Reading Wednesday

[sabotabby]

 With everything that happened today, I almost forgot, and after skipping a week, no less!

Just finished: Black Stars Above #1 by Lonnie Nadler and Jenna Cha. A comic for once! And oh wow, is it something. When I was in Seattle, my friend and I went into a comic shop. She was looking for new stuff to read, having gotten burned out on some of her regulars, and I randomly picked up this one because it had a great cover. She decided it looked interesting, bought it, read it, told me I had to read it, and then I read it. And now I will need to buy it myself and any subsequent issues because the first one managed to immediately hook me for hitting a bunch of my buttons. It's about a Métis girl in 1887 in total isolation, working her family's trapline to trade with the Hudson's Bay Company (whose off-page portrayal is its own looming horror). She's offered a package by a mysterious stranger. All she needs to do is deliver it to another town and she'll have the financial freedom to escape her shitty life. As anyone who's ever read cosmic horror before, this is not going to go well for her. Everything about this is so promising—Indigenous representation, solid politics (at least so far!), gorgeous art, intriguing characters, and a fairy tale aesthetic that subtly builds suspense and dread. It's only the first issue, and the artist is brand new, and I'm so excited to see where it goes.

Monday Starts On Saturday by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. This book is a weird delight. It's about a computer programmer who gets recruited for an institute that studies magic, which is in general the kind of thing that I enjoy reading about, and in particular involves the kind of satire of bureaucracy that I'm trying to channel in the novel I'm writing. It is very Russian. It also has adorable illustrations.

Currently reading: Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson. I got hooked on her YA stuff without knowing that omg she also has adult books, even better! It's about a Haisla girl whose younger brother goes missing at sea under mysterious circumstances, and then flashes back to her childhood on the reserve. It's suspenseful and masterfully written, with just a hint of otherworldly forces creeping in at the edges. The tone shifts from slice-of-life to grimdark and then back again, with enough moments of beauty to lift it out of despair. I'm really enjoying it so far.

Comments

[naraht]

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed Monday Starts on Saturday It is indeed very Russian. I was just re-reading Vita Nostra and thinking of you - it really does need a proper fandom.

Also sending sympathy after the 'fucktacular day.'

[sabotabby]

Thanks. And thanks for the recommendation; you have great taste!

[frenzy]

I read a different metís comic called Pemmican Wars (A Girl Called Echo) that you might be interested in if you havent checked it out

https://www.amazon.com/Pemmican-Wars-Girl-Called-Echo/dp/1553796780

i added black stars above to my wishlist. it sounds good.

[frenzy]

dont buy from amazon obvs if you can help it but it makes the info easy to find

[sabotabby]

I will look for it in my Local Comic Store (which is not remotely close by but I'll be in the area Saturday).

infodump: Monkey Beach

[radiantfracture]

Because you didn't ask.

I liked teaching Monkey Beach -- it yields a lot to discussion. It changed how I thought about land.

I don't teach it now because it's read so often in high school and because I was asked to find a more uplifting book -- which I understand and honour, but the resonances with orature were really cool and teachable.

My understanding is that Monkey Beach refers to a lot of Haisla knowledge that really only the community knows -- I found some interesting online material on Haisla nuuyum (way of life) and land stewardship that gave me just the murkiest faintest echo of what it might be like to read the book with that other knowledge to illuminate it.

Re: infodump: Monkey Beach

[sabotabby]

Interesting! Both on it being taught in high schools (it is in ours; that's where I borrowed it from, but I'm glad to hear that we're not unique in that), and the incorporation of Haisla knowledge. I'm intrigued by its specificity; did Robinson get any criticism from the community for including things that generally aren't talked about with outsiders? Or is it just that it would have different meanings if you had the insider knowledge?

Re: infodump: Monkey Beach

[radiantfracture]

I think more the latter, that it would mean more to a Haisla audience. Robinson does write a bit about how she negotiated what to depict and what not to write directly about. There's a small book called The Sasquatch at Home where some of that thinking might be (and it's a really nice companion to Monkey Beach).