and a little bit of questioning (from Anne and David), I do admit there are some issues with the novel. But, it doesn't seem to be the same things they had issues with.

I personally enjoyed the writing, especially her insights into how people behave. (Pages 46-48 are really going to stick with me.) I can see the complaints about the writing, but I just don't agree.

My main complaint might be that it didn't really seem like much happened in the novel. In the current timeline of the book, it was just a protracted stalking and brief fight with the Prophet. There could have been a lot more to that. I get that she wasn't focused on the post-apocalypse as much as the characters and their interplay through time, but something was missing here. Deiter's death was almost nothing. We had no reason to like him.

I liked Clark and Jeevan, but more could have been done with them. I wanted Jeevan to walk back into Kristen's life somehow. We could have seen a little more of what made the kid the Prophet, or perhaps a little more of what Arthur was thinking all along. The little glimpses we got of those were tantalizing. But, with so much going on, I respect there wasn't really space for more.

Ah, well. On to the next book!

Treat are indeed Kim, so at least we all know ahead of time this week. The book highlights canned food, airport snacks, venison, and dinner parties. Airplane peanuts? Cheese and crackers? Stuff that keeps? I definitely have some supplemental snacks if desired, in the form of trailmix, candy, crackers, or cookies.

I do feel as though this could be made into a film, though it is hard to tell if the adaptation would ruin it according to Lucy's high standards.

40 pages from the end - how is she going to wrap all of this up! I know there is no sequel and no plans for one so.... AH!

Let's put in some background information. Here's Ms. Mandel's website (http://www.emilymandel.com/), and here's a Reddit A(sk)M(e)A(nything) she did (https://www.reddit.com/r/books/commen...).

She greatly values her privacy and time. To boot, she just had a baby, so she won't be joining us on Wednesday evening. If you have questions, fire away, and we'll see what we can find.

The start of chapter 10 - from page 46 to the top of 48 - contain some of the best insights into people that I have ever read. I'm loving this book!

Any thoughts as you read, or thoughts about the book in general?

It's interesting to me that this book is written from within the "Evil Empire", the nemesis of so many sci-fi and fantasy stories. The people in the universe clearly share Lucy's opinion of the ancillaries - they are called corpse soldiers and most likely worse.

I would postulate that all ancillaries have some feelings. For instance, they demonstrate discomfort when being added to the ranks. It is implied that One Esk is unique in some way (ie the singing), but I feel as though any ancillary would have their own quirks.

I've edited to pages to accurately reflect what we're reading now!

I'm like 30 pages in, and the similarities to Left Hand of Darkness are staggering. It's certainly quite interesting, and I'm glad I chose it.

And yes, Lucy, Ancillary Justice is what we're reading this month!

Goodreads didn't ping this discussion for me. Thank you all very much for continuing the talk! Now that I'm back from vacation, I can add a few more things too.

I was wondering about what the book might have sounded like from somebody with more defined views of gender roles. Genly seemed aloof and clueless, of course, but you would be too if you spent your life effectively in exile among aliens. He also seemed to be from a sort of social utopia - though we didn't hear too much about that.

I almost feel like the exchange about women between Genly and Estraven (page 200-something, same page as the Left Hand of Darkness poem) was the reason the book was written or the setting conceived. A clueless man trying to describe women to an alien culture is perfect, and could be the seed of the book.

Finally, when reading, I rationalized Genly's conclusion about Estraven's son at the end as something Estraven must have told him at some point or another, or something he pieced together from a number of clues. I would need a reread to figure it out completely.

How are people getting into Le Guin's classic science fiction work? I'm finding the start a little slow, but with a powerful underlying strength. Ursula's website is a work of art. I highly recommend reading through it to see what she has going on and answer the basic burning questions about her and her work.

Thanks for the article, Kimberly!

Yes, isn't it nice that our devices are always right here waiting for us? I don't think they judge us yet for laying them aside for a while.*

*He says, while staring at a stupid bar that gets ignored every single day that says "It looks like you haven't started Firefox in a while. Do you want to clean it up for a fresh, like-new experience?"

I see we have a lot of new members on here! This club meets both through this group and in person at the Schlafly Library on the second Wednesday of every month. (Although, the second Wednesday in November is Veterans Day, so we'll be meeting on the 3rd Wednesday for the Le Guin discussion instead.)

If you don't want to attend in person, that's perfectly fine. I would just like to hear a little bit about you, and how you came to find this group. Thanks for coming in, and let me know what I can do for you!