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I spent yesterday wrestling with the visual editor in Unix. The homework
for Monday is all about vi, and I thought I'd get the chapter done at
home. But, for some reason, when I try to edit files in vi through my
telnet window at home, everything gets all messed up. Yes, I made sure I
was in command mode, but still, some commands split my test, add weird
characters and basically make it impossible to figure out what's going on.
Grrr. I've been reading a lot lately. This past week I've
finished: - The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E.
Butler
- The Word for the World is Forest by Ursula K.
LeGuin
- Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate
Wilhelm
(who doesn't feel the need to distinguish herself with
a middle initial) - Dawn (the first of the Xenogenesis trilogy)
by Octavia E. Butler
- and I'm now reading Rocannon's World by
Ursula K. LeGuin, which starts with a short story of hers, "The Necklace",
that has been
one of my favorites; I'm thrilled to find it continued in novella
form.
Of these, I have to say that Parable of the Sower
captured my imagination the most. (Spoilers follow.) It's set in
California in the years 2024-7, in a future version of our society I find
easy to believe. Neighborhoods are walled, crime runs rampant and the
police,
ambulances and fire departments must be paid to respond to an emergency.
Water is the most expensive thing around, and the rains are rare. The
main character, Lauren, is a 15-year-old hyperempath - meaning she feels
other people's pain as if it were her own. The main thrust of the story
tells about Lauren and her increasing development of a new belief system;
this part of the story, which is supposed to be the main thrust of the
plot, falls short in the face of such visual imagery of thousands of
people walking along highway 101, going north for cooler weather and a
greater water supply. The survival tactics needed in the future distopia
brought out the part of me that used to love to play "pioneers" in my cold
playhouse every November - the urge to survive against all odds in a
society without rules is huge, and I loved reading Butler's descriptions.
The fact that it's set in California and that they end up in a place I've
always wanted to own a part of (Northern California) makes me itch to go
buy my own farm (with it's own spring or uncontaminated water supply).
Like I said, I had not trouble buying into the thought that this might
actually happen someday; I want to be prepared.
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