So, I read The Hunger Games, as I said.

[conuly]

Good book, really. Can't believe I never read it sooner, but you know, it never came out in paperback that I saw.

One thing, though. Is there an outside world?

I see this in a lot of books. Somebody lives in a non-worldwide dystopia, or they live in a fantasy world where they're in some degree of trouble... and, I don't know, if people thought I killed a man here I'd run for the border right away!

These people don't. Oh, they might talk about the border, but that's the border into wilderness, there's no chance of people being out there.

But I'm reading this book going "Well, okay, SOMEthing happened, and now the country stretches out as far as the Appalachians. Okay. Well, there's a few more thousand miles of land between there and the next coast. Nobody has settled in any of that land? Nobody whispers, however quietly, about running so far you can't be tracked and caught? Nobody even mentions how their government trades with other governments to the north or across the sea? Seriously? Even the least politically minded person in the real world can name at least *one* other existing country or trade partner in the world!

I mean, I suppose it's possible, but then I'd expect a comment about how "Yup, as far as we know, nobody's left". And these people have technology, too, so if they don't know at all what's out there it's only because the Evil Government doesn't want them to. But even in their cynical little thoughts, nobody seems to think "Gee, maybe it's not so bad if we get just a littttle further out and we've been lied to".

And it's not restricted to this book, either. Fantasy books where your pal is a wanted criminal - well, they don't have high tech, and you're out beyond guards, so why are you rambling around the countryside instead of LEAVING the countryside and going to where nobody knows your name? Countless books where you have a closet rebellion that doesn't think, first things first, to see if they can get some aid from their country's enemies... and they certainly don't offer or come up at all. Endless stories where the prince marries any random peasant because, you know, it's not like he has to make alliances with other countries, not like they'll be upset he snubbed THEIR royalty for this little nobody.

It gets on my nerves sometimes, but then, maybe I just want to travel a bit too much.

Comments

[redbird]

I haven't read that book, but I am reminded of Edgar Pangborn, who set most of his writing in a post-apocalyptic world: a brief nuclear war, followed by plagues (which it is implied/believed were germ warfare) has left a small population. The stories are set in a somewhat altered New York and New England, and there's a lot of wilderness there, and a belief/assumption that everything west of Penn is wilderness. It eventually transpires that Penn has some kind of trade with a distant, not-well-known empire somewhere on the Mississippi, but they don't tell their trading partners further east about it.

And yes, in those books people do run away from their problems. There are two novels, The Company of Glory (which I recommend) and The Judgment of Eve, which is set shortly after the war and tangential to this, and a bunch of short stories. The Company of Glory is narrated by a character who has fled to avoid being pursued for fighting the wrong person. I have a spare copy, if this sounds interesting and your library doesn't have it.

I now note that I haven't actually reread any of this in years, but was passionate about it at one time, and in fact have that spare copy because I figured sooner or later someone would want to read it and I didn't want to lend out my only copy, so the answer was to have extras. (I have friends who make a practice of buying used copies of certain books specifically to give them away. I was never quite that organized about it.)

[conuly]

I'll see if I can get me some copies, thanks.

It's weird - even though they're depressing, I always revert back to reading post-apocalyptic and dystopic fiction. I just love them. I read The Girl Who Owned a City (and there's a failure in literature - written to convince people to Be Like Ayn Rand (but for kids!) and I came away with the firm impression that the answer in tragedy and crisis is to all pull together now like good little socialists) and spent many happy months planning how things would play out if all the grown-ups died as described.

...

Come to think of it, this probably explains all that Holocaust-lit-for-kids I read when young. It was easier to find than the dystopias, though that's changing nowadays.

[redbird]

If you can't, just send me your mailing address.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

Actually, the sequel addresses this a bit more. I think what you're supposed to take away from the story is not necessarily that there is no outside world but that the characters live in a world where information is so tightly controlled that they have no knowledge of anything beyond their borders.

Also, since I probably won't remember tomorrow: Happy Birthday! I'm sending you virtual chocolate, e-hugs, and imaginary balloons. If you email me your snail-mail address, I may get around to sending you an actual card or small gift, too!

[conuly]

Well, I'm waiting to snag a copy of the sequel, so I hope so!

And thank you!

Bit late to send me a card via mail, isn't it? But poke me in a bit and I'll see if I can remember.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Lord Dunsany (http://www.ursulakleguin.com/UKL-Review-Joshi-LordDunsany.html) is the first and greatest founding father of that tradition of fantasy realms isolated from the rest of the world. Being an Irish nobleman, I expect that attitude of isolation came naturally to him, especially since in his day the 'old ways' were swiftly passing, never to come again.

Most modern fantasy seems so generic to me these days - the same old tropes, re-hashed and re-warmed; little of depth or originality. It's all so very marketable, like Hostess cupcakes: neatly wrapped in plastic so you can see you're getting a standardized product; no surprises.
No nutritional value either, of course.

[conuly]

This isn't the generation that coined the phrase "nothing new under the sun".

As far as fantasy goes... I'll keep an eye out for anything really new to tell you about.