Today's slice of life

[dolorosa_12]

The last few days of holidays have passed exactly as I wanted: yoga every day, walks around the river loop, a bit of cooking, a bit of tidying and decluttering, and quite a lot of reading. I'll say more about the books read so far in later posts, but I felt I had to say something about Perhaps the Stars, the conclusion to Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota series, because it first hit me in the heart in Chapter Four, and then kept punching.


I read the book in two days, but the last fifty pages took me over an hour to finish, because I couldn't stop crying. What a staggeringly, breathtakingly, compassionately human achievement this book, and this series is. If you have read it, you will understand why this specific description is the highest praise I could give it.

(The book also confirmed what I knew from the very first chapter of Too Like the Lightning beyond any doubt: I am a Cousin to my bones, right down to their worst hypocrises, which were on full display in this book!)




Challenge #2

In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I've already set my non-fannish goals in my 2021 yearly meme a few posts back, so I won't rehash those. That post also includes some more general online presence-type goals (in summary, avoid Twitter, be chatty and present on Dreamwidth). My other main goal is to increase my participation in exchanges, challenges, fests and similar. In 2020, I wrote my main gift and five treats in Yuletide, I participated in fandomtrees and sunshine_challenge and wrote a bunch of extra fic. In 2021, I wrote ... my one assignment fic for Yuletide. I know that was all I could manage, but I want to do more in 2022. My goals, in concrete terms: at least one fic in addition to the main assignment in Yuletide, at least one fic produced for a non-Yuletide exchange/fest/challenge, and at least one fic written not for any exchange/fest/challenge. I think that's achievable.

*

And tomorrow it's back to work (from home, thankfully, for the rest of the week). I feel fortified. These two weeks on holiday at home have been so deeply, deeply restorative.

Comments

[shadaras]

Every time you talk about the Terra Ignota books, I think about trying to read that series again. I think I might be less prickly about the weird gendering-narrative stuff going on and be able to enjoy the rest of it now, because I do recall absolutely loving the worldbuilding about the factions and the 'bash structure.

[dolorosa_12]

If it helps (it might not be enough), a lot of the gender stuff in the first book is the product of a narrator for whom the description 'unreliable' is an understatement, and by the end of the fourth book, pretty much the entire world has come to the conclusion that they need to rethink and spend a lot of time deepening their understanding of gender.

And yes, the worldbuilding is incredibly cool and brain-bending!

[shadaras]

I was definitely aware that Mycroft was an unreliable narrator! I just wasn't sure how much I trusted the author at that time, since I read the book when it first came out. :) By this point, I'm pretty certain I can trust Ada Palmer as an author to not be doing anything intentionally shitty with the gender stuff.

And it does help, quite a lot actually, to hear that the text itself eventually interrogates the gender thing more explicitly. I appreciate you telling me that!

[dolorosa_12]

I'm glad it's helpful to know that. My feeling (on the basis both of the conclusion to the book, and to some of the things Ada Palmer wrote in the acknowledgements section) is that she took on board many of the criticisms and reader responses, and worked them into the series as it went on, with her book's representation of gender being one of those things. It's rare, in my experience, that an author is comfortable enough not only to say that they were wrong, but to acknowledge their incorrect previous thinking within the text and correct it — Ursula Le Guin, in the Earthsea books (interestingly enough also with regard to gender) is the only other person I can think of to have done that.

I can go into more detail about the specific way Palmer 'corrects' her previous thinking on gender in the text, but I don't know if you want to be spoiled to that extent.

[shadaras]

That's awesome of Ada Palmer! That's quite rare indeed, and I'm really happy to hear that she took the feedback so well. :)

I'm torn about wanting more spoilers or not. I think that right now knowing that there is a shift is enough, but I may come back and ask for more spoilers if I realise that I need more specific information.

[corvidology]

At the beginning of the holiday break I wasn't sure how restorative it would be, given that we weren't going to be able to go anywhere. I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised about how good it's actually been, like a miasma lifting.

Good luck with the goals! ♥

[dolorosa_12]

I'm glad your own holiday at home was also restorative! like a miasma lifting is exactly how I'd describe it.

Good luck with the goals!

Thank you!

[hamsterwoman]

What a staggeringly, breathtakingly, compassionately human achievement this book, and this series is

Yes! ♥

(So, in light of the Hive evolution in this book, are you a Cousin who would turn Kith, or greylaw, a Cousin who would join a different Hive? I've just been really curious about self-identified Cousin readers reaction to that development (in the interests of full disclosure, I consider myself a Gordian, so that was interesting too :P *adjusts cuffs on sweater*)

Good luck with the 2022 goals!

[dolorosa_12]

So, in light of the Hive evolution in this book, are you a Cousin who would turn Kith, or greylaw, a Cousin who would join a different Hive?

It's hard to really say. I have a kneejerk reaction against the idea of going greylaw — I feel like it's not enough (for me personally) to have a sense of self based solely on adherence to a specific ethical code. I need to feel a sense of shared identity with other people who have chosen specific values and facets of their personality as important as well. None of the other existing Hives really speak to me, so unless another Hive were to develop in the wake of the series' conclusion that fit my needs, joining another Hive is out too, so I guess by default I would end up in Kith.

I meant what I said about the Cousins' hypocrises being on stark display in Perhaps the Stars. There is a danger in creating an entity whose organising principle is its members' self-selection based on their self-perception of their own kindness. It can lead to a lack of critical thinking about one's actions as an individual, or the actions of the group — if all actions can be justified as based on kindness, it leads to a kind of moral inflexibility. And of course, at the same time, kindness should feed into the principles of all other groups too. That's what made the fate of the Cousins at the end of the book so perfect.

in the interests of full disclosure, I consider myself a Gordian, so that was interesting too :P *adjusts cuffs on sweater*

Ha! That would definitely have made reading Perhaps the Stars a strange experience!

Good luck with the 2022 goals!

Thank you.

[hamsterwoman]

That makes sense! And thank you for indulging my curiosity :)

When it was looking like Gordian might end up being dissolved, I was also contemplating Greylaw -- it's really the only other categorization that feels at all like me -- but coming to the same not-sufficiently-satisfying conclusion.

There is a danger in creating an entity whose organising principle is its members' self-selection based on their self-perception of their own kindness. It can lead to a lack of critical thinking about one's actions as an individual, or the actions of the group

Yep, I thought that was brilliantly done in the context of the war! Because on the one hand, things like the Gorgons and the preemptive kidnapping of troublemakers to pacification villages surely saved lives! (as did Gordian's ploys in making it the shortest war possibly, Tully Mardi's pamphlet on prison camps, Utopia peacebonding the harbingers, etc.) On the other hand, the Gorgons were horrible in their own right and preemptive kidnapping is REALLY VERY SKETCHY! not just when it happens to nice people like Papa! But I did find the actions very plausible, coming from a group that is acting from an assumption of essentially moral superiority and conviction that they're acting in the best interests of humanity. (I mean, all the Hives were, but in that particular way based on kindness rather than expedience or glorious future or whatever.)

[chestnut_pod]

I'm so very glad your vacation was restorative <3

Cannot wait to finally get around to the Terra Ignota books now that the series is complete and Chestnut's Razor has been satisfied!

[dolorosa_12]

Thank you!

I really hope you enjoy the Terra Ignota series. I think it's one of the most ambitious things I've read in a long time, and, for the most part, the author's talent is equal to that ambition.

[charlottenewtons]

Glad the break was restorative. Good luck with your goals!

[dolorosa_12]

Thank you!

[morbane]

I am glad you had a good break! I'm also going to try to be more present on Dreamwidth.

I'm curious about what non-Yuletide exchanges you're considering!

[dolorosa_12]

From the look of my circle, a lot of people are feeling burnt out by faster-moving social media and looking for a slower speed on Dreamwidth. I hope you're able to do so this year.

Regarding the non-Yuletide exchanges, I'm not really sure. It would need to be something with character-matching (rather than an exchange centred on a trope or specific type of fic), and it would need to be something multifannish with book fandoms included. I miss Night on Fic Mountain — that was the ideal exchange for me, and it came at a great time of year. I guess this year I'll just wait and see.

[merit]

Too many books, too little time!

Relaxing + reading sound like a lovely break from work.

[dolorosa_12]

So true! And yes, it was a great way to spend the holiday, especially given it was winter, and rainy.

[senmut]

I think that's a doable goal set!

[dolorosa_12]

Thanks! I think it's achievable as well.

[used_songs]

I'm really impressed by your goals. I'm terrified of the commitment of doing challenges - though maybe if I also avoided twitter I would produce more writing :/

[dolorosa_12]

I'm in awe of some of the people in my circle who seem to post fic daily! For me I need the external motivation of a prompt and a deadline, hence mainly writing for challenges/exchanges.

Twitter really is such a timesuck, isn't it?