Monday 23 June 2014

1984 Review -Big Brother Is Watching

1984-for-blog



Hi readers:

This week I've gone back to reading a classic literature novel, I fancied a change from the supernatural and so I decided to look at another of my favorite genres: dystopia. It feels like this genre is also growing and seems popular with young adult fiction. The Hungry Games is a good example of this and my review can be found in the archive section.

For those of you that that don't know, dystopia is the opposite of utopia, most of the time it has happened after a world war, or other large disaster, which means that society has changed. Often there is one ruling power and the people are controlled and restricted by it. Religion, identity and differences are done away with or changed. Also the world has become a darker, less colorful place where people don't live but survive.

Orwell's 1984 has many of these themes and also coined two things, which we use today, though with a slightly different context; Big Brother and Room 101. This novel in a way questions the future of humanity and I want to look at how a novel written in 1949 and set in 1984 could be similar to 2014 now. Whilst reading, I kept coming back to this question and it does seem to be a theme in the novel. So, nearly everyone has heard of Orwell and people will have read his novels in school/college, especially Animal Farm. If you've not read 1984, I would highly recommend it.

The plot of 1984 is centered on Winston Smith who is living in what once was Britain, but has become Oceania after the second World War. He works in an office and his job is to rewrite things so that everything stays in the present and there is no record of the past. However, he slowly starts to give into the rebel voice in his head and starts to question the world he lives in. Of course he gets caught and has to go through a program of rehabilitation. He meets other characters along the way and at first all of them seem to aid him in rebelling against The Party, who are in control of everything throughout the book, and their leader Big Brother, but of course that doesn't last.

The other main character is Julia, who falls in love with Winston. She leads him more into rebelling and thinking about a different life. However, she also leads him to his downfall. Her character symbolizes human freedom and spirit. This is actually what the Party want to get rid of and they want to have complete control over everyone, but strip them down to nothing. Whilst Winston comes across as being completely formed into the perfect party member.Them and the other characters are really well written and feel really realist. The world they live in stands out too and there are a lot of similarities to today's world. For insistence, the idea that you are being continually watched and controlled in your thinking.

The language used doesn't feel dated and I think one of the reasons why this is has to do with Orwell's invention of 'Newspeak'. This is the new form of language that the Party has come up with and is getting the people to use. It isn't heavily used and mostly it just sums up words and shortens them. There are other new terms such as 'doublethink', which has to do with the contradiction of facts and 'thought-police,' so you to control your thoughts. Towards the end of the novel there are also extracts from chapters of a book that Winston is reading. This just reinforces and deeper explains what has already been set up.

Overall, this is a classic novel and it doesn't feel dated at all. The characters and the settings come across as real and it is possible to see a world like this one day. The novel doesn't get stuck down with setting up all the world and giving out information, instead it lets this come through via the characters point of view. As a dystopia novel, it has all the traits and themes, but doesn't dwell or try to force the dystopia genre in the plot.

Images from:
http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews/2009/03/16/george-orwells-nineteen-eighty-four/

Sunday 8 June 2014

Steampunk - An Introduction to the Genre.


Clock work and cogs

Hi Readers,

Today I went to the Steampunk Market at the Mill. Its a small fair at the historic Queens Mill, Lancashire, UK. I went last year, but it seems that I didn't write about it and that I've never done a post about Steampunk! I'm still a novice about the genre really and today was only my second fair and my first time dressing up, (see photo below). Though now I've a taste for it I'm eager to do it again!

The best way to describe today is probably to compare it to a comic/Scfi/game convention and a Victorian themed market. Spreed throughout the mill were a number of different stalls groaning under the weight of handmade and specialist items. The streampunk theme echoed within them all. There were Victorian style clothes; top hats, mini hats, corsets, dresses and waist coats but most had been 'punked' up with metal cogs/wooden cogs, goggles and metal embellishments. You could also by all of these separated. There was a fantasy games area, a poster/postcard stall with bespoke images of airships. There was also jewelry and other accessories, though some of it looked gothic to me. There was an afternoon tea and cake stall and I just had to try out the carrot cake. Which turned out to be awesome. My only small disappointment was that three of stalls I actually wanted to visit again from last year weren't there! They were the Victorian sweets, fudge and handmade soaps.

The mill itself is a museum and you can see how they made textiles there. They have a working loom room, which is really noisy and you have to wear ear defenders. A steam engine which provided all the power needed for the factory and lots of different hand looms. It's a good afternoon out, but I prefer Manchester's museum of Sciences and Industry.  



What exactly is steampunk?

In it's basic form it is a sub-genre from science fiction, though it is fast growing into a genre of its own now. The setting is normally an alternate version 19th century Britain, the Victorian era or the America Wild West. The biggest theme of steampunk is the growing industry and the use of steam run technology, only its more extreme and inventive then in the actual Victorian era. It influences everything; fashion, art, style, culture and architecture. Another big feature is airships and hot air balloons as these as a symbol of the Victorian era and fit in with the Steampunk style well.

Being a sub-genre is is very easy -especially in fiction and movies- for elements of other genres to appear in steampunk. These are mostly; history, horror, fantasy, supernatural, adventure and detective/crime. Though it can be crossed or mixed with just about everything. Mostly these are used in plot lines to add more to the story. They work well alongside the steampunk genre and can also add the the realism.

Elements of steampunk begin appearing in the 1950s/60s, but it was in the 1980's when it was coined as a humors take on cyberpunk* from there it has grown steadily and been most prominent in fiction. I think it's only been in the last few years though that it has really taken off and people have become interested in creating the fashion of steampunk.    

However, for some people there is no clear definition of steampunk or else there are a lot of different alternatives.
   
*Cyberpunk is another sub-genre of ScFi and it is normally set on earth in the near future in a post-industrial dystopia. It's main theme is advanced science, where technology is used or is able to do things that were unanticipated.*

Steampunk Fashion


500px / Photo "She's Leaving" by Michel Reichmann

For me the fashion of steampunk is one of the biggest draws. I think this is because there is a lot to it and there's no right or wrong. I think also just about any piece of clothing can be steampunked. The 'normal look' starts off with Victorian style clothes. For women its the long skirts, corsets or dresses. For men it's breeches, shirts and jackets. Other varies are Victorian adventuring/safari clothes, military uniform or engineer clothing. Some people might go for a more futuristic cyber look.

After that the steampunk elements get added. Normally this would be a pair of goggles on a hat or on a head. Then belts and gun holders. Leather pouches, arm or wrist guards and long leather boots or ankle boots. Other accessories are also added like; long necklaces or chokers, gloves, watches, other jewelry and other things that finish off the costume.  

Other elements included embellishing items like hats, boots and corsets with metal/wooden cogs, gears, watches and shapes like compasses, owls, wings, octopuses and butterflies.

If you want some inspiration just check out the links below or Google it.

Heavy steampunk fashion


Steampunk in Fiction




Like I said before, Steampunk started in fiction writing and novels and short stories set with the Steampunk genre have been rapidly growing. Most are influenced by 19th century writers like; H .G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, H .P. Lovecraft and Charles Dickens. 

There is only a handful of the first official Steampunk novels dating from 1967-1995. The most know are the books which make up A Nomad of the Time Streams trilogy and the Anno Dracula series. It seems to be a small group of writers who've only had success with one or two Steampunk genre novels. 

However, in the 21st century there seems to be a boom of interested in Steampunk fiction. There are lots of new writers who seem to be writing series or a lot of one off novels. The most well known are The Parasol Protectorate series, The Clockwork Century series and The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series.  (I'll review them all eventually!) 

There is also a few anthologies, which collected the short stories of Steampunk together. The best are;  
The Mammoth Book of Steampunk, Steampunk, Steampunk! Reading one these is a great introduction to the genre. 

Lastly, there is the non-fiction books. These are really interesting because they contain a lot about the genre as a whole. These are works like the Steampunk Bible, Steampunk Style Jewelry and Steampunk: The Art of Victorian Futurism.

A list of stearmpunk books and movies can be found in the links below.


Steampunk in Movies and Games 


Most people will have come into connect with Steampunk through movies and games and not even realized it! There are lot of current and past movies and computer/console games that are either completely Steampunk or else have a lot of elements in them. Probably, the movie that is most well known  is Wild Wild West, though some people won't realize that it is in the Steampunk genre.

Other most well known films are; Treasure Planet, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Howl's Moving Castle, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Three Musketeers (2011). All these films are well known for the Steampunk elements which appear in them, though some of them are set in non-Victorian or wild west times. However, they either have a Steampunk fantasy or alternate world setting, which does still make it. 

There are a few other films out there, but let's move on to the games. I'm not really a big player of them in general, so when I saw the list I didn't really know what to pick. So, I'm going to list the two that I've sit through being played by someone else and they are Dishonored and Bioshock Infinite. I can understand why Steampunk works well in games because they are some what closer to novels then movies are.  

I think that's it for now, until I come back to review a Steampunk book! 




Images from:

http://www.iplayawriter.com/?tag=steampunk
Author's Own (2014)
http://www.addicted2heroines.com/2011/10/review-phoenix-rising-ministry-of.html
http://500px.com/photo/36402244/she's-leaving-by-michel-reichmann
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/steampunk-corset
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120891/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/12/12/bioshock-infinite-will-come-with-a-reversible-cover-community-to-vote-on-the-contents/

Additional Information and Other links:

http://www.visitlancashire.com/whats-on/steampunk-at-the-mill-weekend-p716320
https://www.facebook.com/marketatthemill
http://thetoychronicle.com/reviews/doktor-a-steampunk-market-at-the-mill/
http://www.thesteampunkempire.com/
http://www.leedssteampunkmarket.co.uk/
http://www.ministryofpeculiaroccurrences.com/what-is-steampunk/
http://www.steampunk.com/what-is-steampunk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_steampunk_works
http://www.steampunkemporium.com/steam.php