tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40247084399405562342024-03-16T14:52:11.830-04:00The Hat RackFeaturing (hopefully) in-depth and (possibly) insightful reviews of fantasy, science fiction and horror books and stories.Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.comBlogger355125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-29944532151559466932013-08-04T12:47:00.000-04:002013-08-04T13:49:25.264-04:00Farewell<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I started this blog in the last month of 2009. I was a
junior in high school at the time. Nearly four years have passed since then. I
am now a junior in college. Between 2009 and 2012, I read three hundred and
eighty-one books. I reviewed one hundred and eighty. As the shortest reviews
were around a thousand words and the longest several times that, it seems fair
to say that I have written many hundreds of thousands of words on this blog,
the contents of multiple novels. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The purpose for this spate of numbers is not to try and get
in one last horn-tooting but rather to attempt to convey the sheer scale of the
undertaking that running the Hat Rack has been for me. I don’t mean that in a
negative way. This blog changed my life. 68,500 people have stooped by since
2009. That’s not a huge number of people by the scales of some of the
blogosphere’s giants, but knowing that those eyes were on my work, and knowing
that some of them found that work worthy enough to not only read but to come
back, to comment, to engage with my words—that’s changed me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say that the Hat Rack
changed my life. I found all sorts of other fantastic blogs and reviewers,
listed to this page’s right. I read more books for this blog than I would have
otherwise. I read different books. I got to interview one of my favorite
authors, <a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2011/09/interview-thomas-ligotti.html">Thomas Ligotti</a>. The act of reviewing changed the way that I interact
with books. Because of those one hundred and eighty essays, I find myself
engaging with what I read in a way incomparably deeper than I could ever have
dreamed before. The effect goes beyond reading. The very way that I think has
been changed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But, no matter how much a part of me reviewing has come to
feel, it is not something I can continue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s tempting for me to cite practical reasons and leave it
at that. I read one hundred and thirty-eight books in 2012, fifty-three of
which were read during the summer. More than enough material to get a review a
week out of. In the seven months of 2013 that have passed, I have read only
fifty-three in total; the summer, which is nearing its close, has seen only
fifteen. Many of those were histories or other books that cannot really be
reviewed on a blog of this sort. Clearly, then, there are far fewer books that
I can get reviews from, perhaps no longer enough to sustain weekly postings,
and that’s not even taking into account my ever-decreasing well of free time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But that would be an excuse, for the sharp drop in the
number of books that I have read is really just a symptom of the real issue: my
interests have shifted. History consumes more and more of my passion, and,
perhaps more importantly, I have lost much of my faith in fiction. The
idea of finding some sort of Truth between the pages of a fantasy has been
receding farther and farther from my reach. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For months, perhaps even longer, I have been trying to
ignore this, assuming that my old love would snap back into place if I just
kept trudging on. Instead, the act of reviewing has grown to seem like a chore,
and perpetually forcing myself to analyze what I read in the hope that
profundity will be reborn has just strangled the enjoyment I used to get from
stories. Some of my recent reviews felt entirely like form without substance,
like I was distantly ascertaining how enjoyable a tale would or would not be
without feeling a shred of that pleasure myself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Obviously, this state of affairs can not continue. It’s not
pleasurable for me, and it would soon turn into the reviewing equivalent of a
television show meandering on for ever-declining season after season after their
writers lose all inspiration. Accordingly, for the next few months at a bare
minimum, I plan to try and read without the pressure, to rediscover what it
means to read for the pure joy of the tale and the prose.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writing fiction is another consideration. In the past two years, I have written a bare handful of stories. That's not because I have been blogging, and it's true that I used to review frequently during my most productive writing periods. Still, that was when I had far more free time. Nowadays, with the need to keep a steady stream of reviews, I wonder if I would have time to write a story or novel even if the idea did strike me. So while I am not ending the blog in favor of creative writing (the burnout has hit that at least as hard), I do wonder if this might eventually improve my productivity there.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">This may not be a permanent departure. When my story in </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Space and Time Magazine</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> surfaces in
2015, I will post about it here, and, should I get a new burst of creativity and publish more stories, I will keep the fiction bibliography up to
date. If a book strikes me strongly enough, I may still do a review. Perhaps
someday I will even return to reviewing as I once did. But I can’t promise any of that. For the moment, I think it’s best to say farewell, dear readers. Knowing
that you were there meant a great deal to me. I hope that some of my work did
live up to the silly tagline at the top of this page, that some of it was indeed
in-depth and insightful, that it was worth your time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
If anyone would like to stay in touch with me, or to have me notify you in the event of a return to blogging someday in the future, feel free to send me an email at nskteh[at]gmail[dot]com.</span></div>
Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-46391348813344368012013-07-30T00:00:00.000-04:002013-07-30T00:00:03.663-04:00David Foster Wallace - The Broom of the System<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AVvcKht-LRw/UfWlYbawYHI/AAAAAAAABfY/xgfCO5ZX-uM/s1600/the_broom_of_the_system.large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AVvcKht-LRw/UfWlYbawYHI/AAAAAAAABfY/xgfCO5ZX-uM/s320/the_broom_of_the_system.large.jpg" width="216" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">David Foster Wallace began what would become <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Broom of the System </i>as his honors
thesis in English, meaning that he wrote it at an age uncomfortably close to my
own. That similarity aside, and despite its place at the very beginning of
Wallace’s body of work, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Broom of the
System </i>is, I imagine, likely approached how I came to it, which is to say
by those who have just read the brilliant <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2013/02/david-foster-wallace-infinite-jest.html">Infinite Jest</a></i> and are curious about what else Wallace has done. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">From that vantage point, the most obvious characteristic about
this work is its relative simplicity. Here we have less technicality, fewer
pages and characters, less experimentation, and no footnotes at all. But
viewing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Broom of the System</i> as
only a building block on the road to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Infinite
Jest</i> is not a fair way to view an earlier work. Looked at it at least
partially upon its own terms, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Broom
of the System </i>is a fun, silly, and bright novel that occupies, albeit to a
lesser extent, the same intersection of insight and absurdity that Wallace’s
masterwork is known for.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We begin with Lenore Beadsman, a telephone operator in her
mid twenties at a publishing house, whose brilliant but eccentric
great-grandmother vanishes from the nursing home where she has lived in a
temperature-controlled room for decades. In theory, the book is about searching
for her. As this is a Wallace book, however, we don’t so much proceed forward
through the plot as we do outwards. Though time does pass over the course of
the novel, no real progress is made on the search, and just about none of the
other plot threads are really brought to a conclusion. Instead, Wallace uses
the search for the great-grandmother to introduce us to and explore those
around Lenore. We meet her brilliant but deranged brother in his college dorm
room, see her horrendous and hygiene-anxity-obsessed psychologist, and get to
know quite well the head of her publishing house, Rick Vigorous, who is also
her obsessive, controlling, and neurotic lover.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The absence of much more than a cursory plot tells more here
than it did in </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Infinite Jest</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Wallace
strews the novel with the promise of events – some personal, some
world-changing – and they are uniformly either not followed up upon or are
advanced in the most ambiguous fashion possible. The tactic works for several
of the book’s main threads but left me wondering why we had bothered with some
of the smaller ones. Details like Lenore’s psychologist really not being a
psychologist at all but rather an </span>impostor<span style="font-family: inherit;"> put in place by unknown hands, are
added but never expanded. The book ends in mid-sentence, something that
balances between powerful and obnoxious, and might lean toward the latter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Still, lambasting our failure to find Lenore begins to,
after not too long, miss the point of it all. This is not a novel about
searching. Rather, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Broom of the
System </i>is a story about stories. Lenore’s great-grandmother believed in
Wittgensteinian fashion that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the world is
words</i> (p. 74). Lenore, therefore, is terrified that the world is nothing
but words, that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All that really exists of
my life is what can be said about it </i>(p. 119), that hers is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A life that’s told, not lived </i>(p. 119).
What, she cannot help but wonder, sets her apart from a character in a story,
controlled entirely but what is said by and about her?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Fittingly enough for a book about stories and their telling,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Broom of the System</i> is packed
with voices. Wallace proves himself as a chameleon, able to shift into new
kinds of speech with each addition to his cast, and the focus is often almost
entirely upon the words being spoken. Some scenes are presented as transcripts,
nothing but tags and dialogue, leaving the reader to read the emotion in
between the lines. Others go so far as to remove the tags, simply presenting us
with monologues or with two or more conversants that are only separated by
their manners of speech. Our first introduction to Rick Vigorous and the grown
Lenore is a conversation between them that shows us their voices before their
names. All of this is a choice that could prove disastrous, but Wallace is a
skilled enough writer that I never had a moment when I couldn’t tell who was
talking.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stories are in no shorter supply. Frequently, it seems that
much of what Lenore does is stumble across stories, and colorful backstories
are often the object in the spotlight. We are also treated to many of the
submissions that Vigorous receives for his literary magazine, and they were a
prime example of how Wallace can balance levels and extremes. The stories are
awful, and Vigorous, as he relates them to Lenore, frequently comments upon the
terrible sentimentality or ideas in a section – but, perhaps in part because of
their license to be contrived that allows them to then deny that very charge,
they are often moving as well. Besides which, they are the location of some of
Wallace’s most madcap creativity and are always a joy to hear described.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the results of Lenore’s belief in the totality of
words, and one of the key ambiguities that the novel ends on, is whether people
can change along with their words. In the prologue, a teenaged Lenore is
sexually menaced by a collegiate Lang, who is joking but still threatening.
Years later, as the novel nears its end, the two end up together. Lang insists
that his earlier actions were just because they were kids back then, and, when
Lenore asks why he now talks differently around her, he says <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I guess maybe we all talk differently with
different people </i>(p. 411). The implications, if we really are just what we
say, would be that we are genuinely different people in different circumstances.
The novel ends before we get to see if Lang is genuinely different, but I think
that my extreme discomfort whenever he was with Lenore give at least my answer
to the question.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Wallace’s commitment and ability to have his own cake and
eat it too, to mock the excess of the submissions but still communicate it, is
present throughout the book. It can be seen in Wallace’s tentative but
inevitable approach to metafiction. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Broom
of the System </i>is far too concerned with its own telling to really be
anything but, but Wallace is aware of the dangers. As Lenore says of a story,
she read, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It wasn’t real at all. It was
like a story about a story </i>(p. 335). Wallace being Wallace, he is not so
much scared off by those dangers as he is enticed to play. One of the most
amusing bits is his brief stab at all the college kid writers out there that
write too-dark, too-pretentious stories and should be out partying instead,
something that applies to not only me and my own dark, pretentious stories but
Wallace himself at the time of writing this whole thing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Indeed, Wallace is a master at finding tensions in stories
and psychologies, and many of his deepest insights – and even his most poignant
moments – come from such regions. Early on, he discusses how one’s obsessions –
in one’s appearance, say – are counterbalanced by an equally strong obsession
to not appear obsessed with the first obsession. Soon after, we hear, in a
Vigorous submission, of how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ironically
enough, a man, in whom the instinct to love is as strong and natural and
instinctive as can possibly be, is unable to find someone really to love</i>
(p. 180), for his need to love proves hopelessly unattractive and prevents him
from fulfilling it. Vigorous himself exhibits a paradox not far from that. He
is defined by his love for Lenore, is desperate to ensure that their
relationship survives, and, because he is so desperate for that, threatens to
drive her away with his jealousy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Other great details and insights abound throughout the
novel. Wallace is the kind of writer that can draw the truth out of almost any
situation and restate it in a fresh way. One example of that is what Vigorous
comes to refer to as The Reversal after Lenore describes it to him, the way
that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">at first you maybe start to like
some person on the basis of, you know, features of the person. The way they
look, or the way they act, or if they’re smart, or some combination or
something. […] But then if you get to where you, you know, love a person,
everything sort of reverses. It’s not that you love the person because of
certain things about the person anymore; it’s that you love the things about
the person because you love the person. </i>(p. 287). Then there is how Wallace
draws connections between every facet of love and our fundamental need/desire
to not be alone, such as how one character comes to realize that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Weight Watchers sees itself as a warrior in
the great war against loneliness</i> (p. 90).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Besides all of that, Wallace is a damn funny writer.
Continuing (or, I suppose, preceding) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Infinite
Jest</i>’s tradition, some of the best lines involve facial hair, such as the
college kid that has <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a little blond
beardish thing sprouting from his chin, making it look a little like an armpit </i>(p.
14). Another character <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">works in neuroses
like a whaler in scrimshaw </i>(p. 58). Needless to say, the humor continues
above the level of the sentence. One of the novel’s most amusing running jokes
is Vigorous’s attempt to write. The reader is treated to scenes and stories of
his as he spitefully reenacts the scenes of his life with better results
through his fictional altar ego in the most childish way possible. Earlier on,
the governor of Ohio decides that the state has gone soft and decides to give
the people a blasted area to measure themselves against, leading to the Great
Ohio Desert – or G.O.D.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Broom of the
System</i> is a smaller work than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Infinite
Jest</i>, one with less searing brilliance that could have used a bit more of
an ending and a bit less game playing. Still, it’s interesting to see how David
Foster Wallace got his start, and, more than that, this is an interesting and
worthy novel in its own right, one at home on the tight-rope balancing act of
comedy and insight, storytelling and commenting upon storytelling. </span></div>
Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-90365350059321124112013-07-24T08:21:00.000-04:002013-07-24T08:22:14.707-04:00Iain M. Banks - Against a Dark Background<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UCUExvPs7L4/Ue_FXe37J-I/AAAAAAAABfI/vj7v1WrnU5A/s1600/AaDB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UCUExvPs7L4/Ue_FXe37J-I/AAAAAAAABfI/vj7v1WrnU5A/s320/AaDB.jpg" width="203" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
[<i>Against a Dark Background</i> went from my To Be Read shelf to before my eyes with the news of Banks' illness. By the time he died, the review had been written for a few weeks. The temptation to sanitize it and remove any criticism was strong. One generally does not speak ill of the dead in even minor ways, after all. But reviews are not bad mouthing but rather conversation, and it seems to me far preferable for a writer for their work to be engaged with, both in positive and negative ways, after their death, rather than for their work to be eulogized in a well-lit but sterile corner.]</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When not writing literary fiction as Iain Banks, Iain M.
Banks was best known for his Science Fiction novels set in his famous Culture
setting, my favorite of which is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2011/02/iain-m-banks-player-of-games.html">Player of Games</a></i>.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Against a Dark Background </i>is one of
his few SF works that does not share that setting, though the Golter system
that it develops is not far off in terms of Banks’ usual inventiveness.
Problems in its plotting and pacing hold it back, but it does still possess
power in its dark conclusion.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The novel follows Sharrow, a noblewoman that once led a
crack mercenary team. She is drawn back into action when a religious
organization, the Hushz, obtain a legal warrant to kill her due to their
longstanding dispute with her family over a long-lost and incredibly
devastating weapon known as the Lazy Gun. Accordingly, Sharrow gets the old
team back together and goes after the Gun herself. Things get progressively
more complicated from there. Other players operate in the shadows, and each
step closer to the Gun forces her closer and closer to her family’s secrets.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sharrow’s search takes her through just about all of Golter
and the planets around it, giving Banks a book’s worth of opportunities to play
tour guide. Luckily, his creations don’t disappoint. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Against a Dark Background</i>’s setting<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>is a dystopic satire of the late twentieth century filled with
hilarious people, ideas, and institutions that are as zany and often as awesome
as anything Banks has created. Unlike in the Culture, technological progress
did not bring Golter to enlightenment. Golter’s people reached the stars, but
their system was impossibly distant from anything else. As Banks writes:
“[Golter] had found itself alone and it had spread itself as far as it could
and produced so much, but it was still next to nothing” (p. 4020). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Technology brought no wisdom. Instead, numerous wars left
humanity sitting in its own rubble. Marvels from the past, known as
“antiquities” (p. 22), are hunted by teams like Sharrow’s, the world’s fragile
peace is maintained by the litigious and bureaucratic World
Court, and we all sit on piles of weaponry more than sufficient to annihilate
one another. Religious cults of increasing strangeness abound. Some of the
faithful keep themselves permanently chained to walls, a kingdom is run by the
Useless Kings that style themselves the “Prime Detesters of God the Infernal
Wizard” (p. 227), and a roving band of pirates is composed entirely of
solipsists.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a setting that allows endless, madcap adventure, and
Banks capitalizes on it. As Sharrow travels to first recollect her team and
then follow the clues she finds toward the Lazy Gun, the book is divided into a
succession of miniature arcs that are separated by changes in scenery and that
each culminate in grand set pieces. There is an SF train robbery, the thieving
of priceless and closely-guarded jewels from a city of boats, ambushes in bars,
escapes from armored cars, contended battles through miles of woodlands,
assassination attempts via flying beasts, and much more. To all that Banks adds
a series of flashbacks detailing Sharrow’s past and youth with her team and her
family, many of which manage to be genuinely touching – and to explore yet more
corners of Golter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Alas, problems soon set in with these adventures, beginning
with the sheer number of them. Moving onto a new chunk of Golter, or even onto
a new planet, after each heist breaks up any momentum that might have otherwise
built up. Save the team, everyone else is left behind, and Banks’ ingenious
creations soon start to have the feel of theme park rides: thrilling and
well-constructed but suited to one purpose only and best left as soon as that
purpose is done. Up until the very end, the intensity of the heists itself
doesn’t change much. Though the prize of the Gun does get closer with each
victory, hunting down clue Y rather than clue X does not feel like appreciable
progress.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
More importantly, Banks somehow manages to find the perfect,
unbalanced position between a character that can do anything and a character
that is helpless against the odds, and the result is a near total lack of
tension. When Sharrow and her team hatch a scheme, it will succeed. We never
see them outwitted in action, at least not for long. Whenver they decide to
avoid the Hushz, they do so with ease. But, with no warning at all, Sharrow is
frequently outwitted and captured. Those scenes are so abrupt that not only can
Sharrow do nothing against them but also the reader has no sense of building danger.
Whether or not a given scene plays out in her favor seems entirely out of her
hands or anyone else’s. Banks doesn't so much incorporate both Sharrow’s
abilities and the danger she faces as he does veer wildly between them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Despite all that, the last hundred or so pages do manage to
tie much of the novel together and to deliver a powerful thematic punch. The
comedic, light adventures of pursuing the Lazy Guns and the clever wit packed
into the guns themselves and the quest is set against the titular dark
background of Golter’s degenerate state and even of mankind itself. As the
novel nears its conclusion, that background grows, and we watch it swallow the
tiny pinprick of light that is our main characters and their quest. The reader
has the tendency to clutch onto the light all the harder, to hold onto it like
a man dangling over a cliff. But Banks stomps on our fingers and lets us fall.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Golter is a world shaped by violence, a world scarred by the
destruction wrought upon it to the extent that men can never forget it, keep
circling it endlessly, afraid to move away lest any change trigger more
upheaval. As Sharrow knows, “All I’ve ever been was made by weaponry and death”
(p. 483). The only way out, Geis tells us, is to tear it all up and move on: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">only a new order can save poor Golter, only
some new message can win people’s hearts and minds. All you see here, however
precious it might be to us, might have to be sacrificed. Perhaps we need a new
beginning; a clean slate. Perhaps that is our only hope</i> (p. 473). Reform is
impossible. The system must be torn up entirely and remade anew.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is this kind of reformation that Sharrow comes to oppose
in the novel’s (stupendous) final chapter. Destroying the remnants of the past
system will only lead to further horror. The well-intentioned upheaval planned
by Geis will be an upheaval like any other save that it will be even worse for
its totality. As Sharrow acts to destroy his new order, rejecting his
half-hearted apologies for the carnage and his offers to her to join him, she
thinks: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sorrow be damned, and all your
plans. Fuck the faithful, fuck the committed, the dedicated, the true
believers; fuck all the sure and certain people prepared to maim and kill
whoever got in their way; fuck every cause that ended in murder and a child
screaming (p. 484).<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By its final pages, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Against
a Dark Background</i> has become a clear-sighted and devastating work. Banks
acknowledges the horrors of the world. He doubts that any subtle, peaceful
reform can change it. But he also knows with a cold certainty that any attempt
to tear it up, to force disobedient and warring men into a utopia is a cure
worse than the disease – indeed, is a cure that only revitalizes and
intensifies the ailment. Though the institutions that we have cause great harm,
Banks tells us, the horror is not truly in them. It is in us. No new
configuration can change that. His is a novel that, despite all of its fun and
wit, brings us up to the problem of the world’s darkness, and, instead of
offering an easy way out, it discards the solution that the people of Golter
(and of Earth) have tried so often in the past.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
After all that, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Against
a Dark Background</i> is a rather hard book to review. It has problems. The
pacing is off, the thrills are not spectacularly thrilling, and much of its
middle quests pointlessly. But it also has some of Banks’ strongest, most
cutting writing and thinking. Though I wouldn’t start here, I will say that I
think that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Against a Dark Background</i>
is an essential work for anyone that wants to grasp Iain M. Banks’ full vision.<o:p></o:p></div>
Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-69136537078655796382013-07-16T00:00:00.000-04:002013-07-16T00:00:00.132-04:00Arthur Conan Doyle - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jy-aFVLO-xo/UeTCnqteAPI/AAAAAAAABe4/8iedqp5IBDk/s1600/The+Adventures+of+Sherlock+Holmes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jy-aFVLO-xo/UeTCnqteAPI/AAAAAAAABe4/8iedqp5IBDk/s320/The+Adventures+of+Sherlock+Holmes.jpg" width="189" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This was my first concentrated dose of Sherlock Holmes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s different from my first dose, mind
you. Before this I had read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2010/12/arthur-conan-doyle-study-in-scarlet.html">A Study in Scarlet</a> </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sign of Four</i>, had even seen some of the movies. But those were solitary
forays into the great detective’s world and forays, especially in the films’
case, that revealed less of Holmes than they did of flash and explosions.
Reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i>
is a rather different experience. There are fewer explosions, though I expected
that. There is also more of Holmes’ genius on display, or at least enough of it
on display in a far wider variety of settings and with less background noise
that it is far more radiant. There is also just, well, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Adventures of
Sherlock Holmes</i> presents twelve examples of a formula honed to perfection,
one more than capable of dazzling – and yet still very recognizably a formula,
and, as such, one that grows grating long before the collection’s end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Before we get to that, though, we have to discuss Holmes’ deductions.
They are brilliant. Better than that, they are a joy to read about. These are
not the kinds of mysteries where the reader is neck and neck with the detective
in the race to put together the answer. There is no competition. Rather, the
reader does their best and then watches Holmes zip ahead of them at impossible
speeds. Strangely enough, the best instances of Holmes’ ability are not the
most dramatic. Indeed, it’s when there’s nothing much at stake, when it’s not a
matter of a crucial detail misinterpreted but one overlooked entirely, or when
Holmes reads a life from clothes and details, that the detective is at his most
awe inspiring.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The cases that we encounter are a fitting trial for the
great detective. Of course, the crimes are preposterous, with just about every
criminal expending energy completely disproportional to their goal in their
quest to find the most bizarre ways to reach their objective. But that doesn’t
matter when compared to the puzzles, which soon prove themselves ingenious to
the point of elegance. Doyle slips in and out of different genres with the
specifics of the criminals and their objectives, and, even if each is flattened
into a lock with a tricky combination when Holmes enters the scene, it’s still
fun to see the lovers in “A Scandal in Bohemia,” the bald-faced absurdity that
is just cocky enough to work of “The Adventure of the Red-Headed League,” and
the pseudo-Gothic nature of “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But the sheer number of these cases and the deductions that
follow – or, more accurately, the way the deductions always appear at the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">exact same spot</i> in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">exact same structure</i> – is impossible to
ignore. Kyle Freeman, the volume’s editor and quite the Holmes expert, agrees
that it’s a key part of the stories but offers a positive interpretation. To
avoid the risk of caricaturing it, I’ll provide it in full:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This plot repetition,
which might seem a weakness, turns out to be a strength. It contributes to that
sense of solidness we get from this world in which logic triumphs over
superstition, and where justice in one form or another is meted out to
violators of the social order. The sense of order that runs through this world
is one of the great satisfactions of these stories</i> (p. XXII).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s a fair point. There is a way in which the repetition of
logic is the very stuff that makes up its triumph. Holmes’ victory is not a
fluke. Clear thought, when applied, can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always</i>,
Doyle tells us, best the darkness in man. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And yet, as repetition adds that thematic depth, it also
serves to thematically flatten Holmes’ reason for all of this crime fighting
and one of the story’s facets that was most interesting to me. Holmes is not
simply a moralist. Though he passes moral judgments, he does not fight crime
because it is the right thing to do. Rather, stopping evil is, for him, a way
to escape boredom, to find purpose in life. He is as much a thrill seeker, if
not more so, than any of the criminals that he contends with. It is a way to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">escape from the commonplaces of existence</i>
(p. 224), a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">love of all that is bizarre
and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday life</i> (p. 206). As
Holmes puts it at the end of one case, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
only way we have still to solve is how to while away these bleak autumnal
evenings</i> (p. 358). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My attraction to this side of Holmes is likely obvious to
regular readers of this blog. In a way, Sherlock Holmes is like an inverted
piece of Weird Fiction, with Holmes knowing that there has to be more to life
and yet only being able to approach (and never reach) that more by ruthlessly
cutting down any attempt to deviate from the mundane rules of everyday
existence that he seeks to escape. What a paradox! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But, outside of fantastic sentences about autumnal evenings,
there is no sense of any of this in the stories. The repetitive structures kill
it. We come in as the case begins, and we end as it is solved. There is no
sense of life outside of them, no contrast. Holmes speaks of normal life and
drearily (existentially?) unfilled evenings, but we never see him when he’s not
matching wits against a foe, and so it’s a bit hard to take that as anything more
than talk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The main problem with the repetition, though, is far
simpler: it’s repetitive. Horrifically so. The excitement of the hunt bleeds
out once the reader realizes that they are, if not exactly running on the same
track each time, at least running at the same speed and passing the same
landmarks at the same points. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is compounded in the most infuriating of fashions by
Doyle’s habit of not only telling the reader what to think with alarming
regularity but also repeating sentences and ideas almost verbatim from story to
story. In “The Five Orange Pips,” Holmes says: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I think, Watson,” he remarked at last, “that of all our cases we have
had none more fantastic than this”</i> (p. 266). In “The Adventure of the
Speckled Band”: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Of all these varied cases,
however, I cannot recall any which presented more singular features than that
which was associated with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke
Moran</i> (p. 307). In “The Red-Headed League”: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In the present instance I am forced to admit that the facts are, to the
best of my belief, unique </i>(p. 207). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Those aren’t the only places a nearly exact variant of that
appears, and that is not the only phrase that pops back up. Let’s try this one:
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The more featureless and commonplace a
crime is, the more difficult it is to bring home</i> (p. 240). How, exactly,
does that differ in meaning from: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It is
your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling </i>(p. 215)? Or: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">there is nothing so unnatural as the
commonplace</i> (p. 225)? And so on and on and on. Any chance the reader has of
viewing the new tale as anything but a retread of the old one is dashed when
the exact same superlatives are applied by the same people in the same way
almost every damn time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By the point I was halfway through <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i>, I had a very simple way to tell
if I would like a story before I had even turned the first page. I asked
myself: how long has it been since I read a Sherlock Holmes story? For the
tale’s opener, the answer was over a year, and I loved the thing. For the
fourth in a row (it was a long train ride, and I hadn’t brought anything else
to read), I was ready to chuck the book at Watson for saying how odd it all was
for the umpteen-thousandth time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I think that my final thoughts on the collection, and in the
review, really come from that. Sherlock Holmes stories excel at what they do,
but they only do one thing, and they do it over and over again. I highly
recommend that any mystery fans read a story of his. I wouldn’t recommend at
all that they follow that first story up with another without a very healthy
pause between them. So, following, my own advice, I may return to Sherlock
Holmes again – but I think I’ll wait at least a year before I do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">[Note: all page numbers are from the Barnes & Noble
Classics edition of </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">The Complete Sherlock
Holmes, Volume 1</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Those interested in reading the tales, though, might be
interested to know that they are freely available online at places like </span><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1661" style="font-family: inherit;">ProjectGutenberg</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-56391406127908049302013-07-09T00:00:00.000-04:002013-07-09T00:00:10.342-04:00E.R. Eddison - The Worm Ouroboros<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MUCqjVQKWQI/UdsyWUefzwI/AAAAAAAABeo/YxdDnoSyq4I/s1600/TWO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MUCqjVQKWQI/UdsyWUefzwI/AAAAAAAABeo/YxdDnoSyq4I/s320/TWO.jpg" width="202" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By the
time it wraps up, 2013 will, I am sure, have more Fantasy novels with imaginary
kingdoms warring in invented worlds than anyone could possibly read. 1922 had
one. <i>The Worm Ouroboros</i> is a strange
beast to read now. Back then, three decades before Tolkien’s masterwork, it
must have been utterly, overwhelmingly bewildering. But it is not only
interesting historically. Though seriously flawed, <i>The Worm Ouroboros </i>is an interesting beast indeed, a novel that
reads something like what might have happened if Shakespeare had written an
alternate universe Epic Fantasy version of Homer’s <i>Iliad</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Readers
looking for purely second world, immersive fantasies might be confused by the
book’s opening. Eddison begins with a man named Lessingham that, due to
entering a strange room in his house, is transported to Mercury to observe what
his guide insists will be something extraordinary. It’s a less than stellar
opening that reads like Eddison sticking his toe into the then-uncharted waters
of secondary world fantasy before he can quite summon the courage to dive in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But dive
in he does. The world he creates ceases to be the barren, overheated lump of
rock we call Mercury as soon as Lessingham arrives, and Lessingham himself is
quite literally forgotten about within the first few pages, never to be
mentioned again. In his place, the reader finds themselves in an imagined world
dominated by the struggle between vast nations. These nations, it must be
admitted, have atrocious names. Demonland and Witchland are the main
combatants, with Impland and Pixyland showing the caliber of the rest of
Eddison’s nomenclature. The lack of skill in naming, however, does not
translate to a lack of skill in world-building. Though it doesn’t seem to have
much at all to do with demons as we conceive them, Demonland (and the other
nations that Eddison creates) is a richly imagined place with a wide cast of
characters and a well considered history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The war
between Demonland and Witchland begins with a challenge issued by the cruel
King Gorice XI of Witchland and the “wrastling” match that commences. When the
Witches’ reincarnated leader, now Gorice XII, proves disinclined to honorably
back down, he summons the fearsome Worm Ouroboros. When the Worm takes one of
the four brothers that rule and lead Demonland and tosses him to some
godforsaken corner of the world (for… some reason?), the others set off to save
him as the war begin the two nations begins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The war is a
fought solidly in the heroic register. It is a matter of great champions and
their quest for glory, one where the heroes believe that “all occasions are but
steps for us to climb fame by” (p. 118). As such, these battles are welcome,
for it is through them that glory may be won and great deeds done. As our
protagonists say: “Are not all lands, all airs, one country unto us, so there
be great doings afoot to keep bright our swords?” (p. 129)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The cost
of this register is that these characters are more collections of grand deeds
than they are complex personalities. To briefly give you the chief cast of
Demonland: Juss is the strong but wise (ish) leader, Goldry Blusczo is the
great fighter seized by the Worm, Brandoch Daha is the pretty boy master
swordsman with a wonderful name, and Spitfire does seem to on occasion spit
fire. That about sums them all up. The cast of villains is somewhat more
interesting but, with one exception, is not greatly so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of
the few different notes is Gro, who is essentially a normal fellow forced into
this superhuman world. He is the savvy, amoral manipulator of the bunch, and the
few times we see him fight do not end particularly well for him. He is also an
explorer and a writer, a man that has realized that it is all but "a fable of
great men that arise and conquer the nations” (p. 311). Truly, glory fades with
death and time, so he has aimed himself at, instead of it, “to love the sunrise
and the sundown and the morning and the evening star ? since there only abideth
the soul of nobility, true love, and wonder, and the glory of hope and fear”
(p. 312). He may be no more moral than the rest of our cast, but he seeks a
quieter kind of hedonism, a glory not of great deeds but of love and the
enjoyment of life. It doesn’t go well for him, but I loved him all the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The other
variances from the shallow but epic heroics that make up most of the cast are
the female characters. Alas, they are different but not well done. The female
nobility we see spends their time being seduced, wooed, and threatened with
rape. One particularly uncomfortable scene has a woman sent by her father to the
king to try and seduce him towards the father’s point of view. King Gorice
laughs off the attempted persuasion but does enjoy her body after he finishes
explaining how futile her errand was and how powerless she is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite
the shallowness of the characters, Eddison thrives in his depiction of the
grand deeds that his creations accomplish. Mountains are climbed, beasts are
slain, battles are fought, and each encounter comes through to the reader with
impossible richness. Much of the success of the novel’s atmosphere, and of how
Eddison imparts its almost hedonistic heroic code, come from Eddison’s prose. Eddison writes like a time traveller from Jacobean times. His every
word and phrase is strange, but it is a managed strangeness that he crafts
without a misstep, and it soon begins to read not so much like an actor
desperate for a role in Shakespeare as it does like the standard dialect of
this distant, heroically elevated world. For an example of it at its height,
witness Gorice’s calculated decision to use magic against his foes: “But I,
that am skilled in grammarie, do bear a mightier engine against the Demons than
brawny sinews or the sword that smiteth asunder. Yet is mine engine perilous to
him that useth it.” (p. 54) But while Eddison’s writing is heavy, it is not
without its playfulness, and the grandiosity of his style also allows for
profoundly silly moments, such as one’s character’s exclamation: “devil damn me
black as buttermilk” (p. 143).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Still,
moral problems with this kind of fiction creep in. The characters are
shamelessly elitist. They refer to the “common muck o’ the world” (p. 150),and
uncountable numbers of those that make up the muck are slaughtered in the grand
battles in which Juss and his brothers win their glory. When the lords of
Witchland conquer Demonland, we hear of how they oppress the populace. But the
reader comes to wonder long before the end of the book whether the lords of
Demonland are actually any better. Celebrating glory becomes hard to do once
you realize that the glory is attained by slaughtering one’s fellow (albeit, if
you ask your heroes here, lesser) man. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But the
novel’s ending shows that Eddison was aware of that problem throughout. [Note
that a discussion of the ending will, obviously, contain SPOILERS.] Having
finally defeated Witchland, the heroes of Demonland see the hollowness of glory
and become despondent. “Thinking that we,” they say, “that fought but for
fighting’s sake, have in the end fought so well we never may fight more; unless
it should be in fratricidal rage against each. And ere that should betide, may
earth close over us and our memory perish.” (p. 431) They realize that glory
must be constantly renewed, that, once the fighting is over, it fades and death
returns. Without a new battle to fight, they are not only prevented from doing
new deeds but must see their old deeds fade: “We […] have flown beyond the
rainbow. And there we found no fabled land of heart’s desire, but wet rain and
wind only and the cold mountain-side. And our hearts are a-cold because of it,”
Juss says (p. 432).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And so
Eddison, in the last pages of his work, brings forth his final and devastating
twist: the Gods grant the heroes of Demonland their prayer. Their war is
eternal. It began an infinite amount of time before <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Worm Ouroboros</i> did and will continue forever after. Gro was
right, and the glory of the strong will fade with the years until they,
eventually, die like anyone else. The only way for them to escape that fate is
to fight on, to fight for ever. And so the Lords of Demonland fight an endless
war, causelessly slaughtering the common man again and again for all of time so
that the great might retain their glory and greatness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Worm Ouroboros</i> is a bizarre book. It lacks the
characterization that fans of modern Fantasy no doubt expect to find. But that
is not to discount it. Eddison simultaneously succeeds at the best modern
evocation of Homeric heroism that I have read while also managing to critique
and ultimately expose the horrors of that ideal, creating a book that both
thrills the reader and makes them question even the ideals of heroism,
greatness, and war in their modern form. After 1922, Fantasy developed down a
very different path from this. But <i>The
Worm Ouroboros </i>is a unique beast that is very much worth looking at, one
that exists and immerses the reader in its own archaizing language and elevated
cosmos.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-3057142673581054252013-07-02T17:57:00.000-04:002013-07-02T17:57:55.435-04:00Assassin's Creed 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RrgguyDowNs/UdNL2YnBrdI/AAAAAAAABeY/_yg4z3rZy6I/s1600/AC2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RrgguyDowNs/UdNL2YnBrdI/AAAAAAAABeY/_yg4z3rZy6I/s320/AC2.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s been a while since I played a video game. The last one
I talked about was a Fallout 3 expansion back in <a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2011/07/fallout-3-mothership-zeta.html">July of 2011</a>.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Assassin’s Creed 2</i>’s Renaissance
setting and fluid gameplay had what it took to draw me back to the medium.
Despite growing plot problems and a few flaws in gameplay, the game didn’t make
me regret my return.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The game begins with a youthful Ezio, and a surprising
amount of time is spent in its introductory sections. It’s not time wasted. Though
Ezio is not the deepest character, he exceeds the previous game’s protagonist,
Altair, by far, and the mounting disaster aimed at Ezio’s family gives the
player time to get immersed in Ezio, the setting, and the gameplay. Still, I
was looking forward to the game’s opening up from the word go, and, once Ezio’s
family has not-so-surprisingly been defeated, the heart of the game begins:
Ezio, the assassin, is loose in Italy and out for the blood of those that have
destroyed those he loves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The game’s evocation of Renaissance Italy is breathtaking.
Cities and landmarks are rendered in loving detail, with reams of historical
data that can be accessed by the curious and ignored by those less interested.
Historical events weave in and out of gameplay, including the fantastically
badass <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterina_Sforza">Caterina Sforza</a>.
Crowds react to Ezio as he moves, and the sentences of Italian peppered through
the dialogue work wonders, although I do wonder how annoying they would be for
any player who dislikes subtitles and the handy translations that come with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Moving through the environment is a joy. Ezio free-runs up
walls and across rooftops, and the sensation of freedom and acrobatics is free
and flawless, even if most of my deaths did come from foolishly hurtling myself
off a building after miscalculating a jump. Guardsmen fill the streets, and so
Ezio has a wide variety of assassination techniques. Creeping up on foes,
leaping upon them from the rooftops, and grabbing them from below ledges are
all sheer pleasure. Accordingly, I spent the vast majority of my playtime sprinting
across the heights of Venice (my favorite of the game’s cities), hunting down
its oppressive soldiery, and concocting elaborate quests for myself, such as
silently infiltrating a particular bank from the starting position of the tall
tower opposite.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once stealth has been disposed of, the game’s combat succeeds – save for counters, the game’s key fighting element and massive
stumbling block.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An enemy attacks, and
so Ezio counters, stylishly dispatching them. In the early portions of the
game, this makes combat graceful and visually spectacular, as Ezio weaves in
and out of his enemy’s blows and deals death. Even then, the problem is clear,
for, once the player learns the counter, they are effectively invulnerable. You
block; they strike; you kill them. They have no recourse against this tactic, and
you can simply sit in your blocked position if you desire until one of them
strikes. Later, hardier enemies come, but, though one counter does not kill
them, it still deals damage and halts their attacks. This means that, though a
battle against fifty-five enemies may take quite a while, with each foe soaking
up a counter or seven, the battles are still utterly toothless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The developer’s ultimate answer to this, the counter-proof
enemies with either battle axes or pole arms, are a mixed bag. They do successfully
break up the standard grind that blocks and counters can settle into, but they
are rare enough that they don’t change the key mechanic. Moreover, the surest
way to kill them is an unarmed counter (in which Ezio steals their weapon),
meaning that we have not only left the problem of countering behind but have
changed the game’s mood from adrenaline-charged to silly, as Ezio, when
confronted by the gravest odds, puts away his sword and prepares to fight like
a boxer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s up to the player, then, to step aside from the
unbeatable counters and strive for a more versatile combat style. Though you’ll
still spend a lot of your time countering when pressed to a wall, I would
advise incorporating the different techniques that Ezio acquires. Most are not
the most efficient way to get the job done, but experimenting with smoke bombs,
poisoned blades, and throwing knives allows for far more ways for an encounter
to unfold. Fighting with Ezio’s hidden blades, rather than his sword, also
allows for some tenser encounters, as counters are significantly more difficult
with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">All of this killing is in service of first Ezio’s personal
revenge and then the Assassin order’s greater aims against the Templars. The
story for most of the game is not particularly noteworthy but is adequate and
serves its purpose of sending Ezio in and out of moments of historic upheaval
all across Italy. Story sections usually end in set piece assassinations, which
allow the player to mix planning, daring, stealth, and combat as they desire on
a far grander scale than can be reached by simply wandering on or above the
streets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alas, by its last quarter or so, the plot goes mad. I
suppose I should have expected it from playing the first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Assassin’s Creed</i>, but, as the time nears for a big climax, the
developer’s decide that history doesn’t have nearly enough cool stuff to suit
them. Prophecies enter the mix, and magical objects soon follow. Things get
silly and then sillier still. The feel of the Renaissance setting, masterfully built
up over hours and hours, is tarnished and then utterly trashed. Minor positions like the Pope are
brought into the quest and are treated as little more than stepping stones on
the path to a (literally) Edenic bauble. Machiavelli is revealed to be an
assassin and spends his free time leaping into piles of hay. The game’s final
mission has Ezio beating the Pope in a fistfight (because weapons are for
losers) before speaking to what seem to be Gods but are really the survivors of
a First Civilization that have stuck around to give man some great warning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s become clear to me that the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Assassin’s Creed</i> series is one of two halves. On the one hand, it
has set out to bring to life a number of interesting historical eras. On the
other, it wants to tie them all together with a plot that is half mystical and
half Science Fictional. Though I do not object to plots of the latter sort on
principle, and though I do not think they are unmixable with history, I think
that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Assassin’s Creed</i> does a very
poor job of melding them, something evidenced by how the game’s incorporation
of the pope serves only to squash the grandeur of that office rather than to
raise the grandeur of Ezio’s quest. Seeing as the modern, Desmond-focused frame
story of the games is silly as can be, and as, with each movement forward in time,
the games are heading away from what the ancient historian in me finds
interesting, I suspect that the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Assassin’s
Creed</i> series’ trajectory is taking it out of my area of interest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Still, it has not yet left that area. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Assassin’s Creed 2</i> strikes me as a kind of giant, Renaissance
playground. It gives the player a beautiful setting and lets them run loose.
Eventually, I followed the path it wanted, and I have my problems with that
path. But that’s not to diminish the sheer fun of climbing famous landmarks and
then leaping off them to assassinate an unlucky foe. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-88713255370568149872013-06-25T00:30:00.000-04:002013-06-25T00:30:01.610-04:00Me, InterviewedThere's a new micro interview up at Innsmouth Free Press. This one, though, is a bit different. I am no longer the interviewer. Instead, I got interviewed. If you want to know a bit more about my interest in publishing (and me in general), you should <a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=21762">head on over and check it out.</a>Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-37127766688667413142013-06-18T23:01:00.002-04:002013-06-18T23:04:01.308-04:00Jeffrey Wilson - The Donors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pgXHQD9edVg/UcEdCKhwM8I/AAAAAAAABeA/65-qm3FutFM/s1600/the+donors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pgXHQD9edVg/UcEdCKhwM8I/AAAAAAAABeA/65-qm3FutFM/s320/the+donors.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Jeffrey Wilson’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Donors</i>, we come to the hospital along with its abused main character. We
soon grow to know not only the hospital’s staff but also the demonic Lizard Men
that torture humanity’s villains. Wilson’s premise works, but his plot and
structure are soon peppered with flaws. Still, his characters and writing had
enough kinetic spark to keep me going. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wilson's biggest hook is his skill with character. After being
horribly burned by his mother’s abusive boyfriend, Nathan is admitted to the
hospital by Dr. Jason Gelman and tended to by Nurse Jenny. Each, the reader
soon learns, was abused as a child, and the two adults are drawn to Nathan and
to each other by the memories of their own experience and their desire to help
him through his. As the bonds between them deepen, they create for and among
themselves the connections and loves that they failed to find in their
families.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All of this is a bit oversimplified. In the first place,
their utter lack of connections outside of the three of them is hard to
swallow. For Jason, whose family is long gone and whose job kept him from close
connections, it works to some extent. But, while convincing reasons are given
for Jenny’s lack of familial closeness, statements like “Jason seemed the only
reality she could be sure of right now” (p. 137) did less to make me feel her
isolation than to wonder why she doesn’t have a single friend outside of her
love interest. Things are even stranger for Nathan, because, while his mom’s
boyfriend was a pile of shit in human form, his mother seems quite nice. The
text often addresses this, with Jason repeatedly telling himself that the abuse
wasn’t her fault. But she is nonetheless sidelined, present but emotionally
ignored while the main characters grow closer. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As for that growing closer, it moves at a sprint, with
characters who have kept others away for their whole lifetimes not only letting
someone in within a hundred page’s time but also saying things like “I just
have some stuff from my past” (p. 53) five minutes into the relationship, which
is also known as precisely how people desperate to hide their pasts don’t
behave. As for why they are together, we frequently get sentences about Jenny
and Jason’s love like “She had no idea why on earth she felt that way” (p. 56),
which any experienced fiction reader can tell you is the code for love by
authorial fiat.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And yet none of that really matters, because the characters
feel like real people, and they feel like they truly have been hurt, and they
act like they truly are in love. Yeah, the pacing of it all is compressed into
the timeframe of a fast paced novel. But that doesn't kill it. Though baldly expressed, Jason’s admission
that “the more someone tried to get to know him, the more he tried to turn a
conversation superficial” (p. 36) is only one of the ways in which Wilson captures
the twin paradoxical and irresistible urges to pull someone closer and push
them away. Moreover, the budding love between the three is genuinely touching
and manages to feel like a less raw but still powerful version of Poppy Z.
Brite’s frequent theme of misfits forming together to form their own family in
opposition to the world that’s cast them out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In terms of prose, both Wilson’s biggest strengths and
biggest failings come from the childlike tone he uses for Nathan. Jason and
Jenny speak in workable but not remarkable voices, but Nathan’s dialogue feels
like an authentic blend of determined and immature. The kid’s frequent thoughts
about the Power Ranges keep him feeling young, and a good number of his lines
are full-on charming, my favorite of which comes as he ventures into the
metaphysical and hellish lair of his foes: <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“This sucks,” he said loudly as he continued
on into the slowly brightening passage. He felt he had earned the right to use
big kid words today</i> (p. 224). Unfortunately, Nathan’s voice has a tendency
to bleed into the rest of the narration, and, coming from an adult’s mouth, his
lines are less cute than cringe worthy, the worst of which comes when one of
the so-called Lizard Men distinguishes between two types of horrific torture by
saying that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It was the difference between
eating a milkshake through a straw or with a spoon</i> (p. 201). Some phrases
also have a tendency to leap between perspectives, like how everyone starts
saying that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dreams were just like that </i>(p.
37), a phrase that not only makes no sense to me (dreams are just like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">what?</i>) but that is inexplicably thought
by everyone in the hospital without any of them ever actually saying it out
loud.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By this point, though, you probably have more pressing
questions than what dreams are like. Where, you are no doubt thinking to
yourselves, is the horror in this horror novel? Why haven’t you discussed that
yet? In answer to your question, hypothetical reader, I delayed discussing the
Lizard Men till after I finished talking about the characters because, when the
Lizard Men work, it’s entirely because the characters’ strength makes us accept
their promise, and, when the focus shifts entirely onto them at the book’s
close, it becomes disappointingly clear that our demonic foe of the hour could
have been better thought out. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Lizard Men get humans to go along with them by promising
retribution to the scum of the world, and then, with the aid of medical
personnel, they surgically torture the intestines out of their victims. But
it’s all a fuzzy mess. The Lizard Men have their own cave dimension, where they
go to torture their victims, where they bring Jenny, and it can only be reached
when sleeping. But then it turns out that all the torturing was actually
(maybe?) in an operating room in the hospital that, somehow, just went
unnoticed by the whole staff. Only, Jenny never went to the operating room, and
the doctors that helped out never went to the cave. And do the demons
supernaturally abduct their victims, or do they fake their victims’ death using
anesthetics? If the latter, how are they really supernatural? Why do the cops
listen to them? Instead of answer any of these (or a dozen other) questions,
the finale just shows them being inexplicably destroyed by Nathan’s utterly
unexplained Chosen Oneness. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s also disturbing in all the wrong ways that the male
doctors that are brought into this help the demons by being doctors, while
Jenny, though theoretically brought along for her nursing abilities, just
spends her time “writhing” (p. 120) and “naked” (p. 81), while we hear about
how “her creamy skin glistened with a film of sweat that made her young and
athletic build more erotic” (pp. 81-82). It’s ever so nice to see a female
character amounting to nothing more than an unconscious but sexy body for the
male heroes to save! While we are on the same subject, I can’t say that I was a
fan of how our one and only black character is a dumbass thug that can’t
understand the big words the doctors’ use, gets called the n-word (p. 152), and
refers to other black people as “brothers” (p. 157).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Lizard Man plot does bring up some interesting thematic
questions, but Wilson evolves them just far enough that they are dangling and
questionable but utterly unresolved. Jason knows that Nathan’s abuser will
never get what he deserves and wonders how to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tell a kid that the world sucked, that people like Steve felt nothing
but anger and hate? How did you tell him that the man wouldn’t pay at all for
the pain he had brought this brave boy?</i> (p. 26) Into that picture come the
Lizard Men, and, despite the horror of the wide-awake, pain-focused surgeries
they perform, it’s hard not to see their torture of bastards like Steve as
their just deserts. Before long, Wilson complicates this. The Lizard Men don’t
care about the suffering that people like Steve cause, they just take advantage
of the excuse it gives them to cause pain. Then we find out that they will
manufacture pain to give themselves an excuse to take advantage of it. If
you’ll forgive my venturing into spoilers for a moment (and feel free to skip
to the next paragraph if you are), we need to talk about how Jenny never
actually was abused. It was a lie told by the Lizard Men, one planted in her
head to get her to help them out. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There, Wilson ventures deep into dangerous but interesting
territory. He seems poised to explore our need for revenge and how just it
really is, but he also seems perilously close to calling all victimization a
fabricated excuse for lashing out. In the end, Wilson goes to neither extreme.
In fact, he doesn’t really go anywhere. From the revelation about Jenny to the
end, the book’s morality is put on hold for our (extremely disappointing)
showdown with the lizard folk, and not another word is heard about the
justifications our ramifications of our actions until, with their adventure
concluded, Jason congratulates himself on learning <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a lot about good and evil </i>(p. 245). But that feels less like what
happened than what should have happened, with the book’s actual thematic conclusions
really seeming to be more along the lines of “Lizard Men are bad,” without it
ever quite bringing itself to tread near the question of where specifically the
dividing lines are that make them so and how those apply to those of us without
access to strange cave dimensions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />My reading of it finished and my reviewing of it nearly
done, I still don’t feel a hundred percent sure of how to characterize <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Donors</i>. It’s a problematic novel
that doesn’t go much of anywhere thematically and bungles the plot. Still, the
characters are filled with spark, and it’s an enjoyable read for most of its
length for exactly that reason. One hopes that, in his other works, Wilson is
able to better marry his skills with character to the rest of the writing craft.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-58189766897665470152013-06-11T00:00:00.000-04:002013-06-18T23:03:31.678-04:00Beyond the Shrinking World, now at PodcastleLast week, Podcastle posted a recording of my short story Beyond the Shrinking World (which originally appeared in<a href="http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/beyond-the-shrinking-world/"> <i>Beneath Ceaseless Skies</i></a> almost a year ago) read by the fantastic Dominick Rabrun. It's totally free to download or listen to, and <a href="http://podcastle.org/2013/06/05/podcastle-263-beyond-the-shrinking-world/">you should check it out</a>. This is, without a doubt, one of the coolest things that I have ever got to experience in publishing. Dominick does a great job reading the story, and hearing someone else's interpretation of every sentence I wrote and every character's voice in the thing... can anything possibly be cooler than that?<br />
<br />
The answer's no, but the fun doesn't stop there, because the story begins with an editorial/introduction from Dave Thompson. The broader topic is grimdark, and, while I don't think I would ultimately place my work in that category, it's interesting to view it in that light. Ultimately, Dave agrees that I probably don't fit there, but he says that my work is extremely dark and almost Lovecraftian at times -- both of those, needless to say, are characterizations that had me grinning ear to ear to hear. Oh, and the bit about how he really liked the story and will be first in line to read anything else I write in the world didn't hurt.<br />
<br />
There's also an Escape Artists forum where people can discuss the story, and you should clearly <a href="http://forum.escapeartists.net/index.php?topic=7205.0">head over there</a> and write paragraph after paragraph of drooling praise (or, uh, whatever you'd like to write). As to what people have said already, it's fascinating to read. The reaction's mixed, and while I won't lie that I (like every writer out there, I'd imagine) would be quite happy with everyone loving my work, I expected that. I know I have turned into a bit of an oddball when it comes to taste, and I think I might be a bit too self-consciously pretentious and nihilistic for universal appeal (I say this, I must stress, as a condemnation of my own, admitted personal obsessions rather than as a bitter stab at readers at large). Hearing that my prose, world-building, and general darkness worked is great, and the more negative comments about packing too much in to too little space had a far point that I hope I can address a bit in future works in the world and in general -- though those readers really should have seen the first draft, which had just as much content in far less space and was a total mess.<br />
<br />
The only comment that made me really kick myself is about the German being flawed, because that one is totally My Bad. Looking back, thinking that an introductory class worth of experience was enough to pull another language off in print was ridiculous, and I'll certainly be returning to those sections before/if the piece ever has a third outing.<br />
<br />
Anyway, enough rambling on my part. If you decide to give the piece a read or a listen, I hope that you enjoy it.Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-41419624344658527102013-06-07T11:34:00.000-04:002013-06-07T11:36:37.578-04:00Jeff Salyards - Scourge of the Betrayer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B1hvqVZjDGU/UbH92S_t9TI/AAAAAAAABds/l6jhnbAOHSs/s1600/Scourge+of+the+Betrayer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B1hvqVZjDGU/UbH92S_t9TI/AAAAAAAABds/l6jhnbAOHSs/s200/Scourge+of+the+Betrayer.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
My review of <i>Scourge of the Betrayer</i> is now live at <a href="http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2013/06/scourge_of_the_.shtml">Strange Horizons</a>. Head on over to hear about witty prose, Arki the chronicler, and the grimmest and grittiest of grimdark.Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-24658159469984732012013-06-04T08:14:00.000-04:002013-06-04T08:14:22.790-04:00This Week's Review...will be coming on Friday from Strange Horizons, where my piece on Jeff Salyards' <i>Scourge of the Betrayer</i> will be going up.Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-66690232790652834892013-05-28T00:10:00.000-04:002013-05-28T00:10:24.529-04:00Larry Niven - Ringworld<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LzzMy-a8kC8/UaQtQSW4F6I/AAAAAAAABdc/AOmB6OqpbF8/s1600/ringworld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LzzMy-a8kC8/UaQtQSW4F6I/AAAAAAAABdc/AOmB6OqpbF8/s320/ringworld.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sky and earth were to
flat plates, infinitely wide, pressed together; and men were microbes crawling
between the plates…</i> (p. 149)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Coming to Larry Niven’s 1970 Science Fiction classic, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ringworld</i>, with no prior exposure to the
man or his works, I felt much like the novel’s protagonist, Louis Wu. As we
begin, Louis is a world-weary two hundred year old man, and his – as he sums it
up – “xenophilia and restlessness and curiosity” (p. 9) make him agree to join
a mysterious Puppeteer alien’s crew in exploring a vast and distant object, the
Ringworld. The kind of sublime wonder that Louis seeks is much of what draws me
to Science Fiction and other nearby genres, and, though I have not lived two
hundred years, I certainly have read (rather more than) two hundred books and
can feel somewhat jaded as a result. Also like Louis, I had a rather hard time
getting my bearings as the crew – Louis, his lover and the crew’s purported
good luck charm Teela Brown, a catlike and warlike Kzin, and the Puppeteer –
are assembled and off to their destination. Then the sheer awe wrought by the
Ringworld itself blew any doubts away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Ringworld combines technological and geographical
scales. It has “three million times the surface area of Earth” (p. 145) and
must have required almost unimaginable powers and technologies in its creation.
After crash landing onto it, our heroes explore the Ringworld to find any means
at all of escaping it. Through them, Niven presents an account of its vastness
that is half scientific and cultural speculation and half adventure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s easy to unthinkingly dismiss Hard Science Fiction as
mere scientific play, devoid of literary or philosophical value, but doing so
ignores how envisioning man- or alienmade changes to the universe on this scale
requires the writer to explore the universe itself and man’s position in it.
The moment when Niven’s engagement with larger, philosophical questions becomes
clearest may be his allusion to Dante’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Divine
Comedy</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Oddly, Louis found
himself thinking of Dante’s </i>Divine Comedy<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. Dante’s universe had been a complex artifact, with the souls of men
and angels show as precisely machined parts of the vast structure. The
Ringworld was obtrusively an artifact, a made thing. You couldn’t forget it,
not for an instant; for the handle rose overhead, huge and blue and checkered
from beyond the edge of infinity”</i> (p. 143).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Niven writes from deep within Science Fiction’s most central
and hardened bunkers, and a kind of modesty keeps him from fully stating the
impact of his allusion. But, by outlining Dante’s understanding of the cosmos
and then moving to the Ringworld, he makes his implication clear: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ringworld</i> (and many other books of its
ilk) posits a modern, scientifically-based view of the universe and of man to
answer the faith-based perspective that has dominated for centuries. Most of this
is done, like the allusion quoted above, by implication; Niven dwells on the
science itself or the cultural ramifications of it and leaves the reader to
glean broader ideas from that. One obvious idea, appearing in the above as well
as many other places in the novel, is his use of terms like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">infinity</i> in his discussion of the
Ringworld. Obviously, they serve a literal descriptive purpose, but infinity’s
connotations transcend the horizons Niven describes. Words like that play on
the same thematic register as his addressing of Dante does. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The most striking example of science and religion’s
convergence may be the Eye Storm that the characters discover on Ringworld’s
surface: it is a massive, powerful wind pattern in the shape of a human eye.
Their first thoughts, of course, are of supernatural manifestations, and those
thoughts bring terror. Before long, they have come up with a well-reasoned
theory of how a meteor strike could create this kind of weather pattern, a
theory that proves correct – but a material cause does not rule out wider
resonances. Just because there is no designated God in Niven’s universe, and
just because the laws of physics are followed, does not mean that the events do
not take on a significance greater than the simply physical realm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The universe that Niven explores is immense and amoral.
Louis is, at best, agnostic. He knows that there is no force in the universe
out to help man: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The universe is against
me,” said Louis Wu. “The universe hates me.</i> […] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I am two hundred years old and still healthy. But not because the
universe loves me” </i>(p. 136). Progress is possible, but it is made by
dedication and scientific advancement alone, and it is made in spite of
everything life can throw at it. Still, men (and aliens) can work on a grand scale.
They can escape the explosion of the galactic core, deal with the seemingly
insurmountable problems of overpopulation and dwindling resources. They can
create Ringworlds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But progress is not a straight line, and it is never simply
benevolent. Again and again, the characters return to the blurred line between
powerful tools and powerful weapons, something likely best summed up in what
the human race has come to call the Kzinti Lesson: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A reaction drive is a weapon, powerful in direct ratio to its efficiency
</i>(p. 92). Any advancement is a double-edged sword, as usable for destruction
as salvation, as likely to send man crashing back to barbarism through its
firepower as it is to elevate him through its speed. And even the best advances
cannot safeguard us or any other beings forever. As Louis realizes when
studying the fallen men of the Ringworld: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cycles
of culture and barbarism were man’s natural lot</i> (p. 274).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The absence of a God does not mean that the denizens of
Niven’s universe live in a state of total freedom. Rather, it is a universe in
which Louis has to admit by the end of the novel that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We’ve all been playing god on various levels</i> (p. 318). When dealing
with the barbaric Ringworld natives, the protagonists use their technology to
play Gods to get the natives’ cooperation, a fascinating gambit that precedes
K.J. Parker’s use of it in her <a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2012/07/kj-parker-scavenger-trilogy.html">Scavenger trilogy</a> and that has varied but gripping results for our heroes. But the manipulations
don’t end when the natives are left in the dust. It becomes clear that each of
the civilizations encountered is doing its best to guide and alter the course
of its neighbors to suit itself, with the more technologically advanced
Puppeteers doing a rather better job at, well, puppeting than anybody else. The
dynamic reaches down to an interpersonal level. The Puppeteer in the group has
a tasp, a device capable of inflicting pleasure or pain on any sentient
creature that allows the Puppeteer to “condition” (p. 294) anyone he meets it
as he will, a device that Prill, a woman they encounter, says “made him god” (p.
314). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alas, Prill herself is the one notable flaw in Niven’s
amoral system of manipulations. When we encounter her, she seems quite
interesting. She is a woman in a position of great power, commanding an
abandoned but still functioning and powerful police station that floats over
the Ringworld and can commandeer any vehicle it comes across. Then we learn
that she got that power entirely through sex, and Niven goes so far as to say: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">She knew a terribly ancient secret: that
every woman is born with a tasp, and that its power is without limit if she can
learn to use it</i> (p. 293). Viewing all kinds of pleasure and pain as forms
of control could be interesting, but limiting that discussion to women bearing
godlike and manipulative powers of seduction is not only morally questionable
but also just silly. Do women not feel sexual pleasure, and is sex the only
form of pleasure that can influence one’s actions?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Besides overt manipulations, one of the key influencing
factors on Niven’s universe is actually luck. We are not, however, simply
talking about garden-variety luck. No, this luck is genetically enhanced, for
man has been organizing breeding in Niven’s universe through lotteries for
centuries. The result is people like Teela Brown, who was chosen for the
mission precisely because of that luck. All of this frequently feels like it is
pulling in precisely the opposite direction as the rest of Niven’s Hard Science
Fiction creation. At times – such as when Louis reasons that, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">if she needed to come here without knowing
it, she’d come here anyway</i> (p. 241) – the luck starts to seem simply
divine, or at the bare minimum conscious. Still, some of the places that Niven
goes with it are interesting. Cocooned since birth by her luck, Teela has never
felt pain and so has no empathy and no fear. Always led by that luck, it’s
questionable whether she has free will. And, sheltered by both that luck and
technology, it’s hard to imagine how she could ever die…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Moving from a general contemplation of the book’s themes and
content to an evaluation of its strengths faults, as I suppose I as a reviewer
should likely do at some point, I do have to bring attention to Niven’s
coinages. Some work fine, but others seem to entirely miss the tone he was
going for. Exclaiming <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">finagle</i> (p.
301) just seems silly. Though generally capable of both precise and evocative
prose, Niven does also occasionally get overexcited:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But he had to have a
belt!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And Teela handed him
her scarf! </i>(p. 308)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">More seriously, Niven’s questionable gender politics don’t
end with the equivalency of vaginas and tasps that I discussed earlier. The female Puppeteers are “nonsentient”
and “property” (p. 85), and Louis has the habit of referring to
Teela as “my woman” (p. 150), but it’s not till the last section of the novel
that the matter goes inexplicably rampant. That’s when we meet Seeker, whom
Teela falls in love with: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He was a hero.
You could tell [… from] the courteous way he talked to Prill, apparently
without realizing that she was of the opposite sex. Because she was another
man’s woman</i>? (p. 297) A hero indeed. Not much longer, we hear that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teela stood behind [Seeker], safe for the
moment in the ring of fighting, looking worried, like a good heroine</i> (p.
307). By the novel’s end, she has finished her descent from character to stock
love interest/object by quite literally selling herself as a sex slave to
Seeker, because he believes in “slavery for women” (p. 299), and she loves him.
Our only other female character, Prill of the Tasp-like genitalia, is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ship’s whore</i> (p. 315) that makes sure
Louis isn’t too sex deprived after Teela leaves and decides to escape the
Ringworld and return to Louis’ civilization because: “I can help your world,
Louis. Your people know little about sex.” (p. 317)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The strangest part about Niven’s treatment of gender is how
distant it is from the book’s core. This is a novel about the vastness of
space, the powers of technology, and the way that men manipulate each other,
three themes that either intersect barely or not at all with the problems of
the above paragraph. Though I can’t say that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ringworld</i> is without faults, it is a powerful and classic example
of what Science Fiction can do, presenting an uncompromising, gripping, and
awe-inspiring view of the universe that is a genuine thrill to explore.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-82612354081257187222013-05-21T00:00:00.000-04:002013-05-21T00:00:03.902-04:00The Dream Journal of a Would-Be InsomniacMy Horror flash story "The Dream Journal of a Would-Be Insomniac" is now up and delectable on the Horror D'oeuvres site. It requires a subscription, but the fee gets you access to quite a bit of other quality shorts in addition to mine. <a href="http://www.horrordoeuvres.com/the-dream-journal-of-a-would-be-insomniac-by-nathaniel-katz/">Check it out!</a>Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-30130311344679629492013-05-14T00:00:00.000-04:002013-05-14T00:00:06.774-04:00Disillusionment in A Game of Thrones
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vkufkYa5duQ/UZGexlfHBwI/AAAAAAAABcw/DTYaUDtZUh0/s1600/A+Game+of+Thrones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vkufkYa5duQ/UZGexlfHBwI/AAAAAAAABcw/DTYaUDtZUh0/s1600/A+Game+of+Thrones.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">[Note: I have felt for a while that I should probably put those of my academic essays that fit this blog's purview up here. As it would be hard to find a book more fitting to what I do on The Hat Rack than <i>A Game of Thrones,</i> I figured that this is where I would start. This paper was originally written for the class "Fantasy Literature and the Historical Imagination" and was intended to explore Martin's usage of both in-world history and world-building. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alas, I do have the habit of copious footnoting in my academic writing, and I don't know a graceful way of integrating that with a blog's formatting. I'd recommend having a second tab open at the bottom of the page to read them as you go.]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>A Game of Thrones</i> is the first book in George R.R. Martin’s <b>A
Song of Ice and Fire</b> series. In it, Martin sets out to shatter his
characters’ illusions. After building up a great store of cultural knowledge
and ideals, he sets about destroying it. He shows his characters that war and
politics are nothing like that they expect. But he doesn’t sotp there. By the
time he is done, he has shown them that their very world is not as they thought
it was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The people of Westeros<a href="" name="_ftnref1"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftn1" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[1]</span></sup></a> have
a great deal of lore. Knowledge and ideas are preserved and spread in a large
body of songs and stories that are often alluded to. <a href="" name="_ftnref2"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftn2" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[2]</span></sup></a> The
oldest woman in service to the Starks is Old Nan, whose purpose seems to be
telling bedtime stories to each generation of new lords. Not all of what the
Westerosi know comes from general knowledge and oral traditions. Chroniclers
record the details of major events (Martin 102), and lords’ castles hold large
libraries. Books are so prized that they can be considered sufficient wedding
gifts for a princess: Daenerys receives – and cherishes – volumes of songs and
histories of the Seven Kingdoms (Martin 86). The past isn’t just something for
the political elite to toy with. The maesters are a Westerosi institution that
can be cheesily summed up as the “knights of the mind” (Martin 484).
Groan-worthy propaganda aside, maesters study for years in Oldtown before
dispersing through the realm as learned advisors. They are educated in histories,
herbs, ravens, architecture, and far more (Martin 485), and their chambers are
overflowing with books (Martin 615).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZfwoBbcmcPo/UZGf3W2xgrI/AAAAAAAABc8/0pZWzXh9zfk/s1600/agot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZfwoBbcmcPo/UZGf3W2xgrI/AAAAAAAABc8/0pZWzXh9zfk/s320/agot.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This knowledge – particularly the stories and songs – serve as a guide to the world for Martin’s many child characters. Bran, for instance, thinks he knows what to expect in the capital from the stories that he has heard (Martin 64). Sansa goes farther, building her life around songs, desiring nothing more and nothing less than “for things to be nice and pretty, the way they were in the songs” (Martin 119-20 This isn’t just idle dreaming about how things should be. Betrothed to Prince Joffrey, Sansa believes that her life will be just like the Age of Heroes, only with more lemon cakes.<br /><br />Alas, treating life as a story ends disastrously. As Littlefi<span style="font-family: inherit;">nger says, “life is not
a song” (Martin 395). The children learn this to their great sorrow. Bran
dreamed of being a knight. Instead, he watches the knights ride to war while he
sits by, crippled. Jon discovers that the legendary defenders of the realm, the
Night’s Watch, are not heroes driven solely by honor. As one character Jon
complains to eloquently puts it, reality likes to “piss on the stories” (Martin
153). But it’s Sansa that gets the most brutal blow. Long after the others have
given up their idealized dreams Sansa becomes capable of “seeing [Joffrey] for
the first time” (Martin 622). That moment of revelation comes when her gallant
prince decides to display her father’s severed head for all to see.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Adults,
too, suffer from their ideals. Ser Hugh came to participant in the Hand’s
Tournament, the tournament that, to Sansa, proves “better than the songs”
(Martin 246). Hugh came because he was “desperately” seeking glory to justify
his recent knighting (Martin 256). In the jousting, he gets a lance through the
throat. If the killer’s brother can be believed, that deadly deviation from the
songs was no accident (Martin 253). Indeed, knighthood falls far short of its
romanticism throughout the text. One telling difference between storied battle
and actual combat is how “in songs, the knights never screamed nor begged for
mercy” (Martin 453). Of course, there are things to believe in besides stories.
Not all of the novel’s<a href="" name="_ftnref3"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftn3" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[3]</span></sup></a> characters
go on believing their adolescent fantasies to and through their knighting.
Martin delights, therefore, in showing that these mature ideals are just as
impractical and illusory Eddard believes in honor. When he gains documented
proof that King Robert supports him, he thinks the battle won. Cersei tears the
document to pieces. “Is this meant to be your shield, my lord?” she asks him.
“A piece of paper?” (Martin 441) His honor, and even the king’s legal will, are
as much paper shields against reality as a cherished book of childhood stories.
No storied knowledge or grand virtues, it seems, matter in the face of the real
(Westerosi) world and the men in it with swords.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
final source of disillusionment is the greatest, and it is also where the
disillusionment moves from the histories created by the people of the world to
the very history of the world and the world itself. The world of Westeros is not what the
Westerosi believe it is. The children delight in Old Nan’s stories of Others
and other fantastic creatures. But the rational adults know that these stories
are just stories, irrelevant to today’s modern (medieval) world even if they
might once have had some grain of truth. As Ned says, “The Others are as dead
as the children of the forest, gone eight thousand years. Maester Luwin will
tell you they never lived at all” (Martin 20). The Maesters confidently state that
“magic ha[s] died” (Martin 197), their only qualifier being that it may never
have existed. In legends, the Night’s Watch raised the Wall to combat the
Others, but everyone knows the Night’s Watch really just keeps the nasty
northern barbarians out. As Tyrion mocks, the Night’s Watch is “watching for
grumkins and snarks and all the other monsters your wet nurse warned you about”
(Martin 104). The Others have been left with no more dignity than the monsters
in a children’s movie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aujLs3rfyvw/UZGgfpCb-0I/AAAAAAAABdE/q4KDdRDUjoA/s1600/agot+paper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aujLs3rfyvw/UZGgfpCb-0I/AAAAAAAABdE/q4KDdRDUjoA/s320/agot+paper.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But
the Others are not extinct. The prologue shows three men of the Night’s Watch
venturing beyond the wall. Ser Royce, a knight new to the Watch, leads them,
and, before long, they are slaughtered by the Others. On the surface, this
seems the typical story of an inexperienced and overconfident commander leading
his men to ruin. That is true, but it is also insufficient, because the good
Ser Royce is not really a buffoon. He is intelligent enough to realize that the
temperature was too warm for the men they were pursuing to have simply frozen
(Martin 4), and he is courageous. He alone stands and “bravely” face the Others
(Martin 7). He was out of his depth, but any commander would have been. Only
silly stories passed down through the ages shed any light on the Others, and
the three are forced to rely on tales from their “mother[s]” and “wet nurse[s]”
as soon as they pass the Wall (Martin 3). <a href="" name="_ftnref4"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftn4" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[4]</span></sup></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
supernatural was likely dismissed from official records and general belief for
political reasons. Dragons, unlike Others, are not from the Dawn Age or the Age
of Legends but from the Targaryen Conquest a mere three hundred years ago.
Nonetheless, characters confidently assert that “dragons are gone,” and “it is
known” that they are not coming back (Martin 197). Part of their reasoning is
that the last known dragons are dead. Similarly, when proving that Others do
not exist and maybe never did, Eddard says “no living men has ever seen one”
(Martin 20). But the dismissal of dragons is also political. When the
Targaryens ruled, they kept the memory of dragons alive, for the symbol of the
dragon was tied to their power and reign. When King Robert dethroned the
Targaryens, he took down the dragon skulls that adorned the throne room (Martin
102). It was in his interest to forget the old, to have the people dismiss
dragons as a relic of the past that could never recur, and to embrace his new
reign. The same reason could explain why Others are so categorically dismissed
despite ancient evidence. When the Targaryens took over three hundred years
ago, it was in their interest to have the people forget their prior rulers and
the legendary foes those rulers strove against. Unfortunately, neither Others
nor dragons care much for Westerosi politics. The Targaryens may have reduced
the Others to a laughingstock, and Robert may have stuffed all the dragon
relics out of sight, but both beasts are returning in defiance of all the
rational learning of the maesters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Admittedly, <span style="font-family: inherit;">these
supernatural beasts are not yet in Westeros, and the maesters are correct for
the moment that magic is dead in the world. After all, they define the world as
Westeros. The Wall marks the “end of the world” (Martin 173), no matter that
there is plainly territory beyond it. But while the Others and other magic are
still outside the world, they are coming. <b>A Song of Ice and Fire</b> could
be called the story of magic gradually but inexorably returning. In <i>A
Game of Thrones</i>, we have direwolves returning to the realm for the first
time in two hundred years (Martin 15). Outside Westeros, we see Others,
dragons, and Wights, the last of which end up attacking the Wall itself. By the
second volume, <i>A Clash of Kings</i>, one of the faction’s competing for
the throne has a sorceress of sorts. In the third, <i>A Storm of Swords</i>,
we have the Night’s Watch battling Others. The progression continues from
there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8hlma9EM4bM/UZGgzMSCn3I/AAAAAAAABdM/d4qetWD5Npc/s1600/adragon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8hlma9EM4bM/UZGgzMSCn3I/AAAAAAAABdM/d4qetWD5Npc/s320/adragon.jpg" width="194" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>A
Song of Ice and Fire</b>, therefore, becomes something like a secondary world
intrusion fantasy. This can be seen in contrast with <i>The Worm
Ouroboros.</i> E. R. Eddison’s sub-creation is wholly consistent and
integrated. Its denizens know the rules of the world and what is possible. They
might express amazement at the exploits of the wondrously named Brandoch Daha
or at the spells of one of the many Gorices, but their awe would be like our
awe at someone who climbed Mount Everest. These are incredible feats, but they
are not <i>impossible</i> feats. It would not be like our reaction to
someone who claimed they could fly. No fundamental (or seemingly fundamental)
rules of the world are violated by their exploits. It is not so in Martin’s
work. The seemingly impossible does happen. The maesters are convinced that
magic is gone, but what could be accurately described as a frozen zombie
attacks the Night’s Watch. Now, this does not <i>actually</i> violate
the rules of the world. By starting with his prologue and the Others, Martin
makes sure to let the reader know the real rules of the game. But the
characters do not have that luxury. Their worldview is incomplete, and it is
violated by what is (to them) the supernatural. From the Westerosi viewpoint,
the Others marching south of the Wall is the quite literal intrusion of the
fantastic into the world. Martin’s characters are subjected to something akin
to Cthulhu rising from the Pacific.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This
does not, of course, mean that <i>A Game of Thrones</i> or <b>A
Song of Ice and Fire</b> is not an immersion fantasy. It is set in a
detailed secondary world and, save the paratexts<a href="" name="_ftnref5"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftn5" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[5]</span></sup></a>,
contains no hint of Earth. Its story is certainly one about the world of
Westeros. In fact, the idea of ancient evils returning – essentially, intrusion
fantasies – is not a rare one in immersion fantasies. Robert Jordan’s <i>The
Wheel of Time</i> – another recent, sprawling, and best-selling fantasy
series – uses the same concept. Even <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> plays
on similar ground. Suaron, after all, is a foe from past ages, though
characters like Galadriel that can speak about that ancient history with
perfect accuracy complicate the effect in Tolkien. The techniques of an
intrusion fantasy are compatible with the world of an immersive fantasy and
allow an author to create a different effect than can be had from simply
establishing one set of rules and never toying with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For
Martin, this technique is the final hammer he can use to hit his characters’
illusions. <i>A Game of Thrones</i> and the books that follow it set
out to prove to their cast that nothing is what they thought it was. The
characters’ songs, stories, and ideals of honor and knightly valor hide the
truth of death screams and begging for mercy. Even their world, Martin reveals,
is vastly more complex than they imagined.<a href="" name="_ftnref6"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftn6" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[6]</span></sup></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br clear="all" style="page-break-before: always;" />
</span><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Works Cited<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Martin, George R.R. <i>A
Game of Thrones</i>. New York: Bantam Books. 1996. Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br clear="all" />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="" name="_ftn1"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftnref1" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[1]</span></sup></a> Westeros is
the continent on which the vast majority of the series’ action is set. It is
also (somewhat confusingly) the name of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="" name="_ftn2"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftnref2" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[2]</span></sup></a> In later
volumes, Martin does include the words to some of these songs, such as the
Rains of Castamere, but none are present in <i>A Game of Thrones</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="" name="_ftn3"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftnref3" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[3]</span></sup></a> Though <i>A
Game of Thrones</i> has many aspects of a romance, Martin’s too concerned
with “character development” and the psychology of his narrators to not be
considered a novelist. Indeed, it is precisely that character development that
he so often uses to poke holes in romance and romantic ideals. [Note: a central issue in our class was whether works of Fantasy qualified as true Novels as opposed to as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_(heroic_literature)">Romances</a>.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="" name="_ftn4"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftnref4" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[4]</span></sup></a> It’s too
simple, therefore, to say that Martin thinks all knowledge – songs, stories,
books – is misleading. In the first place, he seems to divide between cultural
lore or stories and what is critical, studied. The former is a very poor guide
to the day-to-day world, while the maesters really are valuable advisors. But
the maesters are worthless against supernatural menaces that defy all reason.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="" name="_ftn5"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftnref5" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[5]</span></sup></a> Though it’s
never stated in the text itself, an argument could be made that the genealogies
in the back are in-world texts. They never explicitly address an out of world
reader, and, as we see Ned reading <i>The Lineages and Histories of the
Great Houses</i>, we know that there are genealogies created by and for
Westerosi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="" name="_ftn6"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4024708439940556234#_ftnref6" title=""><sup><span style="color: blue;">[6]</span></sup></a> Finally, I
should note that <i>A Game of Thrones</i> did, thankfully, hold up to
my memories of it. I can no longer quite call it the greatest book of all time,
but my fears of finding out that everything I’d loved about it were just cool
due to having read less at the time proved unfounded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div>
<div id="ftn6">
</div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-47601340504972143602013-05-07T00:00:00.000-04:002013-05-07T00:00:00.230-04:00Finals<span style="font-family: inherit;">This week is the delightful time of finals, which means that the time I would usually have to write and edit a review is being taken up by writing and studying antiquity, <i>The Jungle</i>, and the poetry of John Donne. Your regular (hopefully) in-depth and (possibly) insightful content will return next week.</span>Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-47103946786004938182013-04-30T00:00:00.000-04:002013-04-30T00:00:02.858-04:00Innsmouth Free Press Issue 12 Interviews<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wDf4l1ibh8w/UTZLJfJinUI/AAAAAAAABac/5KB9aQevrqU/s1600/IFP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wDf4l1ibh8w/UTZLJfJinUI/AAAAAAAABac/5KB9aQevrqU/s320/IFP.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
I've <a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?cat=1697">posted</a> about Innsmouth Free Press' twelfth and newest issue before. Suffice to say, it's damn good Weird Fiction, and you should read it. Since, I've been doing a series of interviews with the contributors to the issue. As interviews with Weird Fiction authors clearly fall under this blog's purview, I figured I'd link those of you here to them:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=21330">Allen Griffin</a><br />
<a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=21240">KL Pereira</a><br />
<a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=21136">Steve Toase</a><br />
<a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=21086">E. Catherine Tobler</a><br />
<br />
Of course, that's not the full roster of contributors yet. The rest should be up in the next few weeks, and I'll post again once they are.<br />
<br />
In other IFP news, it's worth pointing out that the <i><a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=21393">Swords and Mythos</a></i> table of contents is out now and that there is a forthcoming collection of Mythos fiction from <a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=21296">Nick Mamatas</a>. The biggest change, though, is that <a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=21091">the IFP magazine will no longer be free to read</a>. That's sad news. The silver lining, though, is that, in addition to paid ebooks, print editions will be available. Being as big a fan of print fiction as I am, I can't regard this as all bad news.Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-58588658091825411122013-04-23T00:00:00.000-04:002013-04-23T00:00:09.979-04:00Joan Sclonczewski - A Door into Ocean
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ktj3pNASkCI/UXXp3M5SsvI/AAAAAAAABcQ/wmt1fh8eeX0/s1600/A-door-into-oceanJPG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ktj3pNASkCI/UXXp3M5SsvI/AAAAAAAABcQ/wmt1fh8eeX0/s320/A-door-into-oceanJPG.JPG" width="206" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last semester, I took Professor Slonczewski’s “Biology in
Science Fiction” class at Kenyon College. It’s a course she’s well qualified to
teach. When not a professor and microbiologist, Slonczewski pens novels, and
I’m sure a fair few here have encountered her name numerous times before and
without the “professor” bit before it. Her second novel, <i>A Door into Ocean</i>, not only introduced her Elysium setting but also
won her the John. W. Campbell award for best novel. With a scientist’s rigor
and a writer’s imaginative flair, Slonczewski brings us to the ocean world of
Shora. Other humans aren’t far behind us. Shora’s inhabitants, the Sharers, are
about to be challenged by the military might of the Valans.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The contrast between Valans and Sharers, however, is more
than environmental, and theirs is not simply a power struggle – it is, rather,
a question of the very uses and expressions of power, of the structure of
society, and of what is necessary for civilization to function. Of, even, what
it is to be human. This is Science Fiction, after all, and the human race has
long since learned how to destroy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mankind lives a life of strict control. The wonders that the
Valans and their offworld overlords command are bare shadows of what they once
were. Once, the human race was nearly wiped out, and now they live lives shaped
so as to forget such a catastrophe’s recurrence. Theirs is a world carefully
structured to exclude <i>forbidden sciences </i>(p.
33) and all learning that is not <i>permissible
</i>(ibid). Their structure is strictly hierarchical, and it is a well armed
hierarchy. Each level does all in its power to keep the entire structure intact
by keeping the level below too weak to destroy it, a mechanism well illustrated
when a city is annihilated for its flirtation with illicit nuclear power.
Towards the novel’s end, a ruler of many worlds, a man well used to ordering
genocides, gives his justifications: <i>“How
little keeps our world intact, safe from the law of the jungle. Always, in
every age, a few strong men bear the burden of civilization.” </i>(p. 393)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Sharers, on the other hand, live a life of limitless
technological and political potential. Their society is egalitarian and
leaderless. Their decisions are made in gatherings. Where the Valans restrict
every citizen to the point where he cannot harm himself or others, the Sharers
give each and every one of themselves, each self-namer, limitless power. As
Spinel characterizes it: <i>Without any
nobles and commoners, everyone got to be a High Protector </i>(p. 61). This is
joined by the Sharers’ immense technological strength. It is the Valans who
come with guns, but we soon realize that each and every Valan can only live on
Shora at the sufferance of the Sharers. The Sharers’ mastery of biotechnology
is such that they, with ease, defeat any measure of the Valans that they find
too intrusive, such that they could, with no trouble at all, devise a virus to
end the threat.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This strength of the Sharers is kept cloistered by their
personal restraint and strength of character, by what might even be called
their wisdom. Despite their strength, violence is anathema to them. What it
means to be a self-namer is to recognize oneself in the mirror of the water and
in others, to understand the humanity that exists outside yourself, and to grasp
a picture of life far vaster than your own concerns. That grasp, the ability to
become a self-namer, is the defining feature of sentience to the Sharers, the
defining feature of even humanity. As is said: <i>There is more to a human than physiology </i>(p. 77). It is not,
either, a grasp that you can reach and then disregard. For, to truly understand
life and humanity as it exists outside of yourself, is to step forever outside
your own boundaries and to never again end your considerations with your own
flesh and physical needs: <i>Conscious beings
were meant to control pain, to say yes or no to their physical selves, else how
could their souls be freed? </i>(p. 289). (It may be interesting to note, while
we are on the subject, that the idea of humanity defined by transcending pain
is one of many places ((another of which is the environment of her novel)) in
which Slonzcewski is responding to Frank Herbert’s <i>Dune</i>.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, if we are defining humanity more by philosophy
and behavior than by physiology, it’s suddenly rather questionable if the
Valans fit the Sharer definition. And that’s a question that’s rather more than
academic. If the Valans aren’t humans but just some particularly ferocious
breed of beasts, than the Sharer viruses can be unloosed upon them without a
backwards thought.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>A Door into Ocean</i>
is a book about conflict, but that conflict is primarily philosophical. The
Sharers have the ability to wipe out the Valans; if they choose not to exercise
it, the Valans can more than certainly gun down their unresisting gatherings. As
neither a one-stroke victory nor a protracted slaughter have all that much in
the way of dramatic tension about them, our plot is less concerned with
mechanics than it is with persuasion. Well the factions exercise the powers
that they have? That question gives us the novel’s two arcs. The Sharer
judgment on humanity is not only contingent upon their watching of the Valan
hordes. Spinel, a Valan youth, was brought to the Sharer world just before the
conflict’s height for just such a judgment, and we see his attempts to
integrate into their (alien, entirely female, and landless) society. On the
other side, we have the Valan resolve tested by Sharer pacifism and nonviolent
resistance.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Both arcs are interesting ideas well conceived and explored
that are dampened but not destroyed by their transformative moments being overstated
and often rather cheesy. Slonczewski, I think it is safe to hazard, is rather
more comfortable writing ecosystems and societies than single people or close
friendships. This isn’t to say that she is a bad writer of character,
necessarily. Her skill at conceiving and, then, depicting the interactions
between people and the environment and society lead to moments of insight into
people as well as into fish. Spinel’s youthful perspective and voice comes
across authentically and leads to moments of juvenile but insightful commentary
like that about high protectors quoted some paragraphs above. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In moments where the character has to come to the fore,
however, moments of high and uncontrollable emotion, Slonczewski often falters,
and characters begin to act out in the most dramatic and abrupt manners,
leaving the reader’s emotions a good distance behind them in the dust. One
characters sudden decision to enjoy some nice terrorism would likely be the
prime contender for this, but she isn’t alone. For Spinel, crises are chiefly
met with temper tantrums. This could be, to some extent, a function of his age,
but it is no less exasperating for it, and, when hundreds of pages and huge
personal growth later, Spinel reacts to an event with yet another fit of
toddler-appropriate wrath, the reader can’t help but stare uncomfortably at how
little he's come.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The dramatic power of nonresistance, meanwhile, is weakened
by the inevitability of its victory. This is most obvious when Spinel brings
its lessons to his hometown, where the police grumble for about five minutes
before going home and giving way, but it sadly doesn’t vanish when the Sharers
face the full might of the Valan military. The philosophical conflict at the
novel’s heart is one with a very clearly favored side.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Valans are a bunch of sadistic murderers. The second in
command has a plan: <i>“Line up those little
ones and snuff them out before their mothers’ eyes. That would get results.” </i>(p.
292) The overseer does too: <i>“You shall
activate the satellites to burn out the entire native population of the Ocean
Moon. To the last mother and child – do I make myself clear?” </i>(p. 391The
main guy himself is no better. He is, after all, convinced that: <i>In warfare there were no innocents </i>(p.
206), and, knowing that, <i>it was galling
to have to protect natives along with his troops, and he hoped it would not be
interpreted as a weakness </i>(p. 284).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Is this a crowd that has gained your sympathies yet? No?
Thought not. When one side is cackling while it devours babies, the reader
knows who’s going to win long before the decision’s made, and so the Sharer’s
victory becomes a matter not of if but of how, a persuasion that is essentially
fated to occur. Besides which, the dissonance of having Valans intellectually
capable of grasping the Sharer argument and yet subscribing so long to their
kill and burn nonsense is rather hard to reconcile when the moment of epiphany
comes knocking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One last note on the Valan military: its leader, Raelgar,
is the fiancé of one of the humans living with the Sharers. She soon realizes
how much of a bastard he is, but that betrayal is not so stunning for the
reader. It’s a situation nearly identical to that shown in Vernor Vinge’s
disappointing <i><a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2012/09/vernor-vinge-children-of-sky.html">The Children of the Sky</a></i>.
In both, a protagonist’s fiancé turns out to be the embodiment of darkness, and
we are expected to feel the betrayal of it. But neither shows us the loving
relationship that must precede such a betrayal, an omission that just leaves us
wondering how the sane one could ever love the beast. Why do Science Fiction
authors seem to think that our sympathies are immediately secured by the mere
mention of an engagement?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Such issues, though, are not wholly damning. <i>A Door into Ocean</i> is a novel that is
absolutely fantastic in its ideas and good even if not great in its execution. It
brings a strange world to light, plays out a grand and excellently conceived
conflict in its pages, and raises innumerable interesting questions (its
treatment of gender, for instance, is an absolutely fascinating issue that I
must admit I find myself unqualified to dig deeply into).<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-10577294513906711392013-04-16T12:32:00.001-04:002013-04-16T12:34:45.769-04:00H.P. Lovecraft - "The Nameless City"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Gfp1lFOASo/UW19mt2tyYI/AAAAAAAABcA/AkwaKa-vjWs/s1600/lovecraft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Gfp1lFOASo/UW19mt2tyYI/AAAAAAAABcA/AkwaKa-vjWs/s1600/lovecraft.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>That is not dead which
can eternal lie<br />
And with strange aeons even death may die</i> (p. 30).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For the Lovecraft enthusiast, the most obvious lures of “The
Nameless City” are bibliographic, the way that it introduces Abdul Alhazred and
his couplet (quoted above) and prefigures <i>At
the Mountains of Madness</i> with the idea of artwork giving a window into a
lost civilization’s history. But it is also a powerful tale in its own right.
As the narrator descends beneath the sands of Araby, Lovecraft displays his
gifts at toying with history and building atmosphere, but he also works with
wonder in a way which I had not often considered in my prior readings of his
work.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">[Be warned before continuing that I am assuming some
familiarity with Lovecraft as a whole and so will not be going into great
detail on the more obvious topics, such as the specifics of his dark
revelations (in a word, scale; in a few, the realization that the universe is
infinitely vaster than we are and that we do not matter) or how many adjectives he can
cram into a single sentence. There will, also, be some spoilers for the story
discussed. Finally, note that all page numbers come from the Penguin Classics
edition of <i>The Dreams in the Witch House
and Other Weird Stories</i>, edited by S.T. Joshi.]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In popular culture and brief references, Lovecraft is often
reduced to one emotion: fear. Occasionally, at moments of great specificity,
that might be clarified to fear of the unknown. I don’t mean this in a purely derogatory way. Fear of the unknown is a huge part of Lovecraft’s work, and he
evokes it masterfully. But “The Nameless City” exhibits the other driving force
behind much of Lovecraft’s work: wonder, and our need for it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The narrator here is not forced into his predicament. He
came to the Nameless City of his own volition, well aware of its reputation. He
endured many hardships to see it, even excepting those he encountered after his
arrival that he could never have expected. Early on, he talks of “curiosity
stronger than fear” (p. 32). Shortly afterwards, he writes of “that instinct
for the strange and unknown which has made me a wanderer upon earth and a
haunter of far, ancient, and forbidden places” (p. 34). Curiosity, the drive to
seek the wondrous, then, is a matter integral to the narrator’s character. And
it is admirable. We are not dealing with a dallier, here, but rather with a man
that has managed to trace forgotten legends to their source, one whose search
for knowledge has left him fluent in Lord Dunsany’s short stories, Thomas
Moore’s poetry, and Greek mythology.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This need for wonder is not a fleeting thing. It might be
the driving force for the erudition just discussed, but it goes farther than
that. Just before descending into the Nameless City, the narrator says that he
was “more afraid than I could explain, but not enough to dull my thirst for
wonder” (p. 33). Fear, then, goes beyond what can be put into words, past what
is rational. But so does wonder, for the narrator’s wonder trumps his fear.
Remember, after all, that he has not yet entered the city when he feels that
way. He could have simply turned around and seen no more. Right up until the
final revelation, the narrator insists that “wonder drove out fear” (p. 39).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Let us step back for a moment and remember that this is the
Lovecraft that, in a 1930 letter to August Derleth, wrote that: <i>Time, space, and natural law hold for me
suggestions of intolerable bondage, and I can form no picture of emotional
satisfaction which does not involve their defeat – especially the defeat of
time, so that one may merge oneself with the whole historic stream and be
wholly emancipated from the transient and the ephemeral</i>. An escape from
strict, material reality like the kind that Lovecraft there described certainly
sounds like a matter for wonder to me. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In fact, it leaves me wondering if wonder might not be the
other pole of the cosmic dread that makes up so much of Lovecraft’s worldview,
if his protagonists, aware of the unsatisfactory nature of the mundane, find
that their only chance at joy is to strive for something greater than what is
commonly perceived. That question is starting to go beyond “The Nameless City,”
admittedly. While the narrator certainly does show a drive for wonder, we do
not get to see any of his ordinary life, nor his state before the expedition.
But the distinction between wonder and terror is one I certainly do plan to
keep in mind when I next return to Lovecraft’s work.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What “The Nameless City” does provide in ample detail is how
a search for wonder, for something greater than the limited perception that we
all have ends if it ever really succeeds. Needless to say, it ends poorly. By
the time he has escaped the Nameless City, the narrator can bleakly boast that
“no other man shivers so horribly when the night-wind rattles the windows” (p.
30). The knowledge he has gained burns away any shred of joyous wonder.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In his </span>imparting<span style="font-family: inherit;"> of that overawing knowledge, Lovecraft
operates by taking successive steps away from the narrator’s comfort zone,
enlarging the frame each time but doing so by subtle enough degrees that we
follow him until the final shocks. From Araby* to the uncharted desert to the
ruins to the strange temple and on, each step seems tied to the last. Many of
the piece’s more evocative details serve to bridge and strengthen the gaps
between conceptual shifts. The seemingly source-less wind that leads the
narrator to the passageway down, for instance, is an admirably physical hook
that keeps things from feeling too easy or too bodilessly concerned with alien
art.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">(* In any other author, the fact that “Araby” seems utterly
unpopulated save for the narrator and a few briefly mentioned sheiks would seem
like whitewashing. In Lovecraft’s work, it just left me glad that we were
spared any execrable descriptions of cultic natives dancing about a fire.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The most interesting thing about the different stages might
be how easy it is to cross from one to the next. It does not, of course, look
that way at first. “There is no legend so old as to give it a name, or to
recall that it was ever alive” (p. 30) Lovecraft tells us of the Nameless City
before, after a semicolon, continuing with: “but it is told of in whispers
around campfires and muttered about by grandmas in the tents of sheiks, so that
all the tribes shun it without wholly knowing why” (ibid). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course, if there are no legends about it and no one has
ever heard of it, it is difficult to see how so many people are whispering
about it. One could be forgiven, therefore, for thinking that Lovecraft let his
grandiosity get away with him. But I think the seeming contradiction shows
something deeper. There are barriers to seeing the cosmic truths behind the
mundane, but those barriers are perspectival and not material. It is not that
all knowledge of this past is truly gone. Rather, we fervently wish that all
knowledge of it was, and so we loudly declare that even as we whisper the truth
to those closest to us. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then there is the crucial fact that Lovecraft does not reach
the end of these stages. He never says that he is done, that all truth has been
revealed, and that the reader can rest contented. Rather, at the end, he gives
us a glimpse of more vistas yet to come, even if we could never manage to tread
upon them. The artwork grants the narrator great knowledge, but it is
incomplete. It does not take him to the present day. Instead, he is left
knowing that: “Of what could have happened in the deological aeons since the
paintings ceased and the death-hating race resentfully succumbed to decay, no
man might say” (p. 39). The final revelation, then, is that, even with
the veil torn back, there is still an incomprehensible vastness beyond it,
still infinitely more to be known that can never be known, other and
innumerable gaps of cosmic time that even this monolithic revelation cannot
come close to filling.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I would like to end, though, on a slightly smaller scale:
with an allusion to mythology. As the narrator journeys to the Nameless City,
he sees the sun, and we hear that he “fancied that from some remote depth there
came a crash of musical metal to hail the fiery disc as Memnon hails it from
the banks of the Nile” (p. 31). To those that either know the myth or
alternatively turned to S.T. Joshi’s handy footnote (I will admit that I fell
into the later category), the description of the natural world seems poetic,
tinged with greater stories and imaginings. Lovecraft brings the allusion back
at the tale’s end, and those same words are then utterly overshadowed by the
vaster horrors below. Similarly, wonder functions in the story throughout,
growing putrid and awful as it is attained but no less present for it.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-81576558598354131492013-04-09T19:46:00.000-04:002013-04-09T19:46:51.059-04:00H. A. Goodman - Breaking the Devil's Heart
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uThB17VBUX0/UWSlH4Am1YI/AAAAAAAABbs/P5UUQcQCXTo/s1600/breaking+the+devil's+heart.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uThB17VBUX0/UWSlH4Am1YI/AAAAAAAABbs/P5UUQcQCXTo/s320/breaking+the+devil's+heart.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After reading and reviewing enough books, most reviewers, I
think, start to have a general idea of how novels fail. Generally, the problem
is not gaping flaws. Most of the time, it’s just that they don’t do much at
all. Most mediocre books are perfectly competent but provide no reason to
bother with them. <i>Breaking the Devil</i>’<i>s Heart</i> is nothing like that. Goodman
has great ideas. Alas, those ideas are frequently let down by a kind of clumsy
yet pedantic over-eagerness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stewart is an Observer, a man between Heaven and Hell that
has given his (after)life to attempting to destroy Satan. His life before death
prepared him well for all this. Working for the CIA, he was tasked to <i>Find the root of evil and learn ways to
destroy this impulse within mankind</i> (p. 10). Already, you can likely see
many of the novel’s strengths and weaknesses. Goodman is not a boring or easily
contended writer. He finds the biggest issues that he can, levels his lance at
them, and charges. Best of all, he actually has some interesting things to say
about them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But those issues are so large that he also has to squash
them to fit, and his campaign against them frequently becomes so optimistic and
(morally) good that it loses all believability. The CIA deciding to eradicate
evil so that America’s enemies won’t be so depraved as to attack it is, for
instance, a bit like a high school student setting out to cure cancer to
improve his college application. Solving all of humanity’s problems in order to
protect America’s borders is nice on a few levels, but it seems to be swapping
about what really matters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The novel operates at the midway point between a thriller
and a philosophical exploration of evil. Bizarrely enough, the contrast works.
Stewart and his love interest, Layla, bluff their way onto a tour through hell
and explore Heaven too, seeing throughout different scenes from Earth that
explain or get at different facets of evil. The general ballsiness of the whole
venture keeps the different example-type scenes interesting and actually manages
to build a fair bit of narrative momentum. Goodman also does look at a pretty
admirable slice of history in his work.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Looking at the scenes and discussions of morality
themselves, though, problems begin to appear. First, Stewart is a white
American guy and approaches problems accordingly. Now, I am not the most Social
Justice-conscious review out there. For the most part, I don’t feel
particularly qualified to delve into such issues and back off unless they are
particularly egregious. But Goodman has set his sights on exactly this kind of
stuff, so not engaging with him on it would feel like shying away from problems
that are in the book’s core.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Americans are the angels. I mean that figuratively and
literally. To a greater and lesser extent, Goodman does too. Both Stewart and
Layla are from the US, and Stewart’s go to comparison for Heaven’s struggle
with Hell is how America fought the Soviets. When demons refer to the angels as
<i>you Americans</i> (p. 64), it is true
that Steward and Layla are Americans. But every other angel we meet is from the States as well. It’s only the force of hell that don’t all come from the
Atlantic’s western shore. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The choice of moral examples and exemplars reflect this to
an uncomfortable degree. The first scene of evil that we are shown is an
Islamic honor killing. Far later, we do turn to America. But we only partially
do so to find Horrors. Stewart goes to see the Freedom Riders as they are
beaten in order to witness the heroism needed to stand up to oppressive
systems. This leaves us with a historic example of American evil – and the
heroes that stood up to it and, at least within the novel’s confines, abolished
it. Foreign evils, alas, are still going on and don’t seem to have the
necessary heroes to stop them without Stewart’s intervention. To add the
discomforting cherry on top, the Freedom Rider that Stewart chooses as his hero
to emulate is white.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The broader problem with Stewart’s quest to eradicate evil
is that evil is rather built into Earth. Goodman realizes this and, every once
in a while, his characters brush up against the limits of their quest. Before
long, they have admitted that Hell is not responsible for all the evil in the
world (which seems to leave Satan as sort of superfluous, but okay). But
setting out to destroy something within humanity has some ethical
considerations that go along with it. One of Goodman’s snazzier ideas is that
God is just as allusive in the afterlife as in reality. Addressing that,
Stewart says: <i>I longed for some eternal
referee to come down and actually fix things instead of standing behind the
notion of free will as if it were a concrete barrier blocking him from reality </i>(p.
344). That comes in the third to last paragraph, and it is only then that
Stewart admits that he is butting up against free will and arguably the core of
humanity in his quest. Alas, his moral exploration ends there, before he can
start to question just what removing free will for goodness’ sake would mean.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But what do we mean by goodness? If Stewart is going to add
an extra dose of conscience to humanity, cut back on this whole free will
thing, and set us on the path of righteousness, it seems like we should have a
path of righteousness planned out. But we don’t seem to. For a book that spends
so much time exploring evil, <i>Breaking the
Devil’s Heart</i> leaves good remarkably untouched, as if it were an obvious
matter that we all agreed on long ago. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This can be seen in Heaven where, in the absence of good, we
are told that fundementalists of all faiths have taken matters into their own
hands. In their own words: <i>Our heaven is
based on holy books, every single holy book ever written</i> (p. 303). Now,
mind you, we are in heaven. Everyone living under this fundamentalist regime is
already good in the sense that they have not, say, murdered anyone. Which means
that the new Heavenly order the fundamentalists are imposing has to do not with
the few universal religious diktats but with the more peripheral stuff. Only,
all of that peripheral stuff seems like it would be an area of some
disagreement. How have Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, etc. fundamentalists
agreed on the Sabbath’s particulars, again? From the brief glimpse that we get,
it seems like the answer is that they became the US Bible Belt. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">That brings us back to the broader question of good. If all
of mankind is going to be made good, it seems dangerously possible, given the
aforementioned USA! traits of Stewart, that the world will be made into
America. The Islamic honor killing that I described a while back is described
as the consequence of <i>tribalism and
cultural norms</i> (p. 27), a description that is not inaccurate but does seem
to place us in the strange place where cultural norms can lead to violence –
except in America, where we have all of that solved. Referring to positive
consequences of culture, Stewart says: <i>There
aren’t many unintended consequences from a Thanksgiving Dinner or opening
presents on Christmas Eve</i> (p. 112). Negative cultures are found in the
Middle East and lead to murder. Benevolent cultures like America’s have nice
holidays – at least one of which is amusingly enough intricately tied to the
whole genocide-through-disease founding of the nation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nonetheless, the darker side of Stewart’s morality was not
my main problem with <i>Breaking the Devil’s
Heart</i>. Stewart often expresses his views in debates, and his demonic
opponents do get to smack him down a fair few refreshing times. Odds are, those
demons are not the characters closest to Goodman’s heart. Still, their retorts
are included and are often not only cutting but certainly more insightful than
Stewart’s own arguments, at least in this reviewer’s opinion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">No, Goodman’s real problem is prose. At his best, his
writing fades into the background or elicits a chuckle or two. But sentences so
shambling that calling them clunkers seems merciful abound: <i>Upon hearing the Boss’s surprising
evaluation of his personality, the bitterness within Ted was so palpable that I
pulled Layla back several feet for fear of him venting his fury in some violent
manner </i>(p. 100). First, it’s interesting that Layla, a badass Observer in
her own right, would not be capable of stepping backwards on her own if the
need arose. But more pertinently here, there is not a single clause in there
that could not be more concisely stated. In moments like this, Goodman manages
to both exclusively tell rather than show and to also be extremely vague.
Besides which, grammatically, it was “the bitterness within Ted” that was doing
the listening, not Stewart.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Let’s look at another: <i>Too
often, men and women experience the world, as well as each other, in disparate
ways because of societal norms and other aspects of human life</i> (p. 71). The
first half – people experience things differently – is a truism. The second
half, which seems poised to expand upon it, starts off fine by going into
“societal norms” (an area that, as we’ve seen, Goodman continually approaches
but then shies away from) but then ventures off into territory so bland and
nonspecific as to be utterly meaningless. “Other aspects of human life” could
include, quite literally, anything at all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At other times, the prose is not so much bad as it is simply
strange. In case the reader is utterly unfamiliar with human interaction,
Goodman defines what “thanks” means: <i>“Thanks,
babe,” I [said], wanting her to know I appreciated her gesture immensely</i>
(p. 146). Elsewhere, Goodman uses allusions. Most of these actually work quite
well, such as a description of Hell as “<i>Dante’s
Inferno</i> meets <i>Boiler Room</i>” (p.
98). After having a character quote Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,” though,
Goodman helpfully outlines the purpose of an allusion, just in case someone in
the back row had thought such quotations might be chosen entirely at random: <i>The beauty of using this stanza of Poe’s “The
Raven” was that it actually described our current precarious circumstance </i>(p.
159). And it’s not only the reader that is assumed to be dumber than a brick.
At one point, Stewart explains to Layla that <i>“We’ve been in a serious, committed relationship for several years
now,” </i>(p. 75) something that you would really hope she would be capable of
remembering on her own.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You could describe <i>Breaking
the Devil’s Heart</i> as a novel that bit off more than it could chew. That’s
not quite accurate, though. Goodman’s philosophy is problematic but also large
and daring enough to be engaged with. That could sound like damning with faint
praise, but I don’t mean it that way. Goodman advances into territory that few
dare to, and the demons’ comments give me hope that he has enough
self-awareness to correct (most of) his problems in future novels in the
setting. The prose does not seem as easily correctable. The novel’s ideas are
not flawless but are still impressive, but the writing proves a barrier that
ends up casting the whole venture into doubt. </span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-68672329844298740172013-04-02T12:14:00.001-04:002013-04-02T12:14:54.253-04:00Yoko Ogawa - Revenge
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TLm1ZZB160s/UVsCdYL8U4I/AAAAAAAABbc/rK9q4pgIZpM/s1600/Revenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TLm1ZZB160s/UVsCdYL8U4I/AAAAAAAABbc/rK9q4pgIZpM/s320/Revenge.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Deciding exactly what Yoko Ogawa’s collection <i>Revenge</i> is in a top-down, definitional
fashion does not work particularly well. The collection is subtitled “Eleven
Dark Tales,” and that is certainly accurate. But dark is not the most precise
of terms, even if it may end up being all that we are left with. Of course, any
reader that has held the volume in their hands (but not yet turned its pages)
is likely unsure what I am so confused about. True, the blurbs come from varied
sources. Hilary Mantel and Junot Diaz, figures of Literature both, serve to
somewhat complicate the picture. But the cover quote from Joe Hill and the
large-font of Peter Straub’s endorsement seem, at least insofar as marketing is
concerned, to seal the deal: this is horror.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Indeed, <i>Revenge</i>
does achieve many of the same effects as Horror – but its meaning of achieving
them are so different from those used in the Horror genre that, while Horror may be its destination, that leaves the journey unilluminated, and this is very much a work about the journey and the process. To be fair, there
are some moments of genuine Horror-style horror. There are murders here and
grisly disfigurements. Lurid descriptions of torture, too. For the most part,
those moments did not work particularly well for me. They felt like some of the
collection’s weakest. The heart
of the collection was not those few violent motions but the general picture
that it built, the quiet collection of observations and experiences. This is
not a book about a grand event that is seen but rather about the process of
observing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> The eleven stories in
<i>Revenge</i> are each told by a different
first person narrator. Though this is not a mosaic novel – there is no single
story that is being crafted throughout – the narrators do encounter one
another, and those passing glimpses of another’s pain or catharsis give the
reader a powerful reminder of how different those experiences look from outside
that character’s head. The effect does not end there. Within the stories
themselves, Ogawa is always playing with differences, with what we see of each
other. Often, the answer is not much. Near the beginning of the collection’s
opening piece, “Afternoon at the Bakery,” Ogawa writes that <i>You could gaze at this perfect picture all
day – an afternoon bathed in light and comfort – and perhaps never notice a
single detail out of place, or missing</i> (pp. 1-2). From there, the
collection becomes a subtle teasing out of what is out of place – and how
horrifically off it is – and a reminder of how all pain is hidden in plain
sight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Crowded together in this modern world that we inhabit, it’s
easy to think that nothing is hidden anymore. The narrator of “Old Mrs. J.”
certainly thinks that. Living in close proximity to innumerable neighbors, he believes
that: <i>Just as I could see everything that
went on in her apartment, she missed nothing that happened in mine</i> (p. 30).
But such surface transparency really serves to hide so much. This can be seen
when Mrs. J. is in his apartment. Such encounters are uncomfortable. But, more
than that, they show how much we miss. Mrs. J. reads the titles off of the
narrator’s bookcase and, even standing right there, “got them all wrong” (p.
28). No matter how clearly we see, the world is not exactly as we perceive it.
And that lesson is rammed home at the story’s close, as no one in any of these
seemingly transparent, seemingly visible apartment notices the murder in their
midst.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Direct, onscreen action is a rarity in Ogawa’s stories. It
would remove all the layers of ambiguity and perception that underlie so much
of what she is doing here. Rather, the tragedies in these stories are glimpsed
out of the corners of our eyes, are talked about or remembered or even just
imagined. “Welcome to the Museum of Torture,” my favorite tale in the
collection, is composed of the last of those and also serves to tie together
and comment upon the collection as a whole. The narrator, questioned by the
police about a murder that occurred in one of the other stories, finds the
whole procedure exciting. Her boyfriend finds that disgusting. “Do you find it
amusing that someone died?” (p. 84) he asks. That’s not an unfair question,
really, to ask of readers of Ogawa in particular and of Horror in general, but
Ogawa does not simply ask it and wander off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pained by her boyfriend’s leaving her for her answer, the narrator enters the
nearby Museum of Torture to take her mind off of things. What happens next is
not what you think. She is not tied down and brutally tortured. No, she is
simply shown through the museum, and the kindly, attentive curator describes
the exhibits to her. The interactions between the curator and her are some of
the easiest, most connected conversation to be found in the whole collection,
and the narrator knows it: “He certainly was interested in what I had to say,
unlike my boyfriend” (p. 93). This moment of genuine human interaction occurs
amidst pain. None of the torture devices are used onscreen, but each is
described, and the narrator and reader imagine their implementation. It is
horrific. To give just one example, in the curator’s words: “Next we have this
leather strap and those pliers. The victim’s wrist was attached to a table with
the strap, and the pliers were used to extract the fingernails. Note the unusually
delicate tips of the pliers” (p. 90). Yeesh!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But why wander the halls of the museum of torture? Well, the
aforementioned connection is part of it, but it’s not the only part. To start
with, it must be admitted that, yes, there is something (horribly) amusing
about death. As the curator says, “The desires of the human heart know no
reason or rules” (p. 90). But even that is not the whole picture, for to say
that we encounter death because we are interested in it is to wholly flip the
equation. After all, as the narrator knows, “torture was everywhere” (p. 91).
This is confirmed by how, throughout her tour of the museum, the narrator hears
of devices that the reader has seen in previous stories, albeit in less extreme
contexts. Those encounters, too, were torturous. And if pain is all around us,
then our choice is not whether to seek it out because it is amusing or to
healthily prevent it. Our choice is whether to acknowledge reality or to
pretend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ogawa, needless to say, does not pretend. She approaches pain
in all its guises, approaches loneliness and vulnerability and murder. Very
occasionally, Ogawa does break the slowly woven web with a moment of abrupt
violence, or at least the sudden revelation of one. This occurs in “Lab Coats,”
where a conversation takes a sudden and drastic shift at its end with the
disclosure that one of the participants killed her boyfriend. Though twists
like that do shock the reader, they were my least favorite parts of <i>Revenge</i>, because the sudden upset left me less rather than more engaged with
the narrator’s perceptions. Thankfully, such sharp turns are rare. Generally,
the hurt at the center of each story is only slowly brought out as the narrator
tries to go about their life. It comes on stage calmly, gently, until it is, by
the end, all that the reader can see or think about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Though not a speculative fiction author exactly, Ogawa does toy
with impossibilities and fantastic metaphors. This can be best seen in “Sewing
the Heart,” in which the narrator meets a women with a bizarre defect: her
heart is outside of her chest. Just before seeing it for himself, the narrator
realizes that he has “never seen a human heart before, and the thought filled
me with fear and disgust” (p. 65). The moment of true and very literalized
insight into another, though, does not actually leave him disgusted. Rather, he
finds it impossibly alluring. He wants to caress her heart. By the end of the
story, he wants to possess it. The story, before long, becomes one of the
collection’s most troubling. We are too far from one another to ever truly see
them, it seems to say, save in the most extraordinary circumstances. But, if we
actually could, that might not help matters. It might be only our distance that
prevents us from doing even more harm to one another.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">No matter how far from each other we may ultimately be,
though, writers as skilled as Yoko Ogawa can give us a glimpse behind the
curtain of other minds. In the way that it builds and progresses, <i>Revenge</i> is a soft collection filled with
pathos. It is also a cutting knife.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-26848104542960302902013-03-26T23:14:00.000-04:002013-03-26T23:14:42.578-04:00Battlestar Galactica: Season One
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZJjCH_LHPzU/UVJjMAv8TzI/AAAAAAAABbM/gaAdfjPfQ8U/s1600/BSG_Season_1_DVD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZJjCH_LHPzU/UVJjMAv8TzI/AAAAAAAABbM/gaAdfjPfQ8U/s320/BSG_Season_1_DVD.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I started <i>Battlestar
Galactica </i>without knowing anything about it besides the fact that a friend
gave me the DVDs. The course of the two part miniseries that kicks off the
season did not seem particularly unpredictable at first. Man created the
robotic Cylons; they rose up against us; we won; now, everyone get ready to
gasp, they are coming back for blood. Still, the unfolding chaos was extremely
well done. Some of the characters – such as Katee Stackhoff’s Starbuck and
Jamie Bamber’s Lee – seemed dangerously close to being brash archetypes, but
everything I saw had heart, Edward James Olmos won me over immediately with his
portrayal of Commander Adama, and I was soon sucked into each of their stories.
Furthermore, amidst the chaos of the war’s eruption, the show had numerous
wonderful and small moments. Two pilots fit as many refugees aboard their ship,
but they can save a bare fraction of the crowd. Then, spotting a genius
scientist that could contribute so much to humanity after the war, one of them
gives up his seat. As his only chance of escape flies away, he raises his hand
in farewell. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Only one thing seemed off: the pacing. The war seemed to be
flying by. In fact, Commander Adama and the rest of the cast onboard the
old-fashioned, about to be decommissioned and museum-ized (and what a nice
touch, that!) Battlestar Galactica don’t have their guns loaded when the rest
of the human fleet is annihilated. Slowly, it dawned on me that, while <i>Battlestar Galactica</i> was quite capable
of showing humanity fighting a defensive war for its survival, it had its eye
on a bigger prize. Indeed, by the miniseries’ halfway point, humanity has lost
its war. By the end of the miniseries, even Adama has given up the idea of
combat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By the start of the first regular episode, we are left with
Adama and the <i>Battlestar Galactcia </i>escorting
a ragtag fleet of civilian refugees away from our devastated system while the
Cylons destroy the rest of humanity. We are heading towards the mythical and
long lost earth, Adama says – but, though he doesn’t admit it, even he doesn’t
know where it is. We are alone in space, we are all that’s left, and we are
pursued. And we have a damn brilliant premise for a TV show right there, I
think.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s not a premise that the show squanders. The transition
from explosive, fast paced miniseries to episodic storytelling is brilliantly
made with <i>33</i>, in which flight turns
our survival from an epic clash to a never-ending test of endurance which will
end us if we fail once. Into all of that comes a terrifying realization: the
Cylons can, if they so choose, look just like us. They are among those of us
that are left, and their strikes from within might be enough to finish us off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The show’s morality is not so simple, though, to paint
anyone with genuine flesh and blood as good, and any discussion of its characters
would be incomplete without James Callis’ Gaius Baltar. He is the genius
scientist I mentioned earlier, he is the man who (unknowingly seduced by a
Cylon agent) allowed the attack to take place, he is the one who hallucinates
the Number Six Cylon speaking to him, he is key in the fleet’s power structure
– and he is a brilliantly amoral bastard. The show does an early and excellent
job establishing his intellectual prowess, and it then does just as good a job
throwing him out far past his depths. Episode after episode, we see his
confidence stripped away until he is at the utter mercy of Number Six. In the
few realms in which he is outside her influence, we see him abandon right and
wrong and cleave to simple survival while the rest of the fleet, still trusting
in him, knows nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He is not the show’s only standout character. <i>Battlestar Galactica</i> has a massive cast
and does the best job I’ve seen on television of giving the feel of a military organization
with more than four or five blokes in it. More impressive still, that varied
class is developed. Characters like Lee and Starbuck are half heart and half
swagger, capable of depth when focused upon and capable of riveting motion when
on the sidelines. Michale Hogan’s Saul Tigh, the ship’s XO, is an often present
but rarely focused upon character who, when given a bit of the spotlight in
episodes like <i>Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down</i>,
shows a powerful but quiet strength and struggle. Such understated arcs give
the viewer confidence that, though we don’t get to study every crewmember of
the ship, each of them likely does have a powerful story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My favorite personal arc in the show, though, is definitely
the question of the Cylon’s humanity as exemplified in Grace Park’s Boomer. Early
on, the audience learns that the pilot is a Cylon agent, but even she does not
know her true origins. We see her face the piling evidence against her, and we
see her growing terror at the possibility and determination to prove herself
worthy and human. Early in the season, her relationship with Chief is likely
the show’s warmest element; his leaving her and the action she takes in the
season’s penultimate episode, meanwhile, are heartbreaking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Boomer’s story, and the question of whether Cylons are truly
alive or even human, is contrasted against Tahmoh Penikett’s Helo’s adventures
on Caprica. Helo was the pilot who gave up his seat in the miniseries. Left
behind, he is now navigating a deserted world in the company of a duplicate of
Boomer’s model of Cylon. She’s there to manipulate him to some nefarious
purpose, but the two fall in love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">All of that might have been interesting, but Helo’s
storyline proves the show’s only real annoyance. Simply put, nothing happens.
The two just wander around on Caprica, and the entire thing seems utterly
without significance to anything or anyone else in the universe until the final
episode. The arc does also raise and then forget some uncomfortable questions
that, if they weren’t about to be answered, should probably have been left
unsaid. For one thing, since the majority of the city they are in actually
seems perfectly intact, where did all the people go? Why isn’t it rubble? Where
are the bodies? Why are there <i>no</i>
other survivors?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A far more interesting source of questions and conflicts is
that of the fleet’s political situation. By following the constitution’s chain
of succession far into the double digits, the fleet has appointed Mary
McDonnell’s Laura Roslin President, and the interplay between the military and
political branches of command is fascinating and surprisingly well handled. Principles
and practicalities come into conflict, and one must wonder how desperate the
situation must be before democracy and right should be cast aside. Other
impossible choices are often presented with the same skill, such as when the
characters are forced to destroy a civilian ship, passengers aboard, that the
Cylons have managed to track time and time again. Such successes go a long way
towards forgiving the show’s occasional thematic flops, such as its weak
attempt to evoke 9-11 by discussing a “no fly” list that prevents a known
traitor from moving about; it is true that prisoners cannot fly, but the
reasons for that have rather more fundamentally to do with the fact that they are
not allowed to do anything than with a specific barring from aviation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In terms of dramatic moments, the show does have the
occasional jarring failure. No less than two plots rely completely on future
military technology having no safety features and simply being dropped by
various incompetents, the strangest part of which was that there was already an
established saboteur plot that could have picked up the slack with something deeper
than “oops!” Elsewhere, we have an address to prisoners that is, for some
inexplicable reason, preceded by freeing them from their cells, and you have
the usual insistence on characters making objections to dubious plans not in
the planning stage but in the “burst in and save the day” one when it would
really be better to just get on with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Such qualms, though, are only so noticeable in comparison to
the show’s high quality level. <i>Battlestar
Galactica</i> throws a well drawn cast into a stunning situation and delivers
on that setup. The universe feels filled with promise, and I look forward to
seeing what it can throw at the fleet and at me in future seasons.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-87019835553356018442013-03-19T00:00:00.000-04:002013-03-19T00:00:00.902-04:00Caitlín R. Kiernan - Confessions of a Five-Chambered Heart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxsiJR1zGOI/UUelrcbz5NI/AAAAAAAABa8/qOYmxe3AfZ8/s1600/confessions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxsiJR1zGOI/UUelrcbz5NI/AAAAAAAABa8/qOYmxe3AfZ8/s320/confessions.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My review of Caitlín R. Kiernan's latest short story collection, </span><i style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2013/03/confessions_of_.shtml">Confessions of a Five-Chambered Heart</a></i><span style="font-family: inherit;">, came out at Strange Horizons last Friday. The stories inside it live up to the incredibly high bar that everything I have read by Kiernan has set, including that from its </span>predecessor<span style="font-family: inherit;"> collection</span><i style="font-family: inherit;">, </i><a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2011/05/caitlin-r-kiernan-ammonite-violin.html" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">The Ammonite Violin & Others</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, even if my favorite of her stories likely remains "Onion" from </span><i style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2012/02/poppy-z-brite-caitlin-r-kiernan-wrong.html">Wrong Things</a></i><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span>Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-42272352476194587742013-03-12T00:00:00.000-04:002013-03-12T00:00:01.380-04:00Painting Nothing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vURaPqaN9cg/UT6ZMMP7p4I/AAAAAAAABas/QZXEVLmgXUw/s1600/Painting+Nothing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vURaPqaN9cg/UT6ZMMP7p4I/AAAAAAAABas/QZXEVLmgXUw/s320/Painting+Nothing.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
<i>The Gloaming</i> has now released its final issue. The magazine's closing is a sad event for dark fiction. The issue's release, however, brings with it some great stuff.<br />
<br />
Amidst a myriad of downright snazzy tales, it also has one of mine, a piece of Horror flash entitled "Painting Nothing." I wrote it a long while back, drafting it the night I finished Thomas Ligotti's <i><a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2011/02/thomas-ligotti-teatro-grottesco.html">Teatro Grottesco</a></i>. So yeah, it's basically a few hundred words of worship. But I think it's not bad worship, as these things go. The coolest part of the publication, though, may be that there is an illustration next to it. Seeing how any part of your work is interpreted by an artist is just, well, totally and incredibly awesome.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thegloaming.com/issue/paintingnothing.html">Check it out</a>, and don't forget to read <a href="http://www.thegloaming.com/issue/currentmain.html">the rest of the issue</a> while you're at it.Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-14487482173728921862013-03-05T14:50:00.004-05:002013-03-05T14:50:55.678-05:00Innsmouth Free Press, Twelfth Issue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wDf4l1ibh8w/UTZLJfJinUI/AAAAAAAABac/5KB9aQevrqU/s1600/IFP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wDf4l1ibh8w/UTZLJfJinUI/AAAAAAAABac/5KB9aQevrqU/s1600/IFP.jpg" /></a></div>
The twelfth issue of Innsmouth Free Press' online magazine came out on the eighteenth of February. I want to post about it for two reasons. First, I am an Editorial Assistant over at that fine press, so I would obviously like as many people to read the issue as possible. But, were that my only interest in the matter, I would have mentioned it on the eighteenth.<br />
<br />
The other reason, and the dominant of the two, is that the issue contains some really excellent Weird fiction that any reader of this blog would do very well to check out. Just the other day I had my first chance to read each of the stories, and I am bursting with great things to say about them. I won't be doing a formal review of the issue, as reviewing something a Press I am affiliated with put out seems more than a tad questionable. But direct your attention towards it? Most certainly.<br />
<br />
Of particular note to longtime readers may be the piece by Leslianne Wilder in it. I loved her story in the <a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2011/03/shock-totem-2.html">second issue of <i>Shock Totem</i></a> and was thrilled to see more of the work. It's all high quality stuff, though, and it's even free to read. <a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=20306">Check it out</a>.<br />
<br />
As a final cool note on the issue, I will mention that I am now in the process of conducting interviews with the contributors for Innsmouth. I'll throw up some links when those go live.Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024708439940556234.post-39658326679898066662013-02-26T00:00:00.000-05:002013-02-26T00:00:01.941-05:00Serenity
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9tBvnAzzrAQ/USwJmNf1NoI/AAAAAAAABY8/ynDb_wKwcuI/s1600/serenity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9tBvnAzzrAQ/USwJmNf1NoI/AAAAAAAABY8/ynDb_wKwcuI/s320/serenity.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">I aim to misbehave.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Serenity</i> is the movie that continued Joss Whedon’s stunning Science
Fiction/Western <i><a href="http://evilhat.blogspot.com/2011/06/firefly.html">Firefly</a></i>.
It doesn’t fall short of that series.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">[Note: the following review will have SPOILERs.]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Admittedly, the transition from television series to movie
is not a perfect one. Besides the alterations done to the world’s and
characters’ backstory, the change in format from successive forty minute
segments to a single two hour block requires a vast shift in pacing and in
focus. Here, we have a far faster pace that frequently explodes into violence and
often delves into darkness. Of course, all the strength and mounting emotional
destruction of the movie is still offset by Whedon’s omnipresent humor, here
manifesting itself in countless one liners and fantastic reaction lines. One
particular choice bit near the beginning has the ship plummeting down to the
planet below when Mal tells Wash to <i>just
get us on the ground, </i>to which Wash responds: <i>That
part’ll happen pretty definitely</i>. Still, The laidback, horses and towns
under the hot sun feel of <i>Firefly</i>
that brought out the Western elements is largely absent, swapped out for a
greater focus on the epic and the Science Fictional.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Along with the aforementioned changes comes the shift in
focus away from the ensemble cast and towards Mal’s character. Some of the
others, like Wash, still manage to define themselves in an iconic scene or two
without taking much screen time. Others, like Jayne, never get to do a great
deal but are still a notable presence. But some, such as Kaylee, end up
becoming part of the background; her role in the movie is pining after Simon
and just about nothing else. Furthermore, the shift pushes some unresolved
questions from Firefly into the abyss. Mal and Inara get a few small
interactions but make no ultimate progress. Book, meanwhile, responds to Mal’s <i>you have to tell me about [your past]
sometime</i> with <i>No, I don’t</i>, which,
when one considers his brutal death not long after, rather shuts the lid on our
ever knowing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But while I might wish we could have a few more stories in
the world, I certainly don’t mean to cast aspersions on the power of this one. In
two hours, Whedon takes River’s storyline and manages to fully develop it and
her in a fashion that, even if it’s not completely consistent with the hints we
received in the show, is nonetheless satisfying and resplendent with awesomely
choreographed action. It’s Mal’s development, though, that makes <i>Serenity</i> truly excellent. Here we
finally see the exploration of evolution of Mal’s philosophy and character, and
we see it in stark contrast to the Alliance’s Operative that pursues him to
slay River.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In his pursuit of Mal, the Operative does great evil. This
is not a subjective determination necessitated by nothing but the camera’s
choosing to follow Mal, rather than the Operative, around. No, the Operative
owns up to his evil. In fact, it defines him. When Mal accuses him of killing
the innocent, the Operative proudly, determinedly says: <i>I do [murder children]. If I have to</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Operative is fighting because he believes in something,
because he believes in <i>a better world […]
without sin</i>, and he will commit any crime to reach that world. Of course,
he is stained in the process. The Operative knows this. His and the Alliance’s
morality is black and white, but it is not a black and white so selfishly
twisted as to color their own actions white. The Operative will have no place
in the promised land he brings about; his role, rather, is to create it by
destroying those foes, like Mal, that stand in its way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mal, needless to say, is not the black that the Operative
thinks him. He cares deeply about his crew and ship, and, as we saw
demonstrated innumerable times throughout the series, will put his life on the
line to save the innocent. But neither is he white on some alternative spectrum
that the Operative fails to see. Mal had
his morality, once. In the first episode of the show (confusingly enough also
entitled Serenity), we saw the last vestiges of his faith in man die in the
Battle of Serenity Valley, die when free men failed to fight their oppressors
and, overmatched, bowed before them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since, Mal has been a rogue and a smuggler, capable of
identifying evil and loving to prick it and save the little man from it but
knowing he can do nothing against it. As he says: <i>War’s long done. We’re all just folk now</i>. And he has committed crimes
of his own. His code allows any actions needed against those that stand in his
way and don’t have the luck of falling into his few protected categories. In <i>Serenity</i>, we first witness him in a
heist. When things go wrong, when the Reavers storm the town, he finds himself
with a choice: he can save the loot or save an innocent man. He keeps the loot
and gives the man a mercy killing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In <i>Serenity</i>, Mal
is forced out of subsistence and back into the larger conflict. He is forced
to, as Abigail Nussbaum discusses in her piece “<a href="http://wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2005/10/oh-captain-my-captain-mal-reynolds.html">Oh Captain, My Captain: MalReynolds, Anti-Anti-Hero</a>,” become a force for moral good in an amoral universe. At no point does he regain
his faith in men or in grand causes. But the Operative’s relentless hounding,
the Operative’s slaughtering of all those associated with Mal and all those
associated with them, the Alliance’s crimes and refusal to let anything stand
before them or stand untouched and unmanipulated by them, force Mal to take a
stand against them, even if his stand is more one against evil than one
directly for good. This ability – the ability to be a force for right, even without
direct guidance as to what it might be – was espoused by Shepherd Book
throughout Firefly. And, through Book is sadly almost absent from Serenity, he
does get to crystalize that view in the movie, telling Mal: <i>I don't care what you believe in, just
believe in it</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mal comes to stand opposite the Operative and the Alliance,
but the axis he opposes them on is not the black/white or good/evil that they
operate upon; it is, rather, that of freedom/oppression. The Alliance has taken
the political independence of the worlds. As we saw in <i>Firefly</i>, its reach is ever expanding, deeper and deeper into space,
limiting and meddling on every world. But its reach is not just political. The
Operative speaks of a world without sin, and the Alliance has taken steps to
achieve that world. On Miranda, they pumped gasses into the atmosphere to
render the population docile, to strip them of their aggression. As the report
says: <i>The people here stopped fighting.
[…] There's 30 million people here, and they all just let themselves die</i>. Those
that didn’t die went mad with rage and became the Reavers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is this kind of control, the control that takes people’s very
emotions and humanity from them, that Mal is against. It is, ultimately, the </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">idea that people can
be progressed beyond themselves. As he says, the Alliance holds the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">belief that they can make people... better.
And I do not hold to that</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">. At the movie’s climax, once Mal has beaten the
Operative and restrained him, Mal broadcasts the knowledge of what the Alliance
did on Miranda. </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Hell, I’m going to grant your
greatest wish</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">, Mal tells the Operative before showing him the footage. </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">I’m going to show you a world without sin</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">.
There is, indeed, no sin amidst the corpses on Miranda and no humanity either.
Mal is fighting for man as they are, not for man as they might someday be
twisted into being.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Though the freedom/oppression battle waged here also comes
to, by the end, seemingly coincide with our conventional definitions of
good/evil, it is a mistake to limit its impact to that of that axis and to try
and shoehorn all that Mal is into the role of white knight. The darkness we see
in Mal’s character in the movie’s opening is not banished with his shift from
survivor to warrior. It is no coincidence that Mal’s first words after his
conversation with the Operative that forces him to accept his new role are, <i>Get these bodies together […] I want them
laid out on the nose of our ship</i>. It is immediately after his
transformation that Mal engages in his darkest acts. He disguises himself as a
Reaver, takes on the guise of ultimate evil to fight the Alliance’s oppression
and desecrates the corpses of those who died for him in order to do it. In
fact, in his role as warrior, Mal abandons his previous code as a survivor. By
going toe to toe with the alliance, he puts his crew, the family he would do
anything to protect, into mortal danger and ultimately kills Wash (and, if you’ll
allow me to unprofessionally fixate on that for a moment, what a death scene it
is!).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course, the eternal championing of freedom, and freedom
uncomplicated by good/evil morality, bears with it a few problems. Chief among
them is the issue that, for all a world without sin may be an inhuman
proposition, there are terrors yet inherent in sin that Mal seems to be
removing the safeguards from, as Abigail Nussbaum (well isn’t this turning into
the essay for referencing her?) writes in her “<a href="http://wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2006/01/well-maybe-you-can-take-that-part-of.html">Well, Maybe You Can Take That Part ofthe Sky</a>.” I am not, ultimately, sure that Whedon is as unaware of this problem as
Nussbaum seems to suppose. Many of the problems seen in <i>Firefly</i> were caused by relatively small time criminals and crime
lords just as on the run from the Alliance as Mal. Admittedly, Mal gives the
poor folk oppressed by this lower level of evil little thought in <i>Serenity</i>, but I wonder if that might be
more a product of Whedon’s compression of his idea into two hours rather than
dozens of episodes than it is a product of Whedon’s actual vision. Still,
giving Whedon points for what I think he might have later wrote is growing untenable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And, within, the bounds of what we do see in <i>Serenity</i>, I found myself incredulous at
how Whedon dodged the consequences of Mal’s actions. After Mal’s heroic
defiance of authority and acceptance of the death that would likely result,
Whedon grabs that seemingly inevitable result back off the table, leaving,
despite a few cursory words about a possibility to the contrary, the Alliance’s
vengeance one forestalled by them all suddenly turning into very reasonable
chaps who are quite aware when they are beaten. Arguing that, if we are just
heroic enough, we may get spared the consequences of our heroism seems to be a questionable
proposition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Such gaps and questions leave one wishing Whedon had gotten
more time to play with the universe of <i>Firefly</i>.
But what he has given us is mighty indeed. <i>Serenity</i>
is an excellent Science Fiction movie, one that brims with wit, boasts a
plethora of simply awesome sequences, and explores and evolves the philosophy
of character of the enigmatic and fascinating Mal.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Nathaniel Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852939663324751332noreply@blogger.com4