- Sid
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Yevgeny Zamyatin was a philosopher, author and dissident in a time and place that tolerated none of those roles - Stalin's Russia. His dystopian science fiction novel We, written in 1920, never saw publication in Russia. He died in Paris in 1937, exiled from Russia at his own request.
For me, his quote expresses the essential shared nature of science fiction and fantasy: a revolution that never ends - an infinite revolution.
Comments and observations on science fiction and fantasy.
Why "The Infinite Revolution"?
"Revolution is everywhere, in everything. It is infinite. There is no final revolution, no final number.
- Yevgeny Zamyatin
Yevgeny Zamyatin was a philosopher, author and dissident in a time and place that tolerated none of those roles - Stalin's Russia. His dystopian science fiction novel We, written in 1920, never saw publication in Russia. He died in Paris in 1937, exiled from Russia at his own request.
For me, his quote expresses the essential shared nature of science fiction and fantasy: a revolution that never ends - an infinite revolution.
Introduction
I've been reading science fiction and fantasy for as long as I can remember - in fact, my involvement goes back further than that, my mother used to say that she had read the Narnia books to me when I was a baby. I've maintained my interest over the years, and after my friend Colin started HIS blog (Campbell Brothers Winery), I thought to myself, hey, if no one stopped HIM*... I make no claim to being an authority in any way, shape or form, and since there are lots of lists, biographies and bibliographies out there on the net, this is just going to be a place for me to vent some of my thoughts and opinions.
*And the Campbell Brothers may be desperately in need of stopping, based on all evidence.
*And the Campbell Brothers may be desperately in need of stopping, based on all evidence.
About Me
My rating from Innergeek.us
Right now I'm reading:
- Singularity Sky, by Charles Stross
- Serving in Time, by Gordon Eklund
So after having finally watched "The Bucket List" and "Cloverfield"*, based on respective recommendations from an older client and Sid, the question is - which one did I enjoy more? They both turned out the same - protagonists ended up dead. And they both caused me to do a lot of thinking about "What if????" What if I was diagnosed with untreatable terminal illness that would destroy me in a few months, what would I do? What if I was out at a dinner party and a giant lizard/T Rex lookalike invaded Vancouver? Building-smashing, car-throwing lizard aside, I'd be more concerned about the unknown quantity of wolf-sized creatures (spider lizards?) invading the sewer system and Skytrain tunnels.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as entertaining as it is to watch aliens and explosions in movies, I can say with conviction that in order to live a full life (pffft, don't care for that phrase, BUT...) one doesn't need to have them in reality. Visiting the pyramids, climbing a mountain and Skydiving, however - those are experiences that just don't count unless you have them in vivo.
* I never did find out why they called the monster movie "Cloverfield".
I'm a bit sceptical about doing a one-to-one comparison between The Bucket List and Cloverfield. Yes, main characters are dead at the end of both movies, yes, the 76-year old Jack Nicholson bears a certain resemblance to the monster, but the stories are completely different - and I don't think that the people behind Cloverfield are advocating giant monster attacks as something that everyone should experience in real life before they die - very shortly before they die, as the movie points out rather graphically.
ReplyDeleteCloverfield was initially a code name for the production, which was done under conditions of extreme secrecy to avoid leaks and spoilers. In the context of the film, Cloverfield is the code name used by the US Department of Defense for the monster's attack, following that odd intelligence service tradition of using randomly assigned words to designate projects for the purposes of security. (You'll recall that in The Bourne Identity, Jason Bourne was an operative for a group called Treadstone, another such random name.)
For the trivia fans in the audience, the director of visual effects called the Cloverfield monster Clover, which is actually quite a sweet name for a giant alien thing that destroys a city.
- Sid
Okay, now let's talk about spider lizards the size of wolves invading the sewer system?
ReplyDelete- Sid
As in from their role in the movie, or in a "what if?" context, if such creatures were to run amok in the subterranean trenches of Vancouver? THAT would be a shocker to Monday morning commuters........
ReplyDelete