Second Breakfast

I really like Dan Simmons writing. His “Hyperion/Endymion” books were wonderfully inventive, huge space operas that were a great deal of fun to explore. He likes big ideas, and he writes the kind of books that require a Dramatis Personae to keep track of. Simmons also does horror well, and his Carrion Comfort is really quite disturbing. Simmons is the kind of guy who could take notes on his own evisceration.

This book, which is continued in the recently-published Olympos, is a totally cool, literary geek-fest. You’ve got:

• A pair of sentient robots on a mission to Mars who are obsessed with Proust and Shakespeare.
• The seige of Troy taking place on the plains of a terraformed Mars.
• A resurrected college literature professor who has to report on the seige, and how it deviates from the Iliad’s account.
• The entire pantheon of Greek gods running the show.
• A far-future earth where a pampered and dwindling humanity watches the events on Mars from afar.

Simmons combines ideas and literary material in exciting ways, and his books are more idea books than
character books. That said, he draws his characters in vivid, and sometimes satisfying ways. What I found
particularly effective here was his use of pacing — there is a central Big Idea in this book that drives the whole plot, and he does a great job of unwrapping this idea just enough to keep things moving and making sense.

A fun, stimulating, and satisfying read.

So this has been blogged and reported about to death already, but I need to weigh in. Our friend Pat Robertson, always a font of crazy rantings, but this week he called for the assasination of Venezulean president Hugo Chavez on his “700 Club” program. This has of course led to a groundswell of outrage from the left, and predictable backpedaling from the right. As John Stewart pointed out, the response seems to be one of three categories: 1) dismiss the message (”What Pat really meant was…”), 2) dismiss the messenger (”Pat’s time really has passed. No one listens to him anymore.”), or 3) dismiss reason and critical thinking entirely.

Now Robertson has already apologized for his statement, or at least clarified his intentions. He’s still a crazy bastard as far as I’m concerned, and a dangerous one.

Let’s hear what “Reverend Pat” has had to say over the years (taken from “Postive Atheism’s Big Scary List of Pat Robertson Quotations“):

“The Constitution of the United States, for instance, is a marvelous document for self-government by the Christian people. But the minute you turn the document into the hands of non-Christian people and atheistic people they can use it to destroy the very foundation of our society. And that’s what’s been happening.” — The 700 Club television program, December 30, 1981

“You say you’re supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist. I can love the people who hold false opinions but I don’t have to be nice to them.” — The 700 Club television program, January 14, 1991

If the widespread practice of homosexuality will bring about the destruction of your nation, if it will bring about terrorist bombs, if it’ll bring about earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor, it isn’t necessarily something we ought to open our arms to.

I would warn Orlando that you’re right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don’t think I’d be waving those flags in God’s face if I were you. — The 700 Club television program, August 6, 1998, on the occasion of the Orlando, Florida, Gay Pride Festival 199

I think “one man, one vote,” just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise. There needs to be some kind of protection for the minority which the white people represent now, a minority, and they need and have a right to demand a protection of their rights. — Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, March 18, 1992, suggesting that South African white people’s votes ought to count more than other votes because they are in the minority

This is my favorite, well-known gem:

“The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians.”–fundraising letter, 1992

Do Pat’s listeners and followers actually listen to what he’s saying? Do they question it? Do they think he’s at all crazy? I hope so.

This is Reynolds fourth book that I have read, but definitely not his strongest novel to date. Unlike some of his previous books, which have complex, tight plotting, this book moves in a much more straightforward manner, using Reynolds’ typical approach of setting two or three plotlines in motion and bringing them together to create the central tension in the novel. I hate trying to summarize sci-fi plots (read the Amazon review if you’re curious), but this one includes: a nanotechological holocaust (”nanocaust”), an ancient wormhole network of unknown origin, a “copy” of 1950’s earth with a slightly altered historical timeline set in Paris, and too many Casablanca references.

There’s a fair bit not to like about this novel, especially compared to some of his better books like Revelation Space. That said, its an enjoyable enough beach read that I really didn’t want to put it down once it got going. I don’t think that this book is going to teach you anything about the nature of the universe or human behaviour, but its rather fun.

Joe My God writes in his blog about “What is a Husband?”, reflecting on the shifting terminology surrounding gay relationships. Are we lovers? partners? boyfriends? husbands? “special friends”?

My now-husband and I had a wierd moment with the “partner” problem at my grandmother’s “visitation” (a pleasant euphamism if there ever was one) several years ago.

My father and I are not at all close, and the occasion of my grandmother’s death was the first time I had seen him in two or three years. When I introduced Alan as my “partner” he didn’t blink an eye, but he also had more important things on his mind, and I don’t know if he got it or not.

My stepmother arrives somewhat later, much to the distress of the rest of the family, who consider her a cross between the Wicked Witch of the West and Hannibal Lecter. I greet her, and introduce Alan as my “partner”:

Me: “Julie, this is my partner, Alan.”
She: “Oh, business partner?”
Me: “Oh no. We live together. We own a house together in Chelsea.”
She: “Oh, that’s great. You know, when I was in college my girlfriends and I lived together to share expenses.”
Me: “Right.”
She: “So, you must have the girls over all the time, huh?”
Me: “You know, I think its time that we were going.”

I make a dash for the coats, leaving Alan in Julie’s considerable, jungle-red clutches.

She turns to Alan and repeats, “So, you must have the girls over all the time, huh?”

Alan: “Not as much as you might think.”

Denial is a wide river. I’m still paying for abandoning him to the stepmonster.

This is Dorsey’s second book that I have read. I enjoyed Black Wine, which focused on feminist themes as it follows three women through their lives in a fantasy-inspired milieu. Dorsey’s writing is tight and lyrical, and her characters tend to inhabit the knife’s edge between grief and joy. Although well-known in Canada, she is relatively unknown in the US.

Her second book, A Paradigm of Earth, I think is even more successful. The novel follows Morgan Shelby, a woman struggling with profound grief after the sudden loss of both of her parents. Set in a dystopic Canadian future, Morgan is an outcast in every sense of the word: relationally, sexually, spiritually. Into her life comes “Blue”, an alien sent to earth to learn about human culture. Blue was sent “emptied”, and Shelby, who had spent her career working with severely disabled children, is tapped by the government to teach the alien, who possesses no language or other skills. Blue develops quickly, escapes his government facility, lands on Morgan’s doorstep, and they soon develop a deep relationship. In the midst of this occur several unexplained deaths and murders, and the iminent departure of Blue back to those who sent him.

This novel primarily moves around Morgan’s inner life, and her transformation from someone who is unable to love or care for herself or other people to someone who is intimately engaged in the world around her. I had a difficult time with Dorsey’s attempt to establish Morgan’s initial condition (I kept asking myself “Why the hell is this woman so sad?”), but the last two-thirds of the novel are quite compelling and moving. The novel dwells on themes and has a tone that will be familiar to readers of LeGuin and L’Engle (and Dorsey acknowledges LeGuin as an inspiration, and she founded Tesseract Press (now part of Edge Publishing). If you enjoy well-written, feminist science fiction this is a good read.