Aja on 6/10/2006 at 02:41
Had a wonderful lecture a few years ago in Anthro 101 where we learned the difference between sex and gender. By the end of the class, referring to a girl as female wasn't enough, they were female, gender: female (and if they weren't then you weren't interested).
Frank would be a female, gender: male (probably).
What would I ever do without university?
BEAR on 7/10/2006 at 23:50
It was annoying reading the book a few weeks before october, right after I finished I had tons of stuff I wanted to say about the book, but I was lazy and not on my computer alot (Im at home, shit internet so all I have is my laptop) and I kept thinking I would skim through the book later and do a write-up.
Also, I have way to much free time atm for reading so I need to find like 3 books to read before november so I dont read enders game too fast, but then again I'll have less to say about it since its more mainstream (I assume).
Quote Posted by Jackablade
(I was on the edge of my seat when Frank had the knife to his dad though), but neither did I roll my eyes.
Part of the fun of the book was the unsure nature of Frank, I wasnt sure what to think of him/(her), therefore I wasnt entirely sure where things would go at that point, he had killed people although seemed over it, as if it was just a phase.
Schattentänzer on 12/10/2006 at 20:57
Hmm, having just finished the book, logged on and read the comments, I find myself agreeing the most with Paz and OnionBob here.
I enjoyed the book (except for the last few pages, as most others said), and think it was an excellent choice to read. My favourite parts were without question the murders, or rather, the build-up and reasoning of Frank that lead to them. I think the "essay" at the end spoilt this for me a bit, because the reasons given beforehand were entirely sufficient for Frank's character.
I too thought Eric was part of Frank's psyche, I'm half thinking Banks played with that idea, too. Either that, or he laid out deliberate Red Herrings, like Frank's starsign being "Canis".
Other bits I really liked were the occassions when Frank chose to ignore when things didn't fit into his/her world, most prominently the phone conversation with Eric after Frank tried to contact him with ye olde magick.
Those bits come across very believable, just like his/her resoning about the murders. I knew some people who snapped (nothing as drastic though), and it's exactly the way they tick. The whole magick shtick fits in too, because that's what it is all about. If you are the sole sovereign of your domain, you can control it, even if it's just in your mind. Or especially then. I think there's a conversation with Jaime at one point about this.
So is this what's it about? I doubt it. The last chapter confused me, and I thought "Hey, was this about gender politics all along?". If so, I entirely missed it during my read.
Ah, and for some reason (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osiris) Osiris kept popping up in my mind. Can't exactly put my finger on it why, though.
Edit: Maybe it's because of this:
Quote:
Isis was appalled at this second calamity to befall her husband, but with her customary patience she collected thirteen pieces of Osiris' body from the river. Horus, having learned the art of sorcery, was able to join his father's body together again. However, Osiris' genitals had been eaten by some fish, so Isis was obliged to make a model of them.
