Feather Tigers - Gene Wolfe

I found this to be a very interesting little story! Little blue childsized rabbits flying around in a skyacht studying the extinction of life as we know it. Hm .. that is a little bit scary.

The aliens don't seem to have a very accurate idea of how the world and the people that lived in it had been. They don't seem to understand how it all came to be, and/or how it worked.

Its interesting that the aliens are limited by the skyacht which was created to increase their capabilites and understanding. That applies to life as we know it as well. We keep creating things to make life "easier" but at the same time we are setting up even more boundaries. Technological advances have made things such as trans-continental communication much more affordable and quick. But at the same time, this same advancement has greatly diminished the occurence of face-to-face relations, physical activity and enjoyment of the simple things in life. Sometimes we are too caught up in the glitz to take a step back to smell the roses ....

Thats what this story made me think of .. the intrinsic parts of life that seem to go un-noticed in the face of "advancement"

High Weir - Samuel R. Delany

After coming to class and listening to the discussion, I went home and gave this story another chance. I really liked it! I took it to be an analogy to a common struggle in the search for identity. I think the fact the Rimkin is on Mars and that he is a linguist who seems to have an awful lot of communication problems, strengthens the idea that words cannot always be an adequate expression of our experiences. I think Samuel Delaney is trying to imply that humans do not have the necessary skills to vocalize many of the important things that we encounter. Maybe this is suggesting that we cannot always rely on language. Í'm assuming that this is why Rimkin went insane. It must have driven him crazy to think that language, of all things, had failed him so horribly on Mars. It seemed, as Hodges pointed out, that he was left feeling useless to the expedition.

I think it's interesting to note that although the story is essentially about human aliens, we never actually encounter one. Rimkin is lost in the search for himself. This concept makes me think of myself, someone who is still trying to find her way in the world. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do, where I want to go or where I fit into the grand scheme of things on this planet. So perhaps Rimkin is meant to be an exaggerated version of humankind in general.

Although Im not entirely sure of its significance, I think that it's important to note how often "eyes" are mentioned. Im leaning towards the idea that the "eye" is brought in as a replacement for verbal communication. Much of what is learned, pretty much everything actually, is done in a visual way throughout the story. This seems to be yet another indication that language is no longer sufficient.

The Winter Flies - Fritz Leiber

I don't even know where to begin with this story other than to say that it took my mind to a whole new level. I've never read anything so ... weird? I understood parts of it, but other parts I found to be impossible to follow. Why did the furniture and the appliances talk to Jane, and how does it fit in with the rest of the story? And what is with Heinie? He totally threw me for a loop .. I've never met a kid like that. And then there is Gott and his imagination. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure of the point or direction of the story. Im thinking that his created images might represent what the world would become if we did not have control over our minds. Reality seemed to win him over at the end of the story ..

Although it was very different, I found the story to be entertaining! I am left with quite a few questions though .. hopefull our class discussion will help to answer them!

I am about halfway through the introduction to the Anthology. It's interesting to see how much work goes into choosing what gets published in the book. I had no idea that there is such a vast array of Science Fiction material. It will be interesting to think about why each particular story was chosen as we move through the course !

The Chrysalids - My Thoughts & Opinions

I have to say that The Chrysalids is very different than anything else I have read. I found the concept of throwing "misfits" aside as mere trash to be very shocking and sad! I couldn't imagine living with the fear of losing my child should he or she be born with some kind of physical or mental deformity. It almost seemed as if even the women in the novel (with the exception of Sophie's mother) had become hardened to the Waknuk way of thinking.

The book really made me think about the way that society operates today. Although John Wyndham took it to an extreme level, ignorance toward people with physical and/or mental problems is still seen today. Society as a whole should be helping these people. We should be offering them our friendship, our support and our understanding. While this kind of support does exist, I think that we have a long way to go when it comes to treating these people as equals.

Getting back on track, I love that John Wyndham took the time to really develop his characters, David in particular. His vivid descriptions of David's thoughts and feelings give the reader a true sense of the horror of being a "blasphemy" in Waknuk. I was happy with David, Rosalind and Petra's escape from the community. It seemed to me that anywhere, even the Fringes, would be better than Waknuk.

Although they were rescued, it was a selfish rescue on the part of the Sealanders. The woman who arrived to pick them up did not seem to be very interested in their well-being and was not at all resistant to Michael's staying behind to go fetch Rachel. She must have known that it would be next to impossible for Michael and Rachel to make their way to Sealand on their own. She was only interested in Petra's extreme telepathic capabilities. She was not rescuing the group as a whole, but she was simply bringing a girl of high talent to live in her community.

Overall, I thought that this was a fantastic read! It kept me interested, entertained and reflective. It is very well written with a developed and interesting plot-line. I do wish that it had extended on for another chapter or so. I think it would be interesting to get a glimpse into their new life. Even still, I hope that the rest of the readings for this class are this great!

Speculative Fiction - My Latest Adventure!

As I said on Thursday, speculative fiction is a genre that I have left unexplored until now. For whatever reason, I have always purposely strayed away from anything sci-fi. Í've always assumed that I wouldn't enjoy the genre and have therefore stuck with real-life stories involving perfectly plausible scenarios.

Although I have not yet finished, I am about halfway through The Chrysalids and I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying it. It's a miracle! On Thursday evening I decided that I would start the book. Due to my apprehension about the nature of the story, I found myself reading a page or two and then tuning into "Gossip Girl" or picking up Lullabies for Little Criminals instead (also very awesome!). However, this did not last much past the second chapter of John Wyndham's novel. I'm a bit ashamed to say that I feel as if I have been prejudiced towards speculative fiction. I'm enjoying The Chrysalids just as much as I would enjoy any other book. If the rest of the genre is anything like this, I am afraid that I've been missing out! My brother, the sci-fi guru, is thrilled. I'm thrilled too. Not only did I discover a new realm of literature, but I think I will be able to survive this course!