6.9.25. police are about to start making arrests in DTLA (again)(outside the metro detention center on alameda). crowds have been gathering for five days near federal buildings protesting while being antagonized by pigs, tear gassed, struck with rubber bullets, and ultimately arrested. every boost helps.
one thing that really annoys me (potentially enough to drop the whole story over it) is when someone creates a sci-fi/fantasy culture that's matriarchal, and then goes and gives a 'reason' for the matriarchy. like oooh the women can do [x magic] or have psychic powers, and men don't, so they're stronger! makes it seem like patriarchy is the Natural State Of The World written into our biology, and therefore upsetting it should mean women have some inherent superiority this time (instead of men, like they do in real life, apparently). 😐 ok well i don't think that's true.
we NEED to make poly shipping more popular. instead of ousting that woman from a canon relationship with one of them for your man/man ship to work, consider keeping her there for 10x the laughter and drama. also, improves viewing experience and increases interest from bisexuals like myself
god 50 years ago you really could go see a trashy b-movie and it still had gorgeous cinematography, lighting and set design, fun costumes and makeup, and now a hollywood production could have 80 million dollars thrown at it only for it to look like a drawn-out tv commercial for laundry detergent
The Beginner's Guide to Medieval Arthuriana is now live at the Arthurian Preservation Project website!
Just starting out and don't know where to begin?
Anyone new to Arthurian Legends will here find guidance on introductory Medieval texts (and some more recently written). The stories are grouped into sections to help you decide where to begin.
I've officially started my read of Klara and the Sun today and oh wow I think this book did more of a number on past-Vee's writing style than I realized! Ishiguro writes Klara's internal dialogue in a very telling tone; she tells the audience exactly what she sees, but her exposition doesn't give us total clarity to the world around her. It's a very engaging twist on expository prose that obscures the narrator. Klara's far more concerned with making a matter-of-fact judgement on what's happening externally than she is in giving us her internal perspective.
Now, I'm admittedly only 20 pages in, and my last read of the book was at least 4 years ago, so maybe this style will grate on me as we go. But currently I'm very invested in this duality of perspectives Ishiguro is setting up between the external and "objective" and the internal and "subjective."
Alright, made it to 60 yesterday. Gonna parse out some thoughts before I tackle another 30 or so pages. Spoilers since it's hard to really not talk about plot-relevant scenes and themes from here-on out.
If the introduction of Sun as the natural source of energy for non-living beings didn't give it away, the move-in of the "Cootings Machine" and its detrimental impact on the Sun's presence (who is hailed as a masculine, almost deistic, icon by Klara) tells you exactly what the novel's major conflict will be. This puts the story in the unique category of the recently coined "cli-fi" (climate science fiction) genre, which the history and parameters are worth their own discussion. And with the angle of disability included in this conflict through Josie's "mysterious illness," you're not left struggling to assume what Ishiguro's main thesis is.
(I'd like to note that the nature of Josie's illness is further expanded upon, but not yet properly named. The title is one given from Klara, who is deliberately kept uninformed by the rest of the cast as to Josie's health.)
My main topic of interest is on the Cootings Machine, introduced about 25-ish pages into my edition of the book. As the book is told through Klara's obscured prose, we don't really get a summary of what the machine does beside pollute the air (and I don't think the next description of CM appears until the book's later half). But Klara puts CM in total opposition to the Sun; an antagonistic force that threatens to hinder the lives of those "nourished" by sunlight. A term that very implicitly includes living and non-living objects.
Looking up the Cootings Machine online, I can't seem to find what the hell it's supposed to be beyond the Sun's narrative opposite. But, as I've talked about in the previous post, the novel is deliberate in its choice to omit details. It's an aspect of Klara's character that personifies her through de-familiarization of a reality we as readers are familiar with. Though I have mixed opinions on where the prose shines and hinders the setting, it is done with intent, and the Cootings Machine is an example where vagueness is intended to engage readers.
And, putting aside all the other large themes for a moment, Ishiguro's novel is setting up a very interesting conflict between the familiar and unknown; what we consider familiar, and how language conveys these traits. This duality in particular is what I want to emphasize in my own read-through, as the reader's relation to the familiar and unknown is the crux which many utopian novels are built upon.
Taking the novel's style of prose into consideration, our constant fluctuation of (un)familiarity with Klara's world asks us to reconsider our relation to the (un)familiar status of our own realities.
In this bright moment between a rough holiday and a mild headache, I bring to you another set of messy thoughts re; Klara and the Sun. Spoilers below for prospective readers.
For anyone who just wants to know my general thoughts so far; my opinions of the novel's first half are very positive! Klara's unfamiliar prose did a great job introducing us to the setting, allowing me to not get too comfy with topics and conflicts that the rest of the cast dismissed as familiar or normal. Ishiguro hits you with the main themes right out the gate, but the censored dialogue of the cast really keys you in to the conflict that's preventing any sort of development within this dystopia. People know there's something wrong, but no one wants to admit their role in it.
And I say dystopia loosely, since the full extent of the setting's conflicts are not fully written about. As most of our cast consists of upper-class citizens, the impacts of the world are not as strongly felt upon them. But through some characters and hidden narrative points, I understand that Ishiguro does intend to highlight the setting's more negative impacts quite soon. I'll have more of an opinion on the novel's handling of classism once I finish it's back half. Further thoughts below the spoiler.
Now officially at the halfway point of the book (c. 155 pages), we're starting to gear up for a lot more overt focus on the role of The Sun itself. Or more accurately, the role Klara perceives he will have in Josie's recovery. It's established right out the gate that Klara's own ability to function is reliant on solar power; this, alongside with a few standout events in Part One, informs her belief that humans also require sunlight to operate at their best.
Notably, Klara is not deeply informed on the functions of the human body, nor how sunlight is meant to benefit us. And, as a reader, it's stupidly infuriating to see the whole cast deny to inform Klara of anything critical, only to turn around and ask her to answer all sorts of questions she's expected to know as a working robot. Omittance is the key to a lot of the novel's conflicts, and it works wonderfully to support the book's major thesis (theses? plural?) Education, information, and isolation are major factors in the world Ishiguro has built, and Klara's lack of information reflects the willful or enforced ignorance towards systemic topics that the cast is not quite ready to tackle.
Circling back to the role of the Sun in all of this; Klara has very little information in regards to the Sun but puts her whole faith into its potential. Their relationship is overtly spiritual, arguably religious, but I'm not confident in tying it down to any organized religion quite yet. The use of masculine pronouns has me leaning towards Abrahamic, but I don't wish to speak with certainty on that for several reasons. Rather, I believe Ishiguro keeps terms concerning the Sun's role vague with intent for readers to focus away from tying its symbolism to any particular faith.
Rather, Klara's perspective speaks strongly to the practice of utopian mapping. A topic worth it's own discussion (and something I very much wish to write about in an essay), utopian-mapping more or less refers to a practice in utopian/dystopian fiction where the rumored "perfect society" does not exist as a physical setting, but rather an objective to be achieved within a hypothetical future both within and beyond the realm of the novel. It's a topic that's a bit hard to justify solely with the image of the Sun as said ideal, but as we approach some major sun-adjacent locations later in the book, it's an argument that I think has some meat to it.
I've officially started my read of Klara and the Sun today and oh wow I think this book did more of a number on past-Vee's writing style than I realized! Ishiguro writes Klara's internal dialogue in a very telling tone; she tells the audience exactly what she sees, but her exposition doesn't give us total clarity to the world around her. It's a very engaging twist on expository prose that obscures the narrator. Klara's far more concerned with making a matter-of-fact judgement on what's happening externally than she is in giving us her internal perspective.
Now, I'm admittedly only 20 pages in, and my last read of the book was at least 4 years ago, so maybe this style will grate on me as we go. But currently I'm very invested in this duality of perspectives Ishiguro is setting up between the external and "objective" and the internal and "subjective."
Alright, made it to 60 yesterday. Gonna parse out some thoughts before I tackle another 30 or so pages. Spoilers since it's hard to really not talk about plot-relevant scenes and themes from here-on out.
If the introduction of Sun as the natural source of energy for non-living beings didn't give it away, the move-in of the "Cootings Machine" and its detrimental impact on the Sun's presence (who is hailed as a masculine, almost deistic, icon by Klara) tells you exactly what the novel's major conflict will be. This puts the story in the unique category of the recently coined "cli-fi" (climate science fiction) genre, which the history and parameters are worth their own discussion. And with the angle of disability included in this conflict through Josie's "mysterious illness," you're not left struggling to assume what Ishiguro's main thesis is.
(I'd like to note that the nature of Josie's illness is further expanded upon, but not yet properly named. The title is one given from Klara, who is deliberately kept uninformed by the rest of the cast as to Josie's health.)
My main topic of interest is on the Cootings Machine, introduced about 25-ish pages into my edition of the book. As the book is told through Klara's obscured prose, we don't really get a summary of what the machine does beside pollute the air (and I don't think the next description of CM appears until the book's later half). But Klara puts CM in total opposition to the Sun; an antagonistic force that threatens to hinder the lives of those "nourished" by sunlight. A term that very implicitly includes living and non-living objects.
Looking up the Cootings Machine online, I can't seem to find what the hell it's supposed to be beyond the Sun's narrative opposite. But, as I've talked about in the previous post, the novel is deliberate in its choice to omit details. It's an aspect of Klara's character that personifies her through de-familiarization of a reality we as readers are familiar with. Though I have mixed opinions on where the prose shines and hinders the setting, it is done with intent, and the Cootings Machine is an example where vagueness is intended to engage readers.
And, putting aside all the other large themes for a moment, Ishiguro's novel is setting up a very interesting conflict between the familiar and unknown; what we consider familiar, and how language conveys these traits. This duality in particular is what I want to emphasize in my own read-through, as the reader's relation to the familiar and unknown is the crux which many utopian novels are built upon.
Taking the novel's style of prose into consideration, our constant fluctuation of (un)familiarity with Klara's world asks us to reconsider our relation to the (un)familiar status of our own realities.
In this bright moment between a rough holiday and a mild headache, I bring to you another set of messy thoughts re; Klara and the Sun. Spoilers below for prospective readers.
For anyone who just wants to know my general thoughts so far; my opinions of the novel's first half are very positive! Klara's unfamiliar prose did a great job introducing us to the setting, allowing me to not get too comfy with topics and conflicts that the rest of the cast dismissed as familiar or normal. Ishiguro hits you with the main themes right out the gate, but the censored dialogue of the cast really keys you in to the conflict that's preventing any sort of development within this dystopia. People know there's something wrong, but no one wants to admit their role in it.
And I say dystopia loosely, since the full extent of the setting's conflicts are not fully written about. As most of our cast consists of upper-class citizens, the impacts of the world are not as strongly felt upon them. But through some characters and hidden narrative points, I understand that Ishiguro does intend to highlight the setting's more negative impacts quite soon. I'll have more of an opinion on the novel's handling of classism once I finish it's back half. Further thoughts below the spoiler.
Now officially at the halfway point of the book (c. 155 pages), we're starting to gear up for a lot more overt focus on the role of The Sun itself. Or more accurately, the role Klara perceives he will have in Josie's recovery. It's established right out the gate that Klara's own ability to function is reliant on solar power; this, alongside with a few standout events in Part One, informs her belief that humans also require sunlight to operate at their best.
Notably, Klara is not deeply informed on the functions of the human body, nor how sunlight is meant to benefit us. And, as a reader, it's stupidly infuriating to see the whole cast deny to inform Klara of anything critical, only to turn around and ask her to answer all sorts of questions she's expected to know as a working robot. Omittance is the key to a lot of the novel's conflicts, and it works wonderfully to support the book's major thesis (theses? plural?) Education, information, and isolation are major factors in the world Ishiguro has built, and Klara's lack of information reflects the willful or enforced ignorance towards systemic topics that the cast is not quite ready to tackle.
Circling back to the role of the Sun in all of this; Klara has very little information in regards to the Sun but puts her whole faith into its potential. Their relationship is overtly spiritual, arguably religious, but I'm not confident in tying it down to any organized religion quite yet. The use of masculine pronouns has me leaning towards Abrahamic, but I don't wish to speak with certainty on that for several reasons. Rather, I believe Ishiguro keeps terms concerning the Sun's role vague with intent for readers to focus away from tying its symbolism to any particular faith.
Rather, Klara's perspective speaks strongly to the practice of utopian mapping. A topic worth it's own discussion (and something I very much wish to write about in an essay), utopian-mapping more or less refers to a practice in utopian/dystopian fiction where the rumored "perfect society" does not exist as a physical setting, but rather an objective to be achieved within a hypothetical future both within and beyond the realm of the novel. It's a topic that's a bit hard to justify solely with the image of the Sun as said ideal, but as we approach some major sun-adjacent locations later in the book, it's an argument that I think has some meat to it.
I've officially started my read of Klara and the Sun today and oh wow I think this book did more of a number on past-Vee's writing style than I realized! Ishiguro writes Klara's internal dialogue in a very telling tone; she tells the audience exactly what she sees, but her exposition doesn't give us total clarity to the world around her. It's a very engaging twist on expository prose that obscures the narrator. Klara's far more concerned with making a matter-of-fact judgement on what's happening externally than she is in giving us her internal perspective.
Now, I'm admittedly only 20 pages in, and my last read of the book was at least 4 years ago, so maybe this style will grate on me as we go. But currently I'm very invested in this duality of perspectives Ishiguro is setting up between the external and "objective" and the internal and "subjective."
Alright, made it to 60 yesterday. Gonna parse out some thoughts before I tackle another 30 or so pages. Spoilers since it's hard to really not talk about plot-relevant scenes and themes from here-on out.
If the introduction of Sun as the natural source of energy for non-living beings didn't give it away, the move-in of the "Cootings Machine" and its detrimental impact on the Sun's presence (who is hailed as a masculine, almost deistic, icon by Klara) tells you exactly what the novel's major conflict will be. This puts the story in the unique category of the recently coined "cli-fi" (climate science fiction) genre, which the history and parameters are worth their own discussion. And with the angle of disability included in this conflict through Josie's "mysterious illness," you're not left struggling to assume what Ishiguro's main thesis is.
(I'd like to note that the nature of Josie's illness is further expanded upon, but not yet properly named. The title is one given from Klara, who is deliberately kept uninformed by the rest of the cast as to Josie's health.)
My main topic of interest is on the Cootings Machine, introduced about 25-ish pages into my edition of the book. As the book is told through Klara's obscured prose, we don't really get a summary of what the machine does beside pollute the air (and I don't think the next description of CM appears until the book's later half). But Klara puts CM in total opposition to the Sun; an antagonistic force that threatens to hinder the lives of those "nourished" by sunlight. A term that very implicitly includes living and non-living objects.
Looking up the Cootings Machine online, I can't seem to find what the hell it's supposed to be beyond the Sun's narrative opposite. But, as I've talked about in the previous post, the novel is deliberate in its choice to omit details. It's an aspect of Klara's character that personifies her through de-familiarization of a reality we as readers are familiar with. Though I have mixed opinions on where the prose shines and hinders the setting, it is done with intent, and the Cootings Machine is an example where vagueness is intended to engage readers.
And, putting aside all the other large themes for a moment, Ishiguro's novel is setting up a very interesting conflict between the familiar and unknown; what we consider familiar, and how language conveys these traits. This duality in particular is what I want to emphasize in my own read-through, as the reader's relation to the familiar and unknown is the crux which many utopian novels are built upon.
Taking the novel's style of prose into consideration, our constant fluctuation of (un)familiarity with Klara's world asks us to reconsider our relation to the (un)familiar status of our own realities.
I've officially started my read of Klara and the Sun today and oh wow I think this book did more of a number on past-Vee's writing style than I realized! Ishiguro writes Klara's internal dialogue in a very telling tone; she tells the audience exactly what she sees, but her exposition doesn't give us total clarity to the world around her. It's a very engaging twist on expository prose that obscures the narrator. Klara's far more concerned with making a matter-of-fact judgement on what's happening externally than she is in giving us her internal perspective.
Now, I'm admittedly only 20 pages in, and my last read of the book was at least 4 years ago, so maybe this style will grate on me as we go. But currently I'm very invested in this duality of perspectives Ishiguro is setting up between the external and "objective" and the internal and "subjective."
this might be my silly inconsequential take about this but I think you should support your friends' art endeavours in whatever ways you can and very vehemently
say nice shit about their art. fangirl about it, compliment the art fundamentals or the vibe or the color whatever. share their posts online
it used to be so easy to create an art community online in the past and now it's hellish. fight the algorithms. spam your friends art. they will either rlly appreciate the attention or straight up need it.
theres something slightly heartbreaking about the thought that the people around you don't care about your creations. by all means, you should create art for yourself but also, sometimes that art is a direct window into your inner world and when friends and loved ones ignore that it can sting pretty bad
that's it folks be nice to each other out there and fight to create meaningful communities
Hey, folks! Quick update to say that I'll be doing quite a bit of spec-fic reading again this summer in preparation for another essay. This blog will likely double as a mini-review and small thoughts page for the season as to encourage me to keep consistent with my work.
I'll still be reblogging my usual here, but consider this a more formal announcement that I won't be posting a lot of personal art here for a while as life gets hella busy.
