"A Door Into Ocean" is one of my favorite sf novels; reading it (together
with CJ Cherryh's "Foreigner") will teach more about semantics, and
translation, and crosscultural communication, than a whole stack of
university courses in those subjects. The word-coinings in "Door Into
Ocean," especially in the semantic domains of sharing and violence, are
superb. As to whether a culture like the one in "A Door Into Ocean" could
work -- I think it could, yes, but it would be very hard slogging, with a
steep learning curve, and would take vastly more courage than it takes to
just keep on going to war.
Suzette
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