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Conference noted::sf

Title:	Arcana Caelestia
Notice:	Directory listings are in topic 2
Moderator:	NETRIX::thomas

Created:	Thu Dec 08 1983
Last Modified:	Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1300
Total number of notes:	18728

493.0. "LeGuin's Always Coming Home" by PROSE::WAJENBERG () Wed Jun 24 1987 14:30

    Ursula K. LeGuin has come out with a new book titled "Always Coming
    Home."  It is not a novel or an anthology.  The introduction is
    titled "Toward an Archeology of the Future," and that is what the
    book is really about.
    
    LeGuin has made up a society living in northern California several
    centuries from now.  They resemble northwest American Indians in
    many ways, but have a sliding scale of technology, using as high
    a level as they want.  Their world is described in several short
    stories, a novella, diagrams, charts, anthropological essays and
    reports, poems, and even recipes.
    
    I recommend the book, but be advised that it is NOT action-adventure.
    Far from it.  It is a book for browsing.  It is also very well-
    written.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
493.1	couldn't get into it	BISTRO::WATSON	this must be the place	`Thu Jun 25 1987 01:22`	8
	> I recommend the book, but be advised that it is NOT action-adventure. > Far from it. It is a book for browsing. It is also very well- > written. I'm not sure that I recommend it. But I don't recommend much recent LeGuin either. I start off thinking, like .0, that it's well-written, but then after a few pages think to myself that well-written sf makes you want to keep reading. This doesn't.
493.2	xref 345	BISTRO::WATSON	this must be the place	`Thu Jun 25 1987 01:39`	4
	Just noticed - note 345 was a call for opinions on this book and one other. Andrew.
493.3	Still a great book	CAVER::LEAVITT	Eric Leavitt HPS/CAD 297-5221	`Thu Jun 25 1987 11:14`	26
	I recently finished "Always Coming Home", and I found it fascinating. However, I would be very hesitant to recommend it. I definately wouldn't call it science fiction. I also didn't finish it - probably the first book that I loved that I didn't finish - but it just doesn't require it. It reads like a collection of short stories. Small Spoiler The environment in the story could be given a very science fictiony description when you find out that the setting is post holocaust, and that totally automated high technology exists in the society portrayed. However, these are not major elements of the story, and these are explored only minimally. End Spoiler I interpret the book as an exploration of an extremely spiritually oriented world view. The main culture portrayed interprets the world around them in terms of spirits, and their lives are shaped around symbols and traditional ceremonies. This society is portrayed very favorably, in particular when it is contrasted to a neighboring culture that is very warlike and achievment oriented. It is an interesting exploration of possible cultures using the "archeology of the future" gimmick which I found to be cute. It is definately NOT an adventure story.
493.4	Different SF, but still SF	PROSE::WAJENBERG		`Thu Jun 25 1987 12:41`	9
	I think it qualifies as science fiction if you allow the science in question to be cultural anthropology. LeGuin has carefully composed the Kesh culture from elements existing in real cultures and worked out the consequences fo the lives of individuals. I also think the post-holocaust setting of the culture is important. In many ways, the Kesh are a reaction to our own present culture. Earl Wajenberg
493.5	get the music too	VIDEO::TEBAY	Natural phenomena invented to order	`Fri Jun 26 1987 13:05`	12
	I enjoyed it as a kind of a guide to a future world. I suspect that there will be some stories set in it in the future. BTW if you bought the paperback you didn't get the cassete which has some of the music and poetry on it. I think it adds to the "feeling" of the world greatly. I also think the implications of the "NET" surviving and being a major force in culture is a truly awesome concept. What if all that was left of DEC was the notes files?