Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This week, I listened to the original 1978 BBC radio show of Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, written by Douglas Adams. British humor at its finest. What more is there to say than the fact that the audio adaptation is just an ridiculously comedic as the book? The voices are extremely well performed and convincing; it’s quite shocking to me, that the book was written in the 70s, because the humor does not seem dated or aged, like a Shakespeare comedy.

The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy introduces us to the characters of Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, two beings who live on the planet Earth, as Douglas so affectionately describes, “Mostly Harmless.” Arthur is protesting the bulldozing of his house, and lays down in front of a tractor to prevent the workers from proceeding; much to the dismay of the people, who are just trying to move things along. Although Arthur is in great peril, Ford, knowing that the Earth is about to end in a mere matter of minutes, begs Arthur to go to the pub with him for a drink and “something important he has to tell him.” After a banter with the workers, Arthur, convinced that they will honor his request and not bulldoze his house, goes to the pub with Ford - much to his dismay, when he gets back to his house, he finds out that his house has been destroyed, but Ford provides no sympathy for he knows that the Earth will be destroyed.

At that very moment, Vogon spaceships come to Earth and announce that they are destroying it. Which sets off the incredible events that Arthur and Ford go through in order to survive the destruction of Earth, and with the eventual introduction of characters such as Trillian, Marvin, and Zaphod, they must escape the clutches of the galaxies officers and live their lives as space cowboys. Adventure for all. It was an incredibly fun listen! To reiterate what I said earlier, I found it rather interesting that the audio recordings was able to maintain a sense of modernity - perhaps the lack of descriptions helps the listener realizing that this novel was actually written in the 70s.

Kindred

The novel I read for this week was Kindred, by Octavia Butler. Just like many of Butler’s works, the themes present ideas not dominantly present in many classical works of science fiction. Being a fan of Octavia Butler’s short stories, such as Bloodchild and Speech Sounds, I was more than excited to read Kindred. And I was not disappointed; Kindred is not only incredibly well-written, but disturbingly accurate in its portrayal of the treatment of African Americans throughout American history.

Kindred is not your typical science fiction; although there are science fiction elements such as time traveling throughout the novel, it discusses the historical endurance of the African American community and explores the politics of gender, race, and slavery. The main character, Dana, is a black woman with the powers of time travel - except when she travels back in time, she lands in a plantation owned by white supremacists in the 1800s. There, she meets her ancestor Rufus, a white slave owner who is cruel and menacing towards Dana and forces her to undergo the life of a slave. However, the purpose of Dana’s time traveling is to prevent Rufus’s death - or at least, until he forcibly rapes her other ancestor, so she can be born. The dynamics of the story play between Dana having to endure the misgivings of Rufus, otherwise she will not exist when she goes back to her current day existence.

I would not say that the text I read for this week reflects the values and perspectives of majoritarian culture. At least, not anymore - although, I say this with a hint of uncertainty, because as proven by the recent events of the election, I cannot say without a hint of hesitation that for the most part, people have looked past prejudices and racism is not as prevalent as it used to be. Of course, the mistreatment of African Americans or African Americans is not nearly as horrendous as it used to be, but there still lies many improvements that must be made for the sake of society. Just because progress has been made, doesn’t mean that we as a people have to stop bettering the lives of everyone.

A Clockwork Orange

The novel A Clockwork Orange, written by Anthony Burgess in 1962 is perhaps better known from the Stanley Kubrick film. That’s how I first learned about A Clockwork Orange, anyway. And just like the film, the novel is shockingly disturbing. It addresses topics still relevant in our world today, despite the publication date. Alex, the main protagonist, is the leader of a teenage gang – and introduces us to his entourage of fellow criminals. He commits violent crimes and eventually is arrested by the police – he lands in prison and eventually is chosen to take part in a treatment called Ludovico’s Technique, a brainwashing procedure which will last around two weeks. With this treatment, Alex will be unable to commit any crimes without feeling great pain on himself. With the treatment, he is no longer able to even think of any violent thoughts without becoming sick. Now thought as incapable of inflicting violence on society, he is released from prison. The pain Alex endures eventually leads him to attempted suicide – however, he survives, and ends up back at a hospital which cures him of his infliction. He joins a new gang and engages in the same violent behavior as before; but he is no longer content with his lifestyle. He concludes that he wants to lead a normal life.

The novel is certainly more appealing than the novel, because it actually provides the reader with closure. The character actually experiences growth – he no longer wants to act out on his violent tendencies. It provides an optimistic outlook on Alex’s character, and the chance that there is a chance for a new kind of life despite mistakes one has made in the past.