Slant/
(Amazing Bridge by rayhue)
I knew Busan would be cold after 4 weeks of sunny Australian and New Zealand beaches, but did it have to be quite so grey and miserable? It almost seems like a conspiracy.
So, rather than take a photo from my veranda window to mark my return to Korean soil, I’ve posted this amazing one from Flickr instead, which would have been taken about 30m away from me (stalkers, take note). I admit, “amazing” might be too strong a choice of words for many readers, but I love the photo because it presents something previously drab and unremarkable to me in a new, refreshing, and almost magical light…not unlike how I hope my 4 weeks away, after six years away from home, will make me view life in Korea.
For the few readers who aren’t science-fiction fans, the reason I used the title “Slant“ for this post was because it instantly reminded me of the 1998 novel by Greg Bear, one of my favourite authors since I was 14. Once you read this excerpt from the back cover, you’ll get the idea:
In the sixth decade of the twenty-first century, Earth has been transformed. Nanotechnology has been perfected, giving humans the ability to change their environment and themselves down to the cellular level. And the study of the mind has brought a revolution in human psychotherapy and artificial intelligence.
It’s a sane and perfect world. Almost.
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Welcome back! The weather is lousy and it is forecast to get colder. Great picture of the bridge. I’ve not heard of Greg Bear. I like the book cover and description. Do you know the author Neal Stephenson? I’m a pretty big fan of his. I’m rereading Snow Crash now which is IMHO one of the best sci-fi books around.
Hi Anne, and thanks for the welcome.
Slant is actually the sequel to Queen of Angels, but it’s a stand-alone novel which you can happily read without the first book. I can lend you it if you like.
Of course I’ve heard of Neal Stephenson(!), and actually used to be quite into cyperpunk. I meant to read Snow Crash for years, but didn’t finally get a copy until last year. I liked it and recognise that it’s worthy of being described as a classic, but reading it so late meant it’s prescience wasn’t as powerful for me. But if I’d read it in the mid-90s I would have been blown away.
But I have Cryptonomicon, best book I’ve read in years and which I read 2x last year even though its over 1000 pages long, and I have Quicksilver too. If you’re a fan I’d be surprised if you don’t have either yourself, but again I can lend you them if you like.
I’ve read Cryptonomicon and Diamond Age and Quicksilver is currently sitting on my shelf. I really enjoyed Cryptonomicon as well, and at the time felt a great deal of sadness when I reached the end of the book. My one complaint about Stephenson is he doesn’t know how to end a book to save his life. Everything I’ve read by him bounces along at an exciting pace and then, well, just sort of fizzles out.
Wellcome back. And do a look forward: Will Korea look like this vision above? Only when the population will have the same size, but already too much living space ,especially in apartment complexes, is unsold.
Btw, maybe a new book to read: The dawn of modern Korea, The transformation in Life and cityspace, Andrei Lankov, EunHaeng NaMu
One chapter is about the first film kiss in Korea another one about “No sex please, we are Koreans”
Thanks for the welcome, and especially for mentioning the book: I’ve loved Andrei Lankov ever since I read his “War of Details” article about what I termed “Korea’s convenient invasion myths.”
Details of the book are available at amazon, but it’s not available to order yet, and it doesn’t even appear on the whatthebook website, but I’ll be the first person to order it off the latter when it does!
I wasn’t very impressed with the Lankov book I do have — if it’s just little articles, it’s too tantalizing without enough depth or analysis, to my taste.
Slant is good, but I thought Queen of Angels was better in some ways. (And totally ripped off in a movie in the early 90s, with J-Lo in it… what was that called? The Cell!)
As for Jens-Olaf’s question: I am imagining the large, empty buildings of Blade Runner and streets full of exotic foreigners. Though the exotics for Seoul are likelier to be Chinese, Southeast Asian, Indian and Nepali, and people from a few African nations. Not so many Westerners, unless the geopolitical situation changes a lot.
Whoops, meant to add: the books I promised? It’ll be when I get back from Laos and Thailand. Sorry about that, but they WILL come, I swear!
Gord, which Lankov book do you have?
I have Slant at home as you know, but I’ve only read Queen of Angels once on loan from the library. I think you’re exaggerating, surely, when you say it was ripped off from The Cell, but I can see the link.
No problem about the books, I’d completely forgotten about them too!
Well, I don’t know if Bear considered it a rip-off, but I remember discussions among SF geeks around the time of the release of The Cell that pretty much agreed it was a Hollywoodized ripoff of Queen of Angels. There was lots in The Cell that was also in Queen of Angels. But hey, that’s how pop culture works, and chunks of it certainly also existed in other books prior to Bear’s. But it was striking, the similarities. It was kind of like how Underworld (was it?) felt like White Wolf’s Vampire: The Masquerade RPG in cinematic form.
The Lankov book I have is the one about North Korea… is it called North of the DMZ? I can’t remember. It’s not so much a discussion as a reprinting of the little bits he’d published in newspaper form. So not such a deep exploration as I was looking for, though it did counterbalance my impressions from other books. (Not enough to finish it, though.)
Cool, I’ll get onto them when I’m back in Korea.