SF/F Commentary

I haven’t done one of these in a while, which means I’m really far behind on all the weird stuff that has arrived on my doorstep (for school, for review, for teaching, etc.). So now you get to see the crazy stuff I’ve been looking at in the last few months. Here goes: In Theory:  Classes, Nations, Literatures by Aijaz Ahmad After the Second World War, nationalism emerged as the principle expression of resistance to Western imperialism in a variety of regions from the Indian subcontinent to Africa, to parts of Latin America and the Pacific Rim. With the Bandung Conference and the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement, many of Europe’s former colonies banded together to form a common bloc, aligned with neither the advanced capitalist “First World” nor with the socialist “Second World.”  In this historical context, the category of “Third World literature” emerged, a category that has itself spawned a whole industry of scholarly and critical studies, particularly in the metropolitan West, but increasingly in the homelands of the Third World itself.  Setting himself against the growing tendency to homogenize “Third World” literature and cultures, Aijaz Ahmad has produced a spirited critique of the major theoretical statements on “colonial discourse” and “post-colonialism,” dismantling many of the commonplaces and conceits that dominate contemporary cultural criticism. With lengthy considerations of, among others, Fredric Jameson, Edward Said, and the Subaltern Studies group, In Theory also contains brilliant analyses of the concept of Indian literature, of the genealogy of the term “Third World,” and of the conditions under which so-called “colonial discourse theory” emerged in metropolitan intellectual circles.  Erudite and lucid, Ahmad’s remapping of the terrain of cultural theory is certain to provioke passionate response. Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord Karen Lord’s debut novel, which won the prestigious Frank Collymore Literary Prize in Barbados, is an intricately woven tale of adventure, magic, and the power of the human spirit.  Paama’s husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makendha, now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones–the djombi–who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, a wrathful djombi with indigo skin believes this power should be his and his alone.  Bursting with humor and rich in fantastic detail, Redemption in Indigo is a clever, contemporary fairy tale that introduces readers to a dynamic new voice in Caribbean literature. Lord’s world of spider tricksters and indigo immortals, inspired in part by a Senegalese folk tale, will feel instantly familiar–but Paama’s adventures are fresh, surprising, and utterly original. Africa First:  Volume One by Various From Focus Features, the premiere global brand in original and daring cinema, comes FOCUS WORLD. Charged with finding the most exciting new voices in international and independent film, Focus World is proud to bring you AFRICA FIRST: VOLUME ONE, the first in a series of short film collections from some of Africa’s most compelling new talent. Focus’ Africa First program is an initiative designed exclusively for filmmakers of African nationality and residence, and presents annual awards to the best and brightest from around the continent. After touring film festivals around the world, these Africa First short films are now available for audiences everywhere: Dyana Gaye’s “St. Louis Blues,” an invigorating traveling musical; Jenna Bass’ “The Tunnel,” a moving story of a young girl in search of her father; Jan-Hendrik Beetge’s “The Abyss Boys,” a coming-of-age tale amidst rampant corruption and gang violence; and Wanuri Kahiu’s “Pumzi,” a startling vision of the future. The New Bloomsday Book:  A Guide Through Ulysses (3rd Edition) by Harry Blamires This is a highly accessible, indispensable guide for anyone reading Joyce’s masterpiece for the first time. A crystal clear, page-by-page, line-by-line running commentary on the plot of Ulysses. Dead Head by Rosemary Harris The talented Rosemary Harris continues to pick up steam, garner acclaim, and collect fans with her quirky, beloved Dirty Business Mystery series Fugitive Mom. That’s the tabloid headline that rocks Springfield, Connecticut when one of the town’s favorite ladies is discovered to be an escaped convict. With a little help from the always game Lucy Cavanaugh, Paula is hired to find out which of her neighbors is a fugitive from the law and why the long-kept secret has finally come out. Dubliners by James Joyce (Norton Critical Edition) Dubliners is arguably the best-known and most influential collection of short stories written in English, and has been since its publication in 1914.  Through what Joyce described as their “style of scrupulous meanness,” the stories present a direct, sometimes searing view of Dublin in the early twentieth century. The text of this Norton Critical Edition is based on renowned Joyce scholar Hans Walter Gabler’s edited text and includes his editorial notes and the introduction to his scholarly edition, which details and discusses Dubliners’ complicated publication history. “Contexts” offers a rich collection of materials that bring the stories and the Irish capital to life for twenty-first century readers, including photographs, newspaper articles and advertising, early versions of two of the stories, and a satirical poem by Joyce about his publication woes. “Criticism” brings together eight illuminating essays on the most frequently taught stories in Dubliners—”Araby,” “Eveline,” “After the Race,” “The Boarding House,” “Counterpoints,” “A Painful Case,” and “The Dead.” Contributors include David G. Wright, Heyward Ehrlich, Margot Norris, James Fairhall, Fritz Senn, Morris Beja, Roberta Jackson, and Vincent J. Cheng. 8 maps; 20 illustrations The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam by Ann Marie Fleming A full-color graphic memoir inspired by the award-winning documentary-and the life and mystery of China’s greatest magician.  Who was Long Tack Sam?  He was born in 1885. He ran away from Shangdung Province to join the circus. He was an acrobat. A magician. A comic. An impresario. A restaurateur. A theater owner. A world traveler. An

Another edition of things I’ve added to my collection.  Some of these are research selections, as I bought them around the same time when I was putting together a syllabus on postcolonial fiction.  As such, the books below are an eclectic bunch. What I want to know is: What have you purchased recently? Which books below most interest you? Here’s the list: Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdey (Penguin) Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very moment of India’s independence. Greeted by fireworks displays, cheering crowds, and Prime Minister Nehru himself, Saleem grows up to learn the ominous consequences of this coincidence. His every act is mirrored and magnified in events that sway the course of national affairs; his health and well-being are inextricably bound to those of his nation; his life is inseparable, at times indistinguishable, from the history of his country. Perhaps most remarkable are the telepathic powers linking him with India’s 1,000 other “midnight’s children,” all born in that initial hour and endowed with magical gifts.  This novel is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. Twenty-five years after its publication, Midnight’s Children stands apart as both an epochal work of fiction and a brilliant performance by one of the great literary voices of our time. Galactic Cluster by James Blish (Signet) Imagine…a galaxy of superworms bound together through telepathy…and a planet whose inhabitants consider the human brain to be a cancerous tumor!  Imagine…an incredible journey to Alpha Centauri that takes ten months for a man’s body–and 6,000 years for his mind!  Imagine…the refugees of the ultimate germ war cowering beneath the crust of the planet.  To remian in hiding means mass psychosis–but to flee to the surface is certain death!  James Blish has imagined all this…and has created from it a universe that is both fantastic and horrifyingly real.  Here is modern science fiction…by one of the acknowledged masters of our time! The King’s Rifle by Biyi Bandele (Amistad) It’s winter 1944 and the Second World War is entering its most crucial state. A few months ago fourteen-year-old Ali Banana was a blacksmith’s apprentice in his rural hometown in West Africa; now he’s trekking through the Burmese jungle. Led by the unforgettably charismatic Sergeant Damisa, the unit has been given orders to go behind enemy lines and wreak havoc. But Japanese snipers lurk behind every tree—and even if the unit manages to escape, infection and disease lie in wait. Homesick and weary, the men of D-Section Thunder Brigade refuse to give up.  Taut and immediate, The King’s Rifle is the first novel to depict the experiences of black African soldiers in the Second World War. This is a story of real life battles, of the men who made the legend of the Chindits, the unconventional, quick-strike division of the British Army in India. Brilliantly executed, this vividly realized account details the madness, sacrifice, and dark humor of that war’s most vicious battleground. It is also the moving story of a boy trying to live long enough to become a man. Was by Geoff Ryman (Penguin) This haunting, wildly original novel explores the lives of several characters entwined by The Wizard of Oz–both the novel written by L. Frank Baum and the strangely resonant 1939 film. Was traverses the American landscape to reveal how the human imagination transcends the bleakest circumstance. Fiskadoro by Denis Johnson (Vintage Contemporaries)(the image is from a different edition) Hailed by the New York Times as “wildly ambitious” and “the sort of book that a young Herman Melville might have written had he lived today and studied such disparate works as the Bible, ‘The Wasteland,’ Fahrenheit 451, and Dog Soldiers, screened Star Wars and Apocalypse Now several times, dropped a lot of acid and listened to hours of Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones,” Fiskadoro is a stunning novel of an all-too-possible tomorrow. Deeply moving and provacative, Fiskadoro brilliantly presents the sweeping and heartbreaking tale of the survivors of a devastating nuclear war and their attempts to breaking tale of the survivors of a devastating nuclear war and their attempts to salvage remnants of the old world and rebuild their culture. The End of the World News by Anthony Burgess (Penguin) The dying Freud hustled out of Vienna into exile.  A Broadway musical on the subject of Trotsky in New York.  The last throes of the planet of Earth in AD 2000.  These are all items on The End of the World New.  Psychoanalysis, international socialism and The End–three themes, three stories–outrageously counterpointed into trinity, in a novel stuffed with verbal pyrotechnics, amazing sleights of fantasy, and tantalizing jokes, and which is crowned by a brilliant, unexpected, out-of-this-world finale–all written by one novelist at the height of his powers. Here Comes Another Lesson by Stephen O’Connor (Free Press) STEPHEN O’CONNOR IS ONE OF TODAY’S MOST GIFTED AND ORIGINAL WRITERS. In Here Comes Another Lesson, O’Connor, whose stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Conjunctions, and many other places, fearlessly depicts a world that no longer quite makes sense. Ranging from the wildly inventive to the vividly realistic, these brilliant stories offer tender portraits of idealists who cannot live according to their own ideals and of lovers baffled by the realities of love.  The story lines are unforgettable: A son is followed home from work by his dead father. God instructs a professor of atheism to disseminate updated Commandments. The Minotaur is awakened to his own humanity by the computer-game-playing “new girl” who has been brought to him for supper. A recently returned veteran longs for the utterly ordinary life he led as a husband and father before being sent to Iraq. An ornithologist, forewarned by a cormorant of the exact minute of his death, struggles to remain alert to beauty and joy.  As playful as it is lyrical, Here Comes Another Lesson celebrates human hopefulness and laments a