The Not a Book Club Club discussion

Discuss the story Second Arabesque, Very Slowly by Nancy Kress.

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Please do not discuss other stories in this thread.

Another story I just couldn't get into. It got graphic and I didn't like the subject matter. Skipped it and moved on.

I loved Kress' novella/novel Beggars in Spain and yearned for this story: Decades after a decease ripping female fertility, there are only a few packs hunting and gathering in upper Manhattan's Central Park and Lincoln Theater.

Kress is strong in dialogue, characterization and builds a vivid and tense atmosphere.
She mixes a bizarre setting of survival rules concentrating around fertility and ballett, contrasting beauty and brutality.

4 stars for it.

Hmmm... it was a decent story, although her memories of her grandmother describing Central Park detracted from the story, at least for me. Maybe it was written for people who romanticize New York?

The ending scene was so strong that I wished the beginning had mirrored it. Alas, this was not the case.

I liked the story but I don't see how it fits in the 'Dangerous Women' theme...

Nienna wrote: "I liked the story but I don't see how it fits in the 'Dangerous Women' theme..."

The nurse and especially her apprentice have a plan of their own. The apprentice nurse is quite dangerous (view spoiler)[spreading sleeping medicine to their fellow pack members (hide spoiler)]. And the nusre is dangerous in an indirect (not literal) way.

I didn't think the nurse was that strong of a character (in any way). She didn't stand up for herself or her beliefs. She wanted to stand for the younger women but it was the younger women who ended up standing for themselves. I would say more than any other characters that it was Kara who was the 'Dangerous Woman' in this story. She knew what she wanted, and more importantly what she didn't want, and she went after it. But even then without Guy's help she wouldn't have broken away from the group. I thought this story was a little too male driven to be considered a story in a collection for strong women. Although, I had no problems with the story itself.

I thought the setting/society depicted was quite eerie and I liked the question about the place of beauty. I agree with Nienna though about it not being a real "Dangerous Women" theme - the apprentice nurse was maybe the most fitting since she was sneaky and controlled people through the herbs a couple of times, but I wouldn't call her "strong". That has been the case with most of the stories though. Anyway, the story was good!

I didn't care for. Another one where I found the dangerous women theme to be a stretch. It's an interesting premise I guess, but I don't enjoy distopian stories that much.