Dare To Be Different

    "Aye and Gomorrah," by Samuel R. Delany, explores themes of perversion, transgender, sexual identity, and more. Throughout the narrative we see the story's protagonist, a genderless "Spacer," receive harsh or even perverse treatment simply due to his lack of sexuality. These genderless Spacers are the story's physical representation of gender neutral peoples, uncertain of their own sexual identity, something the author and his wife were both sympathetic with during the story's conceptualization. While the story is science fiction, its focus is on the ideals behind the flashy spaceships and futuristic environment. 

           The spacers are neutered prior to puberty so as to avoid dangerous spacial radiation and such, but the focus of the story is how this affects their public or even private relations. Similar to the tribulations faced by an unfortunate amount of homosexual or transgender populous, the spacers of this story are subject to constant derogatory slander by much of the public. Even on the streets people will point and whisper about the "genderless freaks," an offensive term that is often used to harshly describe transgender peoples as well. This story is meant to convey morals of not just equality, but establishing ones self above the petty rumors and quick-to-judge offenders of the world around us; and to not be ashamed of being who you are regardless of what people may assume about you. Only you deserve to tell you whether to, how to, or why to establish a sexual identity. 

When Man Rules God

          In N. K. Jemisin's "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms," our protagonist, Yeine, must constantly  battle metaphorical, (and somewhat literal) demons from her and her mother's mysterious past while also contending against some of the most deviously plotting, conniving figures and deities of her world.


          Throughout her perils, Yeine is forced to become just as cruel and ruthless as her competitors in order to learn more about her mother's past and simply to survive as she is pulled into the schemes of those around her. In this story, we see a girl with good intentions become enslaved to the whims and desires of beings much more powerful than her; possibly an analogy to the lowly position and lack of influence most civilians hold in society. Regardless of struggle, Yeine must compromise her beliefs and moral integrity in order to continue her quest; leaving behind chunks of her past self as a result. This story poses Yeine as an incredibly tragic hero, the Gods in this story, (along with many of its people) seem only to serve as hindrances or manipulators to use and throw her away once she is no longer useful.

          Though the story is not totally without hope, allies arise in the form of Yeine's brother Relad and a few of the palace staff. Yeine's character and devotion pay off to these fellow minded people, who each contribute their own skills and knowledge to the situations she finds herself in. In general, the story presents a rapid advancement of conflict-reseloution scenarios, whereas Yeine is approached by a series of problems and must quickly find assistance or adapt herself in some way in order to overcome these issues; making her incredibly relatable. The problems she faces seem at first challenging, confusing, and sometimes unconquerable; much in the same light younger audiences may see their own problems to be.

            I found the story to be enjoyable as a whole. Its fantasy elements tackling subjects as large scale and unknowable as enslaved gods and secret histories made for some intriguing storytelling. I'll admit that I did find some parts to not be explained in full, particularly the nature of the ruling family's absolute control over the gods; but perhaps that will be explained further in future iterations of the story. Never the less, the tale was memorable, giving some exciting twists while still having a base structure to hold the overarching plot towards. I look forward to future installments by N. K Jesmisin.

The Million Faces of God

        The novel, "American Gods," by Neil Gaiman, explores the idea of interpretation defining how a person, or in this case, mythological beings, can be remembered or become. One figure or action in history can be interpreted many different ways by different parts of the world or different mindsets of people. A law passed to provide extra security may be seen as saving lives by one group of people, but as destroying personal rights and liberties by another group. Through showing multiple physical incarnations of these gods, each both strange and familiar because of people's own vision of how they believe the entity should be, the book is able to deliver an amazing amount of contemplation and argument for different people who read the story.


        Throughout this novel there are multiple versions of the various gods from different cultures, exploring the idea of interpretations; not just from different cultures but even as specific as different morality structures. For example, the Mr. Wednesday interpretation of Odin the All Father Norse God is a deceiving manipulator who teams up with the equally dastardly Loki, the god of lies and schemes. However, later in the book we are introduced to a more traditional, respectful version of Odin created by a separate group of believers. These two versions are both just as much the entity, "Odin" as the other, but their interpretation makes them figuratively, (and for our story literally) two different gods.

          I found this to be a very enjoyable read with a multitude of different ways to interpret its story and morals. It was interesting how the story attacked the creation and continuation of gods, a sort of "living through memory" system that I found of particular interest. The overall plot itself was good, perhaps a little predictable in terms of "dramatic reveals," but it was still able to hold my interest while conveying messages of how one's interpretation defines how events are remembered. Being Armenian myself, this topic spoke to me personally, as my race has often battled against being forgotten by history after its tragic genocide many years ago. I am referring to the Armenian genii use from the Turkish military, with its two major interpretations, one being the truth: genocide. The other being the propaganda taught by the Turkish government to this day: that the "death marches" were merely attempts to relocate Armenians away from the front in wwi; all the while stealing their land, property, and their lives.


            However, needless to say, the book contained enough interesting ideas in it to arise many questions out of me even without direct prompt from the text, and I look forward to further readings from this author.

Dreamers

          "The Night Circus," is a cunningly crafted blend of many famous and successful works of past fiction with a new spin on them; borrowing from all kinds of fantasy and romance novels, and even Shakespeare. While I thought that this was a fairly decent novel, I would not agree with some critical reviews online in saying that it rivals the likes of "Harry Potter," but I can easily see it catching on with the general public consciousness. "The Night Circus" promises truly imaginative scenes of magic as many of the meta scenes in this story revolve around illusionary spells that literally fuel imagination, coupled with a wondrous circus appeal and its a truly interesting blend of ideology and scenarios.

               This novel contains aspects of lovers overcoming and bringing together rivals similar to the famous Shakespearean tale of "Romeo and Juliet," and this plot is one of the major things driving the two main characters Celia Bowen and Marco Alistair towards conflict. The two meet each other in the circus, each wondering the other with their illusionary magical talent as they perform for the general "reveurs," or "dreamer" audiences. It isn't long into the tale before the two fall strongly in love, however, just like in "Romeo and Juliet," the two are forbidden to be romantically involved as a rivalry between their masters forbids any public/direct relationship between them; save performing in the circus. While this plot had been done thousands of times in the past and I frankly believe modern culture has an over saturation with "love stories," I did find the circus background and magical undertones made the "enchanting" language and actions between the two lovers much more appropriate, they were in a scenario where such passion and extreme emotion made sense to display.

           The novel also contains within it many aspects about personal pride and allusions to grandeous leaders forgetting about the perils of the common people. Although the book only takes place in a (albeit magical) circus, two of the books main characters Prospero and Mr. A.H, have much of the circus crew and performers unwillingly tethered to their own rivalry. The unwavering foolish pride that each of these characters has dooms the circus performers along with the main love duo, Celia Bowen and Marco Alistair, to be eternally anchored to the circus; even in death. The idea of leaders using those beneath them to advance their own goals, especially in a potentially senseless fashion is a fear that much of modern society shares; looking upon past wars and conflicts as overall meaningless or being solved via much simpler means. 

         While the novel is not necessarily the most original in terms of conceptions or even story and characters, the new scenarios and ways that they explore the impacts of conflicting ideology in the story makes for an compelling read. There are many ways that people can interpret the actions of characters in this book and, based on their own upbringings, can easily read the events with different opinions than others reading the same text. The open ended-ness of this tale is what I believe helps make it so popular, allowing all who read it their own version of this fantastical circus world. 

Into the Lonely Mountain

This week was JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit."

           The story fervently follows "The Hero's Journey," ideal of a circular narrative, consisting mostly of innocence being introduced to conflict and met with some form of resolution. Our hero, Bilbo Baggins, starts off in "the known," the shire, and throughout his adventures ventures into the unknown and finally returns home with newfound knowledge and experiences, forever changed by the experiences. The story's massive emphasis on the necessity of a test in order to discover new things about oneself is what drives the story forward; as Bilbo is already an adult, (no coming of age) and already has an established life in a pleasant village, (so not necessarily finding where one belongs or rising above poverty). Instead, Bilbo is seen as a quite, non-adventurous man living an uninteresting life absent of the adventure that he in his youth craved so badly. Gandalf presents the possibility for Bilbo to have the life he wants, but in order to do so he must endure many trials about overcoming his own personal doubts and fears in the style of "The Hero's Journey."

             Despite the fact the definite protagonist of this story is overcoming personal fears and traumas, themes of building character through reliance on others, overcoming personal pride in order to work together and accomplishing a common goal are all very prevalent in the story. Throughout the course of the book, Bilbo must trust and work alongside his companions if he is to finish his quest, and as Bilbo explores beyond his familiar shire, the reader discovers alongside with him; acting as a perfect funnel of information about the massive world of JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth. Tolkien is known for building massive worlds and their histories along with their immersive settings and peoples, often take inspiration from histories of multiple lands and peoples. This story is no exception, containing undertones about perseverance and trust in friends that can be interpretable in other parts of ones life. Throughout the many adventures that Bilbo has, the perils that he faces along with Gandalf and party are almost never revolving around the idea of acquiring massive treasures or even necessarily killing the dragon; but often about learning new aspects of their own lives that seemed insignificant before, or building as characters in a chaotic world. Such concepts are more than applicable to the real Earth, and maybe thats why so many fellow nerds around the world love to visit Middle Earth. So lets crack open another book, I hear that Gandalf has another adventure planned.

Observing Oddity

           For this week, I read over the story, "Jack" by China Mieville.

           While the story may be tilted "Jack," the narrator constantly refers to Jack as a separate character, working for him and hanging upon many of his actions or dialogues with increased personal reconciliation. Jack dominates the majority of this story, possibly as a representation for obsession, as Jack "half-a-prayer" takes central interest for our main character as he follows the career, downfall, and subsequent aftermath of Jack. Every single event and thought has something to do directly or tie with Jack, with very little or possibly no real break in the narrator's constant fixation with Jack. Even the way paragraphs are structured there is a constant repetition of Jack's name, further driving ideals of obsession.


            For a majority of the the novel,  there are more cerebral, more inner-based thought provoking conceptualizations of the events transpiring. Not many of their monologging stays upon direct observations, but instead stating what is going on, and elaborating upon that with analogy upon metaphors and other literary devices. This story starts off telling how a crook is caught and brought in by authorities, and ends up touching concepts relating to the randomness of one's luck, fate, and the self serving nature of desperate men. Like many of these "odd" stories, the base surface story is not necessarily as important or even relevant to the actual morals and world views hidden within these narratives.

Ageless Vengeance Upon Oppression

             For this week's story, I read the complete works of James Robinson's 1994 "Witchcraft" series; comprised of three separate graphic novel volumes. The majority of the novels center around magical rebirth and various separate but similar searches for vengeance against embodiments of abusive dominance. These plots are rather obvious metaphors for the tendency for powerful figures in history, (in this novel often displayed as demonic-worshiping sexually abusive men) to abuse their position.

           The stories' main characters all are not often treated as individuals, but more so representations of relatable positions to convey the themes explored. The protagonists are always relatively submissive beings, be them young boys trying to prove themselves or women who are seen as nothing more than child bearers; while the antagonists in these stories are all powerful men driven by their own ambition, greed, and lust to take anything and everything they desire regardless of who gets hurt as a result. Even the ambivalent goddesses who tell the tale take physical reincarnations throughout the novels, becoming kindly nuns or hospital patients or whoever the character, (or the audience) might interpret as sources of purpose or advancement. Each of the characters in this story figuratively and literally are just interpretations of the same base characters that are seen in stories throughout history.

             Although the central theme of women trying to survive and take back control of their lives in a man-central world is incredibly prevalent throughout the first part of the story, the second and third installments broaden that theme to include any and all that would be subject to oppression. The series as a whole tells on how any and all those who receive hardship, be them young or old, man or woman, deserve retribution and vengeance upon those who would commit such heinous acts. The stories explored in the "Witchcraft" series illustrate people who, when given opportunity, do what they feel is right in correcting the various wrongs put upon them by evils around them.