Recent Reads
Oct. 3rd, 2024 01:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
firstroadI remembered how existing outside of IRL responsibilities works lately... throwing a party!
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
WELLLL I GET THE HYPE. I SEE IT I UNDERSTAND IT. I do feel like I need to read a book or five about Kerala during that time period before I have any fully-formed thoughts because I only have rudimentary knowledge about the Naxalites. BUT! I felt like I was constantly being stomped on, and I mean this in the best way possible. The way it went from the most beautiful descriptions that make your jaw drop to a more childhood-tinted view of the world & events to absolutely brutal happenings... It took me a much longer time to read than usual because there was just so much to take in! The obvious ways that the politics impact the central family and all the unwritten societal rules which not even a 'higher' class can protect you from killed meeeee. The main characters being like full Anglophiles (which I prefer to think of as Britaboos, because it's funnier) in contrast to the Communist movement was unexpected! I should have also expected Velutha's ultimate undoing, but somehow I didn't.
Wish I had an ebook version of this to paste passages from, but I am soooooooo happy I bought it physically. Loved the use of language. The insane levels of misogyny even from supposed communist men got a little chuckle out of me (not in a funny way. I assume whoever's reading this gets me). The insane levels of unhappiness, and then a sort of happiness despite what was going on, and then the short sentences that drive the point home truly took me for a ride I will forever remember... "Childhood tiptoed out" being written after [spoiler content] stabbed me and rolled me downhill. Every time "a viable, die-able age" was repeated. Caste playing way too big a role.
I have soooooooo many feelings and thoughts and no way to get them out orderly. Anyway, 50000/5, no notes.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Infinitely breezier in comparison. I SWEAR there was a Brazilian book with the same/similar premise but with male main characters which I had heard about before this was published, but I can't for the life of me find it. I think it had an orange cover? I would've loved to read that as well, just to be able to compare how the two books went about it (though obviously the class of Race works differently in Brazil and USA). I really liked this too! It actually explored a lot more than I expected it to, though I think part of its ambition was under-realised, especially when I also read the way different generations were handled in The God of Small Things... Not really a criticism, but I felt more like I was a fly on the wall, watching both of these women's and also their daughters' lives, rather than finding any new angle to see... anything, really. I wish duologies were more of a thing outside of genre fiction, because I think this would've benefited from having one book focused on Stella/Desiree and one on their daughters. Stella, and in particular Stella's grief, did not feel like it got the space it needed.
I did enjoy the lack of easy closure! Was fearing it'll end up wrapped neatly with a little bow, but it didn't. Lovely cast of characters.
Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
I actually now have more TLT thoughts as a whole than specific Nona thoughts. It just keeps not working for me! So I'm gonna let that out, and maybe hopefully another day I can say something specific to this book.
Well first of all I do not care for loyalty kink. Like every time they talked about necro/cav I fell asleep. Forced pairs by the invisible hand of the Universe can be fun for me (e.g. soulmates) but social pairs are stupid. Just don't be fantasy powerful and don't get fantasy married and don't fantasy consume the other idk what to tell you, go live in an interastral commune, problem solved. <~ I recognise this is a personal preference but also this is my personal whinge post so.
Second of all, as much as I find Catholicism conceptually and aesthetically sexy, especially when fantasyland takes most of the problems of IRL organised religion out of the equation, I simply do not get it. Emotionally. Like sorry when I think about it all that comes to mind is highschool history class blah blah filioque blah blah blah blah ecumenical council blah. Self-flagellation can be sexy I suppose? I love repression! But there's a flavour to it that just leaves me like.... huh? What????
I have not looked at it from either a theological or cultural perspective so I'm sure this is a wrong conclusion, but it feels like it comes with this kind of aggressively anxious self-policing which is in turn aggressively self-focused. Even when thinking about the infanticide there are lines like "She had cost too much to die." -- which I obviously recognise are not said with dead serious arrogance/that it's just a 'normal' expression of survivor's guilt, but it keeps redirecting the death of others to her. There are also of course the more overt things (the rigidity of Saying Correct Prayers before bed, the scifi-ied version of the Original Sin which Everyone Carries). I find the underlying philosophy profoundly self-centred and I do not mean this as an indictment, but I do think this creates a barrier between my understanding of the work and the work itself. When I say I do not understand it I more accurately mean I do not care to try to understand such a sentiment.
Third of all and I suppose more seriously, I no longer care about the problems of the Empire™️ from perspectives within said empire. This is hypocritical when I'm requesting FMA like every second exchange, but at least there some main characters are very directly on-page causing the evils of it with very on-page consequences to their hyperspecific actions. Big win for Nona in this regard, well kinda, though I also admit there were sections I was skimming in GtN and HtN, so who knows maybe I overlooked things. Oversimplifying this but so far out of every well known female-or-nongendered-focused scifi book/series I've tried (tlt, murderbot, ancillary justice, exordia) literally not a single one has worked for me even the littlest bit.
If I had read any of them like 10 years ago, or honestly maybe even 5ish? It could've and probably would've been an instant fave. Now, I'm like... okay first of all stop with the jokes because I hate happiness and I love misery and those jokes are not funny. Well except Ancillary Justice kisses to it for avoiding this. Not that I have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to discerning what's funny and what isn't but at least I don't even pretend that I know what comedic timing is.
I think this whole thing boils down to: I appreciate her sensibilities but I want her to have different preoccupations. Which. Too bad so sad I guess. Will I be reading Alecto when it comes out? Oh, hell, yeah. I suspect I am going to grit my teeth getting through it but I honestly do love the world and I enjoy Muir's writing style.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
WELLLL I GET THE HYPE. I SEE IT I UNDERSTAND IT. I do feel like I need to read a book or five about Kerala during that time period before I have any fully-formed thoughts because I only have rudimentary knowledge about the Naxalites. BUT! I felt like I was constantly being stomped on, and I mean this in the best way possible. The way it went from the most beautiful descriptions that make your jaw drop to a more childhood-tinted view of the world & events to absolutely brutal happenings... It took me a much longer time to read than usual because there was just so much to take in! The obvious ways that the politics impact the central family and all the unwritten societal rules which not even a 'higher' class can protect you from killed meeeee. The main characters being like full Anglophiles (which I prefer to think of as Britaboos, because it's funnier) in contrast to the Communist movement was unexpected! I should have also expected Velutha's ultimate undoing, but somehow I didn't.
Wish I had an ebook version of this to paste passages from, but I am soooooooo happy I bought it physically. Loved the use of language. The insane levels of misogyny even from supposed communist men got a little chuckle out of me (not in a funny way. I assume whoever's reading this gets me). The insane levels of unhappiness, and then a sort of happiness despite what was going on, and then the short sentences that drive the point home truly took me for a ride I will forever remember... "Childhood tiptoed out" being written after [spoiler content] stabbed me and rolled me downhill. Every time "a viable, die-able age" was repeated. Caste playing way too big a role.
I have soooooooo many feelings and thoughts and no way to get them out orderly. Anyway, 50000/5, no notes.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Infinitely breezier in comparison. I SWEAR there was a Brazilian book with the same/similar premise but with male main characters which I had heard about before this was published, but I can't for the life of me find it. I think it had an orange cover? I would've loved to read that as well, just to be able to compare how the two books went about it (though obviously the class of Race works differently in Brazil and USA). I really liked this too! It actually explored a lot more than I expected it to, though I think part of its ambition was under-realised, especially when I also read the way different generations were handled in The God of Small Things... Not really a criticism, but I felt more like I was a fly on the wall, watching both of these women's and also their daughters' lives, rather than finding any new angle to see... anything, really. I wish duologies were more of a thing outside of genre fiction, because I think this would've benefited from having one book focused on Stella/Desiree and one on their daughters. Stella, and in particular Stella's grief, did not feel like it got the space it needed.
I did enjoy the lack of easy closure! Was fearing it'll end up wrapped neatly with a little bow, but it didn't. Lovely cast of characters.
Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
I actually now have more TLT thoughts as a whole than specific Nona thoughts. It just keeps not working for me! So I'm gonna let that out, and maybe hopefully another day I can say something specific to this book.
Well first of all I do not care for loyalty kink. Like every time they talked about necro/cav I fell asleep. Forced pairs by the invisible hand of the Universe can be fun for me (e.g. soulmates) but social pairs are stupid. Just don't be fantasy powerful and don't get fantasy married and don't fantasy consume the other idk what to tell you, go live in an interastral commune, problem solved. <~ I recognise this is a personal preference but also this is my personal whinge post so.
Second of all, as much as I find Catholicism conceptually and aesthetically sexy, especially when fantasyland takes most of the problems of IRL organised religion out of the equation, I simply do not get it. Emotionally. Like sorry when I think about it all that comes to mind is highschool history class blah blah filioque blah blah blah blah ecumenical council blah. Self-flagellation can be sexy I suppose? I love repression! But there's a flavour to it that just leaves me like.... huh? What????
I have not looked at it from either a theological or cultural perspective so I'm sure this is a wrong conclusion, but it feels like it comes with this kind of aggressively anxious self-policing which is in turn aggressively self-focused. Even when thinking about the infanticide there are lines like "She had cost too much to die." -- which I obviously recognise are not said with dead serious arrogance/that it's just a 'normal' expression of survivor's guilt, but it keeps redirecting the death of others to her. There are also of course the more overt things (the rigidity of Saying Correct Prayers before bed, the scifi-ied version of the Original Sin which Everyone Carries). I find the underlying philosophy profoundly self-centred and I do not mean this as an indictment, but I do think this creates a barrier between my understanding of the work and the work itself. When I say I do not understand it I more accurately mean I do not care to try to understand such a sentiment.
Third of all and I suppose more seriously, I no longer care about the problems of the Empire™️ from perspectives within said empire. This is hypocritical when I'm requesting FMA like every second exchange, but at least there some main characters are very directly on-page causing the evils of it with very on-page consequences to their hyperspecific actions. Big win for Nona in this regard, well kinda, though I also admit there were sections I was skimming in GtN and HtN, so who knows maybe I overlooked things. Oversimplifying this but so far out of every well known female-or-nongendered-focused scifi book/series I've tried (tlt, murderbot, ancillary justice, exordia) literally not a single one has worked for me even the littlest bit.
If I had read any of them like 10 years ago, or honestly maybe even 5ish? It could've and probably would've been an instant fave. Now, I'm like... okay first of all stop with the jokes because I hate happiness and I love misery and those jokes are not funny. Well except Ancillary Justice kisses to it for avoiding this. Not that I have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to discerning what's funny and what isn't but at least I don't even pretend that I know what comedic timing is.
I think this whole thing boils down to: I appreciate her sensibilities but I want her to have different preoccupations. Which. Too bad so sad I guess. Will I be reading Alecto when it comes out? Oh, hell, yeah. I suspect I am going to grit my teeth getting through it but I honestly do love the world and I enjoy Muir's writing style.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-04 01:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-04 06:40 pm (UTC)"I no longer care about the problems of the Empire™️ from perspectives within said empire" might be my only TLT complaint that holds any weight. I think everything else boils down to personal preference, but I do firmly believe that creating a world with a reconstructed theocracy and having 10k year old people and then mostly having us follow Normal Citizens Who Do Their Duty (kinda) And Care About Their Drama with any discussion of imperialism being a background thing is a huge wasted opportunity. Like sorryyyyyyyyyyy how am I supposed to care about Harrow and her self-inflicted lobotomy when literally anyone else outside of the book 1 cast exists!
(I'm also kind of mad On Principle because the character that fascinates me the most is mister John Gaius, a dude in a book series that doesn't even pass the male version of the Bechdel test. Why give the most interesting role to a guy!!! #offended) (Okay the offense is mostly directed at myself, not the books.)
I would love to hear YOUR thoughts if/when you have any!!
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-04 07:56 pm (UTC)Also, Anna does not get to DO very much for a lot of the book. It’s a lot of these military guys. I like this author but, sigh, this book has some misses IMO.
Ancillary Justice: I wish that the book had had more of Breq as 1000 ships rather than Breq in one person too. Seivarden ain’t shit. I haven’t felt a strong drive to read more of the series. I did like The Raven Tower though.
Muir is interesting, TLT is interesting, because I do feel the books clearly show Homestuck influence if you’re familiar with both series. TLT is not homestuck fic or all aus of homestuck characters to be clear, but the 9 houses are very clearly influenced by Alternia and the Trolls imo. That’s really neither here nor there except that I do think it makes the series very memetic in a homestuck y way. The main thing that doesn’t work for me I think is that the actual investment and care Harrow and Gideon have for each other feels very pasted on yey. There has been so much conflict between them I simply do not believe in the loyalty shit lmao. I needed that relationship to happen more gradually. As this relationship is pretty much the central pillar of the series IMO, that effectively kills TLT for me.
I read a comment once that said the y dislike how uninterested harrow and Gideon are in their world too, and I have to say I agreed with that. Harrow is especially a very closed off character and I am simply not compelled by that. Does it make sense for who she is? Sure. Is she the lens I Want to read this story through? Nah i don’t think so.
I do think my quibbles are pretty much personal issues though, but “who cares about the problems of Empire(TM)” definitely… yeah. Makes sense. Your complaints make sense. Good complaints.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-10 09:05 pm (UTC)Nooooooooooo, this is such a tiring trope, especially when it's on a character we're supposed to root for. Yes yes, lawful good alignment, yes yes they're still good, but like... context, bro. 😭
I have not read Homestuck! I've been honestly pretty open at accepting Gideon/Harrow & taking the ship at face value, but I agree. Especially when it's been three whole books and they only had meaningful interactions that they're both properly conscious for in one of them.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-11 01:18 am (UTC)HERE IS THE THING ALSO, Mr. Morally Upright and Correct is also not what I'd even call lawful good! As fun as it might be to fantasize about killing those who deserve it, I don't think a world where a few people outside the law can decide who deserves it is such a great thing. I want one of these characters to be more critical of him. As it is, even the ones who are critical are also enchanted lmao
I don't think TLT is 1:1 homestuck fic as in the characters are expies of homestuck characters fwiw. I do think the inspiration is there and that it really shows in the powerhouse space empire where people live in categories kind of setup. And yeah, pivotal earthshaking relationships that are half-baked.
Curious what you hated about Exordia!
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-05 11:52 pm (UTC)I'm vaguely a TLT fan insofar as one can call herself that when she diverges from 80% of the mainstream fandom taste, so I sympathise with your frustrations. I thought NtN was a good opportunity to unpack and move away from that self-absorbed internalist empire perspective, and Muir does that to some degree... but she's also just uninvested in empire as a primary political throughline next to uhhhhh emotional and psychological scaping, I guess, so Thoughts on Empire just take a huge backseat. definitely one of my biggest criticisms of her.
hope you're well! <3
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-10 09:15 pm (UTC)What are the mainstream TLT fandom tastes? 👀 Beyond umm griddlehark canon divergence happy reunion ending (guessing here, but this is where most fandoms go).
Honestly I find it such a core criticism for me because I think Muir genuinely has a ton of skill and an insane amount of raw talent. I think she can unpack the empire she created, especially since it's a direction so easily and clearly outlined in her current worldbuilding. It doesn't feel like the books are unaware, just... uninterested. Which is valid I guess, but this circles back to me wishing she had different preoccupations.
October has been kind to me so far! I hope to you as well 🥺💕
(no subject)
Date: 2024-11-14 01:08 pm (UTC)unfortunately, for a book that plays with genre voices/POV/SFF conventions so much, fandom is /chock full/ of modern everyone gets married and has a cottagecore Americana life AUs. 😭 like, for crying out loud! TLT has an arm decapitation scene as a not-metaphor for a first time lesbian sex scene, I wish people picked up that knife-edge of violent intimacy and used it to explode fanfic genre conventions too. to be fair, some of my friends and plenty of people do write unusual and unique F/F porn.
this, especially because she's tackled empire and colonialism via Homestuck fanfic here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/305132
but also, that fic was dedicated to Arkady Martine, aka an academic historian with "has USA-centric conceptions of imperialism" disease, lol, and Tazmuir was a fandom contemporary of hers with implications for the ideas about empire they probably fermented among each other. so I'm surprised yet not surprised. /o\