week 11: Cyberpunk and Steampunk

For this week, I read "And I Awoke And Found Me Here On The Cold Hill's Side" by James Tiptree Jr. I did not expect the reading to be so positive. The story was like a warning about what happens when the human race meets aliens. The story talks about how people just wants find and impregnate the stranger. People who hold different beliefs than the norm are the ones who've continually been persecuted by man. Although, I do think that the engineer forgot about how much man likes conquering other people too. But, I feel like within the story, at the time and place where this is all happening, something else changed: the fact that man could no longer conquer. The aliens, all of the different species that were mentioned and even the ones that weren't mentioned, all have the upper hand on us humans in the story. 


 I believe that this short story is a cautionary tale. Just looking back at all the different kinds of people we use to and even continue to still persecute today, it all makes sense that we want to conquer and reproduce with those that are different from us. However, if those who are different from us hold even more power then humans, such as having better and more advanced technology as well as not being able to reproduce with humans, it will be disastrous for us. They'll hold the power, they'll call the shots. That's why I think if we ever come into contact with beings from another planet, we need to control ourselves and really work with them to form a peaceful universe.

week 09: Space Opera

I had watched Serenity a while ago and I really enjoyed it. The characters were perfectly developed an each were unique. They served well as foils to each other. The serious Simon is contrasted with the vivacious and playful Jane. The bold hardened leader Malcolm contrasted with timid young River. The movie, in its attempt to conclude the series, was overall very fast paced and exciting. I didn’t find myself bored in the middle of an exposition. They dove straight into the action and let the audience contextually figure out what was happening. The most intriguing aspect of the film was the world they created. After a great war on earth, only the two super powers, china and the US survived. The two super powers left their influence on society’s culture. Everything, from language to the environment is a robust fusion of the eastern and western culture. Little things like using Chinese words for the harshest curse words make the setting feel much more believable

Week 08: Mythic Fiction and Contemporary Fiction

Ocean at the End of the Lane felt especially fresh and new from Gaiman's American Gods.  I loved the fact that the novel felt completely full and fleshed out even though it was a quick read, and I was able to read it all in one night.  For me, it was hard to tell if this was a children's tale or more in the adult realm like American Gods.  Perhaps that made it kind of better somehow that you have this adult-narrator telling a rather scary tale of what happened to him as a child.  Another interesting thing is how many interesting little thoughts Gaiman is able to weave into the narrative, it's almost like a stream of consciousness or at least as if you were having him sit next to you and read you a bedtime story.  It was almost impossible not to hear Gaiman's voice as I read this story, it felt so much as if he were reading it to me.  The book was extremely personal but I think something we can all relate to - childhood ostracism, loneliness, "evil" babysitters.  There is also something that feels greatly nostalgic about this novel, and I guess I'm not quite sure if this was the way in which Gaiman tells it or just the overall themes themselves.  I suppose that's part of the mystery that makes books like this and The Graveyard book so powerful, that they are almost a subgenre in themselves.  I think as we become adults it is hard for us to look back at childhood in the same way that Gaiman is able to communicate, but then it becomes so obvious how these memories are almost universal.  For me, it was easy to get caught up in the world that Gaiman creates, but then it was also hard to put it down and move on with reality.