kab
Racist and colonialist right out of the gate. The author tells us in clumsy, halting self-revelations that the protagonist is smug, controlling, and unable to think outside of conventions, that a man’s vision of life ought to be prime, while her unloving and dishonest family is portrayed as hard done by. The premise was compelling and the epilogue befitting, true to life.
Contains spoilers
Besides the pounding misogyny, the most salient aspect is the forced disproportionate gravity of literal adolescent relationships when you marry the first person you want to ‘bun’. Negging and body commentary is standard on all fronts. Surprisingly not full-on racist, just a bit escaped. Feminist is a slur. Soap opera turns. The correspondence between the protagonist and her great love in her supposed mature phase at 27 is unflattering. I appreciated the supportive friendships and the confronting of wearying subjects that endure, lack of safe access to abortion, the debts that are considered owed for male attention. One of her closest friends, her asexual future husband who inherits millions, explains her appeal to him: “I don’t think about you as female. You’re decorative, like a well-bred young collie pup… and besides you laugh at things and like to look at pictures.” It’s a record of a side of New York in 1929.
He repeatedly disrespects boundaries—but she’s intrigued. He also happens to be an astronomer-hacker who is tall, handsome, wealthy, and an expert martial artist. The first 60% doesn’t stretch beyond that level of groundwork. Once they meet extraterrestrials, the interactions still ring petulant. Also I thought Ken Liu was a better translator. Was he in a rush?
Less a parade of interviewers who haven't read her work asking the same flat questions than usual. She only had to mention Devil Girl from Mars once out of the ten and refer to Steve Barnes and Samuel R. Delany twice. Delany's intro is disjointed and abrupt, and I'm sorry she had to deal with some of the questions from Rosalie G. Harrison. I appreciated most the interview with Randall Kenan who showed his admiration and was actually interactive rather than robotically going through index cards.
“What Is a Witch?” Jonathan Strahan ★½
“Seed of Power” Linda D. Addison ★★
“What I Remember of Oresha Moon Dragon Devshrata” P. Djèlí Clark ★★★½
“The Luck Thief” Tade Thompson ★★★½
“Good Spells” Ken Liu ★★★
“The Liar” Darcie Little Badger ★★★★★
“Met Swallow” Cassandra Khaw ★½
“The Nine Jars of Nukulu” Tobi Ogundiran ★★★
“In a Cabin, In a Wood” Kelly Robson ★★½
“What Dreams May Come” C. L. Clark ★★★★
“She Who Makes the Rain” Millie Ho ★★
“Orphanage of the Last Breath” Saad Z. Hossain ★★★
“The Unexpected Excursion of the Murder Mystery Writing Witches” Garth Nix ★★★
“So Spake the Mirrorwitch” Premee Mohamed ★★★
“Just a Nudge” Maureen McHugh ★★★ This read as extra white
“Her Ravenous Waters” Andrea Stewart ★★★
“Nameless Here for Evermore” Fonda Lee ★★★¼
Kind of disappointed the intro and stories were about magic and often stereotypes and none about the dishonesty of myth creation in the persecuting control and punishment of women.
1.5 L'histoire d'une femme qui n'a pas d'autre identité que son obsession pour un homme indisponible et vide de personnalité. Une obsession telle qu'elle ne se lave pas pour conserver son sperme, qu'elle part dans des délires impliquant une femme qu'elle a vue dans un magazine et qu'elle reste figée chez elle en attendant ses appels sporadiques du genre « u up ? » Une phrase tirée du livre : « Une nuit, l'envie de passer un test de détection du sida m'a traversée : ‹ Il m'aurait au moins laissé cela. › »
I read this having seen more SNW Spock than TOS. I knew of two contributions by Nimoy that gave me a positive impression and spurred me to read another memoir by someone I wasn't necessarily a dedicated fan of (following the vibrant Fingers Crossed by Miki Berenyi). One was something he wrote in 1968 for FaVE magazine entitled Spock: Teenage Outcast, and the other was The Full Body Project from 2007 via Lindy West's piece about his photography.
The writing is plain and there are from-another-era moments (although I'm sure he would've been pro a sensitivity reader). Nimoy is gracious throughout, I appreciated hearing his approach to storytelling and insights into directing, and I got all the background tidbits I was looking for. Favourite piece of trivia: “On the Star Trek set, I'd take copious swigs of honey around three or four in the afternoon in order to keep going.” He also made me want to seek out all the episodes written by Dorothy Fontana as well as the 1973 animated series she produced.
