tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181327480848828236.post6368607376118579022..comments2024-01-30T09:28:20.715+01:00Comments on Val's Random Comments: Short Fiction Month: Folding Beijing - Hao JingfangValashainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13766127527509268224noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181327480848828236.post-40809893983923469292017-01-03T18:58:48.653+01:002017-01-03T18:58:48.653+01:00Yes. My first reaction was to think that there are...Yes. My first reaction was to think that there are no dialectics in this story, no class struggle, just a set of givens. The Western trope would be a revolution, as we are still pre-Revolution. Saloj Zizek claims that the big danger for modern society is "Capitalism with Asian Values", an alternative that does not really put an end to inequality, only places a kindly but authoritarian Terence Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14936707523015565137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181327480848828236.post-90130673362428342912017-01-03T18:07:13.234+01:002017-01-03T18:07:13.234+01:00It's the way he does not turn angry or bitter ...It's the way he does not turn angry or bitter when he sees the complete shape of the city that I liked about him. He has every reason to be angry, just like a lot of people have reason to be angry about their economic or social position but does all that anger actually take us anywhere? I wonder how much of this can be put down to cultural differences. Many western authors would be tempted toValashainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13766127527509268224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181327480848828236.post-58549664816322518002017-01-03T17:59:59.913+01:002017-01-03T17:59:59.913+01:00While I still agree with what I wrote here, thinki...While I still agree with what I wrote here, thinking things through made me see the story in a more positive light: https://xenoswarm.wordpress.com/2017/01/03/folding-beijing/Terence Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14936707523015565137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181327480848828236.post-61501881062872005052017-01-03T17:15:27.085+01:002017-01-03T17:15:27.085+01:00I liked this story, but not as much as Alastair Re...I liked this story, but not as much as Alastair Reynolds' SCALES. There is a similarity of structure, as Lao Dao ascends the scales to higher spaces and descends again. Only this time they are economic and social spaces rather than physico-mathematical. The difference is that Lao Dao ascends and descends untransformed, and finds things pretty much the same on all levels of existence. His Terence Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14936707523015565137noreply@blogger.com