Stand on Zanzibar

[clevermanka]

I'm about halfway through Stand On Zanzibar. I've never read it before. I find the work fascinating as a piece of writing, and I'm amazed at how heavily it influenced various aspects of our culture--without the novel itself being terribly well known. It took a bit to get into the style, but about a quarter of the way in, I completely fell over the edge. I love it.

Brunner's descriptions of the vast and vastly overpopulated planet Earth are convincing without being forced or contrived. You really get that there are way too many people on the planet--even though his idea of staggering overpopulation is not far from where we stand now, and our population issues aren't nearly what he feared. Yet.

My only complaint about it (so far) is that non-straights are treated as deviants and superficially scorned--as opposed to the issue of racial discrimination, which is a key (and sympathetic) element of the story. Brunner's sexual prejudices are made even more noticeable by his efforts to show his desire for racial equality. It's a pity his egalitarianism didn't extend beyond skin color--or if they did, he certainly did a good job of hiding the fact in this book. In his defense, sexual orientation issues weren't a big deal as race equality in 1968. But the overt slights and slams against other-sexuality get really tiresome.

I wish there was an actual Chad C. Mulligan to write the book You're An Ignorant Idiot because I would love to own it.

Comments

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

I guess. I dunno, I look at any book that was written in an era in which I didn't participate with a pinch of salt -- more like a tablespoon of salt; it's just not possible to take a social aspect and single it out and say, "Man, Johnny Quest's Race Bannon shouldn't be pretending to be this tribe's god!" or "Too bad Lovecraft was such a racist that he couldn't be bothered to look up any REAL information on Japanese people OR Shintoism..."

Of course, if the work is of otherwise high quality, it becomes increasingly hard to tolerate what appear to be glaring errors from our perspective -- "errors" being the wrong term here; I guess I want something like "cultural rift"?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

if the work is of otherwise high quality, it becomes increasingly hard to tolerate what appear to be glaring errors from our perspective

Exactly. That's the problem I'm having. Brunner is so blatantly aware of the racial issues and wants so much to show how intelligent, capable, and sympathetic the "aframs" are. Then he makes horrible mockeries of (especially) homo- and bi-sexual men, with the occasional man-hating-lesbian slam thrown in for good measure. The contrast makes it extra noticeable and extra jarring.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

Fascinating! I've read this book more than once, and I can't think of any characters obviously gay. Now the Guinevere Steel party has a lot to say about body type and public humiliation -- but I don't remember any particular gay issues.

And this is one of my favorite books.

If you want to see Brunner at his most depressing, but still wonderfully pointed, try The Sheep Look Up.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I can't think of any characters obviously gay

That's kind of the problem.

There have been several instances, most notably so far at Ms. Steel's party, where the bi man/men are ridiculed by wives. There is the powerless, ultra-femme at the door of her boutique. And then, after the Yatakatang announcement, the throwaway comment about "now that there are clones, I don't see why I can't have your baby without the influence of any bleeding men" or something very similar.

The thing that irritates me most is that the book would be perfect without those asides. There is really no pressing reason to include them. And they contrast so strongly with the extremely progressive stance on race issues.

In regards to gender, Brunner paints everyone with the same bleak brush. But when it comes to sexuality I find him quite biased.

[maibe.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a very interesting read. I'd have issues with his prejudice, but I think I could suspend them long enough to finish the book. Maybe.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

It's not like it's All-Gay-Bashing-All-The-Time. It's only come up a couple times. It's just that when it does, it's in such glaring contrast to his strong bias towards racial equality.