Railsea discussion

Railsea

I'm enjoying Railsea, but I feel that most of my enjoyment comes from my interest in Melville's Moby Dick. Most obviously, you can see the short chapters and the brief "cetology" chapters that explain the world of Railsea. In a larger sense, I'm a little confused as to what Mieville is try to do with Melville. Perhaps the most interesting comparison is the way industrialization is integrated into the world. It seems almost as if the world of Railsea has been locked into the 19th century for a thousand years or more. Rails are everywhere. Smoke has so blackened the upper atmosphere that creatures have literally evolved to survive up there. Everything is exponentially more violent but seemingly has ties to the industrial world that spawned railroads and factories. But what makes the industrial culture so useful for Mieville in the novel? I'm still getting through that.

Oh dear. Railsea's waiting for me at the library right now, and I was hoping for something better. I really didn't like Moby-Dick (though I at least finished it), and my review of The Scar, my least favorite China Miéville, compared it to Moby-Dick.

huh. Haven't yet read The Scar. But there's a lot going for the book. I'm only about 1/3 of the way through it, so I'll hold off my own judgment until I finish it.

WARNING - MAJOR SPOILERS

Hi Roger. It's not that the rails were built to supply industry. The rails were built by corporations that were competing with each other for toll fees. They built as many rails as they could, and the more they built, the more money they made (or were supposed to make, as we find out in the end). The reason that rails are the primary (and maybe only) mode of transportation is that flying is too dangerous due to the mutant creatures that inhabit the atmosphere; and roads would not work because the moldywarpes would be able to breach them. The corporations were so fixated on building as many rails as they could, that they took all of the water from earth and moved it into Heaven, in order to make more room.

Interesting, Dave, but the moldywarpes could breach the rails just as easily, and roads are much easier to build. In fact, paving the planet would seem easier than covering it with rails. A sea of concrete indeed! Or tarmacadam. Or everyone could travel in SUVs or by horse.

J. T. Shea