Incoherence
Feb. 27th, 2006 08:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
affrecaI apologize for random word spatter. My body seems to be getting better, but critical thinking is still difficult. I do not like this. I managed to finish my abstract for volcanology, and I think the structure is good, but I'm not sure about my sentence structure (I won't care usually, as I'm decent on my first drafts, but Walton stresses "good writing" quite a bit). I'm going to not give my students a quiz, because again, I'm behind on grading. Drattenedness.
On writing, another one of my favorite authors has died. Since my family seems to be unnaturally living (I have 6 living grandparents, and while several are not in the best of health, they are damn spry for a random selection of older folks), the death of authors is one of the few times I have to deal with death. And this one was unexpected, of a slightly younger generation (slightly older than my parents).
Octavia Butler is not well known. By that, I mean, you probably haven't heard of her unless you read a good amount of science fiction. None of her books became movies, and I doubt they will. But her books were good. I've heard complaints that science fiction has to few black characters (mostly after the damn sci-fi channel adaptation of "Wizard of Earthsea" with pale actors). Most of Octavia Butlers characters were, and it was well reflected in their backgrounds, while still being characters I believed in and cared for. As I realize I have little experience with racism, but heard much discussion, it helped expand my horizons. Which is what books should do. But that wasn't the point of her books. They explored what it means to be human. The Xenogenesis series does this by contrasting and hybridizing with an alien species that saves the Earth after we destroy it. It also manages to explore what we need to do to grow up as a species, and how it feels to be patronized by aliens, even when they are right about our faults. And I also loved the idea that our most interesting genetic quirk to them is cancer, because it allows them to figure out how to regrow limbs. Wild Seed was an interesting exploration of control and freedom, between two immortals who breed their descendents unknown to the rest of humanity. Her books are not for everyone, but if you like thoughtful science fiction, go read her stuff.
On writing, another one of my favorite authors has died. Since my family seems to be unnaturally living (I have 6 living grandparents, and while several are not in the best of health, they are damn spry for a random selection of older folks), the death of authors is one of the few times I have to deal with death. And this one was unexpected, of a slightly younger generation (slightly older than my parents).
Octavia Butler is not well known. By that, I mean, you probably haven't heard of her unless you read a good amount of science fiction. None of her books became movies, and I doubt they will. But her books were good. I've heard complaints that science fiction has to few black characters (mostly after the damn sci-fi channel adaptation of "Wizard of Earthsea" with pale actors). Most of Octavia Butlers characters were, and it was well reflected in their backgrounds, while still being characters I believed in and cared for. As I realize I have little experience with racism, but heard much discussion, it helped expand my horizons. Which is what books should do. But that wasn't the point of her books. They explored what it means to be human. The Xenogenesis series does this by contrasting and hybridizing with an alien species that saves the Earth after we destroy it. It also manages to explore what we need to do to grow up as a species, and how it feels to be patronized by aliens, even when they are right about our faults. And I also loved the idea that our most interesting genetic quirk to them is cancer, because it allows them to figure out how to regrow limbs. Wild Seed was an interesting exploration of control and freedom, between two immortals who breed their descendents unknown to the rest of humanity. Her books are not for everyone, but if you like thoughtful science fiction, go read her stuff.
