Greetings all, I am hereby opening the Brin-L discussion of _Glory Season._
Just to refresh your memories, one chapter summary will be posted each
week. Participants are encouraged to either read or re-read (if they have
gotten ahead) the relevant chapter each week, so as to keep the discussion
vigorous.
We begin, however, with the introduction.....
SUMMARY:
The book begins with a quote from Margaret Fuller, describing how she seeks
to have "every path laid open to women" so as to release "divine energy"
and create "a ravishing harmony of spheres."
Also included in the introduction is a map - one of my favorite features of
every book. Curiously, the map seems to have substantial areas of "Terra
Incognita" The far edges of each continent is not shown, nor is the
Southern Hemisphere.
The story begins with a young Maia in what is apparently a nursery of some
kind, where other children are. The children are at an age where they are
starting to awaken to life's truths. In this case, the clones in Maia's
group recognize that some of the other girls are not clones, and begin to
separate themselves from the "vars."
Maia discovers, however, that she has a twin, Leie. Leie informs her that
as vars, they will someday go off and sail on their father's ship. And so
the adventure begins......
ANALYSIS:
David Brin once said something to the effect "I'll admit something - I am
not very good at beginnings....." I'm sure many of us will agree that
Brin's novels are often slow starters, but I think that this introduction
is just great. It immediately teases us with little bits of information,
that leave us craving for more.
The segment is also particularly dramatic. I think Brin effectively
captures the spirit of young girls being very mean to each other -
especially the way in which he turns "Unique", a fairly positive word, into
"U-neek", a devastating insult.
As the story begins, Maia is rudely awakened to the fact that cloning is a
way of life on this planet. Moreover, clones are given a place of
privelege, whereas non-clones, or "varlings", like herself, are relegated
to an under-class.
We actually get hit with a lot of information in a short time here. We
find out that clones are born in the winter, and do not have a father
(which I guess is obvious.) Vars are born in the summer, and are rarer
than clones. Boys meanwhile seem to be almost part of a separate caste of
somekind. There will almost certainly be more on this later.
The climate in Port Sanger is apparently very cold. Reference is made to
"glacier wind", the aurora borealis, and a "frost-decked sea." There is
also a curious passage where the walls are referred to as "icy panes." Is
Maia in an "ice cave" (ala Superman)? There is also apparently a hearth
in the room, which makes the "icy panes" all the more peculiar. Any
ideas? Am I just being tripped up by an artistic reference to a picture
window?
Speaking of the hearth, that is just one hint that Maia's society may not
be the most technologically advanced. Every word is chosen by an author
for a reason, and a hearth has a particularly Medieval feel to it, as
opposed to say "fireplace." Also note the reference to the harbor, and
the locked city-gates.
This planet also obviously has an unfamiliar family structure. First, we
know that the Stratian year is 26+ months long (see Notes below), yet
children born in summer and winter of the same year are lumped together.
There seems to be some indication, however, that winter children are
grouped with children from the summer seceeding them. This might explain
why Sylvina seems a bit more intelligent than Maia in this passage.
Additionally, parents seem to be non-existant. They certainly don't appear
anywhere in this passage, other than the fact that an adult is presumably
the tutor of the two boys. Certainly, if parents played any sort of role
in these children's lives, Maia would have long since figure out that she
in Leie are twins. Yet, even at the end of this section, she doesn't seem
to recognize anything special about the fact that they have the same
parent. All this is very interesting when considered in conjuction with
the opening quote. Some radical feminists have equated the liberation of
women with the liberation from parenthood. Brin seems to be hinting
something here about the origins of this planet's society. As of yet,
however, there has been no value judgement on this matter, that I have
seen.....
Perhaps the most important scene in this section here is the conversation
with Leie. I am not exactly up on my Campbellian deconstruction of the
myth (is the someone who would like to volunteer to post a brief review),
but I can't help but feel that Leie is fulfilling the role of the "call to
adventure." Indeed, Leie is almost acting as an Oracle, casually
informing Maia of her destiny to sail on the open see. Maia seems
reassured by Leie's calmness, and seems to choose a partnership with Leie.
One question, though..... Why is it that Leie has been told this rhyme, and
about the joint parentage, but Maia has somehow missed all this? Is Leie
just a bit quicker than Maia? Is Leie just the favorite of some adult who
tells her things? I'm not sure I have a satisfactory answer other than
author's prerogative. Anyone care to try?
Finally, note that when Maia comes upon Leie, she is not only playing with
toy soldiers, but is "brushing their long hair." This is ironic on several
levels. Obviously it is ironic for girls to be playing with toy soldiers,
given American cultural mores. It is even moreso ironic that the soldiers
are presumably women, again based on American cultural mores for long hair.
(Of course, it is possible that with everything else so different here,
that it is men who wear their hair long, and girl's who wear their hair
short. Still, it is probably impossible for most Americans (Brin's
audience) to read that passage and immediately think "women soldiers" - so
I think we have to assume that was the author's intent.) Moreover, it is
ironic for any soldier to have long hair. Even in the United States,
women who join the Army are expected to wear their hair short. Long hair
is just simply an impediment to being a good soldier. Thus, the fact
that these soldiers have long hair (if this fact is more than simply a
literary device), may imply that soldiers on Stratos have a largely
ceremonial role. Indeed, the brushing of the soldiers' hair would make a
lot of sense if the major function of soldiers is to look prim and proper
at official ceremonies and events. This may be an indication that war, as
we know it anyways, is a rare thing on Stratos.
NOTES:
-Can someone identify Margaret Fuller, the source of the opening quote?
-Port Sanger, on the map, is likely named after Margaret Sanger, noted
eugenicist and founder of Planned Parenthood
-Artemesia Bay is likely named after the Greek goddess Artemis, who I
believe famously swore off relations with men.
-Pallas Islands are likely named for the Greek goddess Pallas Athena, Greek
goddess of wisdom.
-Ursulaborg is perhaps named for Ursula K. LeGuin?
-Anyone have insight into the names of Caria, Oscco, Stern, Parthenia,
Queg, Lanargh, etc.?
-Maia is "twenty-six months before her second birthday." This suggests
that a year on this planet is at least 26+ Earth months.
-The name of the sun is "Wengel." Anyone know if this correlates to a
known star?
-The name of the planet, "Stratos", was also the original working title for
this book. Ads for Brin's forthcoming novel, _Stratos_, can be found in
the back of some Brin paperbacks.
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"The point of living in a Republic after all, is that we do not live by
majority rule. We live by laws and a variety of isntitutions designed
to check each other." -Andrew Sullivan 01/29/01
