The Pleasures of Reading, Viewing, and Listening in 2016
by Kristin King
I did not expect 2016 to be the year fascism would be at the
top of my mind, but now that it is, here are a few picks to give me courage or
hope, or simply to help me get through the day.
Everfair By Nisi Shawl (Tor)
This is a wonderful book.
It is steampunk historical fiction, and it has romance, drama, espionage,
excitement, danger, and truly complicated interpersonal relationships. I don’t
know how to explain why I like it so much. It’s truly meaty and entertaining at
the same time.
First the deep stuff.
Shawl chose a historical period that is both truly horrific and
virtually unknown in your typical Western history book: the regime of King Leopold
II, horrific tyrant of the Congo Free State. The king extracted rubber from the
land by enslaving, torturing, and murdering about half the populace--millions
of people. (My own history textbook, which I kept because of its apparent
completeness, simply says that “his determination to make it commercially
profitable led him to unconscionable extremes” and that he “virtually enslaved”
the people.)
This historical truth is painful to see. But we can’t afford to look away that, not
now, not when tragedies like Aleppo are happening, and not when the U.S. has
elected a (neo?)fascist. But if we do look, how can we maintain hope? Somewhere
in the magic of Everfair, Shawl offers an answer. She shows us the horrors, but even more
vividly, the resistance. The world worth fighting for.
How does she manage it?
For one, she doesn’t dump us straight into the horrific story of the
Congo Free State. She starts us off
gently with a familiar coming of age story. It began with Lisette Toutournier,
a young woman enjoying that sure freedom of her bicycle. She addresses the
bicycle as a lover, promising one day to “venture out and see for ourselves
what it is the world holds for us.”
For another thing, by the time we get to the actual details
of the Congo Free State, we’re seeing the world through the lens of a black man
who fought in the Civil War and two others: Reverend Thomas Jefferson Wilson.
He’s ready for one more fight, and he has a plan. Before you know it, an epic
journey has begun. A disparate group of people join together to create a
utopian community, complete with steam bicycles, steam engines, and hot air
balloons, all to defeat Leopold II.
I have rarely been so thoroughly transported to another
land, to another way of thinking.
Actually, to a multiplicity of viewpoints. And as the book proceeds, we
realize that the utopian view of the Europeans was limited by their ignorance.
One of my favorite moments takes place about halfway through the book, when Josina, queen and favorite wife to King
Mwenda, ponders the divisions that have come up. She thinks, “Now it was
understood that other viewpoints existed…” We would all do well to bear that in
mind.
I can’t end this review without a nod to the cats. A group of cats, part of an espionage
network. It would be a spoiler to say
more.
All in all, the book is a marvel.
Modern Girls by Jennifer S. Brown (NAL)
When the Jewish “modern girl” in 1935 New York gets
accidentally knocked up, what’s she going to do? Especially since her
42-year-old mother is in the same situation. I feel like I got plopped down
right in their little apartment and met all their friends and relatives.
Everything about mothering felt genuine to me, too–all the ambivalence, the
love, and the hard work. Overall, a remarkable read, fun without being candy,
deep and thoughtful–treating some serious issues–without being a downer. I want
more.
Brown gave a reading of this book along with some context of
why the book was written. She had heard a family story about a grandmother who
had gotten an abortion and was amazed. People had abortions back then? Indeed
they did. I had a great-grandmother who went to a hospital to have a “uterine
tumor” removed. Young women in 1930s New York often had procedures to “restore
their menses.”
After hearing Brown speak, I realized that our current view
of abortion is highly colored by our technology and culture. If you think about it, back then, a woman
wouldn’t know she was pregnant until the quickening, that is, the baby kicking.
Today’s concept of a “heartbeat bill” would have seemed absurd. Also different:
a young woman’s baby was seen as the responsibility of her parents and older
siblings, at a time one more mouth to feed might mean somebody else couldn’t go
to college. In that context, abortion wasn’t seen as the young woman’s
“choice.”
I hope Brown will write an essay about her research, because
it’s fascinating and quite timely.
In the meantime, the novel, which defies easy moralizing, is
well worth the read.
Unpronounceable by Susan diRende (Aqueduct Press)
This is an alien encounter story unlike any I have ever
seen. Suppose an alien civilization initiates first concept but rejects all of
Earth’s ambassadors because they appear to be insane. And also its artists,
philosophers, and other important people.
At their wits’ end, the powers that be choose a most unlikely candidate.
In their opinion, anybody who can’t speak frankly about their own bodies has
more or less failed the sentience test.
This book is hilarious, but for me the best treat was hearing
it read out loud, by diRende herself, in a Jersey accent. If she ever puts out
an audiobook, snap it up.
Kino’s Journey, anime
“Whenever people see birds flying through the sky, it's said
that they get the urge to go on a journey.” - Kino
There were no new Doctor Who episodes this year, and for me,
that’s a tragedy. Fortunately, I came
across a list of anime for people who are suffering withdrawals. This anime has
a simple premise. Kino and their
motorcycle, Hermes, are on a journey.
Kino stays only three nights in any place and then moves on. Hermes provides the speed, and Kino, the
balance. Each episode begins and ends
with an ambiguous exchange between the two -- a philosophical reflection on the
action that is about to take place, not to be understood until the episode is
over.
All of the episodes are sad, or subtly horrific, and a few
are postapocalyptic. But the overall effect for me is beauty and
inspiration. It’s as Kino says: “The
world is not beautiful: And that, in a way, lends it a sort of beauty.”
Somehow it makes you want to go on a journey. . .
Colored Peoples Time Machine, album by Gabriel Teodros
I first came across Gabriel Teodros in the collection Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories
from Social Justice Movements (AK Press), and again at an event honoring Octavia Butler, and again at a
speaking event at Shoreline Community College. He always does some rap and some
talking, and he always has deep wisdom to share for social movements--based on
the reality of the world, not the theory. Here’s a youtube video with a taste
of his music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuIxAkZXsKI
I could listen to his voice forever, just his voice, but
then there’s the music and the poetry and the passion and the peace in the
midst of violence. All combined, there’s nothing else like it in the world.
His website is here: http://www.gabrielteodros.com/
Kristin King (http://kristinking.wordpress.com) is a writer,
parent, and activist who lives in Seattle. Her work has appeared in Strange
Horizons, Calyx, The Pushcart Prize XXII (1998), and other places. Two of her
stories appeared in an Aqueduct Press anthology, Missing Links and Secret
Histories: A Selection of Wikipedia Entries Lost, Suppressed, or Misplaced in
Time. A selection of her short fiction has been collected in Misfits from the
Beehive State.
No comments:
Post a Comment