First and Foremost

Before even delving into the social science or science fiction of He, She, and It, I'd first just like to say that I think that it is a great novel. For me, at least, it was an absolute page-turner that I never wanted to put down. Considering there's not a lot of "action" (read:explosions) in the book, that's an absolute testament to Piercy's literary abilities.

Why? Well, it's a pretty interesting post-apocalypse. Gigantic corporations, megalopolises (megalopoli? megalopola?), free cities - fun stuff. Was anyone else thinking of Weyland-Yutani whenever they mentioned Y-S? The world that Piercy paints for us is quite engrossing - she reveals a lot of detail to us without ever simply going off on a historical lecture. Nothing in the plot ever seems like a deus ex machina - the plot actions all seem reasonable. This is really the result of well-defined character psychologies. I felt that all of the main characters were at least understandable and mostly relatable.

That all being said, I suppose I should touch on Yod, but I don't find that there's much to say. He's a tragic figure, a person beholden to his creator and doomed never to quite fit in. His only possible fate in his world was death. There was never a way that he could have fit into his society as an equal. Adding to the tragedy is the fact that the discrimination against him is completely arbitrary - he is the ideal end to all of the tinkering that people are already doing to their bodies. Is the the one-drop theory - would one drop of human blood have done it for him? Exactly where is that line? The novel's society seems like it will only ever accept modified humans, and in the end, it doesn't seem like it will be a problem for a long time. I see Avram as Dr. Soong, Data's creator from ST:TNG - he was way ahead of his time, to the point where humans won't be able to match or surpass his work for generations. So... problem solved, I guess.

As always, my pre-class post is rather amorphous; I suppose it's my brain trying to put everything in order. We'll see tomorrow how this all fits together with the course itself. It's no surprise, though, that this week's movie is Blade Runner, and thankfully, we'll be watching it in its un-studio-ified form that actually lets Ridley Scott deliver his message. Robots... people... lines... Philip K. Dick's obsession with eyes...