Kim Stanley Robinson at Borders, Oxford St, London 11-Mar-02
Tuesday, March 12th, 2002 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth"It's not my fault," he says of writing massive books (The Years of Rice and Salt is over 700 pages long). "These ideas come to me and the natural shape of them suggests that they need to traverse two hundred years, or seven hundred years - while the novel, as a form, is best suited to anything between 24 hours and one lifetime".
Of course, in the Mars trilogy Robinson got around that 'one lifetime' limit via medical advances. He gets around it in The Years of Rice and Salt, too, though in an unexpected and (I thought at first) atypical way.
"Both [the Mars trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt) are autobiographies. What else could they be?"
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Of course, in the Mars trilogy Robinson got around that 'one lifetime' limit via medical advances. He gets around it in The Years of Rice and Salt, too, though in an unexpected and (I thought at first) atypical way.
"Both [the Mars trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt) are autobiographies. What else could they be?"
[More]
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Date: Tuesday, March 12th, 2002 01:15 am (UTC)Thematically the novel has more in common with the Mars trilogy than with his other works: once I've finished the novel I'm hoping to get an email interview with him, in which I want to discuss those similarities.
I rather..
Date: Tuesday, March 12th, 2002 04:07 am (UTC)The glory of writing is in the power it gives you, don't you think? You can have the black death wipe out all of Europe. You can colonize Mars. You can get pretty boys into showers and out of clothes. We create the world.. so it's what we want it to be.
What control freak WOULDN'T like that?
I think KSR sounds interesting. Hope you get your email interview.
Having a good day??
Many hugs...
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Date: Tuesday, March 12th, 2002 05:20 am (UTC)I do have a habit of reading quickly, which means a normal-length novel disappears in a day or so (if I'm reading novels, rather than list digests on the Visor ...) I love that feeling of excitement and distraction when I'm halfway through a book and can't wait to return to it. Like being in love (except far more acceptable to practice serial obsession).
My day's fine, though I wish I'd been able to sleep for longer this morning ... or stay at home ... [Working for a living definitely overrated]. [But enables purchase of more books into which to escape the notion of working for a living ... hmm. Foresee circular argument].
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Date: Tuesday, March 12th, 2002 05:41 am (UTC)O I remember , with such joy, reading endless series of books as a kid. Bobbsey Twins.. all the Black Stallion books.. on and on. And I'm still doing it. The Dragonlance stuff.. and LOTR is also a series in a way. Star Trek.. endlessly.
And I'm with you 100% about that feeling of anticipation I get when I know I've got the rest of a GREAT book waiting for me. It IS like being in love.. maybe with one's self. I tend to think reading helps us make inner connections too.
Love to YOU and to whatever you're currently reading...
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Date: Tuesday, March 12th, 2002 06:15 am (UTC)Kim Stanley Robinson. (Did I mention ...?) The Years of Rice & Salt.
Next up: um ... some big SF novels - all on the UK awards shortlists - which must be read pre-Easter so I can speak knowledgeably about them at the Eastercon (big UK SF convention, in Jersey this year).
Then I might get around to Achilles (again) or something else strange and arty-looking. (SF no longer providing me with all the intellectual nutrients I need. I am getting old.)
Nah...
Date: Tuesday, March 12th, 2002 06:48 am (UTC)Hugs!