Blog Set #8

"Day Million" by Frederick Pohl was probably the most satisfying read in general for me in a while. Obviously what a lot of popular science fiction stories do is start a story and you have to figure your way around the story. This happened to me in this story as you can imagine. Like last weeks story, this takes place in the future. I do like that as I go along in the story, it explains more and more without revealing too much. It's great. Right away I see the message this story is trying to bring across. Love in this case has no race, religion, and certainly not a gender. I assume that this short love story is between a girl and a boy but I realize quickly that it isn't. To have this story written in 1966 where being "different" was an extreme taboo, this was very edgy of Pohl to write. I enjoy that he is challenging the small and narrow way we (used to) think. It is writing like tghis that provokes and challeneges boundaries created by society. I also think his use of language was very keen in this story. This wouldn't be cosidered a conventional love story soley based on the fact that it keeps you guessing on who is who. Usually we get the girl and the boy but like I said before it keeps you guessing. For this to be written at this time, to me, is sort of revolutionary because it was the 1960's. Things that where different or out of the "norm" we kept on the down low. To see him deter from the usual love story path is shocking, but the good kind of shocking.
"When It Changed" by Joanna Russ was yet another interesting read. Although it has lost me in some places, I enjoyed it! Once idea that really struck me, was the fact that when men arrived on Whileaway I noticed right away how they realized that this particular planet has not had any type of man on it for 30 generation so they go into this caveman like mentality of thinking that women on this planet must be yearning for men! But in reality they weren't and were doing just finewithout them. This story was written in 1972, which to me is a year full of the braking of all types of barriers. Since this planet (Whileaway) has figured out a way to reproduce without men I truly don't think they serve any type of purpose there. Maybe some women on that planet like men? but I highly doubt it, since it has been 30 generations without men. This planet has thrived without men and will continue to thrive without men.

Blog Set #7

I can easily say that the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick was an awesome read. The idea that this man was imagining this type of furture to me is complelty amazing. I don't really think that the idea of artificially transplanted memories will be invented anytime time soon but then again, who really knows? If we were to easily implant memories into us as easy as getting cosmetic surgery, i think we would lose our humanistic element. I feel as if we won't be human anymore because you have artificial memory in you, which makes us sound a little bit like robots. I don't like the idea of having a memory implanted in me, even though I will be extremely convinced it has happend, a part of me deep, deep down in my brain will know it is false. We will all be living a lie.
I'm sort of torn with the whole casting thing. I do like that Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast because he sort of embodied a "hero" type physique but I also do wish they cast some one with an under-dog element. I could really have seen Matthew Broderick play this role because physique wise he isn't very big but I feel like that would've added a sense of vulnurability and under-dogness (I know that isn't a word) because he is somewhat small but yet he is tackling this huge feat of saving the universe. I think that would've been cool to see someone of average size to save the whole world; more men probably could have related if Matthew Broderick was cast. Remember this is all opinion based! hahaha
I think maybe movies being based off of movies impacts the story in every sense. Maybe some people haven't read the story and go see the movie and then read the story; but they already have a sense of what is going to happen since they saw the movie already and don't have the space to imagine it in their heads as they read. To me that takes away the whole purpose of reading. I love reading because you see it in your head and it exercises your imagination. Movie adaptations of stories in a way destroy that. 

Blog Set #6

"Burning Chrome" by William Gibson was extremely fascinating to me in more ways than one. There is a lot of cyber elements that come into play in the story. Another thing that got me interested was the fact that it also has traces of romance in it as well with Bobby and Rikki. When I was finished with the story, the vibe I got from Bobby and Jack were positive. Jack was the sensible one and Bobby was the brasher and wild one, and I think they complement each other very well. To me they seemed to do no harm, even though they were hackers and in this world we associate hacking with harm and theft, Bobby and Jack were not (to me) malicious and out to steal every ones bank account, but instead stealing money from Chrome; who is the true bad person here. I also got a sense of betrayal from Rikki to both Bobby and Jack but Bobby took it a little harsher.  Rikki turned out to be a double crosser; working for a program with ties to Chrome but at the same time pretending to be with Bobby and Jack. This is a huge let down for Bobby who was growing fond of her at a rapid rate. Rikki uses the money she (technically Bobby and Jack) stole to but herself “eyes"? I am not quite sure what the connection is between her and the "eyes" she purchased. But I feel the world Gibson is trying to foresee is a vain one, a world where people will do anything; even if it means compromising your morale to look picture perfect. All in all the ending is sad because Rikki and Bobby don't come together and she stole from them (the good guys) which doesn't always leave a good taste in your mouth. 

"Computer Friendly" by Eileen Gunn was very enjoyable because it told the story from a perspective completely different; a seven-year-old girl. I think she chose to write using this angle was because this was a new setting we (the reader) are learning about. Instead of using an adult and having the adult just throw you into the scenario, little kids her age are very well known to ask many questions so I think Eileen uses a seven-year-olds point of view to purposefully make you ask those questions then and there compared to what seems to be the usual; you start reading a science fiction short story/novel and you are lost in the beginning of it until I continue reading then i understand what’s happening hahah (I think this happens to just me though)

Blog Set #5 Artificial and Posthuman Life

As I was reading "The Culling" by Steven Dos Santos, I started to realize page by page that this was very similar to "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins but with a twist. The pages I read showed many human emotion in the sense that many emotions where being felt in just those 97 pages. I did sense a lot of desperation and also a lot of post apocalyptic elements into the story. I also realized that there is a sense of status in this book; a hierarchy. Similar to "The Hunger Games" there are the rich, who did not have to fight to the deaths to stay alive, and there are the poor who do have to fight. I am super excited to read the rest and see what happens to Digory and Lucky.

I think "Reason" by Isaac Asimov shows a very clear example as to why robots are dangerous, hahaha. But on a serious note, the theme in this story has been used throughout time in the movie scene. There have been many movies of robots being built by their "master" then going haywire after sometime realizing they should no longer obey human command and do what they want to do.I think Asimov gave the robot feelings on purpose. He could have just made a sci-fi story about robots and humans in space and not have the robot do what it does in the story. It gives the robots a human element and makes it a tad relatable to people who stray from their path or people who cause rebellion.

"Super-Toys last All Summer Long" by Brian Aldriss is very interesting for its time. Written in 1969 about a boy who starts to question whether he is real or not in this day and age of synthetic life form. It was sad for me in someway knowing (or assuming) that the mother of this boy may not even love him because he is not "real". I got to that conclusion (I may be wrong) because of the lack and difficulty of communication between mother and son. She is not a cruel mother but she tends to find it hard to love David and David tends to find hard what to express to her, which is very frustrating for both in the end.

Blog Set #4

The story "The Star" by H.G Wells, to me seemed to be going nowhere. Yes it does fall under the science fiction genre but it really did not fascinate me in any way. What it does use is a lot of science, like using the word "observatories" and "instruments" which makes this story sound very legitimate. H.G Wells makes us feel a little tense when he wrote " "it is nearer!" (page 42) but I feel like that is the only sort of build-up we have going on in this story. I do like the fact that H.G Wells writes about when "it" is getting brighter and nearer, the people have a kind of tension and they start to think all these thoughts; whether it be final moment thoughts and how they would spend their last moments together or people thinking how fascinating the big bright light is and not really thinking about the end of their world as they know it. Some people are oblivious and some are not, I think if I saw a bright light coming from the sky I would start to question things like " is this bright thing that is approaching earth good or bad?" When you put yourself in that situations, reactions from many different people may vary but the result at the end is the same.

"Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler I thought was really good. It shows how humanity works and that not everything is like a type of Utopia. The dystopic "near future" stated in this story is quite opposite that of a perfect society. This story to me shows how imperfect society is and miscommunication we have as people. Most of us do things on emotions while some logically think events through but that was not the case in this story. I still do not quite understand the reason or origin of the miscommunication but is shows how we use assumption and jump into conclusions. At the end Butler shows how communication is key to a civil society and that we must use it at all times.

Blog Set #3

       "That Only a Mother" had a very interesting setting. That being that it takes place in a middle class suburban home, when most people assume that most science fiction stories are portrayed in outer space or another weird environment. I think the setting on this story makes it relatable to the reader in the sense that most people live in middle class suburban houses, so it gives the reader a sense of belonging in the story. With that being said, in the story the baby has no legs or arms because of a mutation so it gives the reader an eerie feeling of relating but not relating at the same time. Throughout the story the mother to the limb-less child is somewhat oblivious (to me) that her daughter has no limbs, but somewhat acknowledges she has no limbs when she says "why a child of your intelligence can't learn to keep a diaper on the way other babies do" (page 217)  which to me signifies that she knew her baby had no arms or legs but ignored it to a point where she believed it and genuinely thought her baby had limbs. This story perfectly explains a mothers never ending and unconditional love. The child was perfect to her even though the baby came with flaws, which is what a lot of mothers still do till this day which is look past their child's imperfections and sees nothing but beauty. In a major way, this story and " We See Things Differently" both have to deal with the environment and post global war/terrorism.
       In the story " We See Things Differently" it clearly shows the "future" America in decline, but how? To me it is because the Americans only seem to have one person to look at as a sign of hope; who is Tom Boston. The fact that we only have one person (or so it seems) as a beacon of hope means to me that America has been wiped out in the sense that it is no longer the dream machine it once was. That it is no longer the go-getter country, and it certainly wasn't the land of hope it once was. This "future" America had people from all over trying to tear us down, which come to think of it is currently happening nowadays, but we haven't let them conquer. But in the America portrayed by Bruce Sterling, we lost that battle and started to decline.

Blog Set #2

As crazy or weird as it sounds, science fiction does reflect on humanity in more ways than one. Many (but not all) authors use a futuristic approach when it comes to their writing. Authors also use the theme of aliens, and in the story "Passenger" written by author Robert Silverberg, he uses both the futuristic and alien theme. For instance, around the third or fourth paragraph he talks to a compter and asks "her" what time and year it is. The year "Passenger" was written was in the year 1968, but the computer tells the narrator that it is the year 1987. Here is a clear use of the futuristic theme. I find it interesting because in today's world some people have Siri on their phones, and if you ask Siri was the date, time and weather are she will dictate it to you much like the computer told the narrator the date, time and the weather, and to me that is amazing because that technology that was being described in the story was nowhere near existent. In the next couple of paragraphs you see the theme of the future being used a lot. The computer makes a concoction in the kitchen for the hungover narrator and clearly in the 1960's this automated kitchen idea was not in existence either. Another theme that was used in "Passenger" was the aliens. What i noticed in the story was that the aliens took over the humans body as if the aliens where playing pretend, much like you do when you are a child. So these aliens posses these bodies and are free to do anything with them, which some find it to be a frightening idea; not be able to control your own thoughts or actions of the body.

In the story "Out Of All them Bright Stars", by author Nancy Kress uses the same alien but takes place in present 1985, except the alien in this story is friendly and does not have any harmful intentions onto the human race. The alien names "John" was a mild mannered, soft spoken, sweet alien who had nothing but good coming from him. He faced adversity and discrimination because of the fact that he was blue. Many where mean to "John" except for Sally Gourley, who saw the human essence in him unlike her boss and co-worker. This surely reflects onto humanity in the sense of racism or being a unique individual; because he was blue and didn't quite fit in. The fact that he was being threatened by the owner of the diner, in my perspective was wrong. Also reading the introduction was a great help and made me understand the essentials of science fiction writing, as well as how this genre slowly paved its path onto being one of the many popular genres to date.