Gibson, John: Hating America - A New World Sport
Sebold, Alice: The Lovely Bones
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: The House of the Dead
Maas, Peter: Serpico
Williams, Tad: Shadowmarch
Dick, Philip K: Valis
Cain, Postlewait and Thomson: Emergency Sex
Herr, Michael: Dispatches
Baxter, John: De Niro, A Biography
Steinbeck, John: Cannery Row
Thomson, David: Rosedbud - The Story of Orson Welles
Aulier, Dan: Hitchcock's Secret Diaries
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
Card, Orson Scott: Capitol
Published in 1978*, Orson Scott Card's debut novel hits the ground running. Like the galaxy the book describes, this is the humble, but brilliant foundation, of one of the science fiction's leading authors. Science fiction has always had a relatively bad reputation with the general public. Few books make it into the literary halls of fame, and even fewer will, as things stand, make it to the list of eternal classics. However, there remains a collective bouyant with the beauty found in science fiction. And thankfully, this keeps the genre alive.
Capitol starts with a foreword from the author directing the reader in how the book should be approached (basically from page one until the end!). After reading the book, however, I realise how important this is. The novel is a collection of interrelated stories operating in the same 'empire/galaxy'. To group stories just by the mere fact that they operate within the same galaxy may seem presumptuous, but the essential fact is that society in this book is described with an appendage that makes all the stories distinct from anything else - immortality.
Many books have been written about immortality and its side-effects, but OSC explores a number of different perspectives. Somec, the sleep-inducing drug that allows people to be 'alive' only for a few months in every few years, allows people to stretch their lifespans to the fullest. Not immortality, as such, but as near as is required to get the point across. Somec is not available to everyone and this is a salient point in every story.
The book is laid out almost like a manual to immortality, each short story illustrates a pertinent side-effect of immortality. This is not to say that the progression of the book is linear, indeed quite the opposite, we see a gradiated rise and fall of the empire akin to the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire in 300-odd pages (anyone who has read the book may find a note of irony in that sentence!). The stories are bold and quickly lay the groundwork for the involving episodes that unfurl. There are no complex plot points, but plenty of places to stop, look away from the page and think. We get glimpses into the mythology, ecology, astronomy, history and politics of the empire revolving around Capitol, without getting bogged down. In the liberal vein of much of science ficiton, pheonomena such a telepathy and strange beasts are introduced without the hinderance associated with most other genres, and all play a central role in illustrating their individual story. Too frequently are such concepts bandied around in Science Fiction and Fantasy in the oft fruitless attempt at making stories more colourful. OSC, however, uses them in the most commendable fashion; as metaphor for abstract social and psychological concepts.
The stories are excellent. They could exist by themselves, but holistically they make up a body of work that gives the feeling that a whole galaxy of muses could have been appended. The first and last stories stand out as the important ones, foundations to the others. There's an Orwellian gloom to the work, in particular the story entitled A Thousand Deaths, which gives the story even more credibility and shows the depth of knowledge and understanding that OSC has. I read the book faster than most books, not because I wanted to turn the page to continue the story, rather I wanted to peel back another layer from Capitol. Steeped with philosophy, Capitol allows us to step back and examine life and humanity from a different viewpoint, but a viewpoint that nonetheless looks at us. Nobody will ever compare this book to the great philosophers of the 21st Century, but it is just as valuable.
*from hatrack.com, OSC's official site, only my copy states 1979. But who's arguing!
Capitol starts with a foreword from the author directing the reader in how the book should be approached (basically from page one until the end!). After reading the book, however, I realise how important this is. The novel is a collection of interrelated stories operating in the same 'empire/galaxy'. To group stories just by the mere fact that they operate within the same galaxy may seem presumptuous, but the essential fact is that society in this book is described with an appendage that makes all the stories distinct from anything else - immortality.
Many books have been written about immortality and its side-effects, but OSC explores a number of different perspectives. Somec, the sleep-inducing drug that allows people to be 'alive' only for a few months in every few years, allows people to stretch their lifespans to the fullest. Not immortality, as such, but as near as is required to get the point across. Somec is not available to everyone and this is a salient point in every story.
The book is laid out almost like a manual to immortality, each short story illustrates a pertinent side-effect of immortality. This is not to say that the progression of the book is linear, indeed quite the opposite, we see a gradiated rise and fall of the empire akin to the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire in 300-odd pages (anyone who has read the book may find a note of irony in that sentence!). The stories are bold and quickly lay the groundwork for the involving episodes that unfurl. There are no complex plot points, but plenty of places to stop, look away from the page and think. We get glimpses into the mythology, ecology, astronomy, history and politics of the empire revolving around Capitol, without getting bogged down. In the liberal vein of much of science ficiton, pheonomena such a telepathy and strange beasts are introduced without the hinderance associated with most other genres, and all play a central role in illustrating their individual story. Too frequently are such concepts bandied around in Science Fiction and Fantasy in the oft fruitless attempt at making stories more colourful. OSC, however, uses them in the most commendable fashion; as metaphor for abstract social and psychological concepts.
The stories are excellent. They could exist by themselves, but holistically they make up a body of work that gives the feeling that a whole galaxy of muses could have been appended. The first and last stories stand out as the important ones, foundations to the others. There's an Orwellian gloom to the work, in particular the story entitled A Thousand Deaths, which gives the story even more credibility and shows the depth of knowledge and understanding that OSC has. I read the book faster than most books, not because I wanted to turn the page to continue the story, rather I wanted to peel back another layer from Capitol. Steeped with philosophy, Capitol allows us to step back and examine life and humanity from a different viewpoint, but a viewpoint that nonetheless looks at us. Nobody will ever compare this book to the great philosophers of the 21st Century, but it is just as valuable.
*from hatrack.com, OSC's official site, only my copy states 1979. But who's arguing!
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