Week 14: Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Sci-Fi Satire

No matter how many times I’ve read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and it has been MANY times now, it never fails in inducing endless laughter, joy and nostalgia. To me, it was a childhood staple.  Before I was even old enough to read I was quoting this book, though I didn't didn't know that that was what I was doing, because my Uncle David was always going around saying things like, "Don't forget your towel" or "Don't panic" or "There's a frood who knows where his towel is at". Beneath the surface of utter hilarity, Adams used sarcasm and wit to make some rather poignant statements about life and the manner in which we are going about living it. This is one reason the book is so appropriate for multiple readings. You will understand things you did not the first time around because of the author’s subtle, ideas and approach to writing. One brilliant thing that Adams does is to step away from the action every so often to present interesting facts about the universe as recorded in the Hitchhiker's Guide; here we learn about Vogon poetry, the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, Trans Galactic Gargle Blasters, and other intriguing pieces about life in the wild universe Adams created. He even gives the reader the ultimate answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything in between. I love Douglas Adams' writing style. The sort of heavy handed, matter-of-factly way that he describes things, and can go off in tangents to describe something in detail is very interesting. I don't know of another author who would so abruptly interrupt the story of the two main protagonists stuck in an alien spaceship to describe in full detail the mechanization and theory of the fish they put in their ears to understand alien language.

Week 13: Margaret Atwood - Oryx andCrake

Literary Speculation

The novel takes place in the distant future, where global warming has changed the Earth as we knew it. The concept of the world as we know it ending and starting a new seems so plausible and like it could happen at any moment. The way this book is set up was very intriguing. By starting in the middle of the story and working in back story and leading up to where they started kept it interesting. Throughout the whole book I was kept on the edge of my seat wondering how things got this way. I really felt like I was there with Jimmy experiencing what he was experiencing, trying to work through and understand what is happening and trying to understand how it all relates to his past. What I found most important was how introspective I became while reading about the human race and the damage that we have done to our planet. I find the different concepts and studies of humans as a whole and the problems with our species to be very interesting and this book definitely highlighted many concepts and ideas that I have thought about in the past and presented them in new ways.  I found that Oryx and Crake really pushes one to think about how how own futures could be. I thought that Oryx and Crake was an amazing read and a great look at a post-apocalyptic future.

Week 12: Octavia Butler - Lillith's Brood

Diverse Position Science Fiction

The novel deals with the idea of being an alien in the sense that it tries to determine what makes a species that “other” group of people, meaning what is it that causes that dividing line of us and them.  To do so the novel has to explore the idea behind what it means to be human and what it means to be alien.

The novel also explores the relationship between humans and aliens with the consensus being that their relationship is one of a slave and master relationship. I found this to be an interesting point within the story because it reflects typical human-to-human interactions as well. For extended periods of time within our own history humanity has treated “others” or people that are different in a subservient manner. We see this parallel time and time again in the case of Native Americans and also with the enslavement of native African peoples. So reading this part in the novel I found this to be an interesting connection because that seems to be a trend in the way “otherness” is dealt with.  

Another important thing to note in this series is that Oankali alien race has taken over the human race deeming them unfit to rule themselves after they almost massacred themselves in an all out nuclear war. The Oankali are essentially genetic manipulators and when they “adopted” the human race they began to reconstruct their genetic code to reflect that of their captives, the idea being that soon they would create a new species that was uniquely Oankali and human and thereby destroy the human race all together. This aspect of the novel reminds me yet again of historical concepts, this one being the idea behind Manifest Destiny,the once wide spread belief that it is America’s right to expand their territorial holds and shape the world within their image. This series reminds me of this particular aspect of history in that the alien race felt the need to take over the struggling earth and rather than just help them rebuild their planet restructures them in their own image quite literally. While that may not be the underlining theme of the series, colonization is the one that sticks out to me the most as an apparent theme, intentional or otherwise. I think having a historical basis that the audience can identify helps ground this book in reality and gives the reader a tangible notion by which to base the book.

Week 11: Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash

Cyberpunk & Steampunk

My first impression of this book is that it reads like something a teenager would write about his kooky adventures as an unsung hero. I don’t mean that in a negative way, by any means, because I think it was intended to be read sort of like that. I think it gives off that vibe because of the severe lack of pronouns and also the fact that the protagonist of the story, “the deliverator” is amped up to be this superb hero despite the fact that pizza delivery boy isn’t the best of job descriptions. I think the fact that it’s written like that made the book all the more interesting to me. For one, it was grounded in a reality. I semi understood it and it was mildly humorous so it caught my attention, whereas most sci-fi novels don’t typically do that for me.  I enjoyed traipsing through this new found world and exploring the decline of cultures and societies and seeing how they rebuilt themselves, for instance Kong bucks because the inflation of the dollar was so profound, which kind of reminds me of the Bitcoin of today. I think it was an interesting take on the world if businesses were allowed to be on the same footing as government. All in all I would say it was a very clever novelization.  

Week 10: Frank Herbert - Dune

Narratives from the Multi-verse

I read Dune by Frank Herbert. Dune is a complex piece of literary work dealing with a time period in the not so distant future. The story explores a lot of fascinating themes like religion and power and the need humans have to control their environment. I thought it was an intriguing notion that “Dune” addressed religion in a way that it was such a prominent feature within the novel. Thinking about it more, I realize how little other things within the sci-fi genre touch on religion. Looking more into it I realized that Herbert actually held a different outlook on religion as an institution, as opposed to his contemporaries. Hebert’s outlook on the future and religion’s place within it has religion and politics heavily intertwined, much like our time right now in my opinion, whereas other science fiction writers wrote of religion being an outdated institution that would lose all functionality when the future approached. I think in part that’s why  he’s such a critically acclaimed author because he wasn’t afraid to point out that religion wasn’t just a faint or new idea and that years in the future it could very well still be a crucial player in our day to day affairs. I also think it’s brilliant how his story seems to be making observations about life in his day even though it’s told through the efforts of a futuristic story. For instance the idea of the Fremen being controlled by religion seems to be a good way of highlighting the way cults work and how charismatic religious leaders can sometimes exploit the religious for their own ends. Herbert’s outlook on religion, as implied by Dune, is that when mixed with power and greed it could be the most detrimental thing to a person’s way of life, in which I agree.

Another interesting concept that Herbert addresses within “Dune” is the idea of humanity having power over the environment. Within the novel an ecologist by the name of Kynes is determined to altar the harsh desert climate of Arrakis into a more lush tropical one, a dream that Paul is more than happy to continue with after Kyne’s death. No one seems to question whether it is right to completely altar the eco-system and typical planetary conditions, that have kept numerous animals alive on the planet. This brings to mind the way we, as a whole, treat the planet we live on today. Herbert seems to be trying to point out that the way we are treating our planet will only hurt us  in the future. Although the repercussions are blind to us presently, though we are slowly starting to become more aware, we mustn’t take it upon ourselves to completely altar the ecological makeup of our environment because we will surely pay for them later. It’s themes like these that I think propelled Herbert’s book far above it’s time and is why it has gained the reputation as one of the greatest sci-fi writers. He addressed ideologies that I don’t think a lot of science fiction writers were thinking about at the time.

I also really enjoyed the movie, which we watched in class.  I have seen the movie before many many years ago with my grandpa and it was really nice to see the movie again and to read the book and be reminded of the times that it was just me and my grandpa with milk and cookies, sitting on the couch watching Dune.

Week 9: Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination

Space Opera

I think that Space Opera allows the viewer to imagine what our future will really be like and all of the possibilities of mankind, while equally allowing us to reflect on our current state. I found this book to be a very interesting read, it delved into a lot of social and political issues and really explored how far one person would go to exact revenge. It is quite an interesting story being told. The main character, Foyle, is intense, to say the least. He is a character that you as the reader both root for and despise at the same time.  At first he was easy to identify with, the feeling of mediocrity, nothing makes him special or stand out, until he becomes possessed by revenge, and that is when I thought he took a turn for the worse. some of Foyle's actions make him quite a shocking character. Foyle is brutal and often it is hard to remember he is the protagonist. I found it an interesting notion that up until the point where Foyle was enraptured in retribution he was a common place man with no ambition whatsoever but his embitterment empowered him. It seems like one of those things where the protagonist needed to find something to draw strength from and although revenge was good fuel at the time, it ended up costing him a lot more than it was worth in the end.

Week 8: Neil Gaiman - Stardust

Mythic Fiction & Contemporary Urban Fantasy

I chose to read Stardust, which proved to be an interesting read, because I have seen the movie and loved it. Truthfully, I had no idea that it was a book before it was a movie. The movie version of Stardust, for me, is the ultimate feel good movie. So naturally when we were given the opportunity to read a Neil Gaiman novel, I jumped at the chance to read this book. The book was an excellent read, though very different in major ways from the movie, like most novel to film movies. I think the production of the movie did what it could to make it a more visually appropriate story, which I personally don’t mind because sometimes you just have to what with time constraints and the attention span of the viewer.  Though I feel if I had read the book before I had watched the movie that those changes would have irked me a lot more then they did.

I personally enjoyed the movie more than the book. Though I did still find the book interesting the characters were given more 'weight' within the movie than they were in the book. In the book some of the characters feel very one-dimensional as though they had no real purpose. For example the sky pirates who rescued them in the book were there with the intention of finding them a way out of the clouds and taking them part of the way so they could arrive at their destination much sooner, but in the movie the sky pirates did much more than that by also teaching teaching Tristran things like how to fight etc. and in the movie that was also the true turning point in the way Yvaine felt about Tristran. Which bring me to another issue that I had with the book, the relationship between Tristran and Yvaine happened kind of matter of fact-ly and didn’t seem to grow and flow naturally, I was very disappointed in how it happened. As a whole I did enjoy it, though there are some things that I personally found lacking but that might have to do with me watching the movie before reading the book, and I would defiantly suggest reading it, especially if you are a fan of Neil Gaiman's writing.

Week 7: C.S. Lewis - The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Novel of Spiritual Education

I found this book, which is the sort of “first” within the “Chronicles of Narnia” series to be a fun read. It was light hearted and innocent yet laden with a lot of allegorical subtext that were blatantly presented to the viewer. The premise of the novel is that there is a magical world that has an entryway through the doorway of a wardrobe, which happens to be found by one Lucy Pevensie, one day when her and her brothers and sisters were playing hide and seek. In this mystical world, there has been an eternal winter, a winter that has lasted forever with no signs of Christmas, caused by the White witch of Narnia. According to the Narnia prophecy, peace and harmony would only reign again in Narnia when two daughters of eve and two sons of Adam, rule over the kingdom yet again. So the story already has us delving into it knowing full well whom the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve are and that these kids are destined to bring forth a complete change in Narnia, for the better. From the start of the book you can see one main theme that helps tie it into the overall religious allegory and that is Edmund’s temptation by the white queen. Edmund’s temptation and subsequent betrayal all stems from a very miniscule proposition and that is the fact that the white queen has offered him Turkish delight in exchange for his brother’s and sisters’ whereabouts. His green and incessant want of more Turkish delight turns Edmund down the wrong path, even though in his heart he knows he is wrong, and so he lies to his siblings and then ultimately betrays their plans to the white witch.  Edmund then stands as kind of the original temptation of man, in this world or just as the temptation of man in general. It seems as though C.S. Lewis was pointing out how it could be a very miniscule thing that one wouldn’t believe would be enough to betray those closest to you, but sometimes that’s really all it takes. He makes the point with Edmund that temptation is a powerful thing and though you may realize that what you are doing isn’t right we often times block out that voice that tells us reason. He also uses Edmund as an example of how much better off we are when we ask for forgiveness once we have sinned. Aslan, the Jesus figure in this novel, saves Edmund, and upon doing so has a private talk with him, that even we, as the reader, are unaware what it is about and afterwards Aslan responds by telling his siblings not to harp on it because all is forgiven. I guess that kind of has to do with the way C.S. Lewis perceives a relationship with the Christ figure in religion. It’s as though he were saying, yes you have messed up but once you ask forgiveness that is between you and God alone, and once you have asked for forgiveness and changed your ways then all is well and he won’t “harp” on it and doesn’t expect you or anyone else to as well. The bigger picture in this story is basically that everything is a religious metaphor; Edmund is just one character that I find interesting within the whole story because he is one of the most clearly flawed characters. Someone could probably write forever about the resurrection of Aslan and how that relates to the rise of Jesus Christ and the small intricacies of the novel but for me, watching Edmund’s character was the most fascinating bit from that novel. Overall it was a fun read, and the way it’s written reminds me a lot of Enid Blyton.

Week 6: J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit

The Heroic Journey

After today’s “Hobbit” discussion today and talking about J.R.R. Tolkien, I find that I am even more impressed with this book than I was before. It’s actually my second time perusing through this book and I find it just as fun and filled with adventure as it was before. I think that’s my favourite part of reading this, it’s the fact that it is so sophisticated yet still a campy feel good read and it has it’s serious bits with the “battle of five armies” but it’s still at the core of it, a children’s novel and reminds us of this with it’s numerous songs and comic relief characters. I feel like this book is for that sophisticated child reader where the plot and basis of the novel is so mature and well written but also happy and adventurous and fun and it gives the reader everything they could want and more from a children’s novel.

I think the point that most impressed me about “The Hobbit”, and by extension “The Lord of the Rings” is the fact that J.R.R. Tolkien sat down and created an entire language, elfish, and then spun this intricate web about a world and creatures and people that don’t exist as a result of this. It makes sense for a person to create a world as a basis for a language because language is such a culture heavy part of life. I remember reading a psychological study that explains linguistics through culture as a manifestation of the world around us, for instance a place that has snow all the time might have hundreds of words for snow whereas a country with barely any snow might have just one word to describe it. This is basically, in part, the reasoning behind having to create middle earth, because once he created the language he needed a people whose culture reflected it and was a basis for the language’s formation.

Overall I think the message and feel of the story was very heartwarming and fun. I liked reading as Bilbo started off as the reluctant protagonist and matured into an intrepid burglar. His evolution as a character is, in a sense, inspiring because as he grows into his own and learns to find his confidence in the outside world, you as the reader kind of do the same and so Bilbo’s journey to the outside world kind of becomes your own and gives you the sense of being able to go out and take on the world’s challenges. Another good theme the novel has is overcoming greed and selfishness, which gives the story such a strong moral backbone that I find so important when telling a story.  Basically, for me, this book was an excellent read I was impressed at it’s inception and it’s ability to tie in strong themes and lessons with a tremendous plot line and still manage to be refreshing and lighthearted.

Week 5: Diana Wynne Jones - Aunt Maria

Witches & Women in Genre

“Aunt Maria” by Diana Wynne Jones was an interesting read. Told in the first person, through a series of journal entries by Mig, the main character, Jones weaves together a very interesting plot that delves into the supernatural world of ghosts and witches. The characters in this story are very dynamic to say the least; Aunt Maria is perhaps the greatest personality in the entire novel. She’s interesting to me I think, because in my mind we have all met or at least heard of people just like her. That elderly woman who lounges idly and passes judgment on those around her and somehow manipulates you into seeing to her every whim and worry. Aunt Maria is very much that character to the point that it’s almost terrifying and Jones writes in such a way that you find yourself feeling as though you too were securely under Aunt Maria’s thumb, so to speak. Every small victory over her domineering personality was like a triumphant conquest for the reader and the character that managed to attain that victory, that I think the book becomes that much better of a read, because the reader feels as though they are a part of the controversy. I think that’s why I found myself rooting for Chris’ character despite the fact that he was loud, and rude and brash. It’s that behavior I believe that most of us would resort to when pushed completely to the edge of utter annoyance. A noteworthy part of the story I think, is also how closely things would tie themselves to gender roles. The way Jones writes and deals with gender roles in the story seems to be a nod to how silly and ineffective these roles can be. In fact Jones seems to be saying, through this novel, that gender roles more inhibit rather than help alleviate situations and crises. Jones treats the separation of male and female in this novel as though they were separate species that could not and would not communicate with one another with women being the dominant species in the book, causing the male entities to be distrustful of Mig, the protagonist of the story. This novel reminded me of being a kid again because the plot line seemed like something straight out of a nineties movie, it was the right amount of supernatural antics mixed with terrible relatives and quirky, bizarre happenings like people being transformed into animals and a gathering of tea drinking witches and going out on holiday and finding an adventure. I mostly liked reading it because it lent itself to that notion of bizarre hi-jinks that sort themselves out in the end and make you a stronger person because of it.

Week 4: Richard Matheson - I am Legend

Monsters, Contemporary Horror & the New Weird

I am Legend can be described as a narrative that takes place within the context of human history with some sense of having miraculous parameters. A legend, essentially, is just a tale that is historicized, and passed down verbally throughout the generations. It’s that definition of what makes a legend that opens up the conversation for the novel “I am Legend” by Richard Matheson. Written in 1954, this book presents the story of a man faced with an interesting predicament. Robert Neville is a man that happens to be the seemingly sole survivor of a pandemic that renders its victims to vampire like symptoms. The story explains that the seeming cause of the disease is a war that has caused various dust storms that have helped spread the disease.

Robert Neville’s story is one that follows him on his quest to figure out what exactly causes the disease and how to stop it. Through a series of flashbacks, we as the reader find out more about Neville’s past, for instance we learn of how his wife and child fell victim to the disease that has seemingly ravaged the entire nation. It goes on to explain how he had to kill his own wife and has lived barricaded in his house in an attempt to avoid the creatures everyone else has now become. At the beginning of the novel he lives out his morning scavenging for supplies and driving stakes through the hearts of the weakened vampires while at night he boards up his house and shrouds it in mirrors, crucifixes and garlic to ward off the horde of vampires, led by his neighbor, who surround his house at night, searching for a way to get in. Neville not only has to conquer his nights with the vampires, but also he has to deal with his constant depression and alcoholism, making for an interesting and complex character. Later on in the novel, Neville decides to take his fate into his own hands, which sets him on the path to researching this new brand of vampire like humans and the disease that caused it.

With the knowledge he has obtained in hand, Robert Neville goes on to try and destroy the vampire creatures, leading up to a climactic clash between himself and this new vampire like civilization. I think “I am Legend” was a good read, the character development was interesting to see play out especially since he is a character that is alone for the majority of this novel. It was an interesting read and the end result of Neville’s realization that he is now a legend in his own right in this new civilization’s folklore was an interesting insight into the way a legend is born.

Week 3: Kaidan: Japanese horror stories

J-Horror: Asian Supernatural Narratives

I read the “Kwaidan”, a series of Japanese horror stories. The stories I read, I found to be very fascinating I didn’t think they were scary per say, in fact I found them to be more supernatural occurrences, so I guess they were “ghost stories” in every sense of the word, which I believe in wholeheartedly. I also realized that many of the stories included some romantic aspect to them for instance there was one story about a man who’s fiancé died and her spirit returned to him years later after he made her a promise that if she was to appear to him again in the future he would marry her.  It’s stories like that, that make the collection less horror and more paranormal. It’s a really fun interpretation of the atypical romantic or ghost story, by combining them it sheds a little light on both sides of the coin and gives them both an interesting twist. I really found it strange however that I didn't really find the stories that terrifying. I guess I expected more of a horrific vibe seeing as  horror movies from Japan are some of the most terrifying movies I, or most of the American public, have ever seen.

I researched Japanese horror a bit after reading the Kaidan tales and I found out some interesting things about Japanese horror fiction and Japanese culture.  For instance the Kaidan actually dates all the way back to the Edo and Meiji periods in Japan as sort of traditional ghost tales. Horror fiction seems to be a very deeply imbedded portion of Japanese culture not only because it dates back to the 1600s but because even today the people of Japan are completely riveted by the idea of the Japanese ghosts or Yurei. The nature of Japanese horror seems to be psychological and suspenseful with many themes found in folk religion such as poltergeists, exorcism and shamanism. I think when you consider the nature of traditional Japanese ghost stories the Kaidan makes more sense, because they all have to do with the idea of rituals and unfinished business which tie the ghost to the physical plane.  All in all the Kaidan was a fun read, not particularly scary but rather more eerie or spooky, things that if it happened to you it would make your hair stand on end.

Week 2: Anne Rice - Interview with a Vampire

Vampires

Reading this book I was less than enthused. I loved the movie so much and had heard a lot about the novel itself and I know Anne Rice is an amazing author, having read her Sleeping Beauty Trilogy in high school, but for some reason I couldn’t wrap my head around the book. I can see where this book contained all the classic elements of vampire lore. I found the characters to be very interesting and relatable with typical human emotions and internal struggles. I particularly took to Claudia’s story line because it was a thought-provoking notion on wanting to grow up but not being able to. Another very fascinating idea presented in the novel is “in the end is immortality worth it?” Although I didn’t take to this book I do see why many people liked it. I think it did a very good job in bringing out very mortal elements in immortal beings. I think it was an excellent representation of what vampires in the typical sense might have to endure. I really did find the book to be intriguing as an idea, I just wasn’t particularly fond of it as a whole, it was kind of slow and a bit of a boring read. 

Week 1: Mary Shelley - Frankenstein

The Gothic

I was surprised to discover that Frankenstein was written when Mary Shelley was around nineteen years old because it such an eloquent and well-versed novel.  The story involves Dr. Victor Frankenstein and goes on to explain how he first became enraptured and mystified with the sciences, becoming attached to it at a very young age. It wasn’t until he was older, however, that he thoroughly became consumed with the thought of actually creating human life. Yet, upon doing so, and actually having his creation come to life, Frankenstein fully understands the gravity of what he has created when the monster opens his eyes for the first time. Frankenstein is soon disgusted and afraid of his creation and runs leaving it behind. The rest of the tale is basically about Frankenstein’s constant attempts at evading a monster that is practically stalking him. The monster is following behind Victor, killing his family and friends, practically at every turn.  The turning point of the novel comes when Victor decides to devote his life to exacting revenge upon his creation and tracks him all the way to the North, somewhere that is covered in ice and snow.

The real heart of the story comes from the characters themselves, it seems to me that Frankenstein’s monster, who was assembled from random body parts and chemicals, is really just a creature who turns to hatred because it is all he’s ever known. From his creation, the monster has been rejected by his father figure, Victor Frankenstein, and also by the society, which he so desperately tries to fit into. It is no wonder that he soon turns to hate himself, because it is all he has ever known, not only that the creature at the beginning of his life was a soft hearted soul, but is constantly rejected thanks to his disgusting outer appearance, all these things culminate in his need for revenge on Frankenstein and so sets the wheels of our story in motion. Victor Frankenstein’s character development throughout the novel is also a noteworthy one. The reader watches as Victor goes from a bright eyed, youthful, and curious soul and morphs into a biter disillusioned and guilty man, who has watched the product of his arrogance kill the ones he loves, leading him into becoming an obsessive hunter of his creation. Overall the story was very interesting, and very well written, the characters all have a very human element to them, which makes the reader sympathetic to their plight, and makes for a very complex and interesting read.