Recent reading

[luzula]

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
For my book club at work. I've previously bounced off To the Lighthouse, perhaps because I tried to listen to it as an audiobook, but I enjoyed this! The stream-of-consciousness writing really worked for me, dipping in and out of people's heads and following their (often inconsistent) memories and thoughts. In a way it reminded me that every person is as important and as complicated inside their own head as I am. Which I obviously already knew to be true, but it's a good thing to be reminded of. And I found the writing itself beautiful and rhythmic.

Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones (Dalemark #1)
I decided to pick up a DWJ I'd never read before, instead of rereading old favorites from childhood. I picked this one because someone (probably skygiants?) mentioned it in a discussion about anti-monarchy fantasy. And I enjoyed it! I love DWJ's style, as always--it brings you close to the characters very quickly. Will be reading the next one. Also, "cwidder" is a lovely word.

Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin
Time for some classic feminist SF. I hadn't read this before, though the trope is familiar to me: the future (that is, the future of the US) is a horrible patriarchy. I think it's probably the best done such book that I've read, though it's been years since I read The Handmaid's Tale, so the comparison is maybe not fair. I liked it better than The Terrorists of Irustan, which I've read more recently. Other examples of the genre? I thought the characters and their strategies for survival were interesting and well written. It's also got some really interesting SF bits where the S stands for linguistics: children are raised alongside aliens so as to learn their language from birth, for use in government negotiations. Aaaand then there's another bit of linguistic SF, which relies on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. I don't want to spoil the book too much for you, but I don't find the conclusion entirely convincing. Also I feel a little put off by the gender essentialism (and consequent separatism). Will probably not be reading the sequels, unless someone comes along and convinces me.

Comments

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Oh, Native Tongue, I've got that one sitting on my shelves somewhere!

As a non-binary, genderqueer feminist, I find the gender essentialism in that and many other texts and stories utterly perplexing. I mean, I like the idea that staying trapped in the traditional perspective can make problems appear insolvable, when the solutions may be quite obvious from another POV. I think that's very powerful. I just find it all rather *heh* alienating.

[luzula]

I mean, I like the idea that staying trapped in the traditional perspective can make problems appear insolvable, when the solutions may be quite obvious from another POV. I think that's very powerful. I just find it all rather *heh* alienating.

I don't think I understand what you're saying? Are you talking about the book's solution of separatism and language change? (I do understand the bit about gender essentialism being alienating to you.)

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

I'm referring to the way that the Encoding Project brought about a needed change in and of itself, because they were perceiving and communicating differently. And it was one they couldn't have planned for, within the confines of their original consciousness. It remind me a bit of Audre Lord's, 'The master's tools will never dismantle the Master's house.'

[luzula]

Ah, okay. Yeah, I did find the dictionary of Láadan words fascinating.

*searches the web* And of course there's an online Láadan website with lots more information. : )