Status Updates From Invisible Planets

'When I am done telling you these stories, when you're done listening to these stories, I am no longer I, and you are no longer you. In this afternoon, we briefly merged into one. After this, you will always carry a bit of me, and I will always carry a bit of you, even if we both forget this conversation.'

["Invisible Planets" – Hao Jingfang]

'He suggested to the appropriate authorities that the regulations should no longer explain what was fotbidden. Instead, the regulations should set forth what could be said, and how to say it. [...] The List of Sensitive Words was eliminated, and in its plave came the List of Healthy Words.'

'The appropriate authorities explained that the real ID Web Access System was designed to make administration of the Web more convenient and rational and eliminate the serious problems caused by anonymity on the Web. Arvardan was unsure what these "serious problems" were.'

["The Silent City" – Ma Boyong]

'He recalled his birthplace, a small city named Nantes on the shores of the tranquil Loire, where the brilliant pinpricks of the stars reflected in the water resembled an oil painting'

["Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse" – Xia Jia]


[I am elated to see the name of Nantes, a city dear to me in this most unexpected place! :)]

If the plan succeeded, it would be a step to bring about the kind of golden age envisioned by Confucius millenia ago: "And then men would care for all elders as if they were their own children. The aged would grow old and die in security; the youthful would have opportunities to contribute and prosper; and children would grow up under the guidance and protection of all [...]everyone would be cared for and loved.'
[2]

'[...] they were working on developping a web-based system that would allow anyone with some idle time and interest in helping others to register to volunteer. Then the volunteers would be able to sign on to Ah Fus [remotely operated robots] in homes across the country to take care of elders, children, parents, pets, and to help in other ways.

[1]

'After dinner, Tongtong turned on the video wall to play some games. The world in the game is so different from the world around me, she thought. In the game, a person just died. They didn't get sick, and they didn't sit on a wheelchair. Behind her, Mom and Grandpa continued to argue about the caretaker.'

[« Tongtong's summer » – Xia Jia]

'Ghost Street was built to entertain the tourists, and all the ghosts were their toys. But I'm just a toy for Xiao Qian.
Pretending that the fake is real only makes the real seem fake.'

[A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight – Xia Jia]

'I imagine these buildings growing as fast as cancer cells, finally settling into the form they have today. Inside the appartments, it's always dark because there's so little space between the buildings that tenants in buildings next to each other can shake hands through the windows. The alleyways are narrow like capillaries and follow no discernible pattern.'

[Short story "The Flower of Shazui"]

'The biggest fear is for someone else to understand what you really fear.'

[The Fish of Lijiang – Chen Qiufan]

****


See also:
The Factory– H. Oyamada
The Magic Mountain – T. Mann
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep – PKD
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – PKD
Algorithms for Love – K. Liu
Idéal – T. Hayman & B. Chaubard
A Distant Neighbourhood – J. Taniguchi

The Year of the Rat – Chen Qiufan
****

See also:
Dr Bloodmoney – PKD
The Penultimate Truth – PKD
War Game – PKD

Jacob's Ladder (film)

'[...] I had deliberately failed my Classical Chinese exam so I could stay in school. I hated the thought of looking for a job, renting an apartment, getting to work at nine A.M. just so I could look forward to five P.M., fealing with office politics, etc., etc. School was much more agreeable: I got to download music and movies foe free, the cafeteria was cheap [...].'

[The previous note deals with the contemporary Chinese writer Chen Qiufan]

'[...] The Year of the Rat, The Fish of Lijiang, and The Flower of Shazui showcase Chen's unique aethetic of melding a global, post-cyberpunk sensibility with China's traditions and complex historical legacy. By turns cynical, hopeful, playful and didactic, Chen captures the zeitgeist of contemporary China, a culture going through a shocking transition and transformation.'