tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post558102364855922263..comments2024-02-11T15:29:31.409-05:00Comments on Richard's Pretension: Grownup DystopiasRichard Bellushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108081864942272619noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post-33344125814299784182016-02-22T23:51:21.912-05:002016-02-22T23:51:21.912-05:00Good call. Considering what the members of the pri...Good call. Considering what the members of the priesthood of Cybele (the ancient one, not Angela Carter's character) did to themselves with the tool kit of the day, it's amazing that many of them survived to do their job.Richard Bellushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10108081864942272619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post-41588173712197678632016-02-22T23:34:58.229-05:002016-02-22T23:34:58.229-05:00Wow Carter's book sounds a bit like a the fema...Wow Carter's book sounds a bit like a the female version of "Zardoz", or maybe that is just the 1977 date sticking out at me. I saw that they were worshiping Cybele and said, "oh boy Evelyn is in for a change". Sounds really intriguing, I might have to check that one out.Roman J. Martelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09545497713474664555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post-61475385586344321772016-02-20T14:58:10.283-05:002016-02-20T14:58:10.283-05:00No, I haven't read Delany -- somewhat surprisi...No, I haven't read Delany -- somewhat surprisingly since is is from the era of my peak sf consumption. I've heard of him here and there.Richard Bellushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10108081864942272619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post-21580323669363615962016-02-20T14:45:28.137-05:002016-02-20T14:45:28.137-05:00Both authors write elegantly: all the more remarka...Both authors write elegantly: all the more remarkable in the case of Nabokov. English is Nabokov’s third language (after Russian and French), yet the number of 20th century native English-speakers whose prose is better can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And there is something to be said for someone who can write a book (“Lolita”) that offends readers at opposite ends of the philosophical spectrum, yet prompted Dorothy Parker to write in her review, “His command of the language is absolute, and his Lolita is a fine book, a distinguished book—all right, then—a great book.”<br /><br />Most of Angela Carter’s scifi edges over into the surreal, but never so far that it ceases to make sense. Carter had a good classical education: something one no longer can take for granted, even among those with doctorates in the humanities or social sciences. The sexual themes she explores are deeply influenced by myth – and by psychoanalysis. It is really good stuff, but a middle-schooler/high-schooler accustomed to YA fiction with simple sentences and no “SAT words” might find it challenging.<br />Richard Bellushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10108081864942272619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post-37098801563572923842016-02-20T12:43:09.448-05:002016-02-20T12:43:09.448-05:00The Passion of New Eve sounds as surreal as a Dali...The Passion of New Eve sounds as surreal as a Dali painting. I guess Carter was just trying to say something about gender and roles dovetailed into a Sci-Fi yarn. I wondered if you'd ever read anything by Samuel Delany? I've only read one by him and I think it was Nova, which by his standards was a fairly straight ahead space opera. <br /><br />Nabokov seems closer to classical SF. Both seemed interesting though. I can understand the need for backwashing the brain ever so often. El Voxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05985563041511492981noreply@blogger.com