Week 14: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

For this final week in class, I got to listen to a few episode of the radio version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I had always been aware that this was a famous story that existed, and I knew quite a lot of people who were fans of it growing up. After this week, I finally understand why kids in my class were always joking about “42” being the meaning of life. I do have to admit that I did not get a chance to finish all the episodes, but what I did listen to left me intrigued and eager to hear more. The performances in the radio version are really entertaining, and it was fun to hear how the
actors delivered the lines in that classic style of dry, British humor.

I certainly found it interesting and somewhat humorous that the story begins with Arthur Dent fighting to protect his home from demolition. If he walks away from it, he knows it will be torn down to make way for a new roadway. However, little does he realize that in a matter of minutes, the Earth itself would be destroyed as part of the development of a space roadway. This irony and morbid humor let me know exactly what sort of tone to expect from this story, and it is something that I do not seem to come across all that often in American literature. Another joke I found really great was the explanation that dolphins are actually the most intelligent beings on the planet, and that they were trying to warn humans about their upcoming doom for a long time. This comparison of intelligence felt oddly realistic, as it seems that humans are still not fully able to understand the depth at which some animals communicate.

Right now, the state of the world seems extremely uncertain. We do not know what is going to happen in the next few months in regards to the Corona virus, so I could certainly see that to some people it may feel like the world is ending. I think it would be interesting to find out how people interpret stories like this during times of crisis. Does reading about the world ending feel different, scarier even, right now? Personally, after being in quarantine and watching depressing stories on the news for this long, this humorous and fun adventure story was a welcomed reprieve from all that is going on around us. I am excited to continuing listening!

Week 13: The Aquatic Uncle

The short story I chose to read for this week was The Aquatic Uncle by Italo Calvino. If I had to put this work into one genre, that would be very difficult to do as it does not so obviously fall into any category in particular. I do not necessarily think this is a problem, as we do not always need to categorize art in order to appreciate or learn from it. Like we have discussed in class, genres are essentially sets of expectations. Readers who are familiar with genre tropes can go into a work with a relatively good idea of what sorts of ideas or characters might come up. I did not have any preconceived notions going into The Aquatic Uncle, however it was still a very interesting read with an unexpected ending.

This story seems to be very much an allegory for the way older generations struggle to adapt to the changes of society and the customs of younger generations. I am sure basically everyone has family members who the great-uncle in this work reminded them of. Many older people have been staunchly opposed to change for centuries, as we know from documented accounts from Ancient Rome and other cultures. However, what was surprising in this story was the choice made by Lll, the main character’s fiancée. Lll embodies everything great about being an evolved land creature. The main character views her body as being an example of a perfect adaptation. He even described his great-uncle, a fish, as being a “monster” in comparison. In spite of this extreme contrast, Lll ultimately chooses to leave her fiancée, return to the water, and marry the great-uncle.

This ending was certainly sad and strange. It leaves the main character questioning his own identity and where he belongs on the chart of evolution. As something that exists somewhere in between aquatic and terrestrial, this character does not feel completely at home in either of the two settings. I believe this short story will bring about really interesting class discussions about generational differences and personal identity, and I’m looking forward to discussing The Aquatic Uncle even more.

Week 12: Bloodchild

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?

            I had a very visceral reaction to this text, and honestly I just had to sit and look at the wall for a minute after I finished reading. This story is nightmarish to say the least. It definitely plays upon the fear that a species more advanced than our own could one day overtake humanity. Based on the descriptions given, I imagined the Tlic species as resembling giant centipedes, which definitely made the visuals in my mind worse. I was particularly disturbed by the Tlic’s use of “eggs” as a drug to sedate and control people with. It seemed to be a way to extend human lives while simultaneously keeping them dependent and suggestible. The main character, Gan, began receiving eggs only a few days after he was born. Even Gan’s older brother who distrusts the Tlics always indulges in the eggs when available. This use of control and addiction immediately made T’Gatoi seem more sinister to me.

2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss what elements of the story with which you were able to connect.

         At first, I assumed this was an alien species that had invaded earth and taken over. However, as the story continued it was revealed that humanity had fled the earth and ended up on the planet of the Tlic. In the situation, humans are the actual aliens. While I was horrified at the role humans played in the lives of the Tlic, the thought did occur to me that we do similar things to other species here on earth. While we don’t grow our children in other animals, we do contain them, breed them, and raise them to slaughter for our food. Its just something to think about. The only reason humans can do these things is because we are the top of the food chain, but what if we weren’t anymore? I have personally been struggling recently with the morality of eating certain things, and this story definitely made me think even harder.

3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you choose; what changes would you make?

            If I were adapting this work, I would probably choose to make it either a short episode in some kind of horror anthology or extend the story into a feature film. If it were to be adapted into a movie I would picture something like “Annihilation” with very interesting creature and world designs. When I was reading, I kept picturing these home scenes (where all the kids are laying around tripping on eggs) with low, fluorescent lighting. This story would be very visually dynamic on film. However, I think the narrative would need to be continued from the point that Butler left off on. In order to appeal to a large audience, people would want to see some sort of triumph or liberation of the human characters. I imagine this may undermine the authors intention for the message of the story, and therefore this might not be possible.

4. Gaming is, at the very least in part, a narrative medium.  What do you think is the relationship between the gaming and the concept of literature?

I think that long form story telling and gaming go very well together. Viewers are able to stay invested for 60+ hours in a story, because they are the main character who is responsible for moving the narrative along. Relationships with other characters feel very personal. Victories and defeats are up to the skill and decision of the player, and therefore hold a lot of weight.  I have personally completed a number of stories through games and getting to the end is extremely satisfying, especially if the narrative and characters are written well.

Week 11: Fragments of a Hologram Rose

Fragments of a Hologram Rose is the first published work of William Gibson, a man who many consider to be the father of the Cyberpunk genre. I did a little research into the origin of this short story, and apparently Gibson wrote it in 1977 for Unearth 3, a science fiction magazine. He was only paid $27 for it. This story, while brief, gives us a look into a bleak future through the eyes of a downtrodden man living in the sensory recordings of his ex-girlfriend.

The main character, Parker, was indentured to a Japanese megacorporation when he was fifteen. Despite the promises of stability and security this job provided, he decided to escape and never look back four years into it. Now thirty, Parker lives in an America that has crumbled. Any sense of unification is gone, and people live lawlessly in slums and shantytowns. There are scattered remnants of a war around, such as the image of a burning tank that exists in Parker’s memory.

In this world, there exists a form of media known as ASP, which stands for Apparent Sensory Perception. It allows people to experience what are essentially tape recording of people’s memories, with all five senses included. It is not far off from the technology being developed around virtual reality today, although it is more advanced. Parker’s girlfriend has left him. Like Parker leaving indentured position as a teenager, Angela never looked back when she decided to go. However, Parker still had some of her tapes, and eventually he becomes dependent on them to fall asleep.

This is a very melancholy story, and like the title indicates, the narrative jumps around through different fragments of reality, recordings, and memories. It is somewhat hard to follow at first, and there is benefit to rereading the beginning of the story with full context once you finish. This story raises many interesting questions about how technology like this would affect our world and relationships. Would we become dependent on it like Parker? At one point he ponders if watching Angela’s memories makes him closer to her, or her more real. This work examines the blur between what is true and genuine and what is artificial. “But each fragment reveals the rose from a different angle…” The holographic rose Parker destroys becomes a symbol for this blending of his life with technology, as every individual shard comes together to define who he is and what he has experienced. It is all a part of him now, the tapes, the memories, and his current existence.

Week 10: Comes to Venus Melancholy

There were so many short story options on the resource page this week. I decided to chose one at random and ended up reading Come to Venus Melancholy by Thomas M. Disch. And it was definitely melancholy. The story is being spoken by a female cyborg on Venus to a listener who may or may not (more likely not) exist. Initially, the reader is thrown in with no context as to what is going on. However, over this story’s eight pages we learn who this machine is, why she is there, her history, and the absolute despair of her current situation. The android, whose name is Selma, has been in complete isolation for over fifteen years. In her early life, she was a human diagnosed with leukemia, who chose to be striped of her body and placed into a cybernetic tank of some kind. She is attached to a house on Venus, and it was her purpose to keep a man named John company while he lived there in isolation. John’s job was to collect slugs for some unknown power to use for some unknown purpose, and Selma reveals that she was in love with him at one point. However, one day the two got in a fight. John destroyed her hearing and vision, and abandoned her. At the present time, Selma feels as if someone may be in the house with her, but she cannot know for sure. She begs to be destroyed and set free from her prison, however no release seems to come.

This story felt as if it could easily have been inspiration for an episode of Black Mirror. That show spends numerous episodes exploring the idea of combining human minds with the immortal bodies of machines. Many episodes feature characters who are trapped forever as digital copies of themselves in technological prisons. Both these works explore themes of isolation, sanity, and the ethical implications of such advancements. The main character, Selma, would probably much rather had died of leukemia if she known what fate awaited her as a cyborg. The way this story is written gives the readers a tragic look into Selma’s mind, and shows us the psychological horror of being blind, deaf, and trapped forever. All Selma has to entertain herself is the ticking of the clock in her abdomen and the poetry she has memorized. This love of poetry seems to be the main thing she retained from her life as a human. One thing I also found interesting was her description of being a cyborg as a form of “afterlife.” Unfortunately, this afterlife is much more of a hell than a heaven.

Week 9: The Stars My Destination

 Last week, I decided to read The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. I did not realize until our class discussion that this story is roughly based around The Count of Monte Cristo, and although I am not very familiar with that narrative, I do know that it is a revenge tale. I wonder how knowing about this connection beforehand may have affected my expectations of Bester’s book. Before I started reading the story, I was expecting there to be a lot of space travel, advanced science, possibly violence and romance. The Stars My Destination certainly provided all of these things.
          Despite the monstrous actions of the main character, I actually quite enjoyed falling into the future envisioned in this book. The most fascinating element to me was the teleportation ability humans have. It is referred to as jaunting. The author does a very thorough job of exploring how this instant traveling would effect the economy, the transportation industry, crime, and society in general. He explores what it would mean to not be able to jaunt in this world, and how extreme of a disadvantage that would be. This careful world building made jaunting more believable as a possible next step in the evolution of humanity. It is essentially explained as a sixth sense that was in humans all along, it just needed to be awakened. I definitely appreciated the detailed timeline that explained how jaunting went from an accident in a science lab, to something everyone could do at will in only three generations.
          In The Stars My Destination, there are civilizations all across the solar system, each planet, asteroid, and satellite having its own culture. The main character, Gully Foyle, even ends up on an asteroid full of the descendants of an old spaceship crash. These children all have frightening tattoos on their faces, and they inflict the same on Foyle. However, other locations are very different, from the dark prison to the high society. This variety of different places to explore and people to interact with is what really kept the story engaging for me. Each new part of the narrative introduced fascinating ideas and characters. I think this is one of the main reasons science-fiction and space stories are so popular. It really lets authors’ minds run wild with exploration and amazing ideas, all held together by familiar (albeit advanced) technologies and characters for us to enjoy.

Week 8: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman is a fantasy novel that tells the tale of a young boy and an incredible experience he had during his childhood. There were parts of the story that reminded me of both my own life and other fantasy books I enjoyed as a kid. In the beginning of the novel, the protagonist is an adult who has returned to the town he grew up in for a funeral. He explores the farm of a childhood friend, and his memories of being a boy come flooding back to him. This is very relatable to me, as I have had the experience many times where a familiar image, sound, or even smell will abruptly shoot me back to a forgotten time from my childhood. It can be very thrilling to suddenly remember things you hadn’t thought of in years and years. I really enjoyed the passage where the protagonist explains his excitement about knowing his way around the yard, despite barely remembering the house even existed only hours before.

Although the main characters of this novel are children, there is a large amount of disturbing and adult content in this book. The horror that Ursula brings upon the young boy was shocking to me, and played on a lot of fears I held as a child. While I was lucky enough to grow up in a very loving household, I was always afraid of getting in trouble with my father, just like the main character is. I would have nightmares where my parents hurt me, so to read a scene where the little boy realizes his father is drowning him was very upsetting. Later he confronts Ursula and says “You made my Daddy hurt me” (heartbreaking to read) and her response is that she did not make anyone do anything. This suggests that while she may have had some influence, the desire to sleep with Ursula and hurt his disobedient son was somewhere inside the father deep down all along. She only brought those desires to the forefront.

Overall, this book put a mature lens on the modern fantasy story. It explores how the presence of both helpful and harmful magic would affect a young boy’s life. Although parts of it were really hard to get through, I enjoyed reading a story from this perspective and am glad to have chosen The Ocean at the End of the Lane for this week.

Week 7: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

This week I had a chance to revisit Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. It was quite the nostalgia trip, as I read some of the books in elementary school and enjoyed watching the movies as they were released in theaters. By rereading this first book, I was once again reminded just how impactful the Harry Potter series has been on society.

     One very popular element of the series is the concept of the four houses. These alignments are so well known that even people who have never read the books may have a “house” they identify with. I believe this in part due to peoples’ love of categorization and belonging. To know your house is to know what kind of person you are and who your family is. In this first book, all the characters are sorted into their houses by the Sorting Hat. The Sorting Hat is a magical, talking witch hat that inherently knows where its wearer belongs. When Harry Potter puts on the hat, the two have a bit of a deliberation. While the hat seems to believe Harry would thrive in Slytherin, Harry begs it to reconsider. This is due to his preconception that Slytherin is an evil house. Regardless of the truth to that belief, Harry is put in the house of his parents, Gryffindor. As the series goes on, we learn that many of the stereotypes seem to be true. Gryffindors are almost always heroic, and in turn Slytherins are often wicked.

     For the most part, this is a series heavily based on the concept of good versus evil. There are a few characters who blur this line, such as Severus Snape. Harry himself struggles with his connection to evil. As we have discussed in our class, good and evil are not nearly as clear cut as many stories present them. Just like in the real world there are more than four personality types. This simplification makes sense to children, as it does to Harry and his friends at the beginning of the series. However, as readers grow older we are forced to recognize the nuance of human behavior and traits. No one in real life can be completely classified as good, evil, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. There are dynamic layers and motivations behind all of our personalities and actions, and that is someone we all must recognize.

Week 6: Troll Bridge

This week I decided to go for one of the shorter reads, and read the short story “Troll Bridge” by Terry Pratchett. Even though this piece was written in 1995, the humor is somewhat timeless. As long as technology advances and society evolves, there will be people who long for the old way of doing things. The main characters in this story, Cohen and Barbarian and Mica the troll, both long nostalgically for the life they knew growing up. Cohen is a classic “hero” type who has always wanted to defeat a bridge troll, however it has become nearly impossible for him to find a bridge that still has a troll underneath it. Most trolls have moved onto better lives in the city. Mica has held onto the tradition of bridge trolls, and desires for his son to take his place as guardian of the bridge after he’s gone. Both these lifestyle choices have left the characters in rough situations. Their refusal to “move with the times” has left Cohen without any money, and the troll family with no treasure and few prospects for their many troll children.  Cohen’s talking horse and Mica’s troll wife both criticize these decisions, citing them as the reason for their bad situations.

After reading this story I am left thinking about what the message is. There is certainly value to maintaining heritage and tradition, however stanchly refusing to advance can put the younger generations at a disadvantage. Mica explains that many of his troll brothers have taken up alternate occupations, and while he turns his nose up at them, there is no denying these troll families are not struggling in the way that Mica’s is. There has to be a happy balance that can be found between these two conflicting mindsets. The future comes whether we like it or not, so resisting those changes completely is not wise or feasible. However, as mentioned in the beginning and end of the story, the tales of the past are preserved in the culture through storytelling and oral tradition. In that way, the adventure and heroes of this fantasy world’s history will never truly die.

Week 5: Akata Witch

So far, my favorite thing I have read for this class is Nnedi Okorafor’s novel Akata Witch. Something about the world and characters of this book really brought me back to the kind of literature I enjoyed in elementary and middle school. The protagonist, Sunny, is exactly the kind of character I would have looked up to when I was a kid her age. She is bold, courageous, and intelligent. Despite being thrust into a world of magic she doesn’t understand, Sunny is able to awaken her true power and find the spirit face that has always dwelled inside. Initially, she perceived her albinism as a disadvantage in her life. However, after the learning the ways of the Leopard People, Sunny discovers that it is this unique trait that determines her special set of juju abilities. I really liked this element of the book’s world, as it takes insecurities and turns them into strengths. Another example is the character Orlu, who derived his power from his dyslexia. I imagine this would make a lot of young readers wonder which trait of theirs would manifest as magical powers if they were a character in this story, and what area of magic would they specialize in. It might allow them to view their personal "disadvantages" in a different light.

While there is a relatively balanced mix of male and female characters in Akata Witch, it is the women who really shine. Chichi and Sunny form a unique friendship throughout the story that was very fun to watch develop. While things were initially tense between the two, it is Chichi who initially brings Sunny into the world of Leopard People. That is only the first of many instances of female characters helping each other out. Along the way, many adult characters are introduced as scholars and mentors, like Taiwo and Sugar Cream. These women possess great wisdom and power, as they are two of only four Leopard People in the area to reach the fourth level of juju ability. Each has an important lesson to offer. During the students’ visit to Taiwo, she teaches them the importance of treating all life with humanity and respect, even her giant pet bird. It is these positive messages and amazing world-building that made this a great read with so many interesting characters and dynamics. I am glad this class gave me to opportunity to experience the world of Akata Witch.

Week 4: Annihilation

     I was somewhat familiar with the world of Annihilation after having seen the movie in theaters a while back. However, reading the original novel by Jeff Vandermeer was a totally different experience. If I had to choose between the two, I would probably say I enjoyed the movie a bit more. This is definitely because of the visuals and the characterization. The movie characters have a lot more defined personalities than their book counterparts (who aren’t even assigned names). However, I do not intend this to be a criticism of the book. I can acknowledge that the movie’s choice was one to help the viewer feel more attached and comfortable with the characters. That choice served to make the film more appealing to a general audience. But the ambiguity of the book characters adds to the overall strange feeling of this story. Just like how the biologist does not need to find spiritual or deep meaning in the existence of the anomalies of area X, the readers are ultimately not given the satisfaction of “clear meaning” to nearly anything that occurs in the book.

     Something I really enjoyed about the book was the fascinating descriptions of area X. The way in which the tower and the living words are explained allowed me to envision it so clearly. Since we are experiencing area X through the eyes of the biologist, the elements were described in the detailed way, and with a sense of awe and scientific admiration. The memory about the biologist’s overgrown pool reminded me of my own childhood, where I had a very strong interest in science, animals, and the natural world. Despite the horror elements of Annihilation, I was able to get wrapped up in a feeling of discovery and excitement, which made reading this novel a fun and interesting experience.

Week 3: Kwaidan

Kwaidan is a collection of Japanese mythology and folklore assembled and retold by Lafcadio Hearn. Before reading, I had vague knowledge of many of the ghosts and creatures mentioned in this anthology. It was really interesting to actually read the original lore behind all of these characters. I had some misconceptions cleared up and also learned a lot of new stories that I had never heard of before. A common thread I noticed throughout a lot of the stories was a fascinating relationship between women and nature. In Oshidori, a duck appears in the form of a woman to the hunter who killed her mate, weeping over his death. In The Story of Aoyagi, a beautiful woman is revealed to actually be the soul of a tree. She perishes when her tree is cut down. When I began to read this story I had initially assumed that the woman’s unnatural beauty was an indication of some sort of evil trick, however the reveal of her true identity emphasized the Japanese acknowledgment of the unmatched beauty of nature itself. Finally, Yuki Onna, while not being the literal embodiment of an animal or plant, is a sort of representation of the cruelness of winter. Like many mysterious women in these stories, she is beautiful to behold. Descriptions of her white face and icy expression resemble how someone might describe a fresh snowscape. However, she uses her frozen breath to kill an old man while he sleeps in a shed during a snowstorm.  In this sense, she is a representation of winter; beautiful to behold, but ultimately deadly if you do not have protection from its coldness. 

Overall, the women in these tales are seldom what they initially seem to be. They are rarely the main character in a given story (with the exception of A Mirror and a Bell, and A Dead Secret). More often than not, these women are used to comment on man’s relationship with nature. In Japanese culture, nature is clearly something to be respected and preserved. The woman in Oshidori is used to humanize animals, and the intention of the story seems to be to make a hunter think twice before firing his bow at a living creature. Yuki Onna warns of the danger of the elements, and Aoyagi evokes a heavy grief over the cutting down of a tree. I am very glad I chose to read Kwaidan, because of what it reveals about Japanese fears and values regarding the natural world and our relationship with it. 

Week 2: Interview with the Vampire

Last week, I had the chance to read Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. Having seen the movie once before, I was really looking forward to what the original source material had to offer and I was not disappointed. There is so much more depth written here than is able to be portrayed in a single film, as is the case with the majority of movie/book pairings. I really enjoyed getting to understand more about Louis and Lestat, their relationship, and motivations. As I mentioned in class, the paragraph that explains Lestat’s desire to seek revenge on life itself was particularly telling. Lestat made the choice to seize the power that came with his transformation into a vampire and use it to fulfill any whim or desire he may have. He kills indiscriminately and his favorite victims are the ones who have the most to lose. Somehow, taking the life of an important or well-loved human thrills Lestat like nothing else.

     This is seen through his aggressive pursuit of Babette’s brother. The boy’s role as the sole heir to his plantation and the provider for his group of sisters made him the perfect candidate. Perhaps Lestat choses victims like him out of envy for their value in life. Maybe it just makes him feel powerful and ruthless, knowing the impact of his victim’s death will be felt by many. And maybe it is some combination of both. Lestat is a character who really highlights the parasitic nature of the vampire. He sucks the literal blood and life out of people, with no regard for anyone but himself. He even latches onto Louis and his home for no reason besides his own personal gain. He is the perfect foil to Louis, and his never ending selfishness made him a very frustrating, albeit entertaining and interesting character.

Week 1: Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a story full of gothic elements and questions about life, death, and morality. I did not realize just how many preconceived notions I held about the story until I actually had the chance to sit down and read the book. My thoughts on Frankenstein had been formed from an amalgamation of references in popular media, usually kid-friendly media that portrayed the monster as a friendly, green giant named “Frankenstein.” However, I quickly learned this story is a showcase of very dark, gothic themes. It features death and violence, the downfall of a protagonist through his own actions, a threatening villain, mystery and gloom, and many more important staples of the genre.

When reading the book, I was surprised to find that Victor was a clean-cut, young college student, and not the white-haired, insane scientist I had imagined. He is a studious and ambitious character, albeit careless with his research. I believe this is one of the first major occurrences of a character who struggles with the consequences of “playing God” through an attempted resurrection. His story reminded me of the famous quote from Jurassic Park, “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.” While Victor succeeds in his quest to bring the monster to life, he is horrified by his creation and decides to run from it. This action characterized Victor as very irresponsible and even cowardly. The repercussions of this abandonment are tragic, and leave the reader unsure of who to feel more sympathetic towards by the end of the novel.

The story of the monster himself was another element I had very much mischaracterized in my mind before reading. I had always assumed he was a well-intentioned character, who simply did not understand his own strength or his society in general. However, I was very surprised to find that throughout the book, the monster becomes educated and intelligent through both the observation of the De Lacey family and the books he learns to read. He experiences constant, violent rejection from the humans he encounters, and ultimately makes the decision to become the monster everyone thinks he is by killing Victor’s loved ones. This novel left me pondering the question of responsibility. Who is more to blame for this tragedy, the neglectful creator or the creature who chooses violence?