Spoiler Alert!
Many well-reasoned and insightful comments ahead... or maybe not
What a great group of short story collections selected by the "Hearts" group. I enjoyed all of them and found it interesting how all of them fit into the same theme- a theme of the future and the factors that determine it... both in reality and in the author's mind.
The selection Chris and I chose is a short story by Cory Doctorow, “The Right Book”. It focuses on a small shop that sells books "today", 75 years from now, and 150 years from now. Written in 2010, to me it is reminiscent of George Orwell's "1984" with its "big brother" approach to writing and the resultant underground book publishing world. In "today's" society (in a present that is still a bit futuristic) the only text available is a fanfiction-type group effort called "The Story So Far". The focus of Doctorow's story centers on a small shop that dabbles in individually published books that are segments of "The Story So Far" and how from humble beginnings- Arthur, the shop owner, becomes the savior of the book selling world- or at least what becomes of it in the future.
This story made me think about the value of books. At some point, in a printed book's life, it's not the words printed on the page that have any monetary value, but the physicality of the book- the paper it's printed on, the cover, any illustrative plates within, the presence of an author's signature, its edition, etc. This point came crashing home to me during a trip to the Ann Arbor Kiwanis sale this weekend (as prefaced by the weeding of the fiction book collection at the Dexter High School library for the past two weeks). I thought I might be able to earn some extra cash by selling used books on Amazon, but after scanning book after book, I discovered that the only money I would be able to make would be on the shipping costs of these books. Literally a dime a dozen- or more likely 12 cents for a dozen- these penny a piece books as valued by my Red Laser scanner were being sold for more at the source than I could resell them for online. Is this because there were fewer titles available to me right there in front of me, while thousands of the same titles were available online?
I feel justified in my opinion that a new book is a lot like a new car... as soon as you "drive it off the lot" it looses half of its value. At the end of a printed book's life the value of it is simply driven by supply and demand. Where is the value in digital texts? Is it still supply and demand because newer works are available sooner in digital format? Do we still place value on the creative effort of writing when we can access it through so many channels? Now that Oprah doesn't have a book club anymore- what is the main driver of determining a best seller? Thank goodness for libraries.
Oh, "The Beautiful People" by Charles Beaumont- so diabolical- yet eerily possible. This short story reminded me of my only experience with watching the British television show "Dr. Who". I am not a fan of science fiction, but my son loves the show so I thought I would watch it with him one night. All I remember was this panel of stretched skin that once was a woman, but was now the leader of some race of "humans" and considered "her" the standard of beauty- ugh... I left the room and haven't watched "Dr. Who" again. Beaumont's 1952 story is amazingly in step with this concept of manufacturing beauty to an extreme point. In "The Beautiful People" everyone must go through the "Transformation"- a medical process to change them physically into society's standard of beauty. Young Mary- a few months away from her own "Transformation" procedure declares that she does not want to be beautiful, but instead she wants only to be herself and maintain what everyone else in society has lost- their personal identity.
In today's beauty-focused consumer industry this story does not seem so far-fetched. Science has given us the ability to genetically engineer medical imperfections out of unborn fetuses... determining the look of your child is also possible, but society does not accept this yet. WIll we? Will our desire to be beautiful override our ethical standards of what man should and should not control? Other popular novels and movies have addressed this topic, but I have never been introduced to one that has addressed this topic at such an early date. Beaumont was ahead of his time, but it is interesting to read how his imagination can only go so far. Yes, he imagines a world without books- somehow everyone still is able to do that- yet in his future there is still television, tapes, printed mail, pencils, and rulers. The imagination can't always eliminate the known in one fell swoop- the future is still grounded in the past.
That is what struck me with Hessler's "Return to RIver Town". The shock he felt from the drastic changes the once small community that he knew had experienced all because of "progress"- yet seeing the effort made to preserve an important memory of the past. The town of Fuling, China- once ignored by the Chinese government is now the center of growth and electricity production because of its location at the Three Gorges Dam. I think of the small town that I grew up in (and still live in) and how little change (comparatively) it has experienced over the 40 years that I have lived there and understand how the people of old Fuling struggle with, yet ultimately enjoy the rapid sprint to an industrial capital that was literally forced upon it. Dexter might have assumed that same fate IF Henry Ford HAD decided back in the early 1900's that the electrical producing capacity of Mill Creek was greater than that of River Rouge. Yet, with the almost instantaneous population growth and the positive shift in cultural attitude towards all things American, an extreme effort was made to preserve a part of the cultural heritage of Fuling. Though now hidden by 300 feet of water- still visible are the ancient characters carved to mark the hydrological events of the Yangste River long before the Three Gorges Dam was constructed. History was "preserved" at such a tremendous cost. Fascinating. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/underwater-cultural-heritage/about-the-heritage/underwater-museums/the-baiheliang-underwater-museum/
In today's beauty-focused consumer industry this story does not seem so far-fetched. Science has given us the ability to genetically engineer medical imperfections out of unborn fetuses... determining the look of your child is also possible, but society does not accept this yet. WIll we? Will our desire to be beautiful override our ethical standards of what man should and should not control? Other popular novels and movies have addressed this topic, but I have never been introduced to one that has addressed this topic at such an early date. Beaumont was ahead of his time, but it is interesting to read how his imagination can only go so far. Yes, he imagines a world without books- somehow everyone still is able to do that- yet in his future there is still television, tapes, printed mail, pencils, and rulers. The imagination can't always eliminate the known in one fell swoop- the future is still grounded in the past.
That is what struck me with Hessler's "Return to RIver Town". The shock he felt from the drastic changes the once small community that he knew had experienced all because of "progress"- yet seeing the effort made to preserve an important memory of the past. The town of Fuling, China- once ignored by the Chinese government is now the center of growth and electricity production because of its location at the Three Gorges Dam. I think of the small town that I grew up in (and still live in) and how little change (comparatively) it has experienced over the 40 years that I have lived there and understand how the people of old Fuling struggle with, yet ultimately enjoy the rapid sprint to an industrial capital that was literally forced upon it. Dexter might have assumed that same fate IF Henry Ford HAD decided back in the early 1900's that the electrical producing capacity of Mill Creek was greater than that of River Rouge. Yet, with the almost instantaneous population growth and the positive shift in cultural attitude towards all things American, an extreme effort was made to preserve a part of the cultural heritage of Fuling. Though now hidden by 300 feet of water- still visible are the ancient characters carved to mark the hydrological events of the Yangste River long before the Three Gorges Dam was constructed. History was "preserved" at such a tremendous cost. Fascinating. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/underwater-cultural-heritage/about-the-heritage/underwater-museums/the-baiheliang-underwater-museum/
The "Catbird Seat" by James Thurber was very crafty. Entirely expecting a murder mystery, it slowly and smartly transformed into something else I was not prepared for- in just a few pages. Humans are fickle, but ingenious. This story highlights how our better selves can shine through at just the right moment, but that doesn't always mean that we are innocent. Both Mr. Martin and Mrs. Barrows' futures are drastically altered as a result of a split decision that Mr. Martin makes. Not necessarily a rational one, but a decision that is forced on him despite his premeditated intentions- making this story all the more surprising and entertaining. The future truly can be what you make of it.
"The Bear Came Over the Mountain" highlights the innocence of not youth, but old age. This story struck home on many levels. A story about the long marriage of Fiona and Grant, sometimes the description of Grant's seemingly lackadaisical attitude towards his past extramarital affairs made me wish that Fiona WOULD forget him forever as she progressed through the stages of her dementia. I also foresee decisions that I will have to make about my own parents in the near future and wonder if I will be as ultimately understanding as Grant reveals himself to be. Will I be willing to purposefully undermine my relationship with someone I love just because I know it will make them happier in the future? This story brings up some tough issues close to my heart that I will be interested to hear what a younger crowd thinks about them.
"The Bear Came Over the Mountain" highlights the innocence of not youth, but old age. This story struck home on many levels. A story about the long marriage of Fiona and Grant, sometimes the description of Grant's seemingly lackadaisical attitude towards his past extramarital affairs made me wish that Fiona WOULD forget him forever as she progressed through the stages of her dementia. I also foresee decisions that I will have to make about my own parents in the near future and wonder if I will be as ultimately understanding as Grant reveals himself to be. Will I be willing to purposefully undermine my relationship with someone I love just because I know it will make them happier in the future? This story brings up some tough issues close to my heart that I will be interested to hear what a younger crowd thinks about them.
Selected Short Stories:
Short story, “The Right Book” Chapter 3 of With a Little Help, full book can be downloaded here: http://craphound.com/walh/e-book/browse-all-versions
Short Story: “The Beautiful People” by Charles Beaumont - Full text available at:
“Return to River Town” by Peter Hessler - Full text available at: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/fuling-china/hessler-text
Short Story: “The
Catbird Seat” by James Thurber Full text available at:
http://jameshilston.com/pages/reading/catbird_seat.htm
Short Story: “The Bear
came over the mountain” The full text available at: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1999/12/27/1999_12_27_110_TNY_LIBRY_000019900?currentPage=1
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