Geoffrey D. Sperl wrote:
>
> All,
>
> I just finished David Brin's _The Postman_ (while listening to Janet Jackson's
> "The Velvet Rope"...no connection - I just like to have music playing while
> reading). It is a postapocalyptic novel that sees Gordon Krantz, a minstrel
> (sp? no dictionary nearby...) of sorts, don the clothing of a dead mail
> carrier for warmth and survival, only to lead to the largest story he ever
> told: the story of the Restored United States of America.
>
> Now, it deals with women in intrguing fashions. I don't want to color
> anyone's minds if they haven't read the book, but I would like to discuss what
> everyone (who has read it) thought of this book and the wide range of women
> presented in the piece.
>
> - Geoffrey
>
> P.S. Yes, this is the book that is the basis of Kevin Costner's new movie,
> _The Postman_ (coming out next month). I have no idea as to what the
> storyline is, but there are still shots that I can't find matching scenes to
> in the book, and a vast number of names seem to have changed...anyone have
> more info on the movie?
I'm glad you brought that up, Geoffrey. I hadn't remembered Brin's
handling of womens' issues from the first time I read the book, but I
was struck by it the second time.
Spoilers Upcoming
I'm not sure how I feel about it. Taken at face value, Brin seems to be
towing that same, dull line that women's main use in life it culling the
bastards from the good guys and that they do this best by dying.
I always look at the body count to see where a writer's values lie. He
leaves two minor women characters alive, one guy of indeterminate race
and the white guy hero. As far as I could tell, none of the women made
it.
As a side issue, you'll notice, too, while he paints the guerilla woman
as brave, he also calls them 'insane'. Worse, as far as I'm concerned,
he demeans not only their common sense but their scholarship.
Hmm, the more I think about it, the less I like it. But I -do- like the
book for other reasons.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:06:59 PDT