Friday, March 30, 2012
Hey Anonymous
If you all want to make a point, why don't you shut down the Internet on a weekday so I don't have to work? You know, if you absolutely have to censor the internet in order to protest...What the hell do they protest? I'm sick of people telling me they have to do annoying or reprehensible things for my own good. If anonymous does "shut down the internet" then they are no better than people who censor or make offensive rules based on their own personal beliefs and objectives. Just a bunch of jerk-offs who have power over me and have the ego to jerk the chain. I have enough of that from my boss.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
So I need a new job
So I've finished a number of books since I last wrote here. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers was one. Nineteen Seventy-Four by David Peace was another. A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler and Delirium by Laura Restrepo were two more. More on that later.
I'm working on The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif and it is bad. It was a Booker finalist so I bought it 3 for a $1 at the library in my quest to read supposedly good literature but it is only reinforcing my realization that the people who give these prizes out don't have any better taste than anyone else. This book is a mess. It's basically an excuse for the author to show her historical research and jerk off about her (idealized) culture and it's political situation.
So we're in Egypt, right? And this woman Amal has a long lost American cousin Isabel who found a trunk containing her great-grandma's stuff. Isabel is in love with Amal's brother Omar who puts the two in touch so Amal can translate the papers in the trunk. See, Anna the great-granma was married to Amal's father's uncle 100 years ago. So part of the book is Amal's diary from 1997, part is Anna's diary and letters from 1901, and a few segments are from Isabel's point of view although she's not really very important. Don't worry, the change in perspective with a century dividing them doesn't leave you with whiplash; none of these characters have a personality.
Anna was widowed when her husband died from, I don't know, malingering, because it turned out war is bad, so she goes to Egypt. There she is kidnapped by rebels because she had dressed as a man and they take her to their master's house and she meets a gorgeous pasha who insists on taking her sightseeing. And if this sounds like something out of a third rate romance novel that's because it is and, no, Ahdaf, slyly winking at the audience about it doesn't make it okay. If you're not going to rise above cliches it's still eye-roll worthy no matter whether you acknowledge it or not.
In 1997 Amal takes Isabel around to see things and meet people though this is somewhat complicated because Isabel is *an American*. In these segments we learn Amal is, for some reason, no longer with her husband and she came back home from England to become a recluse and this thing with Isabel is finally drawing her out of her shell. She muses how Isabel is just starting in life and how her life is just ending. People treat her like an old lady. The family tree at the beginning of the book makes it clear she's 45. I can no longer take this character (or author) seriously.
Amal and the author get to expound at length about politics and other really boring stuff. The worker's are mistreated! The Egyptian people are always beset by evil outside forces like the British and now the Americans and the Jews (oh, excuse me, I mean the Israelis)! The government is controlled by the Americans! We have our victim hat firmly in place oh yes we do! Power to the people! Then Amal takes Isabel to her country mansion where the peasants who farm her land bring her offerings of goods and food while she graciously serves tea. All of her loyal servants love their dear mistress so, so much, she's such a fine lady. Won't she solve all her problems for them? (That noise in the background is me gagging.) (Also, I mean no disrespect but Ahdaf's writing is so English it hurts.)
There's a glossary in the back so you can look up all the Arabic phrases and words she slathers on the text. There are a few anti-Semitic mini rants that I'm saddened but not surprised to see have mainly gone unmentioned in critic's reviews.
Anna. Beautiful, understanding Anna. She of the golden hair and violet eyes. The progressive woman who feels liberated when she travels wearing a veil. She's so kind and not at all afraid when she's kidnapped. She can't tell what the aloof and distant pasha thinks of her but his seeming indifference bothers her and she's not sure why. She gets along wonderfully with his sister. They're so lucky their society has no problems outside of what the big, bad foreigners bring. Isn't it fantastic that none of the characters have any sort of conflict at all?
Huuuuuurrrraaaarrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm working on The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif and it is bad. It was a Booker finalist so I bought it 3 for a $1 at the library in my quest to read supposedly good literature but it is only reinforcing my realization that the people who give these prizes out don't have any better taste than anyone else. This book is a mess. It's basically an excuse for the author to show her historical research and jerk off about her (idealized) culture and it's political situation.
So we're in Egypt, right? And this woman Amal has a long lost American cousin Isabel who found a trunk containing her great-grandma's stuff. Isabel is in love with Amal's brother Omar who puts the two in touch so Amal can translate the papers in the trunk. See, Anna the great-granma was married to Amal's father's uncle 100 years ago. So part of the book is Amal's diary from 1997, part is Anna's diary and letters from 1901, and a few segments are from Isabel's point of view although she's not really very important. Don't worry, the change in perspective with a century dividing them doesn't leave you with whiplash; none of these characters have a personality.
Anna was widowed when her husband died from, I don't know, malingering, because it turned out war is bad, so she goes to Egypt. There she is kidnapped by rebels because she had dressed as a man and they take her to their master's house and she meets a gorgeous pasha who insists on taking her sightseeing. And if this sounds like something out of a third rate romance novel that's because it is and, no, Ahdaf, slyly winking at the audience about it doesn't make it okay. If you're not going to rise above cliches it's still eye-roll worthy no matter whether you acknowledge it or not.
In 1997 Amal takes Isabel around to see things and meet people though this is somewhat complicated because Isabel is *an American*. In these segments we learn Amal is, for some reason, no longer with her husband and she came back home from England to become a recluse and this thing with Isabel is finally drawing her out of her shell. She muses how Isabel is just starting in life and how her life is just ending. People treat her like an old lady. The family tree at the beginning of the book makes it clear she's 45. I can no longer take this character (or author) seriously.
Amal and the author get to expound at length about politics and other really boring stuff. The worker's are mistreated! The Egyptian people are always beset by evil outside forces like the British and now the Americans and the Jews (oh, excuse me, I mean the Israelis)! The government is controlled by the Americans! We have our victim hat firmly in place oh yes we do! Power to the people! Then Amal takes Isabel to her country mansion where the peasants who farm her land bring her offerings of goods and food while she graciously serves tea. All of her loyal servants love their dear mistress so, so much, she's such a fine lady. Won't she solve all her problems for them? (That noise in the background is me gagging.) (Also, I mean no disrespect but Ahdaf's writing is so English it hurts.)
There's a glossary in the back so you can look up all the Arabic phrases and words she slathers on the text. There are a few anti-Semitic mini rants that I'm saddened but not surprised to see have mainly gone unmentioned in critic's reviews.
Anna. Beautiful, understanding Anna. She of the golden hair and violet eyes. The progressive woman who feels liberated when she travels wearing a veil. She's so kind and not at all afraid when she's kidnapped. She can't tell what the aloof and distant pasha thinks of her but his seeming indifference bothers her and she's not sure why. She gets along wonderfully with his sister. They're so lucky their society has no problems outside of what the big, bad foreigners bring. Isn't it fantastic that none of the characters have any sort of conflict at all?
Huuuuuurrrraaaarrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The Windup Girl chapters 15 - 16
Emiko gets dinner from a street vendor and thinks about her situation. She's been sleeping with Anderson (Sigh. Of course) and has been examining her feelings about the free New Person enclave. She feels revulsion at first because she was raised to think of her kind as unnatural, 2nd class beings but the thought of being with others similar to her excites her as well. Interestingly she wonders who she would be able to have sex with there (the many armed workers? the created killers?) and whether she could stand sleeping with anything like that. I don't know if this is because she's programmed to feel she has to have sex with someone or because the Bac-man is kind of backwards in his thinking (or so we can learn that engineered workers have 10 arms. Of course these reasons could all exist together). I just find it odd that for someone who's sex life has consisted almost entirely of forced encounters, some quite brutal, this would be one of the main concerns she would have about her new life.
White Shirts (ministry men) come along to get food and assault the reader with exposition about Jaidee (he finally paid off his men with the stolen money) and she freezes so they won't see her jerky movements. She has no import license and will be "mulched" if caught.
"...they bump against her with a self-confident maleness, though one white shirt's hand is touching her neck, as though accidentally pressed there..."
"The man who has his hand on Emiko's neck speaks [to the food vendor], caressing her idly." p.156
The Future! This just screams privilege. Male privilege or job privilege? Hard to say as the behavior of the white shirts is kind of nebulous. Other than Jaidee (who steals, commits arson, and beats up factory owners)we haven't seen them do anything. I think this scene is here to create tension. The White Shirts could discover Emiko at any moment! One of them is even touching her! Oh no! Tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion! But it's interesting that Paolo decided to write this scene in such a skeezy way. Considering what I've read so far I'm not surprised.
Also, the use of the Thai word "Pla" instead of just writing fish. It's fucking tilapia, man. Stop it. I understand that using foreign words where there is an English equivalent creates an artificial distance between the subject and the reader (based on language rather culture). It accentuates the otherness of the land and people we're reading about, setting them in a space separate from our experience. This is constant reminder of the difference between the people being portrayed and the target audience. However, it also puts the language difference on the same level as the actual cultural differences. It is more effective (and subtle) to leave simple words alone and let the actual culture stand out. The "Wai" and "Khrab" have no real equivalent in English as far as I can tell and serve more of a reminder that attitudes and mind-sets are often culture-bound. Pla just means fish. Fish is fish. I can relate to fish. I like being able to at least somewhat relate to characters in the books I'm reading. It's hard to understand why the author is trying to make tilapia (something I often have for Thursday dinner) exotic.
Emiko goes to work and asks Raleigh about going North to the Windup village. He's not interested in talking about it but she presses him. She no longer wants to act like a servant or a dog. He tells her she needs to earn more to pay the bribes she'll need to make her way there. We get this lovely exchange. Enjoy!
"Even though he is old, Raleigh is still gaijin, born and fed before the Contraction. He stands tall...His bony hand fumbles at her breast, seizes a nipple and twists...His pale blue water eyes watch her like a snake's." (I think it's funny that all the Western foreigners are whites with blue eyes.) "...People in Japan might value a windup. Here, you're just trash." p.159
Chapter 16
Goody, back to Hock Seng. He sits at his desk, forging a ledger, "reconciling the money he skimmed from the purchase of a temporary spindle" as he contemplates how to get into that danged safe. It's always locked and closed! Imagine that. That devil Lake doesn't trust him! I wonder why.The Dung Lord will become impatient! Maybe you should have gone to him after you had an actual plan. He's considering having Anderson murdered when the girl Mai comes to tell him there's a problem.
Two worker are ill. Hock Seng is afraid it might be the algae tanks that caused the sickness and that the foreign devil will use it as an excuse to close the factory. He bribes a rickshaw driver to take them to a hospital while thinking that it might just be easier to kill both them and Mai.
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