TO READ FOR NEXT WEEK:
Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven
DISCUSSION OF LAST WEEK'S READING:
Prompts for discussion
Slow Sculpture: it's sci-fi right? So what role does science and technology play here? How does it fit into the "slow sculpture" moral presented?
Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones How does class or societal commentary come into play here?
And remember to vote for your favorites for next week
Ongoing list of material to vote on
Frankenstein
Forbidden Planet
The Day the Earth Stood Still
I, Robot (book)
Watchbird by Robert Sheckley
Equoid by Charles Stross
Shoutouts:
Trombone kleinbl00 JakobVirgil mhr OftenBen plewemt elizabeth blackbootz flagamuffin Meriadoc minimum_wage Tiger_the_Lion _thoracic johnnyFive tehstone rthomas6 War Dala OftenBen bhrgunatha kantos francopoli anatomygeek Purple_Ruby
I finished Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones. Society is static: pick-pockets pick pockets, hustlers hustle, and the big time racketeers run their show. Politicians run their anti-organized-crime campaigns, and the regular service police fight cringe wherever they can. And nothing much changes. Special Services is the only organisation that really has the knowledge and ability to direct the balance of power, and they don't go after the biggest crime bosses, they prevent rising criminals from building organizations big enough to change the balance of power. Not entirely effective, due to lack of interplanetary cooperation. Special Services isn't a force for good, evil, justice, or illegality. It's the most powerful organization and it is a force against change.
Sure. In my interpretation, she's saying that you can take "twisted, sick" people (in the mind) and make them into something beautiful, and this is where my problem is. You can influence kids maybe, but not adults. When we're adults we become quite set in our ways. There are exceptions to this of course, but it's generally very hard, nigh impossible, for people - especially "twisted, sick" ones - to make such a turnaround. And, generally when it happens, it's the result of some sort of massive event like a near-death experience. Not very bonsai. Insofar as treating a relationship like a bonsai tree I don't have this issue.People are living, growing things, too. I don’t know a hundredth part of what you do about bonsai but I do know this—when you start one, it isn’t often the strong straight healthy ones you take. It’s the twisted sick ones that can be made the most beautiful. When you get to shaping humanity, you might remember that.
I agree and I actually grazed right over that point when I read the story without really digesting the implication. I also find it a bit questionable if that's really true of bonsai. In a general sense, I do like the bonsai metaphor though. I find it interesting that this seems to be the focal point of the story but has nuts to do with sci-fi, in a Hugo winner.