Monday, November 4, 2013
The Little Things in "The Wreck of the 'Charles Dexter Ward'"
I really enjoyed this story, although I liked Elizabeth Bear's earlier story (House of Aryaman) better. One of the reasons I liked this story so much was the inclusion of all the little academic and literary details. I'm fond of Alice in Wonderland, so the fact that the authors named some of the alien races after Wonderland creatures (cheshires and bandersnatches) really tickled me, as did the nods to other scifi/fantasy authors including T.H. White (a classic fantasy writer) and the contemporary Caitlin R. Kiernan. The name of the wrecked ship, Charles Dexter Ward is itself a reference to a novel by H.P. Lovecraft. To be honest, the inclusion of these Easter eggs made me enjoy the story more than I might have otherwise. Did you find any other literary references I didn't list? Did the references make you enjoy the story more or less, or did you even notice?
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I loved the references to Wonderland creatures (I'm a huge fan of Alice) ! I thought they made the story a bit more fantastical, and I think I enjoyed it more because of them.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the Alice references. I feel like if I were a scientist, I would refer to the mysterious nether realm as Wonderland and be laughed out of the scientific community.
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I only got the Alice references but the HP Lovecraft reference suddenly stands out to me now that I know where it's from. The horrible nature of an undead spaceship seems to fit well with Lovecraft. Also the ship has tentacles. Clearly the ship is actually Cthulhu.
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