On Sat, 5 Apr 1997, Sean Johnston wrote:
> Mike,
> Perhaps the thing that you put the least amount of effort into (in
> the sense that it might have just flowed without your having to really
> think about it) worked the best because it might have just been squirted
> (for lack of a better term) out in its purest form.
I respectfully disagree. The Kirinyaga stories "work the best," as you
put it, precisely because they show quite a lot of premeditation. Just
look at the fables which open each story, the way the last page or
paragraph ties back into the opening fable, and the embedded stories. I
don't know whether Resnick made them up himself or borrowed them from
Kikuyu folklore -- the former, I hope -- but they enrich the stories in a
pleasing and competent manner. It was also a stroke of genius, I think,
to have the Kikuyu eschew contractions in dialogue; they all speak in a
formal style that gives the "outer" stories their own fabulistic feel.
Since each story is, in a way, a fable about change and adaptability, the
strategy is highly successful. Ironically, the Earth organization that
keeps an eye on Kirinyaga and provides the planet with orbital alterations
when necessary (well, it IS fiction) is called "Maintenance," although it
is a powerful external force for change.
Incidentally, Koriba's own dialogic style, which is unvaryingly formal,
parabolic, and oh-so-reasonable, makes him both sympathetic and deeply
maddening, which I'd guess is exactly what Resnick aimed for.
I have a few things to add, but I have to go to a meeting now. :-P
Fiona Kelleghan
|