Yesterday I've finished Redshirts by John Scalzi. I've got rather mixed feelings about the experience. On one hand, the book was incredibly well written with excellent story and awesome characters. In fact it was awarded the Hugo for best novel just a few days ago - and I understand why. It is a gorgeous book. On the other hand it was riddled with language and had several sexual references. While I understand that my choice in language and lifestyle are in the minority and that many people feel that the full use of all of the language is considered literary, etc. I do not see the need to put so much offensive language into popular culture. I'll talk more on this later in the considerations so I won't dwell on it here. I cannot in good conscious recommend this book to my family, friends, or acquaintances because of the extent of the language. This saddens me greatly because the story and characters are so wonderful. Here is the link to Audible's page for the book. It was narrated by Whil Wheaton who did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life.
.jpg)
Plot: The Universal Union flagship, The Intrepid, has received five new crew members. They are to replace crew losses due to Away Mission. Andrew Dahl and his friends start to notice something really quickly. Things are seriously messed up. Everyone avoids the senior officers. Away Mission always involve some kind of disaster where someone is killed. Lt. Kerensky is consistently brutally injured, maimed, or otherwise harmed, but survives regardless. But worse yet, sometimes it feels like they aren't in control at all. As Andy and his friends start to look for answers they learn the truth about their situation. What follows is a risky attempt to stop those responsible and to get their own lives back. This will lead to kidnapping, breaking the laws of physics, confronting themselves, and ultimately saving someone they've never met but know very well. Starting as a comedy, expanding into drama, and ultimately ending in triumph and self-actualization for more than just the main characters of this story, you may know the story but you don't know the ending. Any of them.
My personal favorites: There was a lot here that I liked. Andy and his friends were a fun group to spend time with. They were their own people and I felt that their motivations and desires were realistic and well portrayed. The story itself is a huge callback to Star Trek (which I grew up on) and was delightful as it combined "nostalgic" images and feelings with great writing. The format was intriguing with an end to the story, but then three "codas" that address three loose ends showing a bit of the "after math" of the original story. It's not often an author wraps up threads that the reader doesn't think about. As I listened to the last coda I almost cried because of the emotion behind it. To quote Larry the Cucumber, "I laughed. I cried. It moved me, Bob." There are too many things I liked to even begin to think of them.
Considerations: As I mentioned earlier this book had a lot of strong language. It was everywhere. Also there were several sexual references. Beyond that there was little to no gore or graphic descriptions, either of violent or sexual in nature. In fact there were very few descriptions of violence and none of sexual action, beyond the references mentioned earlier. However, the language was an issue. As clearly seen, I am familiar with profanity and have reviewed books with strong language before. I worked as a landscaper for several summers and so have been exposed to all kinds of language before outside of books. I understand that my views are not other peoples and I respect their right to express themselves how they wish after making my feelings known. As I mentioned, I don't feel that I can recommend this book to anyone because of the language used. It would be like taking a really nice dog who happens to have explosive diarrhea into a newly cleaned house. The disappointing fact is that I understand how an author will use such language to establish an emotion or a point. Shakespeare had Iago drop the 16th century equivalent of the F-bomb in Othello as his first word to show what kind of character he was - a villain and a crass one at that. This is what I've referred to when I mention in other reviews that an author "used the language properly." It was weighted, conservatively used to show the dramatic change that the character has experienced. It is a tool that is used sparingly. My disappointment is in the fact that I didn't see any of that taking place in Redshirts. The same strong word was used constantly in situations that didn't seem to warrant it. Things would escalate and I would expect to hear it, but then it wouldn't come. Only to show up at an unexpected moment when the tension had died down. It was used in all situations - with superiors, strangers, people the characters were ask for help - as if the characters were saying it just to say it. Spoken language has an effect and I saw non of that. It was desensitizing and didn't add anything to the story. I saw no use for it and am horribly, abysmally disappointed that such a well written story had to be marred by a torrent of offensive language that served no purpose.
As I've said - I'm very torn by this book. The story and codas were beautifully written and it was the perfect way to end the novel. It was entertaining and enlightening and just marvelous. And so very disappointing for the stupidest of reasons. The total length was just over 7 and a half hours.
My personal favorites: There was a lot here that I liked. Andy and his friends were a fun group to spend time with. They were their own people and I felt that their motivations and desires were realistic and well portrayed. The story itself is a huge callback to Star Trek (which I grew up on) and was delightful as it combined "nostalgic" images and feelings with great writing. The format was intriguing with an end to the story, but then three "codas" that address three loose ends showing a bit of the "after math" of the original story. It's not often an author wraps up threads that the reader doesn't think about. As I listened to the last coda I almost cried because of the emotion behind it. To quote Larry the Cucumber, "I laughed. I cried. It moved me, Bob." There are too many things I liked to even begin to think of them.
Considerations: As I mentioned earlier this book had a lot of strong language. It was everywhere. Also there were several sexual references. Beyond that there was little to no gore or graphic descriptions, either of violent or sexual in nature. In fact there were very few descriptions of violence and none of sexual action, beyond the references mentioned earlier. However, the language was an issue. As clearly seen, I am familiar with profanity and have reviewed books with strong language before. I worked as a landscaper for several summers and so have been exposed to all kinds of language before outside of books. I understand that my views are not other peoples and I respect their right to express themselves how they wish after making my feelings known. As I mentioned, I don't feel that I can recommend this book to anyone because of the language used. It would be like taking a really nice dog who happens to have explosive diarrhea into a newly cleaned house. The disappointing fact is that I understand how an author will use such language to establish an emotion or a point. Shakespeare had Iago drop the 16th century equivalent of the F-bomb in Othello as his first word to show what kind of character he was - a villain and a crass one at that. This is what I've referred to when I mention in other reviews that an author "used the language properly." It was weighted, conservatively used to show the dramatic change that the character has experienced. It is a tool that is used sparingly. My disappointment is in the fact that I didn't see any of that taking place in Redshirts. The same strong word was used constantly in situations that didn't seem to warrant it. Things would escalate and I would expect to hear it, but then it wouldn't come. Only to show up at an unexpected moment when the tension had died down. It was used in all situations - with superiors, strangers, people the characters were ask for help - as if the characters were saying it just to say it. Spoken language has an effect and I saw non of that. It was desensitizing and didn't add anything to the story. I saw no use for it and am horribly, abysmally disappointed that such a well written story had to be marred by a torrent of offensive language that served no purpose.
As I've said - I'm very torn by this book. The story and codas were beautifully written and it was the perfect way to end the novel. It was entertaining and enlightening and just marvelous. And so very disappointing for the stupidest of reasons. The total length was just over 7 and a half hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment