Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Format: Paperback, Deluxe Version, 347 pages, forward by Carl Freedman.
ISBN 10: 0819567140
ISBN 13: 978-0819567147
Copy: Purchased at a University Bookstore'
Reviewer: Victoria
On the back of the book. . .
Stars in my Pocket Like Grains of Sand is a science fiction masterpiece about the inexplicability of sexual attractiveness, and a story that foresaw the World Wide Web. Originally published in 1984, its central issues - technology, globalization, gender, sexuality, and multiculturalism - have only become more pressing with the passage of time.
The novel's topic is information itself. What are the repercussions of the discovery, once it has been made public, that two individuals have been found to be each other's perfect erotic object out to "point nine-nine-nine and several nines percent more"? What will it do to the individuals involved, to the city they inhabit, to their geosector, and to their entire world society, especially when one is an illiterate worker, the sole survivor of a world destroyed by "cultural fugue," and the other is - you!
Reviewing a novel like Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is daunting. It has so many themes ranging from gender, information, technology, culture, sexual orientation, and choice that I feel to do it justice I should write a thirty paged essay. I won't do that, to you, or to me, but I will try my best to relate what this book is about in the short amount of space allotted in a medium such as this.
In this future, only two species have the capablities of interstallar star travel: humans and the ever illusive Xlv, a species which no one really knows anything about. Humans live on some six thousand worlds, living alongside the planets' native intelligent species. In some cases this cohabitation is amicable, other times not and sometimes a mixture of the two.
Most human worlds and its occupants are aligned with one of two cultural/political groups: the Sygn and the Family. People who follow the Sygn look at the universe through context, and attempt to deal with everyone as equals. Those who are members of the Family view the universe as hierarchal, placing the nuclear family at the forefront, and modelling everything after that framework.
Korga is a young man on a backwards, human planet who has grown up in the fringes of the law. He's illiterate, rough spoken, homosexual (which is against the law on his planet) and simply, 'from the wrong side of the tracks'. Unable to find a place for himself within his society and culture he has decided to undergo a psychosurgery called Radical Anxiety Termination - or RAT -, a procedure which renders him incapable of making choices, and effectively turns him into complete apathetic slave, uncaring about anything except for the tasks he's given. He sets himself to any task he is ordered to complete with ungiving devotion. After being a Rat for many years, while deep underground on a task he was given, he becomes the sole survivor of a phenomenon called Cultural Fugue. Cultural Fugue, from what I could gather, is the destruction of a world and its people when too many cultural and technological complexities combine, creating a state of unrest, opposition, and in the end, utter destruction.
The story then shifts to the view of Marq Dyeth, a well off industrial diplomat on the Sygn-aligned planet of Velm. Velm is a world where humans live alongside an exoskeletoned, three gendered species called the Evelm. The Evelm are a ritualistic, community driven species. They're open to just about any form of sex, they place the serving and eating of food as a high priority and appreciate art. Though not all is well on the planet. The novel does hint at unrest on another section of the planet, the Evelm there not wanting a human presence.
Marq is an intelligent narrator. He informs us about art, politics, culture and sex, and I enjoyed his discourse immensely. I must admit that for a little bit at the beginning I did get confused about the use of gender-specific pronouns. Just remember this: the speaker, instead of using the pronoun he for a male, and she for a female, uses the pronoun to reflect the speaker's sexual interest in the subject. Also, instead of the grammatical masculinity (mankind, man, etc), it has become feminine (all humans are a part of womankind, regardless of their gender.)
There is a lot of sex in this novel, since sexuality is a major theme in the novel. At times I did squirm, uncomfortable at the masculine frankness of the scenes. I felt that at times, with the open, honest and matter-of-fact prose, the sex scenes (which are numerous) bordered on porn. The rest of the novel, however, made up for that for me.
Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is a remarkable piece of Literature. Yes, with a capital 'L'. This review barely scratches the surface of what this novel is about and I urge anyone and everyone to read it at some point in their lives, though perhaps when they're adults, for it has many adult scenes, and most teenagers probably do not have enough life experience and knowledge to be able to fully comprehend what this novel is about. It does take full concentration to read though, so anyone looking for light entertainment should stay away. This novel is thought provoking, persuasive, and unfortunately, incomplete. While its story is contained, it was planned as a diptych, but its sequel, The Splendor and Misery of Bodies, of Cities remains unpublished. This is a shame, because there are many little overlying threads which remain unsolved. While I can see where Delany planned on going with them, I still would like to read about it. If the sequel ever is released, I'll be sure to read it.
Characterization: 9.5
Plot: 8.5
Style: 9.5
Overall Rating: 9.3
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar