![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: Chanur's Venture (Chanur Book 2)
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Published: Daw Books, 2005 (1984)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 320
Total Page Count: 245,980
Text Number: 782
Read Because:continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Just as Chanur and crew are getting back on their feet, Tully—and a galactic political crisis—reenter their lives. Despite satisfying pacing, this ends abruptly; I'm under the impression that this and the direct sequel(s?) are parts of a single whole. I thought The Pride of Chanur was decent but too tame, insufficiently alien and strange; here, the alien species remain unrealistically monolithic, but the increasing interactions between species and the presence of methane-breathers, specifically the Knnn, goes a long way towards building a more speculative and engaging world. The issue of gender in Hani society is well-handled; it's realistically complicated without directly echoing/mirroring misogyny, and functions both to enliven the book's interpersonal aspects and to make Hani society more dynamic and complex. I didn't love this installment, and I'm not sure it can be judged without the rest of the story, but there's interesting elements at play and a series means there's room for increasing complexity and varied focus; I'll certainly continue reading.
Title: The Kif Strike Back (Chanur Book 3)
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Published: Daw Books, 2006 (1985)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 300
Total Page Count: 246,280
Text Number: 783
Read Because:continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: This is the middle third of a single narrative. It goes out of its way to make its politicking accessible—moreso than most Cherryh and compensating for the opaqueness of the previous book, which is welcome, but there's a lot of politics and both the details and delivery grow repetitious. There's also repetition in the cycles of minutiae—the running of the ship, the relationships between crewmembers, the ways that individuals respond to various events; but, honestly, this is the reason read the book: to get lost in every character moment, every internal narrative and all the flawed and profound, terse but explicit, relationships. (The social minutiae is nicely framed by the action in the climax; it isn't all talk.) Sometimes the selling point of a series is an extended examination of central concept or conflict, and the speculative premise is fundamental to this narrative and its characters; but sometimes the selling point is the opportunity to inhabit a living world and witness its residents interact and change, and that's what keeps me coming back to this. It showcases Cherryh's strengths and appeals directly to my id.
#I spend a lot of time thinking about body language & social interaction as relates to human/domestic animal dynamics #I've worked a lot with guinea pigs/rats/cats/dogs/humans and seeing how we navigate interactions w/ each other is fascinating #as well as domestic animal/different species of domestic animal interactions #and hugs are the archetypal example because it's really only a primate thing so how/why/if humans should/do hug pets is #....complicated #(complicated b/c the answer is mostly 'no' but sometimes 'no but it's harmless' but more interestingly #it's sometimes 'how we socialize with each other—these acts & their equivalents & their meanings CAN CHANGE #as our species continue to interact w/ & gain understanding of each other'; this is key to domestication but also #it's something humans are responsible for doing! consciously and unconsciously! when we interact w/ domestic animals) #but pet/caretaker dynamics are different than pet/pet or sapient species/sapient species dynamics #comprehending & navigating what touch means and how to use it is obviously the responsibility of the caretaker #but whose responsibility is it in an equalized dynamic? (& how can caretakers help moderate interactions between animals?) #so my ongoing issue w/ the Chanur books is that each individual alien species is too monolithic—there's internal political conflict BUT #there's an unrealistic degree of species-wide cultural hegemony & the inspirations (esp. of the Hani) are too obvious (they're lions y'all) #I think Cherryh could have gone further!! #but despite these limitations the interactions BETWEEN species are A+++ superb #insofar as each species has its own naturalized instincts re: expression/affect/body language/touch #AND THEY CONFLICT #and our PoV is non-human so we learn to inhabit Hani body/body language/culture #but Tully-the-Human is the frequent emotional touchstone and his emotions and social needs are the most accessible/identifiable #seeing them through an alien lens reinforce the gulf between the species AND makes that fuckin #spindly creaking bridge #that SPANS that gulf #meaningful re: worldbuilding and culture-building AND ALSO just really full of feels #Pyanfar doesn't want to be hugged you guys; her culture doesn't hug because her species in body and evolution does not hug #but she accepts a Tully-hug because she understands the value & meaning that it has for HIM #& that it's the only way he can communicate the feelings he/they are experiencing
#look I don't have a wall of meta this time BUT #this is what Cherryh does best: a terseness that belies explicit intimacy #everyone is tightly wrapped balls of FEELING and the narrative voice demands a lot of the reader #but characters are doing the same close reading that the reader must do & are teasing out and luxuriating in FEELING and INTIMACY #this series is esp. all about multispecies/-culture body language and that's ALSO echoed here and #this is one of the lesser developed relationships!! but the benefit of this subseries is that it opens room to every supporting character #and esp. to captain/crew dynamics #(this is not a wall of meta; it is a moderate hedge; a room divider) #I can nitpick flaws in most Cherryh novels but this particular tension is in ALL her stuff and it always gets directly to my id
Title: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Author: William Shakespeare
Published: 1623
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 100
Total Page Count: 246,380
Text Number: 784
Read Because: co-read with my mother, ebook via Gutenberg (but I have numerous copies of the complete works in multiple formats)
Review: My primary investment in an early, lesser Shakespeare play is in the first appearances of themes and tropes he would later develop—a forest of transformation, liberation, denouement; crossdressing and queer subtext; foils and contrasts (here: servant/master, friendship/romance, male/female in relationships and in gender dynamics). Julia is particularly interesting for the way that she straddles all these elements. The final scene is also memorable; it seems ridiculous not to read "All that was mine in Silvia I give thee" literally (why else does Julia swoon?), but that the line is so frequently excised or altered in production says a lot about how way it (and the play's themes and historical context) have been received; and all this contradiction exists simultaneously in the raw script, which is my favorite part of reading the plays as texts. I didn't love this, it's unremarkable compared to later works (especially in structure), but it was better and more thought-provoking than expected.
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Published: Daw Books, 2005 (1984)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 320
Total Page Count: 245,980
Text Number: 782
Read Because:continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Just as Chanur and crew are getting back on their feet, Tully—and a galactic political crisis—reenter their lives. Despite satisfying pacing, this ends abruptly; I'm under the impression that this and the direct sequel(s?) are parts of a single whole. I thought The Pride of Chanur was decent but too tame, insufficiently alien and strange; here, the alien species remain unrealistically monolithic, but the increasing interactions between species and the presence of methane-breathers, specifically the Knnn, goes a long way towards building a more speculative and engaging world. The issue of gender in Hani society is well-handled; it's realistically complicated without directly echoing/mirroring misogyny, and functions both to enliven the book's interpersonal aspects and to make Hani society more dynamic and complex. I didn't love this installment, and I'm not sure it can be judged without the rest of the story, but there's interesting elements at play and a series means there's room for increasing complexity and varied focus; I'll certainly continue reading.
Title: The Kif Strike Back (Chanur Book 3)
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Published: Daw Books, 2006 (1985)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 300
Total Page Count: 246,280
Text Number: 783
Read Because:continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: This is the middle third of a single narrative. It goes out of its way to make its politicking accessible—moreso than most Cherryh and compensating for the opaqueness of the previous book, which is welcome, but there's a lot of politics and both the details and delivery grow repetitious. There's also repetition in the cycles of minutiae—the running of the ship, the relationships between crewmembers, the ways that individuals respond to various events; but, honestly, this is the reason read the book: to get lost in every character moment, every internal narrative and all the flawed and profound, terse but explicit, relationships. (The social minutiae is nicely framed by the action in the climax; it isn't all talk.) Sometimes the selling point of a series is an extended examination of central concept or conflict, and the speculative premise is fundamental to this narrative and its characters; but sometimes the selling point is the opportunity to inhabit a living world and witness its residents interact and change, and that's what keeps me coming back to this. It showcases Cherryh's strengths and appeals directly to my id.
"Pyanfar." He stood his ground. His mouth was set, his eyes showed panic. But he stood away from his wall and came as far as the observer seat-came further suddenly and flung his arms about her. She hated that. But it spoke more than Tully could. She patted his head, pushed him back and looked at him.
Trust. Gods knew he had no reason.
"You're a gods-be fool, Tully."
"Hilfy say you come."
"Hilfy's another." But it touched her all the same. And what had he thought when she left him with Sikkukkut? What had he believed then—not being hani, not being kin or anything but trouble to them? "You go rest, huh? We take care of you."
"I don't go kif."
"No. You don't go to the kif. Not to anybody. We keep you with us.
#I spend a lot of time thinking about body language & social interaction as relates to human/domestic animal dynamics #I've worked a lot with guinea pigs/rats/cats/dogs/humans and seeing how we navigate interactions w/ each other is fascinating #as well as domestic animal/different species of domestic animal interactions #and hugs are the archetypal example because it's really only a primate thing so how/why/if humans should/do hug pets is #....complicated #(complicated b/c the answer is mostly 'no' but sometimes 'no but it's harmless' but more interestingly #it's sometimes 'how we socialize with each other—these acts & their equivalents & their meanings CAN CHANGE #as our species continue to interact w/ & gain understanding of each other'; this is key to domestication but also #it's something humans are responsible for doing! consciously and unconsciously! when we interact w/ domestic animals) #but pet/caretaker dynamics are different than pet/pet or sapient species/sapient species dynamics #comprehending & navigating what touch means and how to use it is obviously the responsibility of the caretaker #but whose responsibility is it in an equalized dynamic? (& how can caretakers help moderate interactions between animals?) #so my ongoing issue w/ the Chanur books is that each individual alien species is too monolithic—there's internal political conflict BUT #there's an unrealistic degree of species-wide cultural hegemony & the inspirations (esp. of the Hani) are too obvious (they're lions y'all) #I think Cherryh could have gone further!! #but despite these limitations the interactions BETWEEN species are A+++ superb #insofar as each species has its own naturalized instincts re: expression/affect/body language/touch #AND THEY CONFLICT #and our PoV is non-human so we learn to inhabit Hani body/body language/culture #but Tully-the-Human is the frequent emotional touchstone and his emotions and social needs are the most accessible/identifiable #seeing them through an alien lens reinforce the gulf between the species AND makes that fuckin #spindly creaking bridge #that SPANS that gulf #meaningful re: worldbuilding and culture-building AND ALSO just really full of feels #Pyanfar doesn't want to be hugged you guys; her culture doesn't hug because her species in body and evolution does not hug #but she accepts a Tully-hug because she understands the value & meaning that it has for HIM #& that it's the only way he can communicate the feelings he/they are experiencing
"What's underway?" Haral asked.
"Getting a Vigilance med over here," Pyanfar said quietly; and Haral's damp ears went back in quiet acknowledgment. Haral knew who; why; was relieved, and avowed she had not been worried it would get done, all in that one twitch. It comforted her, such friendly familiarity, close as her own mind. There had been times in their youth when she and Haral had come to blows. Never on The Pride's deck. Never since they took to sitting side by side at The Pride's controls.
#look I don't have a wall of meta this time BUT #this is what Cherryh does best: a terseness that belies explicit intimacy #everyone is tightly wrapped balls of FEELING and the narrative voice demands a lot of the reader #but characters are doing the same close reading that the reader must do & are teasing out and luxuriating in FEELING and INTIMACY #this series is esp. all about multispecies/-culture body language and that's ALSO echoed here and #this is one of the lesser developed relationships!! but the benefit of this subseries is that it opens room to every supporting character #and esp. to captain/crew dynamics #(this is not a wall of meta; it is a moderate hedge; a room divider) #I can nitpick flaws in most Cherryh novels but this particular tension is in ALL her stuff and it always gets directly to my id
Title: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Author: William Shakespeare
Published: 1623
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 100
Total Page Count: 246,380
Text Number: 784
Read Because: co-read with my mother, ebook via Gutenberg (but I have numerous copies of the complete works in multiple formats)
Review: My primary investment in an early, lesser Shakespeare play is in the first appearances of themes and tropes he would later develop—a forest of transformation, liberation, denouement; crossdressing and queer subtext; foils and contrasts (here: servant/master, friendship/romance, male/female in relationships and in gender dynamics). Julia is particularly interesting for the way that she straddles all these elements. The final scene is also memorable; it seems ridiculous not to read "All that was mine in Silvia I give thee" literally (why else does Julia swoon?), but that the line is so frequently excised or altered in production says a lot about how way it (and the play's themes and historical context) have been received; and all this contradiction exists simultaneously in the raw script, which is my favorite part of reading the plays as texts. I didn't love this, it's unremarkable compared to later works (especially in structure), but it was better and more thought-provoking than expected.
