Retellings, Buddhisms, and Other Fantasies: The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

Vajra Chandrasekera's The Saint of Bright Doors just won the Nebula and it's part of my Hugo reading, so this seemed like a good time to finally review it (I read most of it on a trip and didn't have time to review it until now).

The Saint of Bright Doors is a difficult book to describe: South Asian inspired magical realism about doors leading to mysterious realms? A critical retelling of the life of the Buddha from the Buddha's son's point of view? A queer love story? A story of revolution? All of the above, and more?

Random Thoughts, Part 23: Cats, Conflict, Categories, Conservatism, Commercials, etc.

 

My Random Thoughts series continues. Randomly, we are now at Part 23, which is an extra large helping of random thoughts and even better: it comes with an extra large helping of random memes (although I should warn you, dear reader, that the Dune memes have been flowing more strongly with the release of Dune Part Two). Enjoy!

Israel/Palestine: A Dialogue with Myself

Me: I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s happening in Israel/Palestine, but I’m not sure what to say. I haven’t been saying much about it. 

Me 2: But who are you to say anything? You’re not Jewish or Muslim, Israeli or Palestinian? Why should anyone care what you think? 

Me: I don’t know, honestly. Obviously, I relate to this issue differently and less personally than people more directly affected by it, or by the recent rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia here in the US. I guess maybe writing this is a way to figure out what I think? Maybe it could help others? Or they could tell me where I’m wrong? 

Vacation Revelations: The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

 

I often find novels written in the present tense to be a bit gimmicky (like the author is trying too hard to make it feel immediate). I also don't always like horror that relies heavily on Christian symbolism (I can appreciate The Exorcist, but I prefer it when authors create new ideas to terrify us rather than riffing on centuries' old preexisting material). Yet somehow I really loved The Cabin at the End of the World, which probably says a lot about Tremblay's skills as an author. 

Mini-Reviews of Spooky Stuff for Spooky Season, Part Two

 

Here at Examined Worlds, er, we don't say stuff like, "here at Examined Worlds." But if we did, and if there was a "we" beyond you and me, dear reader, I'd say something like, "Here at Examined Worlds, we consider spooky season to be a state of mind, not a month on the calendar."

And that's why I'm posting Part Two of my "Mini-Reviews of Spooky Stuff for Spooky Season" in the middle of November, a week before US Thanksgiving (although I may revisit some of my Thanksgiving horror favorites soon!). Enjoy!

The Depths of Darkness: Fairy Tale by Stephen King

 

Today happens to be Stephen King's birthday, so my present for Uncle Stevie is a review of his latest novel!

I was eagerly awaiting King's return to fantasy, and Fairy Tale did not disappoint. It's not a mere retelling of any particular fairy tale, but it's more like the answer to the question, "What if Stephen King wrote a fairy tale?" And there are depths to it that may surprise King newbies, but won't surprise Constant Readers.

Suffering and Greatness: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

 

At times the intrigue of Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became the Sun is a bit tough to follow (I needed a Dramatis Personae), but overall this is a beautifully-written exploration of gender, politics, ambition, and desire in 14th century China with some mild fantasy elements. I think there's even an interesting sort of thought experiment about Buddhist conceptions of desire and suffering to be found.

Happy (?) Second Pandemiversary!

KN-95 masks, arranged artistically(?)

 

Happy Second Pandemiversary! 

No, wait, that's not right. Try this: I wish you a safe and healthy second pandemiversary!

Better, but still a bit weird. Let's just go with the pained irony approach: Happy (?) Second Pandemiversary!

Still the Novella King: If It Bleeds by Stephen King

 

Good job, Uncle Stevie!

I've loved King's previous novella collections, especially Different Seasons, although Full Dark, No Stars is really good, too (Four Past Midnight, which I somehow missed, is next on my list). If It Bleeds is the only one of these to have a title story, but you have to admit it's a pretty good title for a Stephen King book.

Questions About “Freedom” in American Politics

 

American political discourse is drowning in freedom. After 9/11, many politicians assured us that the terrorists hated our freedoms. The Tea Party modeled itself on the American Revolution (a bit awkwardly since the government they wanted freedom from was the same government established by that revolution). Advocates for gun rights talk about freedom more than anyone else, such that one might easily believe they think the fundamental Ur-freedom of all humanity for all time has always been to keep and bear deadly firearms.

Thanksgiving Horrors: "That's Not Cranberry Sauce"

 

Last year I decided to watch some Thanksgiving horror movies (read about it here!). This year I decided to make it a tradition. I re-watched one of last year's films (Blood Rage), watched a sequel to one of last year's films (Thankskilling 3), revisited an old favorite (Addams Family Values), and found a new film partially filmed in the city where I live (The Last Thanksgiving).

Apologies to those outside the US, this is going to be focused on US Thanksgiving. But I hope everyone reading this is staying safe and doing their part to avoid spreading COVID whether they observed US Thanksgiving this week or not.

Pandemic Journal, Part 22: Pandemic... Ugh...

My ever-expanding pandemic journal continues, now with Part 22. I guess a lot of people have decided the pandemic is over, but alas, it is not. And now we're having a new school year with a worse pandemic and fewer protections, so that's... great. But at least the memes continue. In fact, this post is overstuffed with memes, so ... enjoy!

 

Tales from the Dark Half: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

I've been delving into King's shorter works lately, and this collection of novellas (and maybe one novelette or short story) is great stuff. Full Dark, No Stars is maybe not quite up there with Four Seasons, but it's definitely in that direction.

Some Thoughts on the Chauvin Verdict

 

Now that it’s been a few days, here are some thoughts on the Chauvin verdict (he was the former Minneapolis police officer who was recently found guilty of murdering George Floyd in May 2020).

"Well, I'm back": Frodo, Sam, and Life Toward the End of the Pandemic

 

"Well, I'm back."

- Samwise Gamgee at the end of The Return of the King

I’ve been thinking lately about the impending end(?) of the pandemic on the horizon sometime later this year (hopefully? ... at least this pandemic?). 

Going back to “normal” society is going to be weird and difficult for a lot of people. I don’t even mean for introverts. I greatly dislike the tendency to bifurcate humanity into introverts and extroverts. I’ve gotten more introverted during all this, but I used to enjoy going out and being in public and seeing my friends. In the Before Times (let's call it the Third Age), I found it quite easy to be more extroverted in social contexts where I’m supposed to be speaking. This is why I like teaching in person or giving conference talks--or I did before, anyway.

 

As I start to think about post-vaccination plans, I'm more and more realizing that it will be hard to do anything without some scars of the anxieties I’ve developed in the last year. 

I thought of a metaphor recently: For many of us who bear the scars of this pandemic, returning to “normal” social interaction is going to be a lot like when the Hobbits returned to the Shire after saving Middle-Earth (hopefully without the Scouring of the Shire!). They all carried their physical and psychical scars with them, and never felt quite at home the same way again. 

Pinhead the Philosopher: The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker

 

Reading this on my porch on Easter Sunday seemed weirdly appropriate

I have an abiding love of the Hellraiser movies (well, most of them) that I've never been able to explain, and I've read a fair bit of Barker's stuff over the years (including most of the stuff with Harry D'Amour and the movie Lord of Illusions, although it's been a few decades). I've been excited about The Scarlet Gospels since it was released several years ago, but somehow didn't read it until now. 

Think for yourself, Forget your Self: Ancient Buddhist advice for modern uncertainties (Video of a talk on April 8, 2021)

I gave a talk (on Zoom) on April 8, 2021 as part of a Living Philosophically series for my academic department at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Check out the video below, which includes the discussion after the talk as well. More information, including the abstract for the talk, can be found after that.

A Murder of Little Kings: Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

 

I was thinking of a cute title for this post, and my first idea was that a Stephen King short story could be called a "little King." A collection of them should have a catchy collective name, and "murder" (as a "murder" of crows) was too good to pass up. Anyway, here's the review....

2020 in Hindsight

                      

What a fucking year. At the beginning of 2020 I was looking forward to a year of tenure and travel. Here, at the end, I’m looking back on a year of turmoil.

Twelve Nights of Christmas Horror Movies, Part One

 

Last month I wrote about Thanksgiving horror movies to watch instead of spreading the Coronavirus to your family, so it seemed like a Christmas horror movie post was the next thing to do. (Although I should note that there is at least one Hanukkah horror movie out there).

It turns out there are a lot more Christmas horror movies than there are for any other non-Halloween holiday. Something about late December gives audiences an appetite for horror, I guess. There was sizable haul of Christmas horror movies in the 70's and 80's (you can read about some of them below), but the 90’s and 2000’s weren’t big decades for Christmas horror movies. Christmas horror returned from the commercial graveyard in the 2010’s, and given how horrific the 2020's have started off, I don't see this trend slowing down soon.

I'm not going to include the most obvious choice, Gremlins (1984), nor some recent favorites like Rare Exports (2010) and Krampus (2015). Nothing against any of those movies. They're all great! But I thought I'd scour my streaming services to bring you some lesser-known Christmas horror movies to watch while you're spending the holidays at home with people in your household. At least I hope you're not attending gatherings with people outside your household this Christmas! The horror!