How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

Yu, Charles

I realized a couple of years ago that not only am I not super-skilled anything, I’m not even particularly good at being myself.

-Pg. 10-

Most people I know live their lives moving in a constant forward direction, the whole time looking backward.

-Pg. 22-

You lie in your bed and realize that if you don’t get out of bed and into the world today, it is very likely no one will even notice.

-Pg. 181-

At some point in your life, this statement will be true: Tomorrow you will lose everything forever.

-Pg. 211-

...just like the concept of the ‘present,’ is a fiction.

-Pg. 216-

At its heart How to is a story about a family that uses the trope of time traveling to express how segregated we as humans are from the other humans; even - no - especially from our closest family members.  It comes complete with infinite causality loops, paradoxes, alternate universes, and all the other clichés you’d expect. 

Time travel stories have, I feel, become kind of annoying.  Star Trek has beat Time Travel to death, and popular movies like Back to the Future and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure have been pretty hard to beat. 

Party on, Wayne.  Wait that's not right.

And yet, I read How to in two sittings.  It’s a fun riff on the scenario and it’s an easy, fast read.

The thing most people will probably get a kick out of from this book is Yu’s breaking of the fourth wall that makes this a very meta-fiction.  It is also a book that seems heavily influenced by Douglas Adams’ The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

The main character’s father, one of the discoverers of time travel, gets lost in time, and the second half of the book deals with Yu’s obsessive quest to discover where/when his father is/was/will be.  The scenes with Yu’s mother/not-mother were particularly touching and played on the ubiquitous regrets that we all harbor over the things that we could have done better in our lives.  We could have been better children/parents/friends/siblings/spouses and to that end we will go through greater lengths to hide the pain we carry and delude ourselves with lies than we ever would to just try and be the people we want to be moving forward.  Much of the material dealing with Yu’s mother directly addresses the idea that the past is not ever truly gone as long as we remember... if for no other reason than the past continues to exist, literally, as bio-chemical processes within our own physical bodies.  Shame then, I say, that there is no known way for our species to foster a sort of selective genetic memory so that we are able to pass on to our descendants important information such as:

1. The proper way to handle that not-so-fresh feeling
2. How to cure a hangover
3. What “masturbate” means
4. Why did Daddy leave?

Just imagine all the awkward questions that could avoided through the selective transmission of genetic memory.  Let’s order the scientist to get to work on this immediately.

Oh, I just realized I got off topic.  How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe is a good book.  Go buy it and read it.

Io9 Q and A with Charles Yu

@charles_yu

  

Dying of the Light by George R. R. Martin

Dying of the Light

George R. R. Martin

"Can they love without a word for it...?" Pg. 37

George R. R. Martin is a fucking beast. His attention to detail and his ability to meld natural organic worlds with advanced Sci-Fi Tech is unparalleled. His characters feel real, and the decisions that they make don't feel like they were made just to move the plot around... Everything just kind of flows.

Dying is set the same universe where many of Martin's other SF story are set. It's an amazing universe populated by dozens of sentient species, including offshoots of humans. Anybody who has had the chance to read the compilations of Martin's earlier works called Dreamsongs will be on familiar ground with Dying, but if you haven't you might find the book to be esoteric. However; the character development is strong enough to carry you over some of the rough patches, and some time spent studying the glossary at the end of the book will serve as cliff notes for information served up in other stories.

My only knock on the book is the thread left hanging at the end. Ugh. I understand leaving some threads loose... It only makes sense to do so in a book that is only one story - one part - of a greater whole, but the big question left open at the end of the novel is a shame. I am a huge fan of Martin, and I enjoy the fact that he routinely breaks the "Rules" that college creative writing teachers tell their students. 99% of the time he gets away with it, but Dying's epilogue is weak.

That said; Dying of the Light is a great read marred only slightly by a weak ending.

November is National Novel Writing Month!

Here is the site I've created in dedication to this years project: The Complete Winner's Guide to Writing bad Science Fiction.

Oh, here's a link to the official NaNoWriMo site.

How I became a Famous Novelist

How I became a Famous Novelist

Steve Hely

-          People will believe thousands of different lies in succession rather than confront a single scintilla of truth.  Pg. 45

-          But that was all for the editors to sort out.  Pg. 115

-          As research for my novel, I’d read almost all of the Wikipedia page about tornadoes.  Pg. 162

-          She was clearly worried about getting every detail right.  That’s a stupid and time-consuming way to write.  Pg. 221

-          You’re always looking for the falseness in everything.  Pg. 303

-          The only way to live life is to lose your self.  Pg. 322

This is the second time I've read this book, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time.

I laughed out loud several times.  That's a good thing. 

But, also, I appreciate the fact that the protagonist is a very flawed character who I found myself cheering for.  Not so much that he would get what he wanted, but that he would evolve and rise above the petty adolescent BS that was simultaneously driving him forward and holding him back.

This is a great novel that I highly recommend.

The Game by Neil Strauss

The Game

Neil Strauss

I recently listened to The Game as an audio book downloaded from Audible.com.  I don’t really like audio books, but found this to be one of the better ones I have downloaded.  This is in part because it is narrated by the author.

The Game is offered up as an inside look at the world of the professional Pick Up Artist.  It chock full of advice on how to approach an attractive stranger and start up a conversation.  Because of the way Neil Strauss presents this information when you finish The Game you’ll probably feel like you could go out and get your swerve on; kinda like when you watched The Fast and the Furious and sat in the cinema parking lot revving Hyundai’s engine. 

Not that I did that or anything. 

But soon into The Game you’ll realize that there is more to this book than just how to scam babes into working your cock.  Beneath the veneer of smooth Game running pimpitude this is one of those books where you’re, like, supposed to learn a bigger lesson and stuff.

After Neil gets into the realm of being a Pickup Artist (PUA) he moves into this crazy Fight Club-esque testosterone fueled house.  You can guess how that goes.  As much as we might not like to admit it; masculine and feminine compliment each other… like peanut butter and chocolate.

What I take from this book, as a single guy, is something I’ve always known, but never really been able to put into words.  The things that make for a strong first impression… the attributes that women are initially attracted to… the things that drive them nuts in the bar, the coffee shop, the super market, or the break room in the office are not the same things that keep they hanging around after the initial attraction has faded. 

What attracts a mate is not what keeps a mate. 

It would seem that nothing says, “I’m gonna make your toes curl and your back arch,” like sweater vests, economy cars, and diversified investment portfolios.

Oh wait.  That’s not right is it?

Because of this dichotomy The Game covers some tricky subject matter.  Handled wrong it could come across very misogynistic.  At times certain characters hit that mark without a doubt, but the author doesn’t.  He seems genuine when he claims to not be a douche.  Rather, he was addicted to his new-found self-confidence and skill in making new connections with beautiful women after years of feeling alienated and inadequate.

Ultimately, the lesson The Game teaches is the same one your mom always told you; Be yourself.

But The Game recognizes that sometimes yourself has low self esteem and feels awkward talking to strangers… And if you just had a way of going up to an attractive stranger and starting a conversation that would be cool, because at the end of the day we’re all just peanut butter looking for some chocolate.

Chapter 10. Draft 2.

Chapter 10 arrives with little fanfare.  I'm too tired to link, but it's in the PDF section off to the side there...

I spent most of my writing time today articulating my view of where I am in my life, and where I want/need to be headed. In short; not here.

I'm working on it.

9th Chapter draft #2 Completion percentage 100%

2^nd draft of Chapter 9 is finished and posted onto the interwebs  as proof of my crime against humanity.
The rewrite for Chapter 10 is pretty much done as well because I worked on both chapters simultaneously. So that should probably be up at the end of next week.

Chapters 11 and 12, however; will be posted as *Gasp* first drafts. Why? Because I completely scrapped what I wrote in December, did brand spanking new outlines for them, and will start on the “prose” after I post Chapter 10. This was decision I was hesitant to make, but it was necessary and I think I’ll still make my July 31, 2010 goal for a finished draft.

I haven’t even finished the 2^nd draft and I’m already planning how I’m going to approach the 3^rd draft. So, yeah, I’m pretty excited. Partly because I don’t really like this draft… Not that I think it’s horrible… let’s just say if it was a house it be a fixer-upper… This is a task that I have found I relish.

In other boring Steve blog news; I bought a netbook so that I can now look even more pretentious when I’m sitting at Panera drinking expensive coffee drinks that I don’t even really like (Panera has great great food, but their coffee is meh) and working on my novel that no one will ever read. Score!

Still, I won’t look as douchey as the guys with Macs working on their novels that no one will ever read… Those guys are dicks, and I guarantee their novels are about something stupid like lesbian cowboys who eat pudding, wear fanny packs, and talk about their feelings! OMG who would wanna read that crap anyway?

But seriously, the battery life on this netbook is amazing… Something like 11 hours of word processing! Bonus: I wrote this blog on my porch with my pooch at my feet and some mellow tunes serving as the backdrop to the drifting cloud of lightning bugs perforating the night.

                              I could sit here all night…

Alright, some sugary sweet YouTube goodness and I’m out…