The American Dream, A Retread: May Books

[ase]

This has been moldering for almost half of June; I'm just going to post what I've got. Only one cut, for length and frank discussion of stuff that happens in the third book of a trilogy. So you might call it a spoiler.

Mars trilogy (Kim Stanley Robinson): Reread. For something like the fifth time. This would be one of my "formative influence" books; I read it at thirteen-ish and keep coming back to it. The first two books fight it out for "favorite KSR novel"; the third lags because of the lack of conflict. The trilogy's objectives are more or less accomplished by about a third of the way through, and the rest of the book has several drags on the narrative: the "where in the world solar system is Hiroko Ai?"plot; Zoe, who just annoys me; and the presentation of a bunch of different exploratory Martian cultures, but minimal acknowledgment of friction between, say, the tech-heavy Da Vinci crowd and the hunter-gatherer types. (My big personal issue with the sociopolitical setup of the trilogy is the lack of concern about educational inequalities: how can the kids of the hunter-gatherers can compete academically with the middle class Hellas suburb crowd? The hunter-gatherers seem to have made it harder for their kids to apply to the top schools and co-ops, to my eye. Which sets up a basis for social stratification in the new society, which is supposed to be getting away from that sort of thing. This annoys me.)

Having complained a great deal about one aspect of the trilogy, I feel the need to point out that when it's not tripping my ed switch it's really, really, good. KSR does a wonderful job of evoking what Mars would look like, how it would feel to live on Mars, and also creates a number of compelling characters. His future history and societies are engagingly developed, and KSR isn't afraid to kill off characters in the service of the plot. I may have philosophical disagreements with the third book, but the trilogy as a whole is well constructed and always leaves me crying, "wait! You can't stop now! I want more! Please?"

Random comment: was skimming Cyteen last night and came across a quote: "The interests of all humans are interlocked . . . and politics is no more than a temporal expression of social mechanics." KSR draws optimistic social systems; Cherryh likes to play with the places where the system breaks down. I would love to see both of them on a panel discussing political systems in SF.

American Gods (Neil Gaiman): Reread. Archetypes, coin tricks, and other deceptions. Gaiman's style is distinctive, and I'm still not sure if I like it or not. But I keep reading his books, which must count for something.

Two-Bit Heroes (Doris Egan): Reread. Theodora and Ran Cormallon's sort-of honeymoon is derailed when they're swept up by a band of outlaws in the Northwest Sector of Ivory, the only planet where magic is known to work. The Ivory trilogy (The Gate of Ivory, Two-Bit Heroes, and Guilt-Edged Ivory) is comfort reading for me. Easy prose, vivid characterization, scattered literary references, and occasional use of magic to remind the reader that yes, this is an sf/f novel. Two-Bit Heroes features adaptation to the bandit life, calculated application of the Robin Hood myth, and some very effective "yes, it's all fun and games until they stick your head in a noose" moments. Doris Egan (tightropegirl) hasn't written any fiction in about a decade, being employed in Hollywood and having (apparently) no time for it, but if she ever does I may have to add an author to my "buy on sight" list.

Digital Photography for Dummies (Julie Adair King): Not a reread. Buying and using your first digital camera, with trial image processing software and suggestions on how to use it. I already had the camera, so I skimmed to the "using it" section, and have enough experience with photoshop that a lot of the post-production stuff was review, but the "point and shoot" sections were written in a clear and entertaining style. I'm only getting around to trying the shareware CD today (6/14), since I suspect there's at least one addictive, expensive program in there, which I don't need.

Comments

It's called a utopia for a reason.

[herewiss13.livejournal.com]

but minimal acknowledgment of friction between, say, the tech-heavy Da Vinci crowd and the hunter-gatherer types...lack of concern about educational inequalities

The Friction _is_ minimal because th H-Gs realize that it's the DaVinci crowd which _enables_ them to live the way they do. And it's not as if the DaVincis are strip mining and logging, what-have-you. They are relatively _low_impact_ (when not constructing moholes and the like). Also, given the extreme social flexibility and long lifespan, I imagine quite a few martians cycle back and forth between tech and no-tech.

As for education, to call the system distributed and wireless would be a gross understatement. IIRC there is no mandated or formal schooling (at least not until you hit higher education), so its all student-directed learning, which lessens the advantage of the city kids. And then there's the fact that I really _doubt_ that the H-G lifestyle is 100% luddite. There's probably some sort of interactive link at the various huts and waystations for kids to use. Nothing fancy, perhaps and limited access to media entertainment, but quite good enough for learning.

I may be fitting things just a tad to my own preconceptions, but if you're going to have a _utopia_, you might as well rationalize it so that it really _is_ a utopia. And KSR certainly sets things up in a such a way as to make the justifications easier than they might be.

Re: It's called a utopia for a reason. (Part 1)

[ase.livejournal.com]

I, um, got a little enthusiastic while responding, so this is coming in two parts. Here's the first half.

The Friction _is_ minimal because th H-Gs realize that it's the DaVinci crowd which _enables_ them to live the way they do.

Possibly. But the driving motives of both groups are so different I can see some friction arising from basic incomprehension. "You spent three days stalking a deer why?" "Plasma, parts per billion, quantum singularities, whatever. If this gets you people excited you need better parties." There's one scene in Blue Mars where the H-Gs go into town and get in at least one squabble with the locals, which is what got me thinking about this. Why don't we see more of the "techno" versus "in touch with nature" snobbery?

And it's not as if the DaVincis are strip mining and logging, what-have-you. They are relatively _low_impact_ (when not constructing moholes and the like).

They went back to being fairly innocuous after the war (with the ground-to-air missiles, knocking Deimos out of orbit, & Sax's little "Johnny Fireseed" project in Kasei), yeah. Except for the fundamental impacts of theoretical and/or advanced science on technology, economics and the world. But that's unlikely to harm the H-Gs directly.

Also, given the extreme social flexibility and long lifespan, I imagine quite a few martians cycle back and forth between tech and no-tech.

The possibility of that flexibility moderates a lot of my objections. If you live (and remember) 200 vigorous years, it's likely you'll get bored with your first career (and your second, and possibly your third) and try a number of things during your life. So you may start out in a small town on Oceanus Borealis, attend college and work on the Hellas Sea project for a few years, discover an interest in painting and join an art co-op for a few decades, get drafted for your turn in the legislature and realize you're fascinated by working with the law... and so on.

As for education, to call the system distributed and wireless would be a gross understatement.

That would make enormous sense, and be very cool. Especially with the proposed AI tech, which is (IIRC) really high quality stuff.

IIRC there is no mandated or formal schooling (at least not until you hit higher education), so its all student-directed learning, which lessens the advantage of the city kids.

Maybe. But there's a cultural gap there - the city kids are going to get environmental encouragement I don't think the H-Gs will. If you're living in a town, there's a lot more stimulus to learn what the street signs say.

(This can, of course, be argued the other way: that the H-Gs may rely on maps and so have a huge impetus to learn to read them. There may be other benefits to the H-G lifestyle that moderate the ed gap, too; leadership or self-reliance skills that encourage the kids to really hit the books once they decide to attend Pavonis Mons College or wherever.)

Re: It's called a utopia for a reason. (Part 2)

[ase.livejournal.com]

And then there's the fact that I really _doubt_ that the H-G lifestyle is 100% luddite. There's probably some sort of interactive link at the various huts and waystations for kids to use.

It wasn't shown at all in the books; that could be PoV or author oversight or a reflection of how "back to nature" the H-Gs are.

It's very probable that there's a lot we the readers haven't seen: the H-Gs are living such a radically back-to-basics lifestyle that they may have needed a governmental okay on risk awareness, education, environmental impact and other factors before they could move into the bush, and that's when the education issue was addressed.

I may be fitting things just a tad to my own preconceptions, but if you're going to have a _utopia_, you might as well rationalize it so that it really _is_ a utopia. And KSR certainly sets things up in a such a way as to make the justifications easier than they might be.

True. I'm a bit cynical, and like to pick stuff apart, find points of potential weakness and conflict. The big problem I find in KSR's setup is that the educational system is only briefly and vaugely addressed; if you discover you hate what you're doing, will your co-op pay to retrain you or do you have to come up with the money yourself? Are there government loans or grants? How is it ensured that all citizens get an adequate education, and what is done when a co-op fails to provide such for the members' kids? And so forth.

Conflict breeds interesting stories. I'd love to see this stuff addressed, if KSR ever wants to play in the Mars universe again.