Post 366: Pump Six and Other Stories

"The Pasho" in Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi. ISBN: 9781441892201 (audiobook).

How far would you be willing to go against your culture in order to bring about the change you felt was necessary for your family, your village, your city, your country? Would you go and become a priest of a religion from a country your country was at war with?

It's a hard question to ask, but what if it was necessary? What if you, and only you, believed that it was honestly the best way to improve the lives around you? This is exactly what Raphel has done. He left his Jai village and learned to become a Keli "Pasho". When he returns, he is greeted with pride by some of his family members, save for his grandfather, who fought against the Keli and says he would gladly do so again.

WWe are faced with serious cultural issues which are preventing us from moving forward as a nation, a people, and as a species. It feels like we are a country full of five year olds who have wet the bed. We know that the bed is going to get cold sooner rather than later, we know that it will be uncomfortable and start to smell, but right now that urine is impossibly warm and it is so hard to get out of bed. We are ashamed to admit that we have wet the bed, and no one remembered to turn on the nightlight for us.

I was watching the Colbert Report the other day and the guest was Nobel Prize winner Jodi Williams. The smartest thing she said was, "I believe when there are more different types of humans in a room having a discussion, different ideas for resolution will be had. When you have a bunch of white dudes sitting around a table you're going to have a bunch of white dude ideas." (~5:07) So why are we so afraid of cooperation among political parties, races, religions?

Why is it so hard to take the step to learn about new cultures and incorporate the good aspects into our own? Is it really such a betrayal to step in and say, "Hey, this isn't working anymore, maybe we shouldn't keep feeding those Christians to the lions persecuting those Muslims"? When exactly did our culture get to be so bad for us? And what would you like to see go?

An excellent review from another Goodreads user can be found here.
LibsNote: Copy borrowed from my library.
Also, if you are curious about steampunk and/or this particular volume you can actually read the first story for free over at Google Books. I freakin' love previews.

Post 338: Pump Six and Other Stories

"The People of Sand and Slag" in Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi. ISBN: 9781441892201 (audiobook).

In this setting, the environment is now toxic to non-modified people and animals. Said people and animals have been genetically altered not only to survive the toxins (slag), but also to be able to eat anything (namely sand). The story follows three hands for hire who discover a non-modified dog. The moral question raised by the story is "Do you allow such a creature to continue living?"

This is an animal that has no way of surviving on its own, despite the fact it seemed to be doing so before it was found. The implications are that it was either very lucky or someone had been taking care of it. Even under the care of the three it still manages to get poisoned, sick, and hurt. They have absolutely no idea how to care for its injuries because they all heal rapidly and can even regrow limbs (there was a disturbing scene involving this feature, by the way). With this knowledge in mind, would it be responsible or even humane to sustain the life of this creature?

I could argue both sides and neither would be wrong per se. I do lean more towards killing the dog, not because I'm a cold hearted bitch, but because it feels like The Right Thing To Do given the setting that was presented by Bacigalupi (whose name I'm finally getting good at spelling).This is a world in which non-modified animals are considered ugly because they don't have hands. It is a world in which people implant knife blades and luminescence into their skin. It is a world in which nothing grows on its own and where nothing can take care of itself without the modifications. If you don't have them, you starve or die from poison. Non-modified animals are kept in zoos, but even those aren't really necessary as bioengineers can simply recreate the animals from DNA samples. It is both cheaper and easier to do this than to maintain a menagerie of animals in this world.

There is no place for the dog. It has no natural food supplies, mates, or relevant survival skills. It would be like keeping a species alive on life support even though it's brain dead and has no chance of making even a partial recovery. This would be a terrible loss, but if that is the world we end up creating, then it is a loss we have forced upon ourselves and every other living creature on the planet.

An excellent review from another Goodreads user can be found here.
LibsNote: Copy borrowed from my library.
Also, if you are curious about steampunk and/or this particular volume you can actually read the first story for free over at Google Books. I freakin' love previews.

Post 332: Pump Six and Other Stories

"The Fluted Girl" in Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi. ISBN: 9781441892201 (audiobook).

In this story, two young girls have been taken from their family and physically altered so they can become Stars. Stars are able to earn "market share" and may eventually earn enough to buy their own shares (i.e. their freedom) and set up their own Fiefdom. Fief rulers are able to run their Fief pretty much any way they want to, and most take complete advantage of that, with the little people being at the complete whim of the rulers.

The alterations that have been inflicted on the girls is extreme. They have been forced to take treatments that have stunted their growth, their bones are so brittle that they can barely walk without fear of breaking one, and holes have been inserted into their bodies to literally turn them into musical instruments. And despite their young years, they have been sexualized and forced to perform in a sexual manner for the entertainment of Fief holders in the hopes of someday being Stars themselves.

I was pretty grossed out but the whole story, but the more I thought about it, the more familiar it seemed. If you take away all the futuristic alterations and situation, it isn't really all that "new." We do that to child stars today. Look at the Miley Cyruses, the Britney Spearses, the Lindsey Lohans, the Mary Kate and Asheley Olsenseseses..es... and even the Drew Barrymores and Judy Garlands. Fame ruins people and the sick thing is that the more ruined and broken these children become the more entertained we are. Some of them turn their lives around, but they all struggle to come to terms with either the pressure of spending a majority of their life in the limelight and then losing it or trying to figure out how to stay there. By the very nature of the business they have to undergo surgeries and crash diets, and they do crazy and harmful things to themselves. Why do we think that's okay?

Why do we think it's moral to consume any kind of entertainment that ruins the mental and physical well being of children? Maybe we just don't want to think about it. We don't want these to be real people, because if they're real people we have to be accountable for what we've done to them. Maybe we didn't sign the contracts with the companies to make them the Stars, but we buy the CDs and watch the TV shows. We read the magazines and take on the harmful language and call one of the Olsen twins "fat" when neither of them is nowhere close. We love seeing those Stars shoot up so high and bright, but even more we love seeing them crash and burn, and when they're done they're done. Most haven't been set up to work in the real world even if a company would hire them for anything except PR and exploitation, so the only thing they can do is work and work and work their young years and hope to set up their own Fiefdom record label, clothing line, perfume, whatever. Or they get mismanaged and left with nothing and are forced to appear on reality TV shows as sad, broken people trying to hold themselves together the only way they know how.

I'm not sure how Hollywood got exempt from child labor laws, but I wonder why no one has raised these questions. Are we so in love with child stars that we can watch them lose fingers to the Hollywood machine? Or do we love children and put an end to the maiming and disfigurement of people who can't legally sign their own contracts? It's bad enough what adult starlets and stars go through to maintain their fame, I don't see how anyone can feel good about putting those pressures on someone underage.

An excellent review from another Goodreads user can be found here.
LibsNote: Copy borrowed from my library.
Also, if you are curious about steampunk and/or this particular volume you can actually read the first story for free over at Google Books. I freakin' love previews.

Post 319: Pump Six and Other Stories

"Pocketful of Dharma" in Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi. ISBN: 9781441892201 (audiobook).

 Uh... Spoiler Alert. I just can't talk about the issues I want to without giving away the story, sorry. There's a link to this particular story at the bottom through Google Books preview, so feel free to read it first and then read my post. Fair warning, the story is about 24 pages.

In this short story, a beggar boy is given a task to deliver a data cube. Along the way he discovers that the data cube holds the personality and memories of the Dalai Lama (he has a Twitter account by the way). When the boy learns that the cube will likely be used as a bargaining chip with China he has to decide whether or not to keep the cube for himself or to destroy it and release the Dalai Lama's soul to be reincarnated.

I'm not going to tell you which option he chooses, but I can see where both would be appealing to someone who has so little. On the one hand, the boy might be able to find his own worth by Doing The Right Thing (at least as we perceive it) and having the knowledge that he has done so when others in his society behave in a less moral and/or charitable manner. Or he could achieve a similar goal through the materialistic means of actually keeping the Dalai Lama in his pocket. In all the world, no matter how much richer or better off everyone else is, this tiny beggar boy has something no one else has and cannot have and that makes him unique.

Since the beggar is living in a world where the downtrodden tend to remain that way (Bacigalupi tends to favor writing in this kind of a world), this is the only way that the beggar can actually prove his worth to anyone else. He might actually be more worthy if he released the Dalai Lama's soul, but then he would have no way of showing anyone and no way of reminding himself. And before you judge the boy, remember that we all have something that we cherish that we feel represents our worth and best qualities. It may be something small, like an engagement ring, or something big like a sports car. It might even just be a piece of paper that represents the time and money spent in gaining a certain knowledge.

So, what's your Dalai Lama? And if you were required to, could you let it go?

An excellent review from another Goodreads user can be found here.
LibsNote: Copy borrowed from my library.
Also, if you are curious about steampunk and/or this particular volume you can actually read the first story for free over at Google Books. I freakin' love previews.