Miévillians discussion

Chapter 25: Teafortwo gives a rather chilly account of what he saw when Lublamai was attacked. Yagharek is upset that his project may be stalled.

Chapter 26: Attacks are spreading. Lin receives a note from Motley, and decides to visit her broodma's house.

The vodyanoi strike is taking place.
The militia strikes, both at the docks and at the slaughterhouse. Ben is taken into custody.

Yagharek tells us a bit more of his story.

This is the end of Part Three.

I found Lin's backstory to be absolutely fascinating. Pseudo-religious cults are really interesting because they almost always build themselves around some ordinary fact of life, and then branch off in the most phantasmagorical ways in order to to form a cohesive whole. It's almost similar to how a pearl forms around a grain of sand; it usually makes one damn ugly pearl, but the interweave of fact and belief is still very interesting.

That's a very thoughtful take on religion/cults, Aubrey. I'm going to take what you said there, and pour it over my brain like a sauce, and let it sink in and marinate a bit for a while, and let it do it's own work subconsciously assimilating those observations of yours.

Also, i found myself feeling the frustration with the broodma that i tend to feel for very dogmatic peole, and i suspect that Mieville had intended to evoke those feelings in the reader.

The chapter with the strike and militia's brutal interference was in fact one of the scariest parts of this book for me. Again, it makes me believe that the book everyone should read after PSS is not 'The Scar' but 'Iron Council' - there you see the themes brought up here - the workers' dissent, the brutality of those in power, the workers rising against the oppression - developed more, with so many parallels to our history. I find this deeper look into the cutthroat political and power structure of the city simply fascinating.

Hey, Trav, any chance we can fit 'Iron Council' into our group reads in the relatively near future? While the memory of PSS is still fresh in the minds of the readers?

Thanks for your comments on Iron Council, Nataliya;-- i'd have to check my schedule to see who was going to lead what next, (I actually think Ian was going to do TC& TC for us in middle Jan to Feb) but if Richard wasn't going to lead it (i suspect he nabbed it) you can do it when you have time in April?

My faulty memory has caused me to forget what you and Richard each expressed a preference for... Apologies on that, but we have noted it in the group read schedule, let me see... i'll be back to you on that in a minute.

Ok, as per our schedule:
"I would like to give members a rough idea of what we have planned for 2013 so far:

From January 18 to the end of Feb, we will have Ian leading us through The City & The City.

From March 4 to March 31, we will have Nataliya leading us through Embassytown.

From some time in April (yet to be confirmed) we will have Richard leading us through Railsea.


If you want to change your reading lead to Iron Council rather, Nataliya, that might be a good idea, and i'm sure that nobody will even notice if i quickly go and adjust the schedule?

Traveller wrote: "Ok, as per our schedule:
"I would like to give members a rough idea of what we have planned for 2013 so far:

From January 18 to the end of Feb, we will have Ian leading us through The City & The C..."

Oh, I still want to do Embassytown! Maybe I can chime in with Iron Council at some point in the future then? At some point after April?

Nataliya wrote: "Traveller wrote: "Ok, as per our schedule:
"I would like to give members a rough idea of what we have planned for 2013 so far:

From January 18 to the end of Feb, we will have Ian leading us throug..."

LOL, Nataliya, you're not going to see me complaining! Let me know via PM what you have decided, when you've had a chance to think it over, ok? I place the ball squarely in your court.

I'm happy to swap the timeframe for TC&TC, if that suits.

BTW, there will be no spoilers in any TC&TC thread I manage. You haven't seen military discipline until you see me in action. It's just the infantry role I don't relish. I'm OK when I'm a General.

Ian wrote: "I'm happy to swap the timeframe for TC&TC, if that suits.

BTW, there will be no spoilers in any TC&TC thread I manage. You haven't seen military discipline until you see me in action. It's just th..."

No, I would not be able to do a discussion then; huge commitments loom on my horizon this winter.

Ian wrote: "It's just the infantry role I don't relish. I'm OK when I'm a General. .."

If i'm naughty on your threads are you going to whip me? ..or better yet, whip me into shape?

I am duty-bound to reciprocate the tongue- whip-lashing you gave me.

Aubrey wrote: "Pseudo-religious cults are really interesting because they almost always build themselves around some ordinary fact of life...It's almost similar to how a pearl forms around a grain of sand..."

What an thought-provoking analogy.

Nataliya wrote: "The chapter with the strike and militia's brutal interference was in fact one of the scariest parts of this book for me...it makes me believe that the book everyone should read after PSS is... 'Iron Council'"

I haven't read Iron Council, but the level of militia brutality against the strikers and against Ben is scary, and leaves on in no doubt as to how evil and repressive the regime is. I wonder if Mieville is basing some of this on childhood memories of the miners' strike, when he would have been an impressionable 12-13, and maybe the poll tax riots round about the time he'd have been heading to university?