The Pleasures of Reading, Viewing, and LIstening in 2025, pt. 25: Kristin King

 

Pleasures of 2025

by Kristin King

 

When I write a story, where does it come from? Not my conscious mind, certainly. It comes from the vast reserve of all the art in the world, metamorphosing as it meets my mind. Something flows through me and emerges transformed. My favorite metaphor is the “sea of stories,” from Salaman Rushdie’s book Haroun and the Sea of Stories. In my understanding of our world, there is an otherworld, a land of dreams, the wellspring of art and music and story and soul. When art occurs, it opens up a portal, pulls back a curtain, and gives us a glimpse of magic. We add the final touches when we perceive it, in a wondrous Aha! moment. Even in the worst of times, it is there for us.

And yes, these are terrible times. But they are not the terrible Orwellian times of “a boot stamping on a human face—forever.” Art always brings curiosity, change, wisdom. The books, shows and movies I mention here do connect me to the wellspring of soul. They have been medicine for me in this time.

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Take a minute and think back to childhood, to the stories and books that shaped your understanding of the world. For many children, the picture book Iván Y Van, by author Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs and illustrator Veronica Eldredge, will be that book. Iván lives in the small town of Hueyapan, Mexico and goes on a grand adventure to the United States. This book brings joy and wonder to the “there and back” story and is a powerful antidote to the colonial travel narrative. Reading it and looking at the illustrations brings me hope. Do you know any kids? Elementary school librarians? Grab a copy and send it to them.  

https://www.chatwinbooks.com/shop/p/ivan-y-van

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I have been playing the music video “No Kings 2.0” by @scaredketchup over and over, belting out the chorus and wishing I knew the verses too. This rousing battle hymn is set to images from the protests. It helps me feel connected to the millions of people who have been cussing out this regime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w3o6oKxQHI

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When family came to town this summer, I hopped on a tour bus that was covered, inside and out, with the fantastical characters of muralist Ryan Henry Ward. The guide took us around to see his murals, most of which are painted on peoples’ houses and fences. It brings me comfort to think of Seattle as being protected by the wise, otherworldly, whimsical beings populating the urban landscape of Seattle.  

https://www.henry.art/

 

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I would love to live in the world of Day and Night Books of Mardou Fox by Nisi Shawl. Mardou Fox is a fictional representation of the Beat Generation poet Alene Lee, and her story is told through the journal entries of her as a young girl just starting to write, along with the entries of her adult self, an artist coming into her own. Dreams link her selves through time, help her know herself, and connect her to her sister.

https://rosariumpublishing.com/novels/novels/the-day-and-night-books-of-mardou-fox.html

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Her Right Foot by author Dave Eggers and illustrator Shawn Harris caught my eye in the library and was a fast but eye-opening read. I’ve stared at the Statue of Liberty thousands of times but missed the most important detail – not the flame or the book or the broken chains, but something else. This book takes the reader by the hand and asks what the right foot of the Statue of Liberty is doing.

https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/her-right-foot

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I’ve enjoyed comedian Rowan Atkinson for a long time, first in his role as the unscrupulous Blackadder and then his mishap-prone, neurodivergent Mr. Bean. In the miniseries Man vs Baby, he plays a character like Mr. Bean in some ways--poor decisions and inept task management leading to fine slapstick--but with one big change. He’s actually competent with cooking, cleaning, and the care and feeding of babies. It’s a predictable but fun story: Hapless man gets stuck with a baby who was left in a nativity and must keep him under wraps while house-sitting for an obscenely rich client.  

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35047134/

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The Woman Dies by Aoko Matsuda is a series of 52 short stories and flash fictions, each one a new surprise. A dying woman reflects: “I wish I’d had the opportunity to deconstruct the vagina, at least once.” A national anthem develops a crush on the only person who refuses to sing it. This is feminism with hardcore whimsy, with many befuddling moments where she tears aside the fabric of reality to reveal the weird underneath.

https://www.europaeditions.com/book/9798889661344/the-woman-dies

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The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor read very differently to me in 2025 than it would have in a previous year, because I’ve never before been so furious at the real-world equivalent of the novel’s “Big Eye” men. We are told from the beginning that Phoenix Okore is the “villain” of the story, and yet, I refuse to believe it. I cheered her on the whole way through.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316942/the-book-of-phoenix-by-nnedi-okorafor/

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I am just starting out with the novel-in-stories Why Stars Burn by Kathleen Alcalá. I love the way she marries the ordinary and the fantastic, seamlessly, the one leading inevitably to the other. I’m already engaged in the story of Sirena Diamond.

https://rosariumpublishing.com/novels/novels/why-stars-burn.html

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I’m mesmerized by singer, songwriter, word-master, and comedian Elle Cordova, who produced the “fonts hanging out” videos. This year she came out with more Grammarian vs Errorist superhero showdown short videos. I must admit, I’m rooting for the Errorist.

https://www.youtube.com/@ElleCordova

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

The Pleasures of Reading, Viewing, and Listening in 2024, pt. 26: Kristin King

 

 

 

A Few Pleasures of 2024

by Kristin King

 

 

I inhaled The Melancholy of Untold History by Minsoo Kang. It was marvelously simple in appearance, but complex in structure, emotion, and intellect. Kang interweaves four connected narratives from different millennia: a myth about four gods, the misfortune that befalls a storyteller, a political intrigue, and a bittersweet relationship between a grieving historian and his colleague. The stories connect backward and forward in time, and events in one story shed new light on all the others. I read each new connection with growing delight. Kang is a history professor and the son of a diplomat, with a love of rigorously fact-checked historical study and an equal but opposing love of inventing stories. As he explains, “What I ended up doing is I created an entire fictional country that greatly resembles China, but it also has elements of it from Korea, Mongolia, Manchuria and so on.” (https://blogs.umsl.edu/news/2024/09/16/minsoo-kang-publishes-debut-novel/) The land may be fictional, but it reveals a deep understanding of history, politics, and people. So it’s an accurate history of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If you’re off on a trip to the uncertainty of 2025, be prepared. Pack this book.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik was a surprise find this year. I came home in the pouring rain one day to find it standing up in our rockery, undamaged, without its cover. I put out a sign asking if someone had lost their book. The next day, the cover was there in the rockery. It was a big book, and I don’t have the space, so I put it in a nearby Little Free Library. A few more days passed, and the book kept staring at me. I gave up, took it home, and read it. Magical. It demands to be read on its own terms, not only as a book, but also as a silent film. A boy lives in a train station winding the clocks and stealing clockwork mechanisms, and then . . . well, the book is big and I don’t have space, but I can’t give it up. The moral of the story: beware of books you find in rockeries. 

 

I reread Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key this year because it left a big impression when I was a child with undiagnosed autism. Two children lose their caregiver and are sent to a foster home, where they try and fail to mask their differences, like hyper-empathy and mutism. This opens them up to bullying and violence and starts them off on a journey to find out what they are and where they belong. I will give a content warning for the ignorant use of a racial slur for the Roma people, which marred an important scene. Aside from that, the book felt incredibly validating, both then and now.

Doctor Who kicked off last year with the superb Ncuti Gatwa showing up in his underwear. That’s the best-dressed any Doctor has been after their regeneration! He is also the most emotionally mature Doctor so far, able to cry openly when sad and to explain complex emotional difficulties to his traveling companions. Many of the episodes were madcap fun, and some were utterly heartbreaking. Unfortunately, Disney acquired international distribution rights to Doctor Who in 2022, and while the corporation doesn’t have direct control over the show, I’ve noticed what seems like a Disney-flavored aesthetic, with too much showiness and too much mandatory happiness at times. I’m apprehensive at what’s to come. 

 

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.

The Pleasures of Reading, Viewing, and Listening in 2023, pt. 28: Kristin King

 

 

Pleasures 2023

by Kristin King

 

 

 

 

 

Time Travel: Can You Change the Past?

Everything we are today, and all our joys and griefs, came out of the past. But we can’t ever visit it—physically, that is. I’ve spent a bit of time this year as a historical voyeur, specifically looking at primary sources about the events and people that precipitated the disastrous 1924 split of the Industrial Workers of the World. Two sides emerged, each blaming the other, but I have a secret superpower. I can consult the historical record to see what the various actors did with the rest of their lives. (As an aside to Bowerman, I’m coming for you.) I’d dearly love to travel back in time and fill in the gaps in my knowledge.

Without further ado, here are four works of time travel that I have enjoyed this year.

 

Speculations by Nisi Shawl

When I look at the cover of this book, I see wonder, wisdom, and intelligence. The protagonist, Winna Cole, seems to be looking straight at me with something very important to say. Pure magic. And yes, you can judge this book by its cover.

The past appears to be gone, yet it holds so much sway for us. We love it, we want it, and we can’t have it. It’s mysterious and unreachable. But what if. . .

That’s the magic of the book. What if? Wearing her great-aunt Estelle’s glasses, if Winna speculates twice, magic happens. It’s a simple rule, much like the rules of magic in Edward Eager’s books that I loved as a child. What if I could go back in time as a child and find this book in the library? A brand-new Edward Eager, only better. Winna uses her magic to see her family’s past and unlock a deeply hidden secret.

The time travel here is a “look, don’t touch” variety. Winna can see the past but not change it. What she can do is use her newfound understanding to make the present and future a better place.  

 

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland

This was an entertaining read about a military-funded time-travel project that depends on bringing witches forward in time from the past. What could go wrong? Well, from the title, we already know the project is doomed. The fun part is finding out how. The initial assignment for Melisande Stokes, linguist turned time traveler, is to steal a copy of a rare manuscript from Puritan America, with the catch being the she must arrive and depart naked. While she does procure a corset, it’s too loose, and hijinks ensue. Another favorite moment: when Vikings invade Wal-Mart to prepare for a search for El Dorado.

Can you change the past in this universe? Somewhat, but time fights back, the way jello does. It needs coaxing, bribes to witches, repeated efforts, and definitely not the military. 

 

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson

This was a fun adventure and an interesting treatment of colonialism. The premise here is that time travel cannot change the past--or at least that’s what the government says. Because if you could change the past, you could stop the environmental devastation that our protagonist, a river ecologist named Minh, has been trying to heal. But once time travel was invented, funds dried up for her restoration project, and she ends up joining an expedition to the past in the timeship Lucky Peach to study rivers of the past. She’s been assured that her tour guide has a zero fatality rate, though only the tour guide knows what that means. When the locals spot this monster, hostilities begin. 

 

Doctor Who: “The Church on Ruby Road”

From now on, Doctor Who streams in the U.S. on Disney Plus now, and that worries me. To what extent does that give Disney editorial control over the show? We will see.

Ncuti Gatwa gave a dazzling performance, with an emotional range all the way from glee to tears of grief. I hope we get to see anger as well, because I feel we really missed out on anger when Jodie Whittaker was the Doctor, and anger has power. The showrunner and writers seemed to treat Jodie Whittaker differently than male Doctors, and I speculate they may treat Ncuti Gatwa differently than white Doctors. We will see.

This episode, and the specials that preceded it, seems to be exploring the chaotic nature of time travel. In older Doctor Who stories, a building would burn to the ground, but it’s OK, because it matches our (the viewers’) recorded history. The past is being put right. But with this episode, trips to the past bring changes that oppose our recorded history and yet still stick. I’m fascinated to see how it turns out.

 

 

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.