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Aw crap. It looks like the Wiscon programming participant sign-up is already full.

Oh well, that means I won't get myself in a giant pot of trouble by volunteering to be a panelist on the cultural appropriation panel.

In other news, I feel like I have stolen yarn from my library. I headed over partly to return books and partly to skirt around the edges to see if the knitting/crocheting circle did actually meet up (did not bring projects as was not sure about circle), and they did, and they had yarn, and I stared because there were four lovely balls of Noro Kureyon lying right there! Two different colorways, but still! So I started up a scarf on one, and the lady said I could bring it home, and now I totally feel like I stole it because I am not a regular circle person. And I won't be able to go back for two more weeks because I'll be in Taiwan.

Maybe I will give them the finished scarf, which will somewhat absolve my guilt-ridden conscience.

Will possibly be spamming LJ later in an attempt to catch up on book and TV write-ups.

Larbalestier, Justine - The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction

The bad thing about keeping track of my reading habits is finding out that I started this back in May of last year.

Larbalestier (justinelavaworm, hi!) writes about (duh) the battle of the sexes in sf, but in this case, she's writing about the genre, the fans and the community of sf, not just examining specific texts. The book looks at the role of women in sf works (usually the object of affection and accused of ruining the genre), the role of female fans in sf fandom (usually denigrated and accused of ruining the genre), and the role of female writers in sf (usually denigrated and accused of ruining the genre).

Unsurprisingly, a pattern emerges ;).

I had a lot of fun reading Larbalestier's analyses of various battles waged in latters in old fan magazines; there were quite a few moments in which I wanted to just whap the young, pretentious, and very sexist Isaac Asimov on the head. It was also rather amusing (and disheartening) to see all the old arguments: "We're not sexist but we just think romance spoils the story" or "We're not sexist but we just think female writers don't do hard science" or "We're not sexist but we think only a few, exceptional women can appreciate sf."

I think one of my favorite parts was Larbalestier constantly asserting that women (fans and writers) had been present in sf from pretty much the beginning, but because they weren't talked about often, they faded away from memory, so much so that each generation of male sf readers and writers seems to have the "Good lord! There are women reading/writing sf!" reaction.

She goes on to write about Tiptree/Sheldon and how her life in particular illuminates the lines drawn because of gender and sex in the sf world, and finally, discusses the Tiptree award.

I am afraid I am not giving the book its due, since I read a chapter a month or so. But it's fun and interesting, albeit somewhat blood-pressure-raising, due to the really sexist reprinted letters and columns, not at all due to Larbalestier's writing.

Spence, Jonathan D. - God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan

In 1843, Hong Xiuquan (then still Hong Huaxiu) had failed the civil service examinations several times. After being handed a Christian booklet, he decided he was the second son of God, younger brother to Jesus, and that he was supposed to save China from the evils of the Qing Dynasty. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom eventually grew from a small sect comprised mainly of Hong's relatives to a behemoth that threatened to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. The Taiping army eventually took over Nanjing and surrounding lands, attempted to lead an attack on Shanghai and Beijing, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom remained in power for nearly a decade.

Even as I type all that, I can't quite believe it, it sounds so insane. But Spence brings it wonderfully to life. He isn't writing an analytical piece; rather, he uses present tense to give the narrative a more immediate feeling and largely follows the life of Hong (and some followers, as they become relevant). In his foreword, Spence notes that many, many, many books have already been written on the Taiping Rebellion, its effect on the Qing Dynasty and its effect on Chinese history overall (I am guessing that a very large reason why the Qing Dynasty didn't dedicate that many resources to the Opium Wars is because they were trying to keep Hong and other revolutionaries from overtaking the place).

Anyway, Spence is a captivating writer, and he grabbed me from the first chapter, where he describes the conditions of the walled city for foreign traders in Canton. He did end up losing me a bit near the end, when things are falling apart for the Taiping, but I think that's more because I am less interested in insane people attempting to rewrite the Bible and more interested in civilian discontent and sparks of rebellion. The Taiping gained power among the commoners, probably because people felt oppressed by the Manchu (the Qing Dynasty was founded by non-Han people). Hong's Hakka heritage probably helped out a lot as well.

Also, in case you haven't noticed, Hong is insane. Probably not moreso than any other fervent religious figure who believes he or she is related to God and/or speaks for God, but seriously. The other entertaining part was watching all the factions and infighting within the Taiping government. Hong had designated quite a few kings under his rule (North King, South King, Wing King, I forgot the rest), but the main one was the East King, Yang Xiuqing (same "xiu" as the one in Hong's name, same "qing" as in the dynasty name, for anyone interested). Yang acted as the mouthpiece of God and usually had a lot of authority because he claimed God spoke to him. He also seemed to be the tactical brains of the place, and after a while, he attempted to grasp power by saying God told him that Hong was being sinful and turning away from the Taiping way by dallying too much with his many concubines. Most people seem to think that Hong or Hong's groupies ended up poisoning Yang.

Very cool piece of Chinese history here, and I had a whole lot of fun, though every other page, particularly near the end, I'd just sort of boggle at the page. I think my favorite bits are Hong massively revising the Bible to his own taste (he really didn't seem to like the story of Noah getting drunk and falling asleep naked, or the story of that guy who slept with his daughter-in-law because he saw her veiled by the road and thought she was a whore).