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May. 20th, 2008 09:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
furyofvissarionComing Full Circle: The Process of Decolonization among Post-1965 Filipino Americans - Leny Mendoza Strobel. This is the result of a project Strobel did, in which she put together a group of Filipino American volunteers who committed to a year of meeting, discussing, & journaling about decolonization. Unsurprisingly, a lot of what her participants, & Strobel herself, say is upsetting: how they were raised to think of being Filipino as something to overcome (to become more like white people), how immigrant parents deliberately chose not to teach their children Tagalog (or other Filipino languages) because they believed it would only hinder them in the US, & the many ways in which mainstream American society devalues Filipino culture & heritage. There are some good snippets in here defining exactly what decolonization means. I do feel like the book, in defining what "being Filipino" means, gets a bit essentialist (while the book also asserts that culture is fluid). I guess it has to by definition, really, but still a bit annoying.
Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction - Edited by Nalo Hopkinson. I'm so bad at describing short story anthologies, but I mostly liked this one (hey, there are always a few pieces in anthologies that leave you cold). I liked how storytelling was prominent in a lot of the works, & I liked how the book takes a broader view of what is fantastic fiction; Hopkinson says in the introduction:
She's Fantastical: The First Anthology of Australian Women's Speculative Fiction, Magical Realism and Fantasy - Edited by Lucy Sussex and Judith Raphael Buckrich. Even though this was only published in 1995, sometimes it felt quite dated to me (& not just because it includes two older stories). I can't put my finger on why, but sometimes when I was reading I felt like I was submerged in second wave-ness. This was a fast read but not an entirely pleasing one. Possibly my favorite story was Isobelle Carmody's "The Pumpkin-Eater," a lovely little YA fable about busting free from dichtomies (pretty/ugly, for example). I also liked Sue Isle's "A Sky Full of Ravens," which features the aforementioned ravens swarming into a town, & an apprentice magician who's sent to deal with them (& with her family, in the raven town, & whom she left on bad terms).
From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris. One of the things I realize I appreciate so much about the Sookie Stackhouse books is that, while Harris' supernaturals may act as disturbingly (in terms of dominance, etc.) as those in other books, Sookie herself (a human, albeit a telepathic one) provides critique & resistance to that model--sometimes subtly, sometimes more overtly. For example, she resents that she has a blood tie to vampire hotshot Eric Northman, which allows them to sense each other's emotions & possibly influence them to some degree, while at the same time she knows if she gives in to the tie she'll have (more) hot sex w/Eric & totally enjoy it, hahaha. She also resents being drawn into supernatural politics, & doesn't hide when she finds their practices barbaric--& yet, she has come to care about a lot of the supes. At the same time, she is ambivalent about her own telepathic powers, which caused her to grow up an outcast. All this comes into play in this latest book, although now that I've burned through it I realize Sookie doesn't have sex once in the book, hehehe.
Anyway, there's fallout from the vampiric power shake-up in Louisiana, & also a power play among the local Were community. Harris began this series way before Hurricane Katrina, but she chooses not to ignore Katrina, weaving in the effects on supernaturals as well as humans in a way that I feel is realistic & not exploitative (although I'm speaking as a non-native of the area). It would feel odd to me if she ignored the impact of the storm, & I think she handles it decently. Anyway--I read this all in one night, & only partly because it's a 7-day loan & I'll be out of town for most of those 7 days. Harris is good at writing exciting plots, yes!
Best New Romantic Fantasy 2 - Edited by Paula Guran. I really liked the first anthology in this new series, & appreciated that it used a broader definition of "romance" than the HEA, one-man-for-one-woman, etc. stuff. Guran notes in her introduction that this book is much darker, & it is. It wasn't quite what I was looking for. Several of the stories seemed less "romantic," more that they just happened to have two people together in some sort of relationship. Also, too much love at first sight for my taste (I hate that trope!). And a few of the relationships seemed problematic, to the point where I could hardly imagine applying the word "romantic" to them. And every story was heterosexual except for Delia Sherman's (surprise), augh! That said, I really enjoyed Haddayr Copley-Woods' "The Desires of Houses," a playful brief story about how we may be arousing various parts of our homes w/o even realizing it. I feel certain that, had this anthology been published under a different guise, I would've enjoyed it more; it's just not what I thought it would be.
Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction - Edited by Nalo Hopkinson. I'm so bad at describing short story anthologies, but I mostly liked this one (hey, there are always a few pieces in anthologies that leave you cold). I liked how storytelling was prominent in a lot of the works, & I liked how the book takes a broader view of what is fantastic fiction; Hopkinson says in the introduction:
Northern science fiction and fantasy come out of a rational and skeptical approach to the world: That which cannot be explained must be proven to exist, either through scientific method or independent corroboration. But the Caribbean, much like the rest of the world, tends to have a different worldview: The irrational, the inexplicable, and the mysterious exist side by side each with the daily events of life.Stories I particularly liked: Hopkinson's Bluebeard-esque "The Glass Bottle Trick," Camille Hernandez-Ramdwar's "Soma" (in which people become identified by some prominent body part: referred to as Feet, Hands, Ear, S/Orgs), and Opal Palmer Adisa's "Widows' Walk" (in which a woman battles the goddess Yemoja for the life of her fisherman husband).
She's Fantastical: The First Anthology of Australian Women's Speculative Fiction, Magical Realism and Fantasy - Edited by Lucy Sussex and Judith Raphael Buckrich. Even though this was only published in 1995, sometimes it felt quite dated to me (& not just because it includes two older stories). I can't put my finger on why, but sometimes when I was reading I felt like I was submerged in second wave-ness. This was a fast read but not an entirely pleasing one. Possibly my favorite story was Isobelle Carmody's "The Pumpkin-Eater," a lovely little YA fable about busting free from dichtomies (pretty/ugly, for example). I also liked Sue Isle's "A Sky Full of Ravens," which features the aforementioned ravens swarming into a town, & an apprentice magician who's sent to deal with them (& with her family, in the raven town, & whom she left on bad terms).
From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris. One of the things I realize I appreciate so much about the Sookie Stackhouse books is that, while Harris' supernaturals may act as disturbingly (in terms of dominance, etc.) as those in other books, Sookie herself (a human, albeit a telepathic one) provides critique & resistance to that model--sometimes subtly, sometimes more overtly. For example, she resents that she has a blood tie to vampire hotshot Eric Northman, which allows them to sense each other's emotions & possibly influence them to some degree, while at the same time she knows if she gives in to the tie she'll have (more) hot sex w/Eric & totally enjoy it, hahaha. She also resents being drawn into supernatural politics, & doesn't hide when she finds their practices barbaric--& yet, she has come to care about a lot of the supes. At the same time, she is ambivalent about her own telepathic powers, which caused her to grow up an outcast. All this comes into play in this latest book, although now that I've burned through it I realize Sookie doesn't have sex once in the book, hehehe.
Anyway, there's fallout from the vampiric power shake-up in Louisiana, & also a power play among the local Were community. Harris began this series way before Hurricane Katrina, but she chooses not to ignore Katrina, weaving in the effects on supernaturals as well as humans in a way that I feel is realistic & not exploitative (although I'm speaking as a non-native of the area). It would feel odd to me if she ignored the impact of the storm, & I think she handles it decently. Anyway--I read this all in one night, & only partly because it's a 7-day loan & I'll be out of town for most of those 7 days. Harris is good at writing exciting plots, yes!
Best New Romantic Fantasy 2 - Edited by Paula Guran. I really liked the first anthology in this new series, & appreciated that it used a broader definition of "romance" than the HEA, one-man-for-one-woman, etc. stuff. Guran notes in her introduction that this book is much darker, & it is. It wasn't quite what I was looking for. Several of the stories seemed less "romantic," more that they just happened to have two people together in some sort of relationship. Also, too much love at first sight for my taste (I hate that trope!). And a few of the relationships seemed problematic, to the point where I could hardly imagine applying the word "romantic" to them. And every story was heterosexual except for Delia Sherman's (surprise), augh! That said, I really enjoyed Haddayr Copley-Woods' "The Desires of Houses," a playful brief story about how we may be arousing various parts of our homes w/o even realizing it. I feel certain that, had this anthology been published under a different guise, I would've enjoyed it more; it's just not what I thought it would be.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-21 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-01 02:46 am (UTC)