Week 10: The Fiction of Ideas

This week's theme was the fiction of ideas, and I read a short story by J.G. Ballard "The Drowned Giant". The story features many of Ballard's eternal themes such as, physical deformities, and the interest society has with them; alienation, the juxtaposition of life and death, and a sense of bleakness that pervades the human condition. In the short story, the narrator, along with many other random onlookers, witness the appearance of a dead giant that washed up on shore. Everyone takes part in exploring the giant and observes how it decays, undergoes many mutilations, and is then distributed all throughout the city. I think Ballard was trying to make a statement in terms of body horror and inconsistency of identity. For example, there is no explanation for the giant's corpse, where he came from, who he is, etc. The story is less about solving the mystery of the giants appearance than it is about exploring the towns fascinations with distributing its body parts. In some ways, it's kind of sickening to think about the fact that the public was more concerned and entertained with selling the giants body parts rather than figuring out any bit of information. Everyone seemed to be okay with tearing the limbs off of the giant and it makes it clear that Ballard is commenting on the dehumanizing effects, on both the observer and observed. Eventually nothing is left of the giant other than his skeleton, and his identity was never known.

Week Nine: Space Opera

This week's topic was space opera. I read a short story called "The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke. I've always found interest in our infinite space and all the planets and stars that wander all around us. I'm a firm believer that we are not alone in this massive galaxy, not even accounting for all the other galaxies. I particularly enjoyed this piece because it's basically about what we're been trying to do all along, and that's to find life outside of earth. In this short story, we discover that a group of space explorers travel to a distant star to find remnants of an advanced civilization that has been destroyed when its sun went supernova. This planet was highly advanced so they predicted when their demise would occur. They built a vault that was placed far enough so it would not get destroyed by the supernova, and in this vault contained complete records of their history, philosophy, achievements, and culture, hoping that someday it would be found and their existence was not for nothing. Stories like this could potentially be true, and this feeds my interest in the universe. I think it would be wrong to think we are the only ones in this universe, and I hope someday we will find life else where.

Week 8: Mythic Fiction and Contemporary

This weeks topic was contemporary urban fantasy, with Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman as the reading. In the book, African Gods and Goddesses live the lives of regular people with issues much similar to ours. Although they still contain their powers, they hold grudges and deal with them in today's world. I found that mixing history and myths with modern day cities, characters, and situations was very interesting. It's not like classic fantasy where everything is set to a long time ago with a strong male hero and fantastical creatures. In urban fantasy, all the typical stuff is taken out and presents a world much like ours except with magical beings, who are able to blend into society and interact with everyone. Our idea of what a hero looks like also changes in this new world; they come in various shapes and sizes without judgement. Overall, it is engaging to read because we feel connected to this world due to how we live, and to see the same setting in a book allows us to really get a feel for this world and we imagine ourselves in it.