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May. 14th, 2010 05:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wildestrangerFor the past eight months or so, I've had a project of reading science fiction by women that isn't about manpain. Some of these have been excellent and thought=provoking, others somewhat dull, but in either case there is value in discussing these books, and so I would like to start with Justina Robson's Silver Screen (1999). This was the first one I read, and in retrospect I suspect it may have set the standard too high for the rest. Because this book is brilliant.
The heroine Anjuli is British, of Indian origin, and chubby. This is not made into a big deal in the novel, but neither is it irrelevant - this is something that people are, and it has certain consequences, and those consequences are thought about. In this novel, being a protagonist/hero is not predicated on being white, skinny, and American, and I loved the sense of realism, of not being a Stereotypical Fictional Hero, that followed.
The novel takes place about 60 years into the future, in Leeds, Yorkshire, and the author has clearly thought about what kind of changes could take places during that time, but also how to make the location and its specific Britishness both recognisable and valued. Things like drinking tea and getting a curry take away are presented as normal, not quaintly British but as aspects of this particular culture. It was interesting to note how much I expected the future to be American, and what a relief it was when this wasn't the case.
Another wonderful thing in Silver Screen is that work, and one's relationship with work, are treated as important issues. Anjuli has an almost superhuman ability (perfect memory), but she chooses not to take up employment that would make use of it, and pointedly seeks out work that puts her on the same level as everybody else, and which requires application rather than pure knowledge. How she feels about her ability and her work, her relationship with colleagues, the function of her work in the world at large are key factors in both her characterisation and the plot of the novel, and we see women being competent, women pining for competency and actively learning it, and women whose work matters.
Even more satisfying was the fact that although Anjuli has a boyfriend, their relationship and its development are not presented as more important than her work, or, crucially, more important than her friendships. A question she keeps asking is not 'am I good enough that somebody will love/fancy me', but 'am I good enough that someone will want to be my friend?' Take a moment to consider how radical that is. A woman's capacity for friendship, primarily but not exclusively with other women, is privileged over her romantic relationships with men. Her attractiveness doesn't matter as much as her ability to make friends, and it is the latter which causes most anxiety for Anjuli. If you were ever in the 'Brendon has a friend now' part of bandom, you will want to read this book.
All of these things make Justina Robson's Silver Screen a remarkable novel, as well as a hugely enjoyable one. Although I cannot say that her other novels which I've read(Mappa Mundi, the Lila Black series) are equally impressive, Justina Robson is a talented and interesting writer and her work, at least, aims for admirable complexity. You can find her lj here: http://justinar.livejournal.com/
The heroine Anjuli is British, of Indian origin, and chubby. This is not made into a big deal in the novel, but neither is it irrelevant - this is something that people are, and it has certain consequences, and those consequences are thought about. In this novel, being a protagonist/hero is not predicated on being white, skinny, and American, and I loved the sense of realism, of not being a Stereotypical Fictional Hero, that followed.
The novel takes place about 60 years into the future, in Leeds, Yorkshire, and the author has clearly thought about what kind of changes could take places during that time, but also how to make the location and its specific Britishness both recognisable and valued. Things like drinking tea and getting a curry take away are presented as normal, not quaintly British but as aspects of this particular culture. It was interesting to note how much I expected the future to be American, and what a relief it was when this wasn't the case.
Another wonderful thing in Silver Screen is that work, and one's relationship with work, are treated as important issues. Anjuli has an almost superhuman ability (perfect memory), but she chooses not to take up employment that would make use of it, and pointedly seeks out work that puts her on the same level as everybody else, and which requires application rather than pure knowledge. How she feels about her ability and her work, her relationship with colleagues, the function of her work in the world at large are key factors in both her characterisation and the plot of the novel, and we see women being competent, women pining for competency and actively learning it, and women whose work matters.
Even more satisfying was the fact that although Anjuli has a boyfriend, their relationship and its development are not presented as more important than her work, or, crucially, more important than her friendships. A question she keeps asking is not 'am I good enough that somebody will love/fancy me', but 'am I good enough that someone will want to be my friend?' Take a moment to consider how radical that is. A woman's capacity for friendship, primarily but not exclusively with other women, is privileged over her romantic relationships with men. Her attractiveness doesn't matter as much as her ability to make friends, and it is the latter which causes most anxiety for Anjuli. If you were ever in the 'Brendon has a friend now' part of bandom, you will want to read this book.
All of these things make Justina Robson's Silver Screen a remarkable novel, as well as a hugely enjoyable one. Although I cannot say that her other novels which I've read(Mappa Mundi, the Lila Black series) are equally impressive, Justina Robson is a talented and interesting writer and her work, at least, aims for admirable complexity. You can find her lj here: http://justinar.livejournal.com/
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