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CTGttW Question 5: Dichotomies
The book is full of dichotomies.
- names vs titles covered in another question.
- human-occupied land and the Wastelands
- inside and outside the train
- First and Third class
- passenger and crew
- Weiwei and the rest of the crew
- honesty and deception, lie and truth
- science and religion
- hubris and humility
What others are there? Which are important? How are these dichotomies addressed in the book? Which are resolved and which remain?
Is the notion of "dichotomy" central to the book?
Comments
I’d say the crows and the captain represented two arms of authority.
Russia and China as two very different kinds of train terminus?
I think of this book as an undergraduate book. I mean its full of ideas that are discussed by undergraduates in university, important ideas, but their importance and relation with the world isn't yet well understood. I think the author shows a lot of promise, but this isn't a very good book. It's a good book, and if Sarah Brooks continues working on her theme she may well write a very good book. But what is the theme of the book? "Dichotomy" is not a theme for a novel.
I posted a quote from PKD a while ago where he talked about what SF is. https://www.ttrpbc.com/discussion/comment/8646#Comment_8646 There he talks about the "shock of disrecognition," and how the protagonist is an idea, not a person. I don't think either of these are happening here, but I suppose they might for a young reader. But as I said the Wasteland seems like it should be the idea, and I don't think its promise was delivered on. There are too many ideas. It needs to be tightened up.
I think the aurthor watched too much Snowpiercer.