Author Archives: angrymurmurs
Nostalgia and Young Adult Fiction
I remember reading House of the Scorpion when I was but a wee-middle schooler. I remembered it as being scary and depressing, but as I’m rereading it, I’m realizing my younger self was a coward. It isn’t scary. Mildly depressing, but nothing compared to Camus or Dostoyevsky. However, there is a huge emotional difference between […] Continue reading
Reimagining Blindsight- pages 13-18
“No- please- stop…” I whimper as another leg jams into my stomach and I try to swallow the digested bit of peanut butter and honey sandwich that rises up into my mouth. I want to cry, but what’s the point? I’ve cried enough over the years to know that it wont’s work. Nothing works. They […] Continue reading
Blindsight Part 3
“Because I don’t know if there is such a thing as a reliable narrator.” Pg. 362 Blindsight is a striking novel for many reasons, but one of them in the main character, the narrator. His entire job aboard the ship is to act as a synthesist, which seems to be a glorified Captain’s Log of […] Continue reading
Adulthood Rites- Letter
Dear Akin, After a month of secrets, I have finally done it. I created my own ink out of berries and my own paper out flour I have been saving, keeping it from my ooloi, Nikanj. It has been difficult. But I have finally gotten the time alone and sharpened a stick into a pencil. […] Continue reading
Aliens in Dawn
I had no idea what Dawn was about when I first opened it. Perhaps it’s just me, but I when I started, I kept trying to find things that proved that Lilith herself was not human. From the very start, I was suspicious of her. When she first “Awakened” I assumed that she was some […] Continue reading
WE3
One of the pages that stood out to me most from WE3 was page 50 and 51. Both pages are a continuation of each other and the most spectacular part of how the pages fit together are the panels within the panels. The upper panel represents the dog’s attack vs. the bottom panel which represents […] Continue reading
Neuromancer
One of the most off putting things about Neuromancer is the lack of history. While there is a lot of created history and created tech, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of reference to any “current” history. Everything seems to be set in the “now” that Gibson has created. In Chiba City, the old […] Continue reading
Comment on Blame Shifting by angrymurmurs
I think a main difference is the idea of pride. In the ’80’s, Americans are constantly reaffirmed their identity and supremacy as Americans, and being at fault even in a horror movie would not have gone well. If you look at other eighties movies, for the most part Americans are the victims of the North Koreans, Cubans, Soviets, etc. I think in 1938 there was as much of a sense of the American identity. The Depression was still on everyone’s minds and I think the unity WW2 brought was still far from everyone’s minds.
But that’s just my impression. I think it will be interesting to see how the newer movie deals with the ideas of national pride and fault, especially considering that there are going to be more nationalities represented than just the Norwegians. Continue reading
Blame Shifting
One of the most interesting differences between The Thing and Who Goes There? is who is at fault. In the film version of this story, it’s the Norwegians who are irresponsible and dig up this alien evil and make it the other camp’s problem. However, in the original story it the Americans who dig up […] Continue reading
The Science of Frankstein
Our discussion in class prompted a few thoughts about what would happen if Frankenstein had actually created a mate for his monster and therefore attempted to pass on the legacy of these monsters. 1) No progeny. They come from dead bodies, their reproductive organs are nonfunctioning. 2) Regular children. Both Frankenstein and his creature both […] Continue reading