tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659275.post6497209761267626075..comments2023-11-04T01:41:23.277+00:00Comments on Memorabilia Antonina: Arthur C Clarke ShortlistTony Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07125792825206480340noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659275.post-19214021437361029562008-04-28T13:46:00.000+01:002008-04-28T13:46:00.000+01:00Which makes the comparison to 1984 more apposite, ...Which makes the comparison to <I>1984</I> more apposite, as that is also ambiguous, where Atwood is explicit.Tony Keenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07125792825206480340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659275.post-33097340171834155852008-04-28T13:44:00.000+01:002008-04-28T13:44:00.000+01:00Huh. Did my copy of 1984 have an appendix? I'm s...Huh. Did my copy of <I>1984</I> have an appendix? I'm suddenly not sure. At any rate, so does <I>The Handmaid's Tale</I>, though it explicitly states that Gilead fell whereas the ending of <I>The Carhullan Army</I> is, at best, ambiguous.Abigail Nussbaumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08562462228380637583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659275.post-26558895016459025922008-04-28T12:58:00.000+01:002008-04-28T12:58:00.000+01:00Abigail,No, I definitely mean 1984. There was a p...Abigail,<BR/><BR/>No, I definitely mean <I>1984</I>. There was a piece in <I>The Guardian</I> some years back (which I think may have been an extract from the introduction to a new Penguin edition) that argued strongly for the idea that the appendix on Newspeak writes as if Newspeak is a historical phenomenon, giving a note of hope at the end of the novel. The 'recovery' of documents from the Authority in <I>The Carhullan Army</I> serves the same function.Tony Keenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07125792825206480340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659275.post-3953854347228837142008-04-28T12:49:00.000+01:002008-04-28T12:49:00.000+01:00the historical section at the end of 1984, a means...<I>the historical section at the end of 1984, a means of signalling that this oppression will not last</I><BR/><BR/>I think you mean <I>The Handmaid's Tale</I> again there.<BR/><BR/>I think there's more to <I>Black Man</I> than just the high octane thriller. Though I agree that there is an element of having your cake and eating it about a novel that questions the ultra-male ethos while reveling in the exploits of such a person, I think that by the end of it the book manages that balancing act handily, and ends up being a novel with a great deal to say.Abigail Nussbaumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08562462228380637583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659275.post-54992669956082583082008-04-28T11:05:00.000+01:002008-04-28T11:05:00.000+01:00Sorry you feel like that, Tony.Sorry you feel like that, Tony.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com