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I have to admit I was a little bit nervous, after my reaction to Men at Arms, about rereading Feet of Clay. Because Feet of Clay has always been one of my favorites, and what if I didn't love it?
Fortunately it turns out that I still feel totally okay loving Feet of Clay. Because DORFL and CHERI. I mean, other things too, but: DORFL and CHERI.
So let's talk first about Dorfl!
So the golem theme in this book is about freedom and humanity and is basically Discworld's chance to do the extremely beloved sci-fi theme of 'sentient robots! are they human? should they have rights? does using them . . . make us assholes . . .? WHAT ABOUT IF THEY ARE EVIL KILLER ROBOTS DO THEY STILL HAVE RIGHTS THEN?'
And I generally like the stories that go 'pretty much yes' to all these questions, and Discworld does not fail me here. Feet of Clay is I think really the book that drives home how important it is, and how important it is to Vimes, that people are thought of as people. It's not just a class thing anymore. It's a freedom thing. And that works, in the way that the race thing did not in Men At Arms.
But while we're talking about things: so the gender thing!
Now you could read the Cheri thing in a couple of different ways, I think. And some of them are more problematic than others! But the part I like to focus on is this: Cheri comes from a society that tells her that she needs to present as a certain gender. She wants to present as a different gender. And she gets harassed for it, even by sympathetic people who are having their norms challenged, and she persists, within her comfort zone, and does it anyway, and that's awesome.
And at the same time she's expressing prejudice against werewolves, and Angua is prejudiced as hell against golems, and that's a good thing to point out, too, that there are different axes and everything is complicated, and being oppressed in one area doesn't mean taking it out in a different direction is okay. I like that, too.
And hey: first Watch book to pass the Bechdel Test! BONUS.
But I am also really curious to see how other people read this stuff! Tell me your thoughts!
In other news: I think this is the last book where Carrot does not outright terrify me? I mean he's even starting to terrify me here, but I can still be like, 'aw, Carrot, you're sweet.' BUT THIS MAY WELL BE THE LAST TIME.
In other other news: still not enough Sybil.
This entry is cross-posted at Livejournal from http://skygiants.dreamwidth.org/294201.html. Please feel free to comment here or there! There are currently
comments on Dreamwidth.
Fortunately it turns out that I still feel totally okay loving Feet of Clay. Because DORFL and CHERI. I mean, other things too, but: DORFL and CHERI.
So let's talk first about Dorfl!
So the golem theme in this book is about freedom and humanity and is basically Discworld's chance to do the extremely beloved sci-fi theme of 'sentient robots! are they human? should they have rights? does using them . . . make us assholes . . .? WHAT ABOUT IF THEY ARE EVIL KILLER ROBOTS DO THEY STILL HAVE RIGHTS THEN?'
And I generally like the stories that go 'pretty much yes' to all these questions, and Discworld does not fail me here. Feet of Clay is I think really the book that drives home how important it is, and how important it is to Vimes, that people are thought of as people. It's not just a class thing anymore. It's a freedom thing. And that works, in the way that the race thing did not in Men At Arms.
But while we're talking about things: so the gender thing!
Now you could read the Cheri thing in a couple of different ways, I think. And some of them are more problematic than others! But the part I like to focus on is this: Cheri comes from a society that tells her that she needs to present as a certain gender. She wants to present as a different gender. And she gets harassed for it, even by sympathetic people who are having their norms challenged, and she persists, within her comfort zone, and does it anyway, and that's awesome.
And at the same time she's expressing prejudice against werewolves, and Angua is prejudiced as hell against golems, and that's a good thing to point out, too, that there are different axes and everything is complicated, and being oppressed in one area doesn't mean taking it out in a different direction is okay. I like that, too.
And hey: first Watch book to pass the Bechdel Test! BONUS.
But I am also really curious to see how other people read this stuff! Tell me your thoughts!
In other news: I think this is the last book where Carrot does not outright terrify me? I mean he's even starting to terrify me here, but I can still be like, 'aw, Carrot, you're sweet.' BUT THIS MAY WELL BE THE LAST TIME.
In other other news: still not enough Sybil.
This entry is cross-posted at Livejournal from http://skygiants.dreamwidth.org/294201.html. Please feel free to comment here or there! There are currently
comments on Dreamwidth.