(no subject)

[chelseagirl]

The China Mieville signing last night turned into quite the party, as bethynyc, linaerys, seanmoon turned up, as well as M. and my friend Sarah.

I'd seen China do a reading before, but I'd never heard him do a Q&A. He came across as extremely intelligent, funny, thoughtful, etc. I won't try to summarize everything he said; there's an entry on the bas_lag community which does that very well, and linearys and seanmoon focused on various aspects of it in their posts. So, whattheysaid, plus:

One thing that impressed me was that he talked about prose style in fantastic fiction, and how mostly it's seen as getting in the way of the plot and etc. While China's prose style is one of the things a lot of people complain about (I love it, but I also read Proust for fun), I really admire him for using language to unsettle the reader or make him/her think. Similarly, I like the idea that *he* has maps of Bas Lag, but he doesn't want to publish them because he wants the reader to have to make his/her way around and feel that sense of disorientation. But then, as I've said, it's the depth of his world, the notion that there's a lot more going on than we'll ever be told about, that's one of the things which impresses me so much.

He was really friendly and patient during the signing -- patient when the flash on Sarah's camera didn't go off and M. had to take a second picture. He recognized M. as a fellow-Londoner, so they had a bonding moment.

And he's managed to finish his dissertation. I congratulated him on that, and he commiserated with me on mine. (This rest is all about me, so if you're reading it for China, feel free to bail!) It's a bit intimidating to think that someone else can manage to write massive best-selling novels and still complete; though his explanation in the q&A section of how he worked made a lot of sense -- that he'd focus on the diss. intensively for a couple of weeks and then switch back to the fiction. My various part-time jobs (teaching, indexing, paralegaling) are all time-disruptors and it's rare that I get two weeks to myself without a bunch of deadlines, lectures, etc.

So all I need to do is become a fabulously talented published novelist and I'll be set, eh?

Comments

[seanmoon.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you posted about this signing. I never would have thought to go, otherwise. It was great to see you again, and to finally meet M. He seemed very nice, and funny; and, as I wrote, anyone who can seem like a normal and interesting person and yet at the same time tur out to be wearing the One Ring is someone worth meeting. We should do this whole thing again some time.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I'm glad we all (well, mostly) went out after, and yes, we'll definitely have to do it again. Sorry to bag on lunch today, btw, but since we're currently on a major budget, last night took its place.

Believe me, I never thought I'd hang out with, much less marry, somebody who would wear the One Ring, either. M. is one of the very few who can pull it off . . .

[seanmoon.livejournal.com]

I totally understand. Budgets are bad, but the resultant lack of lack of money can be good. I just wanted to make sure to get you back your Angel tape before my cat taped over it with porn or something like that.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but it's also easier to earn a PhD over here -- compared to American academia at least. Friends of mine with doctorates are amazed that doctoral candidates in the US must take actual classes. They just went forward with their research and that was that. Also, although financial aid over here is pretty much non-existant, the fees are far less than what you find at American universities. (Blair's trying to change that, but even so, 3000 pounds a year at Oxbridge is darned cheaper than what charged at American Ivy Leagues etc.) These same friends couldn't imagine having to work -- unless it's teaching at the same university -- whilst working on their doctoral degrees.

Of course, the same friends can't believe that you have to pay for birth control in the US. :)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I do remind myself that he wasn't juggling all the part-time jobs; and it is a lot easier to jump from one immersion to another than to spend your day with a couple of hours on this project, and a few on the next . . . .

Plus he's no doubt an extra-talented person.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but you're pretty darned talented yourself, you know. :)