Neil Gaiman's American Gods So Far...

 

First off before I delve into my thoughts what I read so far in this wonderful novel. I have to thank you, Mr. Craig for assigning this book. If you didn't make that choice I would have never read this and would have missed out on an amazing masterpiece of storytelling.

Anyway, now that the thanking is out of the way. Let's talk about American Gods. More specifically how this book bends it's genres as many times as a contestant on Ru Paul's Drag Race bends his gender. This book takes all different genres and forms throws them into a blender and instead of creating a disgusting mess that would make you retch just if you caught a whiff of it he makes a delicious strawberry smoothie with the ingredients instead. 

This type of concoction especially one that tastes so good is not an easy recipe to follow. I think Gaiman though had a head start since he has been twisting genre conventions like a pretzel since he started on the comic Sandman. Ever seen his movie Mirrormask? I dunno if it's a fantasy movie or a sequel to Tarsem Singh's The Cell. His work here in American Gods is no different than what he has done before it is just more epic in it's storytelling that the majority of his previous works in comics and film.

How many genres are present in just the first 161 pages of this novel? Let's count em. 

Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Romance, Comedy, Science Fiction

There is probably even more but that is all that I can come up with at the moment off the top of my head. It is defnitely a fantasy because of it's plot involving gods living in the USA. There are scenes with leprechauns in them. But not your Warwick Davis type. Nope. More like Shamus from WWE instead of Hornswaggle. Big burly Irish dudes. There is also fiction related moments in the story that seem so real. The beginning of the novel feels like a scene straight out of The Shawshank Redemption. As for the Horror elements? They are scattered throughout but one in particular really tingles my spine. More on that later. As for the others? Romance, Comedy, Science Fiction? They are all there too. Romance obviously for Shadow's relationship with his wife both alive and dead, Comedy for the numerous moments of black humor littered throughout the tale, and Science Fiction for the presence of the new gods in particular ones whose power emanates from technology. I am sure if I spent even more time with this book I could find almost every genre known to man in here, at least a semblance of them at least. 

Now for the finale. 

I thought of how to end this post and I thought why not talk about the most memorable moment of the book from what I have read so far? So here it goes.

On pages 25-28 There is the one scene with distinct horror elements. It comes out of left field and leaves you stunned and retching.  It is only a few pages in length but it hits hard. The image of a virile man in the throes of a passion with a call girl who proceeds to literally absorb him while he is calling her a goddess and praising the heck out of her is burned in my mind. In particular this passage. 

"He feels the lips of her vulva tight around his upper chest and back constricting and enveloping him. He wonders what this would look like to somebody watching them. He wonders why he is not scared. And then he knows. 

    "I worship you with my body", he whispers, as she pushes him inside her.  Her labia pulls slickly across his face and his eyes slip into darkness.

I'm getting chills just reading that. Talk about a horrifying scene. That is near the top of the list for me. This is the type of sequence that would make David Cronenberg the master of body horror feel uncomfortable. The image of a man literally being dissolved into a woman's lady parts is sickening and disturbing as hell. I always thought a woman's genitals looked freaky but damn. Not like this. This is the type of scene that would make one want to forgo sex all together. 

Anyway, that's American Gods so far. I have really enjoyed it. It has been a very interesting fun ride, and there is still a lot of twists and turns left to go. 

Speaking of killer vaginas..there actually is a movie about Killer Vaginas..It's a movie with bite. 

James Tiptree Jr.: And I Awoke And Found Me Here On The Cold Hill's Side

This story by James Tiptree is kind of a tough nut to crack. There seem to be many conflicts or themes present in the tale. One of them dealing with the tried and true cliche of drug use and it's effects on humans and aliens alike but also a rather controversial and risque theme that is ultimately the story's main hook.

Gay Aliens, and a straight man who has the hots for them. Is he going to come out of the closet? No one knows because the story doesn't go that far ahead into the future to tell us the answer to that question. Gay aliens is really simplifying the subtle nuances of this story quite a bit because in the scene where our hero interacts and gets wood for a sexy gay alien dancer really doesn't appear homosexual at all. In all honesty it appears as more Androgynous than anything else. The way it is written is just like any typical scene with a sexy chick is written. It talks about the creatures curves, it's unbridled sexuality the whole nine yards. Nothing sexy is left out. When the revelation is made that the alien that seemed so alluring is actually a man. I was just as shocked as the main protagonist was. And I believe that was precisely the author's point. He wanted to find a way that wasn't entirely offensive to introduce the idea of a future where homosexuals still exist and even span across the outer realms of space. With the character of the newsman who is completely a dispicable character talking about how all aliens should be destroyed, and that humans shouldn't love them under any circumstances is definitely a product of the time. This piece was published in 1972. When the homosexuals were coming out of the shadows and openly celebrating their unique sexuality.

In this piece the author explores the feelings that americans felt when the gay revolution was beginning by using the androgynous aliens as a focal point to point out said feelings as well as leave them up for debate.

This wasn't one of my favorite pieces, but I can see why it is considered an important piece of science fiction writing. It touched upon a very touchy subject at the time that had yet to be handled in the realms of science fiction at least with as deft and appreciative of a hand that James Tiptree Jr. did. Not every important work of art or story has to be appealing to you personally to appreciate it, and this story is just one of many examples where this notion applies. A lot of the themes and tropes present in this story are still talked about to this day. Americans are still freaking out about the homosexuals, and don't get me started on the transsexuals.

To put things into perspective. Just recently in the year 2014, a bill was passed around to make it legal for businesses to throw homosexuals out of their establishments if they deemed them as unfit or a distraction. This bill didn't pass but the fact that it even made it to congress is appalling. I guess things haven't changed that much since 1972 after all.

On a lighter note, here is one of the most absurd pictures I have ever seen and one that you will not forget any time soon. It fits within the context of the story and it is one of those so weird it's funny creations that could have only came from a uniquely twisted mind. I'll never look at a Predator the same way again.

Thoughts On...Forbidden Planet(1956)

I recently checked out this sci-fi classic from 1956 for the first time. At least all the way through anyway and it was for what it was a really good flick. Sure it had some corny moments. The chef who just wanted Robby The Robot to make more booze? Some cringe inducing dialogue, and a not so faint feel of rape sprinkled throughout the film, but the cringe inducing dialogue at least induces laughs in the audience but there is nothing funny about the rape and it really cheapens the experience. Also the music score is horrendous. Grating and irritating to the max.

But what Forbidden Planet gets right it really gets right. The newcomer Robby The Robot is a scene stealer and I can see why he became a phenomenon for years after the film's release. The acting for the most part is really good. Walter Pigeon is phenomenal as Doctor Morbius and he really commands this viewer's attention in every scene he is in. Leslie Nielsen is also really solid as the Captain proving that he can pull of playing it straight and that he isn't just the comedy type. If there is a weak link when it comes to the acting it is probably Anne Francis. She is nice to look at but man she is wooden.

Wooden acting by the female lead aside what really makes Forbidden Planet a sci-fi classic is it's subject matter. The themes and tropes present in it, aren't really anything that hasn't been seen before.(I.E. Aliens creating technology man doesn't understand, and etc.) but it had never been seen on the screen before in such spectacle. The special effects in this film are a major highlight and the production design of the Krell's endless machine is quite impressive to look at even now in the year 2014. And the the creature design of the ID monster and the execution of it is top notch.


The thing that really stands out in the end is the ID. It steals the show right out of Robby's cold metal hands. It is a terrifying creation that had to have kept 50's kids up at night for weeks. It is a very violent creature. Especially for 1950's standards. I am shocked it even got past the censors. The idea that unbeknowst to you that your bad thoughts and inclinations could manifest themselves physically is a sobering and scary one that really sticks with you for days after viewing the film.

 The monster within us all.

Overall, Forbidden Planet(1958) is one of those films that has earned it's "classic" reputation and stands the test of time with it's messages and themes that will always be powerful and relatable to any generation. Current or future.

Robby The Robot would return in Fred Olen Ray's crapfest The Phantom Empire, starring Sybil Danning.

Kate Willhelm-Forever Yours, Anna

 

This was a sweet sentimental tale that even though it has a sad touch to it at the end it leaves the reader feeling bittersweet rather than just completely bitter. As I was reading it, it at first glance felt like a mystery. Gordon Sills was going to find out who this Anna was who was writing about the love shared between her and his client Mercer if it was the last thing he was going to do. As the story progresses however he discovers that the mystery isn't a mystery at all. At least the one he was trying to solve. Instead the mystery of how in the world he slipped in time comes to a head. And that is a mystery he cannot solve. 

The idea of learning the future before it occurs is one that a lot of us want to experience for ourselves. This story shows both the positive and negative sides of this situation, and really hammers it home. Knowing who will fall in love with who is not necessarily the greatest thing. It leaves your life with no sense of intrigue or suspense. Plus if you slipped in time once, isn't there a chance you could do so again? And if you do what will happen that time around?  And in Gordon's case, he knows the tragic future of this poor Anna's future which involves the untimely death of the man she loves. And even though he knows this now he can't tell her 20 year old self who knows nothing of this Mercer fellow if he tried. She'd think he was a lunatic. So just like the story says he'll just be there to comfort her when that sad day does come. It's another example of a paradox of sorts but yet another tale that doesn't end in world or universal destruction just a slow chipping away of one poor man's soul with the realization that he has a concrete vision of the future and it is one that isn't the end of the world but equally as devastating.

Speaking of slipping in time here is an awesome episode of one of my favorite TV shows, Tales From The Darkside called Slippage starring David Patrick Kelly, Sully from Commando in a chilling tale of a man losing his grip on time and reality.

Stanislaw Lem-The Star Diaries(The 7th Voyage)

This story was confusing as hell. But I think that was precisely the point. It depicts an insane voyage stuck within a neverending time warp that repeats itself constantly in a loop. So much so that multiple different incarnations of the story's main character develop and then begin to reproduce. By the end of the story you are having a hard time telling if the Wednesday me is actually the Saturday me and so on. I still am having a hard time making heads or tails of this voyage. I know how it ends and somehow the dang rudder gets fixed and by kids that somehow were created at one point. A point that I have no clue when it occurred or how. I don't think that point is made clear either. It could just be a figure of speech by the author. Beats me. It's not that I didn't enjoy the story I ultimately liked it. It was a quick and engaging read. It was just very hard to follow and the whole tale got mixed up multiple times by the story's end.

But like I was mentioning earlier, this chaotic nature of the story is ultimately what the Seventh Voyage is about. If you somehow got stuck in a time loop this is a very likely scenario and very close to what you would experience if you were in the protagonist's shoes. It's both funny but at the same time terrifying. Because if you get any of the yous future or past mixed up things could go wrong. Likewise the idea of remaining in the loop is a horrible and humbling one. In the end things end up ok but you just know in the back of your mind just like the lead in the story that this is a voyage that will not be forgotten any time soon.

The worst enemy in The Seventh Voyage is in the end you. All incarnations of you. The thing that is holding the hero in the tale back is himself. And that is quite evident numerous times in this story. He even warns himself and he doesn't listen. He thinks its all a dream. And you can't blame him when he first sees himself warning himself for not buying a single word he was saying to himself, but you can't say he didn't warn you of things to come. And he did, and just like what many of us would do in the same scenario we didn't listen. So if I could take one concrete message out of this confusing tale, it would be the tired and true old adage of trust in yourself and your gut instincts. If something doesn't feel right go with your inner gut reaction to the situation. If you don't, you could end up in an annoying ceaseless time loop for all your trouble.

Speaking of errors in time...Here's is a fun scene from a corny 80's movie called The Ice Pirates that comes to my mind when I think of the times when time goes screwy...

Robert A. Heinlein-All You Zombies

Now this was quite an interesting read. I still am trying to wrap my brain around the story's ending. Is the unmarried man one and the same as the older grizzled time cop? It sure appears to be the case. Heinlein's approach to gender is also quite fascinating and way ahead of it's time. You really feel for the character of the unmarried man. A bastard child, an orphan, and a hermaphrodite. He/she was never really either a man or a woman at birth. Even when she has SRS surgery forced upon her into a man, she still isn't really truly a man and never will be. It is so tragic and heartbreaking. And to discover that the only person that seems to have anything in common with him/her is him/herself? Double bummer.

I also love the time cop aspect of the story. Not just because I am a huge fan of the Jean-Claude Van Damme film but because it really does set up the story perfectly for its wild twist. Without the temporal agent storyline the revelation in the end would not be possible. It also shows an example of a time paradox that doesn't end with the entire universe exploding or anything of that sort. It just continues to go on like the meeting had never happened round and round like an endless circle. Like the author writes so eloquently the unmarried man is "The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail, Forever and Ever." The unmarried man also knows where he comes from since he has figured that out not once but twice with the same effect, but everyone else around him feels empty and hollow to his gaze. Hence why he remarks the words that inspire the title of the story Heinlein is telling.

"Where Did All You Zombies Come From?" 

These zombies are not the living dead variety who are looking to feast on people's brains. No they are completely normal human beings. But to The Unmarried Man they might as well be. He can't relate to them, he doesn't trust them, he sees nothing but a long line of faceless beings shuffling about aimlessly not really knowing what their destination is or what their future holds in store for them.

"You aren't really there at all. There isn't anybody but me-Jane-here alone in the dark.
I miss you dreadfully!"

This last quote really solidifies the supreme isolation The Unmarried Man(Jane) feels. Being both a man and a woman but in the end being neither is just too much for one human to bear and this identity crisis leaves the protagonist with no one to care or a shoulder to cry on. What is he/she? Does Gender really determine who you are? Is all that makes us who we are a series of different sex organs and characteristics?

A lot of questions are brought to mind while reading this story, and that is a wonderful thing. I love stories that make you question what is really going on in not only the story but in life as well. And Heinlein's "All You Zombies" poses plenty of deep thoughts.


And just for fun and on a lighter note here is some appropriate music for this story and your listening pleasure.

TV Picks-The Star(80's Twilight Zone)

The Star by Arthur C. Clarke is not only a great short story but an equally wonderful television adaptation from the New Twlight Zone from the 1980's, which is my personal favorite rendition of the iconic tv series. I love this show dearly and find it highly underrated. It's a shame to me that not many people speak about this show and it's brilliance. Episodes like The Star are reasons why more people should.

The Star was the last segment of an already solid holiday themed episode that had included the lovely remake of a old Twilight Zone favorite, Night Of The Meek and a so so but entertaining fantasy scenario But Can She Type?, but The Star really sends the 13th episode of the first season off with a bang. In many ways The Star is a lot like Arthur C. Clarke's The Sentinel in it's approach and goals. It is one of the many episodes of the show's great first and second seasons that really strikes an emotional chord within me.

Before you go on to reading the spoiler ridden synopsis and my final thoughts on this episode, Give it a watch. It's only 12 minutes long and I don't think you'll regret it. 

Synopsis: On an interstellar journey, far in the future, a medical doctor and a priest debate about the existence of God in the wonders of the universe. Dr. Chandler(Donald Moffat) believes them to be random patterns, but the priest, Father Matthew Costigan(Fritz Weaver)—also an astrophysicist—believes it is God's grand design. While having their friendly debate and wishing each other a merry Christmas, their ship picks up a subspace signal from a long-dead world. Father Matthew claims it is impossible that a civilization could have survived its star going supernova. The planet was so far from the star when it exploded that it escaped the worst. Upon landing on the now-dead planet, the explorers discover that the planet holds the last remains of a race which was destroyed when the supernova hit. Their civilization was quite advanced, with remnants of art and other pieces of their culture. Along with a computer record of their entire history comes evidence that they had had a thousand years of peace before their extinction. The captain requests Father Matthew to determine when the star went supernova. He calculates that the star exploded in the year 3120 B.C.

To his dismay, however, Father Matthew realizes that it would have taken 3120 years for the light from this explosion to reach Earth, in the Eastern Hemisphere. This star was the same star that shone down on Earth the day Jesus was born, "The Star of Bethlehem". In front of Dr. Chandler, Father Matthew cries out to God, to question why it had to be these people who had to lose their lives, why it could not have been a star with no life around it. Dr. Chandler attempts to comfort him by reading a poem he found among the archives of the advanced culture. It says that no one should mourn for them, for they lived in peace and love and saw the beauty of the universe. It says to grieve for those who live in pain and those who never see the light of peace. Dr. Chandler says that "whatever destiny was theirs, they fulfilled it. Their time had come, and in their passing, they passed their light on to another world. A balance was struck, and perhaps one day, whenever we've fulfilled whatever destiny we have, maybe we too will light the way for another world." The doctor's words and this quiet artifact consoles and encourages the priest.

Final Thoughts: The connection this story makes with the tales of the bible and the birth of Jesus Christ are amazing, and have haunting and tragic reprocussions that stick with the viewer for days after viewing. The episodes production values are fine for the television budget it was given and for it's time frame. Some effects don't hold up as well nowadays but it was never a story about the effects being the forefront, it was a story about it's message and the moment in time when two men discover a sad truth about one of the most wonderful births, the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. You don't even have to be deeply religous to feel this story's impact. It is so well written and preformed by Fritz Weaver and Donald Moffat that it can touch anyone's heart. I remember fondly the first time I saw this episode. It took me for a loop with it's conclusion and really affected me emotionally. So much so that I actually shed some tears at the episode's end. Now I try to make it a christmas tradition to watch this episode every year, and try to share it with those who are willing to give it a watch and appreciate it as much as I do.

 "Whatever destiny was theirs, they fulfilled it. Their time had come, and in their passing, they passed their light on to another world. A balance was struck, and perhaps one day, whenever we've fulfilled whatever destiny we have, maybe we too will light the way for another world."

Those are ambitions for all mankind to strive for in my book. To by the time our world does come to an end to light the way for another world.