Living Upstairs

Blog reader Adrian Banks sent along a link to a recent New York Times opinion piece (In China, a Vast Chasm Between the Rich and the Rest) about the growing divide between the rich and poor in China. The last line, Adrian notes, are particularly interesting. Remind you of anything?

“The only difference is we [the lower classes] cannot see the sun. In a few years, when I have money, I will also live upstairs.”

Environments and Imagery in Chung Kuo

Nothing fun from David today, but I do have some thoughts to share about imagery in the world of Chung Kuo — something we haven’t really discussed at length here (touched upon briefly when I redesigned the site a few months back) but I think deserves some discourse. This’ll apply more to what will take place starting in The Middle Kingdom, but was touched on briefly in Daylight and Paperhouse, and obviously these are my own opinions and interpretations.

By the way, if anyone else has anything they’d like to share (reflection pieces like this, fan fiction, fan art, etc.), I’m more than happy to post here.

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Brad Murgen’s “Chung Kuo: Last Call for Greatness”

Brad Murgen, author and Chung Kuo fan, sent along a link to his review and commentary of the original 8-book series, which he jumped into after reading Son of Heaven and Daylight on Iron Mountain by finding used copies on eBay (which I’ve recommended avoiding if you can help it). His reflections are very thorough, and Brad reaches the same conclusions most readers do upon finishing the series.

If you’re a series veteran, it’s a nice read — it’s sure to bring back fond memories and fuzzy feelings of when you first went through the series. Highly recommended. If you’re new to the series, beware of the (clearly marked) serious, hardcore, detailed, ending-ruining spoilers – many or most of which may not even apply in the recasting. Read at your own risk.

Here’s the link: http://www.bradmurgen.com/2012/08/chung-kuo-last-call-for-greatness.html

Thanks Brad!

Site Redesign

After almost a year and a half, I decided this site is overdue for a bit of an aesthetic update. I thought the original iteration was a little dull and devoid of color. Hope you all like the new revision. The background image is a composite of different (royalty free) images that I thought captured the darkness and mystery of the lower levels, combined with some imagery of the very futuristic Shanghai skyline, which might reflect that the first level topography of mansions and Security installations. The header font has been updated to something more modern (the typeface is Michroma), but vaguely reminiscent of retro-futurist styling.

If you hate it, let me know. I can go back with only a handful of clicks. 🙂

Seen while on vacation…

…in an outdoor used bookshop in Ojai, CA (Bart’s Books). In the past, I’d always snatch up all the copies of any Chung Kuo novels I could find (hence this bookshelf) so that I could lend out as needed, or in case of apocalypse or something, I’d be guaranteed something good to read. These days, that urge is less urgent, knowing that the series is back in print in a bigger-and-better version. Accordingly, I left these copies there, awaiting the next collector.

Last Saturday night…

At the urging of friends, I recently hosted at my house a screening of the film Hobo with a Shotgun, an homage to exploitation films of decades ago. It goes without saying that there may have been a tiny bit of alcohol involved at said get-together, and after the film was over and the lot of us mulled about afterwords, one friend, who was in town for the weekend from several states away, saw my copies of Myst: The Book of Atrus on the bookshelf and told me how much he’d enjoyed it ages ago, although he’d never finished the trilogy. Turns out we’d both been in grade school at the time and ordered the book from the same Scholastic book catalog that was often circulated to students.

In my slightly inebriated state, I excitedly lent him my three-in-one volume of Myst and the first book of Chung Kuo in hardcover, insisting that, of course, he’d love it. BUT… it turns out, in my drunken stupor, I’d shoved an old copy of The Middle Kingdom in his face, it completely slipping my mind that I should’ve given him Son of Heaven! I actually didn’t have a copy on hand to give him, since my only non-Limited Edition (not giving that one out) is already on loan (Rosa, any day now, I’d like it back). But the immense shame I felt, the following morning, knowing I may have started him out on the old path. Aiya!

So the moral of the lesson is: don’t lend out books in a compromised state. You might lend out the wrong one.

Now let’s see if this book actually makes its way back to me. You know what they say… don’t lend books you expect to be returned…