Spacecraft

Object Lessons

by Timothy Morton

Science fiction is filled with spacecraft. On Earth, actual rockets explode over Texas while others make their way to Mars. But what are spacecraft, and just what can they teach us about imagination, ecology, democracy, and the nature of objects? Why do certain spacecraft stand out in popular culture?

If ever there were a spacecraft that could be detached from its context, sold as toys, turned into Disney rides, parodied, and flit around in everyone's head-the Millennium Falcon would be it. Springing from this infamous Star Wars vehicle, Spacecraft takes readers on an intergalactic journey through science fiction and speculative philosophy, revealing real-world political and ecological lessons along the way. In this book Timothy Morton shows how spacecraft are never mere flights of fancy.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Essays

145 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 23, 2021

About the author

Timothy Bloxam Morton is Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University. They are the author of Dark Ecology: For a Logic of Future Coexistence; Nothing: Three Inquiries in Buddhism (with Marcus Boon and Eric Cazdyn); Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World; and other books.

Reviews

[Goran Lowie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the ARC!

Onto the actual book... What on earth was this? I wanted to abandon it halfway through, which is sadly impressive for a book of this short length, but ended up powering through. I was expecting a fairly surface-level exploration of spacecraft in fiction and popular culture, and got... a book focusing for the most part on the Millenium Falcon from Star Wars (which the author seems to be in love with), with lots of rambly thoughts- all over the place.

This book mostly attempts to explain why the Millenium Falcon is such an amazing spacecraft and the tens of special meanings it has which has made it so adored by people all over the world! It goes from analysis of Star Wars to weird Freudian sexual comparisons (describing the way the Falcon enters hyperspace as being swallowed by a vagina or anal sphincter, and there's a whole part about the "vulva of hyperspace" too), philosophical ramblings and lots of ideas on life, American culture, economy, ecology, feminism, stream of consciousness, Gaussian geometry, how spacecraft are penises penetrating hyperspace (yes, it never stops with the weird sexual analogies), left-wing cynicism, but most of all, Star Wars.

Much of this book is just about how great Star Wars/the Millenium Falcon is, how it is even philosophically and politically more sophisticated than any Kubrick or Tarkovsky film.

It's a baffling book, almost feels like false advertising, and definitely made me go "what is this guy even going on about" multiple times throughout reading it. Hard pass.

[rem]

a book using spacecraft as a mean to talk philosophically about different aspects of the future.
have not watched any star wars or star trek so reading this book was a challenge but i spot a line of baby yoda so yoe i'm happy <3

[Alberto Sepúlveda · Rating 4 out of 5]

He leído la edición castellana de Holobionte y me ha gustado bastante. Ontología Orientada a los Objetos (con el Halcón Milenario como protagonista absoluto) explicada (para alguien como yo, bastante ignorante en el tema) muy guay, de manera divertida y directa. A veces las ideas planteadas parecen tremendas locuras pero la argumentación y el desarrollo de las mismas coloca todo un poco mejor.

Un libro ¿raro?, pero guay.

[Ric · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seemed like it would be more interesting because it seemed on the surface like an exploration of spacecrafts in science fiction. But it was unfortunately a stream of consciousness about the Millennium Falcon and mentions of other ships. I like Star Wars a lot, but there are plenty of other series I would’ve liked to explore. And stream of consciousness was probably the best way I could describe it, the book sort of jumps around a bunch.

[Jon Zellweger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just wrapped up reading this wee book…twice! I am not a Timothy Morton completist, but after reading portions of a few of their books and “Being Ecological” in its entirety (also twice) and listened to podcasts and read interviews, I think I can admit I enjoy their work; especially these brief, almost stream-of-consciousness essays. Here, Morton has been given the opportunity to focus their unique blend of romantic futurism on spacecraft. That’s spaceCRAFT. Not spaceSHIPS. There is a difference as you will learn. And while 2001 and Star Trek are mentioned, Morton spends the lion’s share of their effort using Star Wars’ Millennium Falcon (with frequent pairings or diversions about Dr. Who’s TARDIS) to touch on the traditional Greek chorus in film and house music, patriarchal and capitalist society, hyperspace as Saturday-on-a-Monday lounge space, object-oriented ontology, William Blake, American democracy as innovative junk recycling of past societies, feminist circulsion and the Muppets. I’m serious. It’s brilliant. It’s a romp. Don’t expect a complete explication or an itemized defense either. Think of this as a “what if?…” Or an inventory every vector of thought between Morton’s ears…(aka, what might serve as a forward to a developed 400-page take-down with proper citations for the academy). Treat it lightly. Have fun with it. Take in what you can, come back and reread later! Morton has said in interviews that they like to think that their writing is from the future, a future self they call “Future Tim”. This is a tiny book with a high weight-to-potential ratio. Let it plant some seeds for you.

[Westveil Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was granted complimentary access to Spacecraft via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What is this? Spacecraft is billed as an exploration of spacecraft (plural, idea of, generalization) in the genre of science fiction. As a sci-fi nerd and aspiring author, I was excited to take a deep dive on the topic of space flight technology as imagined by the greats and lesser-known minds of our club. What I got was an overly sexualized love letter to the Millennium Falcon. While I concede that the Millennium Falcon is indeed one sexy ship, it is not the only ship in science fiction, and absolutely no one not writing sci-fi flavoured erotic parody needs to be describing the "vulva of hyperspace." (Help me step Captain, I'm stuck...)

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most important thing to know about this book is that it is not about real spacecraft, but about the imaginary ones in science fiction movies and television shows. Likewise, when the author philosophizes about hyperspace, it’s not about the possibility or impossibility of space vehicles traveling faster than the speed of light. The space vehicle used as the prime example is the Millennium Falcon from the Star Wars movies and also Doctor Who’s TARDIS, the starship Enterprise, and others are used as examples.

Since this is part of the series Object Lessons which use the technique of phenomenology to philosophize about objects this point is made right away on page eight of the essay.

This book uses the insight that “ideas” and “images” are objects in their own right. Spacecraft aren’t just symptoms of our brains, figments of our imaginations. They are autonomous beings. They have something to tell us. I’m also going to argue that the very concept of phenomenology has ever so much in common with the idea of spacetime, which Einstein discovered roughly around the same time, the very early twentieth century.

From this starting point Morton takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of ideas and imaginings. Some of them are delightful such as his image of space travel and hyperspace as a luminous inviting environment. I think of them as LLI (Liquid Luminous Images) moments, unfortunately there are some serious gaffes that I can only describes as WTF (What the Fudge) moments that brings the reader to slam on the brakes and come to a screeching halt. It’s quite a deceleration from faster than light speed. The first follows right after the quote above on page eight, containing an equivalence of cosmic proportion:

The medium spacecraft travel within, the scintillating ocean we call hyperspace, is good old outer space, but imagined as a substance, a thing, an object!

Except it isn’t a physical object; it’s an imaginary idea. Outer space or spacetime, the place where we live along with the sun, the stars, and the planets in their courses, is not hyperspace! It is true that both can be thought of as objects in the mind, but there is an immense difference. Spacetime is a scientific fact. Hyperspace is a fantasy it exists only in the mind.

Hyperspace originated in the relatively new genre of fantasy literature called science fiction. And it has been a common been a common motif in the genre ever since. I mean, how can you have a galactic empire when it takes several human lifetimes to get from place to place? Look what happened to the European empires in the last two centuries, when people in faraway places decided to run things for themselves. An eager and enthusiastic group of writers and readers have been working on this since the late nineteenth century. The theater, radio, motion pictures, and television have added their skills to the idea and the last two have given us the arresting visual images discussed in the book.

While it is true that the possibility of a shortcut to other stars and planets, is an idea in minds that belong to physicists and engineers who are working hard to figure out a way to beat the cosmic speed limit and get somewhere faster by either bending spacetime or finding some useful tunnels (wormholes) through it, it has not happened yet. I question the author’s misleading equation of the two.

Morton’s puzzling classification of the types of imaginary spacecraft and their qualities is entertaining as are the thought that these hold the promise of exhilarating freedom, adventure, and comfort. But my second WTF moment that tumbled me out of the “spiritual sensual liquid” of Morton’s feminist philosophy is the sentence on page 44 where it states: “…both capitalism and Marxism rely on the labor theory of value.”

Once again, this is a statement that really is not true. It would be true, but only if it were stated in the past tense. At the time (1867-1894) when Das Kapital: Kritik der politischen Ökonomie was published Marx stated that the labor theory of value was what distinguished Adam Smith and himself as “classical economists.” Das Kapital, orCapital in the English translation is Marx’s view of capitalism. This was his theory of how capitalism worked in the 19th century. I doubt that there is a capitalist enconomist today that believes in, or relies upon, the labor theory of value. While ecomomists have debated for centuries over the source of value, capitalists themselves operate their businesses and factories based on the price of goods and services as determined by supply and demand, not by the amount of human labor that went into making the goods or services.

This isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy this intellectual romp through science fiction. It was a somewhat challenging, but fascinating journey where others have gone before. But please don’t confuse or conflate science fiction with science fact! There is another fictional journey that could serve as cautionary tale: El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha=Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. I mention this because I wonder if Morton did not attack a few windmills along the way, mistaking them for giants.

[J Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spacecraft by Timothy Morton is perhaps the most abstract of the Object Lessons series that I have read so far. While I think it works I also think many of the readers who want something with fewer meanings and more just about the object in question will be unhappy.

I think readers who have read at least one of Morton's other books will better appreciate what is attempted here. While I found the connections to the Millennium Falcon, and spacecraft in general, sufficient for inclusion in the series I also understand that those unfamiliar with Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO) may find some of the connections abstract at best and tenuous at worst.

I would carefully recommend this to readers who might want both an excursion into spacecraft as well as into OOO. Also readers who don't mind being challenged with ways of thinking about and viewing the world that may seem alien. If you simply want a factoid filled book about spacecraft, well, this ain't it, though there are plenty of factoids.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Bloomsbury Academic for an advanced copy of this book.

Spacecraft by Timothy Morton, part of the Bloomsbury Object Lessons series, is I can say one of the oddest books on science fiction, space travel, philosophy, politics and just objects that I have ever read. Even at the end I was conflicted on what to say and what to write. The book is about spacecrafts, the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars seems the nominal star. However, for such a small book, so many ideas are tossed out and shared, that the book gets confusing and seems to lack a purpose.
Not that I didn't enjoy it, but it is a book that is hard to recommend as a read. Some ideas were interesting, some I wish that there was more follow-up. It is hard to gauge an audience for this book. For a small sized book, there is a lot going on in it.

[Kit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Went into this expecting an interesting examination of spacecraft from various different media and how they reflect or contradict the themes of the stories they are in. Instead I was confronted by the academic fan-nerding of the author about the millenium falcon. Other spacecraft are mentioned but only briefly to contrast with the falcon. The whole thing is an opinion piece with the author telling the reader what our own experiences and feelings are, and making jumps of 'logic' that are often impossible to follow as they're clearly personal to the author, not the reader.
There's interesting ideas in the book but it really isnt what the cover blurb implies it is. If you want a fan ramble about star wars though you're all set!

[Theediscerning · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not the book I was looking for. Book? It's just a semi-academic deconstruction of the Millennium Falcon. But who knew that when you travelled 'to infinity and beyond', doing the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs en route, you didn't find Trillian's 'normality', and certainly no Star Child, but Pseuds Corner?

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book teaches you how to let go.
It enacts the hyperspace lounge it articulates.
Experiments bend.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

too much sci fi, too little philosophy

[Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are books like this that you know they're far from being perfect, but you just love them. You love every flaw, every hole in it. In the end, space is a “rippling ocean of spacetime.”

[Hallee · Rating 4 out of 5]

really interesting personal essay on spacecrafts, star wars, and the state of it all

[Aurelio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ir a una librería para encontrar éste tesoro friki no tiene precio, la afortunada casualidad y no es un libro que vaya a recomendaros para nada, porque personalmente he disfrutado en algunas partes de forma increíble. Porque Timothy Morton tiene que ser entrañable y extraño por la forma de comunicar su pensamiento a través de dos o tres películas, principalmente Star Wars y El Halcón Milenario.
Ya en la introducción nos habla de su pasión por dibujar naves espaciales desde su infancia, somos almas gemelas, no sé dónde estarán esos dibujos pero yo cogía mis reglas y ahí que ponía a diseñar naves estelares.
Y luego Timothy se pone a hablar de física con el hiperespacio y la filosofía africana Kongo relacionando ambos conceptos o aquel atrevimiento de Margaret Tatcher: "No existe la sociedad" y ahí divaga sobre los conjuntos y los ecosistemas y de cómo los seres humanos somos una serie de constructos de desechos biológicos para llegar a decir que todos los seres vivos somos halcones milenarios.
El propio Timothy plantea como el hecho de comunicar sin incapacitar al lector por su forma de ser o de pensar para expresar sus pensamientos era un reto.
Me ha gustado el ejemplo de como antes podías escuchar un vinilo entero escuchando canciones que no eran tus preferidas pero nuestra mente crecía ante aquello que no era parte de nuestra satisfacción si no un descubrimiento y un ejercicio para adquirir un talante abierto en contraste con Spotify que nos simplifica con terrón de azúcar continuo.
Y como en Star Wars a través del Halcón Milenario que se supone que es un montón de chatarra o basurilla llega a todos los confines del universo sorteando aventuras, para acercarnos a Samuel Beckett sobre personas derribadas o lo que significa la basura, es algo que ha dejado de ser para alguien.
Un libro que debería ser depósito en cualquier biblioteca pública para un acercamiento ocasional.

[Phil Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

For only a small book, both in size and length of text, Morton packed an incredible amount into this little package. As regular readers know, Spacecraft formed the basis of 18 weekly lessons and I could have drawn more from this fascinating book if I had really tried.

The heart of the book is four short chapters about spacecraft in popular culture, with a notable focus on the iconic Millennium Falcon. This fascination alone would be enough for me to love the text, but there is so much interesting content here. Morton presents a categorization of spacecraft, alongside outlining their distinction from the more structured spaceships.

Other highlights included finding hyperspace in Rime of the Ancient Mariner and explaining the origins of the default film representation of hyperspace. There is a fascinating insight or nugget of SF lore on every page. I will definitely re-visit this book.

[Ivane · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was fun to read

For me, it was fun text, text which (as it appears to me) tried to read (or interpret) Star Wars as an symbolic interplay of nipples, phalluses, and anuses, and as an emancipatory struggle or as what there can be after the struggle.