MEMORY, Lois McMaster Bujold
Feb. 15th, 2003 09:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
truepennyI said back here that I'd talk about why I think Memory is one of the best sf novels of the 1990s, and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pameladean expressed interest. So, it's my fault, but she egged me on. *g*
It's been a really long time since I wrote about a book without having an argument or a problem or something else to hang the discussion on. So this may be a little random.
The core reason that Memory is on my Best Books list is the perfect integration of plot, character, and theme. The mystery of who sabotaged Simon's chip; Miles's descent into darkness and his return to life, linked as that is with his rejection of Admiral Naismith; and that constant thematic question of What will your heart's desire cost you? ... they balance each other and strengthen each other and deepen each other, so that solving the mystery requires Miles to embrace the awakening self that is NOT the Admiral and furthermore shows us several things about the cost of one's heart's desire.
I also love Memory for its position in the ongoing saga of Miles Vorkosigan, as it pushes Miles up against an enemy he can't defeat, a defeat he can't weasel his way out of, and a weasel who knows how to make Miles his own enemy. (Sorry, got carried away by the rhetorical corona--Elizabethan poets did 'em with sonnets; I can manage it in a single sentence. Ha!) Rhetorical flourish aside, it's also true that Haroche, of all the villains Miles has been up against, is the one who plays Miles most expertly, who knows how to use Miles's own strengths against him. And in this novel, that's not merely effective villainy plot-wise, it's also necessary heightening of characterological and thematic tension. No matter which thread you pull on, they're all firmly interwoven.
And I like the way the book is also Miles finding out, the long way round, what it is he's been built to do. That's one of the things I also like in Komarr, even though I tend to skip the bits it involves, because I find Komarr's A-plot ungripping--Miles as Auditor is tremendously satisfying, because of the ways in which he is so very good at it. I don't know if it's realistic that Miles gets rewarded for fraud, insubordination, and general idiocy with this amazing job, but it works for me. I'll buy that swamp-land in Florida and I'll do it with a big goofy grin.
I like the restrained counterpoint of the romance plots--not allowed to overwhelm the action (as I think happens at the end of A Civil Campaign), but offering another perspective on the question of the heart's desire. Also, Duv Galeni is one of my favorite secondary characters, so I'm just pleased to see him again and pleased to see him find the beginnings of happiness.
I love the interplay between Gregor and Miles in this book. I love the way Bujold handles Simon Illyan's descent to the underworld and re-emergence, again balancing against Miles's similar journey. I find it just slightly too tidy that Illyan's beloved happens to be Alys Vorpatril (and I have a hard time imagining their interactions with each other offstage), but that's a personal quirk and not really a flaw with the book. I like Ivan in this book (I don't always, which is again a personal thing more than a flaw); I like the way the relationship between Miles and Ivan both remains as we have seen it in earlier books and shows depths and strengths that have only been hinted at before.
One of my favorite things about Bujold is the way she works through the social, psychological, and emotional ramifications of the technology she introduces. (This is why I love Ethan of Athos.) And so I am deeply and permanently impressed with the deterioration of Simon's chip, its effects on him, and the infinite problems that are spawned for those trying to deal with it, ranging from the petty bureaucracy of ImpSec, through Haroche's subtle manipulations, to the fact that the thing's lasted so long that there aren't any experts on it left.
Both here and in Komarr, I very much like the way she deals with Miles's seizures, the way that there's FINALLY something Miles can't power through, and the way that the seizures force him to reevaluate both himself and his relationships with the people around him.
And, finally, I like the way his relationship with Quinn ends. I'm kind of neutral on Quinn, as a character and a love interest (although I wish Bujold would do more with the drawbacks of that perfect face), but I very much like how she's handled in this book, and how her relationship with Miles is revealed to be sincere but simply not enough, for either of them. It's a very adult, very realistic ending to a relationship that has clearly not needed to be much of either. (And I supposes that's another reason ACC disappoints me; it seems to be a big step back from the realism and depth with which Miles and Quinn's break-up is handled.)
So that's why Memory amazes and delights me.
Questions? Comments?
pameladean expressed interest. So, it's my fault, but she egged me on. *g*It's been a really long time since I wrote about a book without having an argument or a problem or something else to hang the discussion on. So this may be a little random.
The core reason that Memory is on my Best Books list is the perfect integration of plot, character, and theme. The mystery of who sabotaged Simon's chip; Miles's descent into darkness and his return to life, linked as that is with his rejection of Admiral Naismith; and that constant thematic question of What will your heart's desire cost you? ... they balance each other and strengthen each other and deepen each other, so that solving the mystery requires Miles to embrace the awakening self that is NOT the Admiral and furthermore shows us several things about the cost of one's heart's desire.
I also love Memory for its position in the ongoing saga of Miles Vorkosigan, as it pushes Miles up against an enemy he can't defeat, a defeat he can't weasel his way out of, and a weasel who knows how to make Miles his own enemy. (Sorry, got carried away by the rhetorical corona--Elizabethan poets did 'em with sonnets; I can manage it in a single sentence. Ha!) Rhetorical flourish aside, it's also true that Haroche, of all the villains Miles has been up against, is the one who plays Miles most expertly, who knows how to use Miles's own strengths against him. And in this novel, that's not merely effective villainy plot-wise, it's also necessary heightening of characterological and thematic tension. No matter which thread you pull on, they're all firmly interwoven.
And I like the way the book is also Miles finding out, the long way round, what it is he's been built to do. That's one of the things I also like in Komarr, even though I tend to skip the bits it involves, because I find Komarr's A-plot ungripping--Miles as Auditor is tremendously satisfying, because of the ways in which he is so very good at it. I don't know if it's realistic that Miles gets rewarded for fraud, insubordination, and general idiocy with this amazing job, but it works for me. I'll buy that swamp-land in Florida and I'll do it with a big goofy grin.
I like the restrained counterpoint of the romance plots--not allowed to overwhelm the action (as I think happens at the end of A Civil Campaign), but offering another perspective on the question of the heart's desire. Also, Duv Galeni is one of my favorite secondary characters, so I'm just pleased to see him again and pleased to see him find the beginnings of happiness.
I love the interplay between Gregor and Miles in this book. I love the way Bujold handles Simon Illyan's descent to the underworld and re-emergence, again balancing against Miles's similar journey. I find it just slightly too tidy that Illyan's beloved happens to be Alys Vorpatril (and I have a hard time imagining their interactions with each other offstage), but that's a personal quirk and not really a flaw with the book. I like Ivan in this book (I don't always, which is again a personal thing more than a flaw); I like the way the relationship between Miles and Ivan both remains as we have seen it in earlier books and shows depths and strengths that have only been hinted at before.
One of my favorite things about Bujold is the way she works through the social, psychological, and emotional ramifications of the technology she introduces. (This is why I love Ethan of Athos.) And so I am deeply and permanently impressed with the deterioration of Simon's chip, its effects on him, and the infinite problems that are spawned for those trying to deal with it, ranging from the petty bureaucracy of ImpSec, through Haroche's subtle manipulations, to the fact that the thing's lasted so long that there aren't any experts on it left.
Both here and in Komarr, I very much like the way she deals with Miles's seizures, the way that there's FINALLY something Miles can't power through, and the way that the seizures force him to reevaluate both himself and his relationships with the people around him.
And, finally, I like the way his relationship with Quinn ends. I'm kind of neutral on Quinn, as a character and a love interest (although I wish Bujold would do more with the drawbacks of that perfect face), but I very much like how she's handled in this book, and how her relationship with Miles is revealed to be sincere but simply not enough, for either of them. It's a very adult, very realistic ending to a relationship that has clearly not needed to be much of either. (And I supposes that's another reason ACC disappoints me; it seems to be a big step back from the realism and depth with which Miles and Quinn's break-up is handled.)
So that's why Memory amazes and delights me.
Questions? Comments?
