| Title | : | Look to Windward (Culture, #7) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0743421922 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780743421928 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 483 |
| Publication | : | First published August 1, 2000 |
| Awards | : | Locus Award Best SF Novel (2001), Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis Bestes ausländisches Werk (Best Foreign Work) (2004), Tähtivaeltaja Award (2005) |
Also journeying to Masaq' is Major Quilan, an emissary from the war-ravaged world of Chel. In the aftermath of the conflict that split his world apart, most believe he has come to Masaq' to bring home Chel's most brilliant star & self-exiled dissident, the honored Composer Ziller. Ziller claims he will do anything to avoid a meeting with Quilan, who he suspects has come to murder him. But the Major's true assignment will have far greater consequences than the death of a mere political dissident, as part of a conspiracy more ambitious than even he can know--a mission his superiors have buried so deeply in his mind that even he can't remember it.
Hailed by SFX magazine as "an excellent hopping-on point if you've never read a Banks SF novel before," Look to Windward is an awe-inspiring immersion into the wildly original, vividly realized civilization Banks calls the Culture.
Look to Windward (Culture, #7) Reviews
-
Better try not to mess with an almighty war AI, especially if you´re a primitive, status driven society.
Reread 2022 with extended review
Some of the topics are huge habitats controlled by a veteran AI and an, in comparison, primitive, archaic culture that plays around with hightech. Banks thereby criticizes caste systems, the process of deciding against or for war or cultural imperialism prime doctrine style, and the concepts of an afterlife that gets misused by ideology.
Brains for each special use
The discrepancy between an AI that should, on the one hand, protect all living beings in its sphere of influence and be as merciless as possible against attackers on the other hand. As if a high ranking killer general would have to build the best living for all the people under his command. Of course that´s totally possible, but the option of being governed by a super killing entity has a kind of overachieving protector taste. The AI gives one of the most badass superiority speeches ever too.
The impact of art
The worth of art and its uniqueness and how art could be instrumentalized in the future as a tool for describing and criticizing complex topics are demonstrated by a renegade artist living in exile and sarcasting the heck out of his wacky, conservative culture.
Castes and hierarchies
Criticizing these is one of Banks' big topics, giving loads of innuendos about everything that went and goes wrong in human societies. Especially economy and politics, money and ideology, are the maladies that postpone a post scarcity utopia and lead to things like
Mind uploads for glory and homeland
Controlling a technology that could give immortality, but is instead misused to cement sick dictatorships that reduce the worth of humans to socioeconomic status and the family and caste they´re born into, is completely bonkers because of the unused potential of all these conscious beings. With optional use for war, deleting some billion souls to get some more free memory space, or pimp bandwidth.
Giggle while being awestruck
That´s what Banks would have wanted, laugh about the great situations and dialogues satirizing this whole mess and recognize how far humankind still has to go. As always after finishing one of Banks' novels, the reader is left rueful, realizing how minuscule humankind is in relation to the undiscovered and barely understood, endless universe and the billions of years old and advanced civilizations that might be lurking, or hopefully friendly waiting, out there.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... -
...look to change, look to the future, look forward, etc. In the introduction this book was dedicated to the Gulf War veterans, and that seems very appropriate after finishing it.
It deals primarily with PTSD, suicide, revenge, apathy, and the effects of trauma; the true cost of war both societally, and individually. It accomplished this while also somehow being the most humorous novel in the series so far.
In a lot of ways it is a direct sequel to the first Culture book, 'Consider Phlebas', even taking its name from the same line of the infamous T.S Eliot poem 'The Wastelands'. It is a much, much better story.
The more of this series I read, the more difficult it is for me to pick a favorite. It seems that each entry becomes a new favorite in a different way. I think that sounds a bit trite, but it really is accurate. Reading the culture novels has established Banks as my new favorite author, as well as one of the most capable authors I've read.
This book shows the terrific maturity of Banks as a compelling storyteller and epic world-builder. 'Consider Phlebas' was 90% world-building / 10% story, and it was extremely boring as a result. Look to Windward is very nearly half-and-half. The whole thing reads like Banks wasn't quite happy with the end result of 'Consider Phlebas' and decided to take a crack at covering the same moral message in a better story. It is also the most detailed look at life aboard an Orbital in the series so far. -
heavy, heavy themes done with a light and benevolent touch. the topics on display include suicide and suicide bombings, terrorism, genocide, imperialism/cultural colonialism, the nature of war, the afterlife... and feature a loveable cast of pretentious robot drones, adorable and often furry alien creatures, and one very melancholy Artificial Intelligence.
VAGUE SPOILERS: the last four chapters are jaw-dropping in scope, moving from an elegiac double suicide (i teared up!) to a mind-boggling check-in with minor characters set millions of years in the future to a vicious and literally gut-wrenching display of retribution to a surprisingly wry ending (complete with a snappily ironic gotcha moment of role reversal). awesome.
good stuff on its own; amazing when considered as just one piece of the author's Culture novels. my favorite one so far. -
Back to Iain M. Banks’ phenomenal
Culture series of space opera set in a post-scarcity universe where humans are the most powerful known species. Well, not really the humans, but the massive AI entities originally created by humans thousands of years ago. It is quite unusual for humanity to (sort of) be the top dog, this is one of the most unusual features of the Culture universe. Banks’ Culture setting bucks the current trend of dystopian fiction. In this post-scarcity society, all of humanity have the AIs catering to our every whim. Consequently, humans have become decadent, self-indulgent, and quite ineffectual. The AIs run everything, fortunately, they are loyal to and very protective of, the descendants of their creators.
Books in the Culture series are standalones and do not need to be read in any order*. Like most Culture book, Look To Windward has a complicated (but not convoluted) plot which is hard to summarize. If you want a detailed synopsis, have a look at the lengthy official one from the publisher. In a nutshell, Major Quilan, a Chelgrian (alien) war veteran is on a mission so secret the objective has been temporarily wiped from his memory, the details of the mission to gradually resurface as he progresses toward its completion. In the meantime, renowned Chelgrian composer Mahrai Ziller is living in the Masaq' Orbital, an artificial world, and a part of the Culture empire. He is about to conduct his latest musical masterpiece at this orbital. These two developments are related and billions of lives are at stake.
Iain M. Banks was† a more literary writer than most sci-fi authors, he has also published successful novels in the mainstream. However, as he was more ambitious with his prose than most authors in this genre it takes a little more effort to read his books, compared to the likes of Clarke or Asimov who were more concerned with writing clear, accessible narratives. Banks was also more concerned with telling intelligent, thought provoking stories than a page turner. For me, this sometimes means it takes longer to immerse into his narrative and the pacing is not always so compelling. More than half of Look To Windward seems to consist of dialogue. Generally very well written dialogue but sometimes I just want the characters to shut up and do something.
That said the narrative shifts into high gear towards the book’s conclusion and the climax really is worth the wait. Banks is always full of surprises. Culture novels are always a feast for the imagination. The Minds (gigantic sentient AIs) and the drones (highly advanced sentient robots with full legal rights as citizens of The Culture) are always great to come back to the series for. In this book, we are also treated to weird new alien species and cultures. My favorite is the “dirigible behemothaur”, a race of massive biological spaceships with bizarre biotech. Character development is often lacking in sci-fi novels (not always to the books’ detriment, some books just don’t need it), but Banks never skimp on this, his central characters are always complex and believable. While Major Quilan is clearly up to no good with his super secret mission he is surprisingly sympathetic, and you can’t help but things turn out well for him personally.
Pacing issues notwithstanding, Look To Windward is another good read from the Culture series, it does require some patience and commitment but if you have read a few Culture books beforehand you will come to trust Iain M. Banks (RIP) to deliver something worthwhile by the end of the book and he never fails.
_____________
* Some Culture novels are better starting point than others. Personally, I recommend
The Player of Games, IMO the very best Culture novel.
Consider Phlebas is the first book in the series, I like it but Culture fans tend to regard it as a poor start to an excellent series.
† Mr. Banks is no longer with us :_(. Fortunately, he was quite prolific and if you are just starting on the Culture series you are in for a treat and I kind of envy you. For some reason whenever I finish a Culture novel I start thinking about which Culture novel to read the next time I come around to the series again. There is something very addictive about this series that keep reeling me back every few months.
New to the series? Here is the Guardian's
Top Five Iain M. Banks novels.
_____________
Quotes:
“Before, we believed that the soul might be saved. Now our technology, our better understanding of the universe and our vanguard in the beyond, has robbed us of our unreal hopes and replaced them with its own rules and regulations, its own algebra of salvation and continuance. It has given us a glimpse of heaven, and made more intense the reality of our despair when we know that truly it exists and that those we love will never be found there.”
(In the Culture universe heaven and hell are real – but virtual - places, digitized “souls” can be sent (uploaded) to.
“Symbols are important, symbols do work. And when the symbol is a person then the symbol becomes … dirigible. A symbolic person can to some extent symbolic person can to some extent steer their own course, determine not just their own fate but that of their society. At any rate, they will argue that your society, your whole civilization, needs to make peace with its most famous dissident so that it can make peace with itself, and so rebuild.”
“The action of averting his face from others when eating had become habitual; members of Kabe’s species had very big mouths and some humans found the sight of him eating alarming.”
“They spend time. That’s just it. They spend time traveling. The time weighs heavily on them because they lack any context, any valid framework for their lives. They persist in hoping that something they think they’ll find in the place they’re heading for will somehow provide them with a fulfilment they feel certain they deserve and yet have never come close to experiencing.”
‘In the old days people died and that was that; you might hope to see them in heaven, but once they were dead they were dead. It was simple, it was definite. Now . . .’ He shook his head angrily. ‘Now people die but their Soulkeeper can revive them, or take them to a heaven we know exists, without any need for faith. We have clones, we have regrown bodies - most of me is regrown; I wake up sometimes and think, Am I still me? I know you’re supposed to be your brain, your wits, your thoughts, but I don’t believe it is that simple.’ -
Look no further if you're looking for a tale of fantastically huge sources and end results of regret, suicide, the negation of life-affirmation, exploding suns, and excellent tales of love between non-humanoid sentients and nearly god-like Minds.
This is a Culture novel. Ian M. Banks had ten of them before his death and he's known equally well for his hard SF as for his standard fiction, strangely enough.
It shows in this one. I have to admit that I was very impressed by the technological fantastics going on this this novel. Even down to the evacuation of three enormous orbitals in preparation to kill the world-spanning AI Minds, even as a memory 800 years past, was shocking and very disturbing.
The rest of the novel might have benefited from some tightening, as a whole, but in general, I loved being on the planet that would celebrate survival and a symphony just as the light of a few novas finally reached their star system, commemorating the end of an enormously costly conflict between themselves and the Culture as it finally caught up to them at light-speed.
But what of the plot? It's suicide missions, baby, on both sides. Do you really think that such conflicts end so easily, so restfully? Motivations are complicated and hate runs deep. Maybe not on the Culture's side, of course. They're pretty much above or beyond such petty things, even when the death toll is in the billions. They've got a lot more population than just that to consider.
But as for the other high-tech civilizations that still consider themselves impressive when they count their age in terms of mere thousands of years instead of complete revolutions of the galaxy, by hundreds of thousands of years? Well, they tend to be outclassed and out-thought by these nearly god-like AIs devoted to making sure all the citizens of the Culture are happy.
Of course, that doesn't stop grand gestures from giving everyone a really bad day.
This is a rather freakishly impressive novel on several levels and it marks a serious return to huge scopes in the series, but some things did still kind of drag, unfortunately.
Not that I really cared when the emotions started getting to me. :) -
Brad: If you were a GSV (General Systems Vehicle), what would you call yourself?
Brad: Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale"
Brad: If you were a GCV (General Contact Vehicle), what would you call yourself?
Brad: Inoculate by Means of Blankets
Brad: If you were a GOV (General Offensive Unit), what would you call yourself?
Brad: Process of Peace and Reconciliation
Brad: If you were a VFP (Very Fast Picket), what would you call yourself?
Brad: Cerebrovascular Accident
Brad: If you were an Orbital, what would you call yourself?
Brad: S'qulett Orbital, so why are you asking me what I'd call myself?
Brad: Because you can't review this book. It exhausted you, and there is too much to say.
Brad: It made me cry.
Brad: It did. Why give it four stars? Why not five? You love this book.
Brad: I do.
Brad: So why?
Brad: Because of all the Culture books it is the least accessible.
Brad: I thought it was accessible.
Brad: But you've read the preceding Culture books.
Brad: You have.
Brad: Okay, I have, but this book was written for people who've read the preceding books. It is not a book one can come to without knowledge.
Brad: Why is that a problem?
Brad: It's not, but I feel compelled --
Brad: --To what?! Criticize a book because it's not for everyone.
Brad: Something like that.
Brad: Cause it is for everyone if they do the work to get here.
Brad: I'd rather just keep this book for mark and me.
Brad: Impossible.
Brad: If only I could gland you into silence.
Brad: Will wine do?
Brad: It'll have to.
Brad: Say g'night, Cerebrovascular Accident.
Brad: G'night, Cerebrovascular Accident. -
Amazing. My second Culture novel after The Player of Games, and I think I'm at a point where I'm going to be ravenously devouring them. Like many others have mentioned, this is a novel about loss and mourning -- thinking back on the events of the book, not much actually happens, but Banks uses enough narrative shift and experiments with perspective that it always remains fascinating. Part of the joy in reading these books is just for the world-building, honestly. And as always, his aliens are a delight; the airsphere chapters and behemothaurs are some of the most interesting things I've ever read. The cast of characters was solid and I was always happy to learn more about them and the societies/histories attached to them.
And bonus: one of the near-final chapters had me in almost constant tears, sitting on a bus in public. Beautifully written. Beautifully done. The plot trundled onwards towards the tribute symphony, and I felt an amazing sense of satisfaction and remorse when it reached that point. The Culture is both alien but also so very human, in all our mistakes and risks and sorrow and manipulation and meddling, and I love it.
And can we take a moment to mention just how awesome Ziller is? Yes. -
This is a book about mourning and regret, set in the universe of Banks's Culture series. There are several interwoven subplots, two of which display remarkable technical virtuosity. The first is a moving love story between completely non-human extraterrestrial creatures; I think it's the only successful example I've ever come across. Some of the flashbacks where Quilan recalls his lost love brought tears to my eyes. I'm not sure how the author did it, and I liked it enough that I'd rather not pick at the illusion. I was also impressed with the companion thread about the Mind, and its terrible feelings of guilt for the things it has done during the Idiran war 800 years earlier; without apparent effort, Banks succeeds in making the reader empathize strongly with a disembodied, superintelligent, artificial intelligence. These two themes eventually link up in a satisfying way, to create a powerful ending.
If the rest of the book had come out equally well, it would have been a masterpiece. From what I have seen in interviews, Banks used to do a lot of rewriting at the beginning of his career. I think he said somewhere that he completely rewrote Use of Weapons after a first draft that he was very dissatisfied with, and the final result is indeed one of his best books. Unfortunately, by the time he reached Look to Windward, he had a loyal fan base who would buy anything he published, and I suppose he didn't feel as motivated any more. A pity. -
Say hello to Kabe (pronounced Ka - beh), a tripedal, three-and-a-half meter tall triangular bulk of politely plodding philosophical awesomeness, who can stand so perfectly still while lost in thought that silly humans often mistake him for some sort of humongous, statuesque work of art. Also, mistakenly, even though he’s a Homondon (a vegetarian species), Kabe’s very large mouth makes the sight of him eating distinctly alarming.
These outwardly endearing qualities are hardly the extent of adorableness that is Ambassador Kabe Ischloear. Here’s an excerpt of him traipsing through the snow:
He could hear his own footsteps as they sank into the untouched whiteness. Each step made a creaking noise. […]
He looked back at his tracks in the sow covering the canal path. Three lines of footprints. He wondered what a human – what any bipedal – would make of such a trail. Probably, he suspected, they would not notice. Even if they did, they would just ask and instantly be told […]
Ah, so little mystery these days. Kabe looked around, then quickly did a little hopping, shuffling dance, executing the steps with a delicacy belying his bulk and weight. He glanced about again, and was glad to have, apparently, escaped observation. He studied the pattern his dance had left in the snow. That was better… But what had he been thinking of? The snow, and its silence.
Yes, Kabe is hilarious. He spends pages locked in philosophical debate with Ziller (a cantankerous misanthrope and composer living in exile on a Culture Orbital – which is a ring-shaped world with the surface and continents of a planet, a bit like Halo), and Kabe listens, pondering his surroundings with a prodigious sense of humor.
This is the first Culture novel that I gave five stars, since I was never bored.
Look to Windward is a deeply philosophical book. At one point, Hub, the sentience directing the Culture Orbital and its surrounding Solar System where a lot of the action plays out, explains what it’s like to be a Mind, an AI a trillion times cleverer than we; the perspective of death, of responsibility, of shame and kindness and other concepts that result from that small foray into the depths of every sentient soul…
This book deals with suicide, bereavement, and religious rationalization of mass violence; with the mores of life in a technologically unlimited anarchist utopia. And oh, does it succeed, and more.
One thing, I got through almost half the novel before I realized how totally awesome it was, and went back to re-read many parts a second time with a much deeper appreciation for the characters and subtle waves below the surface.
The ending is pretty much amazing.
Read this now, or next time you’re in a deeply philosophical mood. -
Iain Banks died earlier this year, and what a huge loss to the science fiction community it was. Out of all the Culture novels he had written, I had read all but one...this one. I figured I'd end the year by visiting his wonderful universe again for one last new adventure - something that will never happen again.
If you're interested in his Culture series (you should be), don't start here, as it is actually a loosely connected sequel to Consider Phlebas, the very first Culture novel, and shock waves (literally) from that book are felt in this one. That being said, this was a beautiful book with all of the splendid prose and quirky, funny, and caring characters that readers have come to expect from an Iain Banks novel. There is hardly any action here, but it isn't needed. In the best way, this is philosophical sci-fi, with questions raised on nearly every page that make you stop and think.
Look to Windward was his quietest, most personal Culture novel. Instead of going out with a loud bang, this series fades away, for me, into the cosmos with a quiet whisper - I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
Cheers, Iain. You wrote perfect science fiction, and I figure your like will not be around again for quite some time. Enjoy being out there in the stars. -
Banks dedicated this to Gulf War veterans and I can see why. Culture novels vary tremendously regarding themes, plots, characters, what have you, the only real link being how they are set in the same universe. Here, Banks takes us on a rather philosophical journey involving war, suicide bombers, grief, resilience, love and duty saturated with a rather melancholy prose and plot. Quite a ride!
Largely set on the gigantic Orbital Masaq' (these make Niven's
Ringworld look quaint), Banks starts Look To Windward with a war zone, and a couple trapped in a bomb crater. The couple are Chels, aliens-- furry critters that for 1000s of years lived in a strict caste bound society. The Culture, via Special Circumstances, helped elect a reform party to erode the caste system, bu the result was not peace and prosperity, but a bloody civil war as the downtrodden castes sought their revenge. Billions died. Quilan, introduced in the prologue crater scene, managed to survive although his wife died in the war. Beset with grief, Quilan moved to a monastery. Meanwhile, Ziller, a famous Chel composer, left the Chel realm before the war, renouncing the caste system and indeed, his entire society. He now lives on Masaq'...
The Mind in charge of Masaq' induces Ziller to compose an symphony to honor the last major war the Culture engaged in, hundreds of years ago. In that war ( discussed in
Consider Phlebas, several stars were exploded (killing billions) and the light of their destruction will reach Masaq' soon; Ziller's symphony will be performed on Masaq' right when the light from the Nova appears. Something of a homage to the war and the dead...
Enough of the plot. I stated Look to Windward constitutes a rather philosophical turn for Banks surrounding the idea of war, but focused on the survivors of such conflict; the people who lost loved ones and sometimes their way of life. Chel society is rather tragic here; the reforms pushed by Culture lead to a devastating civil war. The Culture's war with the Idrians cost billions of lives and for what? Most excellent war novels are really highly antiwar and Look to Windward certainly fits into this genre. RIP Banks, you are surely missed. 4.5 stars, rounding up! -
It took me some effort to get into this one. Look To Windward takes very long to start revealing its plot. Fully the first half of the novel is comprised of rambling sequences of, what amounts to, sight-seeing of the Masaq’ orbital ring, and loads of dialogue. I was just starting to get worried, but I needn’t have feared: this is a Culture novel after all…
‘Oh, they never lie. They dissemble, evade, prevaricate, confound, confuse, distract, obscure, subtly misrepresent and wilfully misunderstand with what often appears to be a positively gleeful relish and are generally perfectly capable of contriving to give one an utterly unambiguous impression of their future course of action while in fact intending to do exactly the opposite, but they never lie. Perish the thought.’
Once the book does start revealing its secrets it turns out to be quite entertaining (although some patience is required). The world building is obviously excellent, and the novel also provides some background regarding the Idiran-Culture conflict (apparently Look To Windward was intended to be a sequel-of-sorts to
Consider Phlebas, although there aren’t recurring characters).
I fully intend to spend the rest of my existence here, for as long as I’m needed, or until I’m no longer welcome, forever keeping an eye to windward for approaching storms and just generally protecting this quaint circle of fragile little bodies and the vulnerable little brains they house from whatever harm a big dumb mechanical universe or any consciously malevolent force might happen or wish to visit upon them, specifically because I know how appallingly easy they are to destroy.
In the end it was what I had expected. A Culture novel, with some thoughtful underpinnings regarding Culture philosophy. Probably not the best one I’ve read so far, but that’s not saying a lot given the class of these novels (even an arguably “not-so-good” Culture novel is going to be better than most of the other stuff out there).
-------------
O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.
- T. S. Eliot, ‘The Waste Land’, IV -
Last year, I read
Inversions which was very different from the other Culture novels, so I approached this installment with curiosity. I needn't have worried. Here I found the usual AI minds, sentient space ships, smug drones, and a selection of Culture humans and assorted other beings. I must hand it to Banks, he was able to envision lives, ways of life, and potential non-humans in great profusion and detail.
We also get to kind of circle back to the initial Culture novel,
Consider Phlebas, as this book deals with some of the aftermath of the Idrian war which featured in that volume. A representative from the world Chel, which suffered heavy losses during this war, comes to the Masaq' Orbital (a habitat which seems to be a more sophisticated version of Niven’s
Ringworld), which now houses the Mind of a former Culture combat vehicle active in the war. Ostensibly, this Major Quilan is there to see if he can lure fellow Chellian, Composer Ziller, to return to his home world and the fold. His visit is timed to coincide with the commemoration of the end of the war, sponsored by the Masaq' Orbital with music provided by Ziller.
This is a secret mission story. We get to witness the Major's background and his training for his current mission, with Banks gradually revealing what is going on. Just as I got used to one thing, he would lead me on to other revelations. I appreciate anticipation as a source of engagement and entertainment—the lead up to Christmas is always better for me than the opening of parcels.
Banks also introduces the titanic Behemothaurs, amazing airborne beasts that live slow and die ancient. They initially seemed to be a distraction from the real action, but hang in there. Mr. Banks doesn't waste the reader's time, he uses these fascinating creatures as part of the spy story.
If you enjoyed this book, I would suggest you might also appreciate the Hyperion Cantos of
Dan Simmons. There is a similarity to the presence of AIs and marvellous worlds that might appeal.
Book number 399 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c... -
2019 reread: thoroughly enjoyable, and I'd forgotten enough of the plot-points (and twists) that it seemed like a first-time read. A few highlights:
● The dirigible behemothaurs! The lost stylus! The visiting Culture scholar!
● The world-building -- universe-building, really -- is just amazing. Nobody else in SF has ever done this better, imo.
● I particularly liked the sly nod to Jack Vance in the pylon cableway system in one of the Orbital plate deserts, and its curious history.
● Unlike many Banks novels, this one comes to a
I don't remember much about the Idiran War and the Culture's involvement, but they obviously Done Wrong.
So, probably not the place to start, if you're new to The Culture, but a worthy read (or reread). 4+ stars.
My favorite review here is Julie's,
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And here is a great Gerald Jonas review, from 2001, which includes a really good intro to Banks's Culture series:
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/07/bo...
Culture links:
http://www.vavatch.co.uk/books/banks/... "A FEW NOTES ON THE CULTURE"
by Iain M Banks. Highly recommended.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital... --Wikipedia's Orbital entry will help you to visualize these structures.
2001 booklog notes: A, low-key but very nice. Reread sometime. -
Was that the sort of behavior one ought to expect from a mature society? Mortality as a life-style choice?
The late
—
Look to Windward, p.10
Iain M. Banks did not get that choice, it's true—but then no one, least of all Banks, claims that we live in a mature society. Or at least I hope no one's claiming such a ridiculous thing...
The first time I read
Look to Windward was sometime in the early Aughts, long before Goodreads even existed, and Banks' science fiction tends to be... slippery, anyway, at least for me. The specifics of his books don't seem to stick well in my mind, compared to those by other writers. And we're not getting any more Banks, so I was glad to be reminded recently by Peter T. (thanks!) that this is one I could reread.
In short, this novel felt new to me all over again.
*
Look to Windward is "a Culture novel," and if you don't already know what that means, this book is probably not the best place to start with that branch of Banks' fiction—even though Banks is quite adept at
incluing. You see, Banks didn't write series, as such (despite the "Culture #7" tag you'll probably see tacked onto this very volume's title). Each Culture novel stands on its own, but even so there are more introductory entry points than this one. Most (but of course not all) people seem to agree, for example, that
The Player of Games is a good start, or you could consider
Consider Phlebas, whose title is taken from the same
T.S. Eliot passage as
Look to Windward's.
But for those who want to just dive right into this one—I wouldn't try to talk you out of that, either. After all,
Look to Windward is a great book, one of the best—if not the best—Culture books. You'll pick up the threads as you go along. Probably.
*
To the extent that there's a central character in
Look to Windward, it's Mahrai Ziller, a galactically-famous Chelgrian composer currently living in self-imposed exile on Masaq', one of the Culture's Orbitals (a
Ringworld, more or less), about 800 light years away from Chel, Ziller's home system. Chel is decidedly not part of the Culture, and in fact was affiliated with the other side in the recently-concluded war between the Idirans and the Culture. Also, Chel's own recent civil war was, to put it bluntly, the Culture's fault, precipitated by its well-intended meddling in the rigid Chelgrian caste system that Ziller renounced. Which makes Ziller, at least to some minds, a traitor to his entire species.
Another Chelgrian, whose full name is Called-to-Arms-from-Given Major Quilan IV of Itirewein, has been sent to Masaq', to persuade Ziller to return from his proud exile. Quil's mission seems unlikely to succeed, since Chel hasn't given up its caste system, and since Ziller won't even go within millions of miles of Quilan when the latter gets to Masaq' (there's a lot of room to avoid someone on an Orbital, if you really want to...).
There's also a major anniversary coming up. Mahrai Ziller has accepted a commission from Masaq's Hub, the Orbital's controlling intelligence, to compose a symphony memorializing the Twin Novae. The light of those stellar explosions—which were not a natural event—will soon be reaching Masaq', after just about... 800 years.
Nothing about this is coincidence, of course... and none of this even scratches the surface of what's in
Look to Windward—I haven't even mentioned the dirigible behemothaurs, for instance, much less why they're relevant, or why Quilan's in mourning, or... well, let's just say that, as in any Culture novel, Banks keeps a lot of plates spinning in this one.
*
So, what makes the Culture so special, anyway? After all, it's just another post-scarcity high-tech science-fictional utopia, a sprawling starfaring civilization of like-minded beings (many of them recognizably human even where their histories, shapes or underlying substrates are anything but), where anyone can be, or do, almost anything—as long as it doesn't ruin things for the rest of us. (Heh... he said "us.") The Culture is just about as perfect a society as it's possible to imagine.
Of course, perfection is boring—which is why the action in a Culture novel always happens at the edges, where the Culture rubs up against other, less-enlightened cultures. And, even when it's not trying to interfere with those small-c cultures, the Culture still tends to exert a great deal of... influence:~ I can see I have a lot of catching up to do with the latest terminology. What does metalogical mean?
~ It is short for psycho-physio-philosophilogical.
~ Well, naturally. Of course it is. Glad I asked.
~ It is a Culture term.
~ A fucking Culture term?
~ Yes, sir.
~ I see. And what the hell does this metalogical section of ours actually do?
~ It tries to tell us how other Involveds think.
~ Involveds?
~ Also one of their terms. It means space-faring species beyond a certain technological level which are willing and able to interact with each other.
~ I see. Always a bad sign when you start using the enemy's terminology.
—pp.64-65
So, what makes the Culture so special, anyway? Ultimately, it's not the whiz-bang technology, or the endlessly-exfoliating worldbuilding, or the witty banter, or the funny Ship names, although there's certainly a lot of all that in
Look to Windward. It's not even the schadenfreude of seeing our own amusing foibles from such a detached viewpoint, although Banks excels—he's certainly the best I've ever run across—at showing us just what the Culture looks like from outside (hint: not nearly as perfect as from the inside), while at the same time showing us what other cultures (often suspiciously similar to 21st-century Earth's) look like from the Culture's point of view (hint: not even as perfect as all that).
I think... I think it's the hope, the hope that Banks portrays so well, that maybe there is a way from here to there. It's that the Culture always strives for wisdom. And fails, obviously, over and over—but it's always trying, and that's still better than living in a culture which doesn't even make the attempt.
That's why I, and perhaps so many others as well, keep coming back to Banks' exhilarating inventions. -
Look to Windward is the seventh book in Iain M. Banks’ “Culture” series, and my favorite so far, though they all set lovingly on my favorites shelf. It is the story of a Chelgrian major who lost the will to live after his wife and fellow soldier’s death, who is swept into a dubious plot to destroy a Culture orbital.
Look to Windward features a quartet of the most enjoyable protagonists I have had the pleasure of reading. Kabe Ischolear is a shiny, pyramid-shaped, and socially tolerant ambassador from (or as we later find out humorously, TO) the Homomdan culture. E.H. Tersono is the eccentric “extra wheel” socialite drone and Contact agent who always has just a little TMI. Mahrai Ziller is the brilliant, sophisticated, curmudgeon of a Chelgrian orchestral composer and outcast social activist. Massaq’ Orbital Hub Avatar is an emotionally scarred, super-intelligent physical manifestation of the artificial intelligence that controls the massive habitat our merry troupe calls home. These lovingly developed protagonists provide hilarious dialog, organic interactions, relatable and endearing motivations, and make the book a joy to read. The same praise applies to the two prominently featured antagonists, one of which is the Chelgrian major mentioned above, Tibilo Quilan. Look To Windward also features a wide and imaginative array of minor characters that make the setting feel populated and alive.
Banks’ writing continues to improve as the series progresses, with Look To Windward surpassing previous volumes. He expands the setting with his trademark wild imagination and describes it with a craftsman’s efficiency. The author expresses his ideas more clearly, while not sacrificing the complexity and sophistication that makes this series stand out. Look to Windward is a joy to read.
As with all of Banks’s books, Look To Windward contains a scathing social commentary focused on the caste system this time. Chelgrian elites uncompromisingly espouse a fragile social order that can only be maintained by perpetuating their entitlements, which is disrupted when The Culture intervenes and advances social equality, resulting in a deadly civil war. Religion also plays a role in the ongoing difficulties of the Chelgrian social collapse, which elites place entirely at the feet of The Culture. Banks wrote social commentary with a fastidious empathy that rings true, honest, and courageous.
As with any Culture book, the setting is so imaginative that it makes me giggle like a child when I think of it. Look To Windward added The Oskendari Air Sphere, a massive floating bubble of a miasmic atmosphere (but not a Jovian) inhabited by Dirigible Behemothaurs, Falficores, and other airborne oddities, as well as further descriptions of Orbitals.
Anyone reading this review has most likely read previous Culture novels, and if you haven’t, you will need to read a few of them before “Look To Windward.” I would recommend at least “The Player of Games,” “Use of Weapons,” and “Excession.” So I will close by saying that if you are reading the Culture series, I highly recommend reading Look To Windward.
This review is also posted on my blog, Hidden Gems. -
In my quest to read the Culture books in publication order (for no good reason, since doing so isn't necessary), I've made it to my seventh stop along the way. Everything I love about Banks is here: amusing AIs, thoughtful humans and aliens, the Culture and other cultures, etc. (if you're not in the know, the Culture is a post-scarcity galactic civilization whose citizens are freed from such drudgeries as money and jobs - it's an idea that makes for great science fiction). A lot of typical Banskian themes show up, too: love, loss, regret, as well as ruminations on life, the universe, and everything.
One atypical thing is that all of the main characters are non-humans - Quilan and Ziller are five-limbed Chelgrians and Kabe is a Homomdan (former friends of the Idirans featured in Consider Phelbas). You don't need to have read Consider Phlebas to read this one; Banks fills readers in on what they need to know (of course, you should read Consider Phelbas, because it's awesome). The Mind that runs the Orbital becomes a major character, too (a Mind is a super-intelligent AI, an Orbital is like a giant space station and this one has a lot of extreme sports fanatics). Unfortunately there's really only one drone character, although the rest of the characters make up for this one flaw (I mean Banksian hilarious, sarcastic drones, not the killing kind or Radio Shack kind we have in the real world).
War, or more specifically its aftermath for combatants and their civilizations, is another major theme. I don't want to say much about the plot, but the ending is emotional and makes it all worth it. In typical Banks fashion, there are times when you're not sure what's going on (especially in the non-numbered chapters), but you have to trust that it all comes together in the end. Speaking of the end, death is another major topic: would you really want to live forever, or is there something to be said for the sweet oblivion of nothingness?
EDIT (June 7, 2015): See my reviews of all ten Culture books here:
http://examinedworlds.blogspot.com/20... -
Another gem in the Culture series. My only regret is that I'm now that much closer to reaching the end of the series, and so I suppose I've been putting this off too long.
This one is a bit more introspective than most, giving a close look at Culture society and politics, primarily from the perspective of alien expats on the outside looking in. It gives a fascinating view of life on one of the massive Culture orbitals, essentially an artificial planet created and managed by a Culture "mind", i.e. an ultra sophisticated AI, in the form of a massive ring (nod to
Ringworld).
The story develops as some cross-civilizational intrigue brewing against the backdrop of a recent civil war on a world where a rigid caste system is at the root of some societal turmoil. The Culture's role in that war and the staggering loss of life there is critically examined. The loss and tragedy of war are frequent topics in the Culture series. In fact, he dedicates the book to Gulf War veterans. As always with Banks, the story is masterfully developed and paced and seasoned with his wonderful panache and wry humor. -
Look to Windward is the seventh book in The Culture series of space opera novels written by Iain M. Banks. The Culture is the name of the Galaxy-spanning, technologically-advanced, post-scarcity society that Banks returned to time after time to serve as the setting for his lyrical, sometimes-comical science fiction novels. Banks is one of the rare authors who was equally celebrated for his traditional fiction (presented under his name without the middle initial) as well as his genre work. In Look to Windward, he incorporates a lot of the textual intricacy and emotional heft of his non-genre works into a book that features near-omniscient A.I.’s, three-legged, furry aliens as central characters and a solar-system sized artificial habitat with over 50 billion humans with no poverty, crime, sickness or danger.
The book’s main character are Quilan and Ziller, who are both Chelgrians. We spend most of Look to Windward reading Quilan’s first-person perspective. Ziller is a talented and popular classical composer who has renounced his Chelgrian citizenship, denigrated their political caste system and taken refuge at the Culture’s Masaq Orbital for over a decade. Quilan is a survivor of the Chelgrian civil war in which his wife was killed and he has been ostensibly sent to Masaq in order to convince Ziller to return to their home world. In actuality, though Quilan is on a secret mission that even he doesn’t know about, because his memory was wiped after he agreed to do it. We do know that whatever Quilan is planning to do it’s probably not good for either Ziller or the Culture. Most civilized society’s have a device which can store the memories and mental state of the wearer and serve as a backup in case of an untimely demise. Early in the book we discover that it turns out that the Culture has admitted culpability in meddling in Chelgrian politics before the start of the civil war and the Chelgrians now blame the Culture for the 5 billion who died in that conflict. In Quilan’s device he has the personality of an old military general named Huyler who is (apparently) there to assist/support/monitor him in the suicide mission Quilan has agreed to be sent to the Culture to complete.
The central themes of Look to Windward are memory, loss, revenge and faith (or, more accurately, zealotry). As with any Culture novel, the themes of this particular book or plot are always overlaid questions about the meaning of life and the limits of seemingly limitless technology. Quilan’s grief for his wife is told beautifully in flashbacks that we get as Quilan (and the reader) start to learn more from the memories that have been deleted and that are slowly resurfacing as the time where his mission will be revealed. We learn about the depths of despair Quilan felt back on Chel as he grieved for his wife, and how eventually he was recruited for and agreed to conduct a suicide mission by the head of the Chelgrian military (who also appears to be a bigwig in the Chelgrian religion as well).
It turns out that Hub, the Mind running Masaq Orbital, (that’s the near-omniscient artificial intelligence that is capable of running an orbital with 50 billion humans who are each able to personally interact with) was actually involved in some of the skirmishes in the Chelgrian civil war. It was involved in the evacuation of several billion people and saving most of their lives but that resulted in the deaths of several million.
By the end of Look to Windward the reader realizes that both Quilan and Hub are still reeling from the after-effects of the traumas caused by war. How they react to these traumas animate the plot. Overall, although I’m glad I finally read Look to Windward I’m not sure that I really enjoyed it. It’s definitely slow in some sections, and the basic story of watching someone realize that they have agreed to be a technologically-sophisticated suicide bomber is hard to describe as “entertainment.” But Banks does do an incredibly job of building suspense about what the final result will be. And it’s always fun to spend time in the Culture. I will definitely miss Bank’s well-written cerebral brand of science fiction and wish there were more of it to read. -
This is not only my favorite Culture book so far and not only one of my new favorite science fiction books but one of the best books I have ever read. This book hit hard on so many levels. I am stunned after finishing it.
I hope to do a full review later. Please do yourself a favor and read Iain M Banks. The man was an absolute legend. I am already excited to finish the rest of this series and then to read them all over again. -
Look to windward I think is book in which Banks goes back to what he does best i.e. tell a engrossing story which has a lot of twists and turns. This time the story exclusively takes place on Masaq orbital and the descriptions of the orbital is another point which made this book really fascinating for me.
Some of the strong points of the book for me where
1.Masaq orbital.
2.The varied species with their background story.
3. Subliming concept.
Let me elaborate on above points of the book
1.Masaq orbital.
Although throughout the culture series we have seen lot of orbitals, but they were lacking complete description in order to visualize them clearly. Banks gives detailed description of orbital in this book. The orbitals are basically circular objects which are millions of kilometer in diameter and they go about spinning around a star. It is their spinning motion around themselves, which basically provides gravity on their surface. On the surface of orbital we have plates which represent continents, and these plates are seperated from each other by thousands of kilometers. These plates are also different from each other in a sense that some may have arid deserts while other may have lush greenery on them.
Masaq is one such orbital, and it is unique in a sense because it revolves around a star which will explode when it dies which will definitely cause harm on orbital too. The people living on Masaq are also adventure loving, as they sometimes go rowing in lava ya you read it right, or they modify themselves like birds so they can go flying around the orbital.
As all orbital are basically managed by a hub mind, now a mind in culture is an AI who are a sort of sentient beings, they are not just your normals computers but they are so advanced that they are able to feel and observe more than a normal human mind is capable of. The minds are also have various personality traits which act as their identifiers.
The hub mind of Masaq orbital is unique in a sense because it was previously an a GSV i.e. General systems vehicle mind, which are a sort of warships in culture. It also participated in the Idrian war and was responsible for the destruction of three orbitals. It has decided to commerate Battle of the Twin Novae where in the Idrian destroyed two stars in the war due to which there were mass casulties. As the light of destruction will be reaching the orbital, it asks a famous composer Ziller to present a symphony.
2.The varied species with their background story.
Now Ziller is a rebel himself he is a chelgrian, a species who have evolved from tigers. He has run away from his homeland Chel during the caste wars and has spent more than 10 years in exile on the orbital Masaq. He is a brilliant composer, but is petrubed by the fact that his homeland are sending an ambassador Major Quillan in order to convince him to come back to Chel as the war has ended.
Ziller has completely gone in his shell, once he has heard the news about Quillan and refuses to present the symphony if the major is present any where hear the arena. The hub mind then takes help of Kabe who is an homondan a tripedal species who is an ambassador in culture in order to convince Ziller.
The story progresses where in Kabe,Ziller and the hub mind, take various journeys across the orbital. They discuss various things from the background of Kabe who we come to know has come to orbital when his lover left him. We also learn regarding the history of hub mind during their discussions.
Major Quillan is another strong character in this book, he is a broken man as he has lost his wife in the caste war, from that time onward he is desperately trying to find meaning of his life. When the war gets over and then Quillan comes to know that it was the Culture who were basically responsible for the caste war, at the same time he gets recruited on a mission which will finally lead him to redemption.
3. Subliming concept.
Subliming is a new concept introduced by Banks in this book, and it is fascinating due to the fact that a sublimed soul leaves the material plane altogether and only survives in form of pure energy.
The chelgrians are unique due to the fact that subliming is not easy, because even culture is not able to do it, but it has been done only by a few AI minds in it, but the chelgrians have made it into a process due a device called as soul keeper, this device basically captures traits of of an individual when he dies.
But when the chelgrians come to know that the people killed in the caste war have died because of war instigated not by themself but by a third party they stop the trapped souls of their fellow chelgrians from being sublimed. If Quillan's mission succeds he will be able to help these souls too.
So with so much riding on his mission will the major succed in his mission? will Ziller ever go back to his homeland?. It is better to read the book in order to get the answers to these questions.
All in all this book is an solid entry in the culture series. I give this book 4/5 stars. -
This is spectacular. It deals with huge, terrible themes (war, loss, revenge, suicide, suicide bombings) and philosophical questions (exile, redemption, forgiveness), in multiple storylines spread across hundreds of years. The scope is HUGE.
There are three things that came out of Banks's mind I desperately want to be real: GSVs, drug glands and Orbitals. The fact that a large chunk of the story takes place on an O made me very happy indeed. The geography, the landscapes, the subway system - I ate up every bit of physical description I encountered. Conversely, I wasn't quite so interested in the airspheres with the behemoths, so those sections got a bit long for me - hence the 4 (.5) stars.
This time, the AIs, while present, disappear behind the towering humanoid characters. Kabe is magnificient, Ziller is brilliant, Quilan is heartbreaking. The philosphical debates between Kabe and Ziller, in particular, are an absolute joy to behold. I'm gonna quote a short passage for my own amusement:
Ziller was staring at him. 'Are you saying the sun could explode?'
'Well, sort of, in theory. It's a very--'
'You're not serious!'
'Of course I am. The chances are--'
'They never told me that!'
'Actually, it wouldn't really blow up as such, but it might flare--'
'It does flare! I've seen its flares!'
'Yes. Pretty, aren't they?'
:) And this isn't even one of their great debates, just a small thing that made me laugh. It might not work out of context, but I don't care.
Read this, if you haven't already. You will laugh. You might cry a little. (I did.) You will stare into space, lost in wonder, hoping against hope that someone, somewhere has built such marvels and is going to invite you along for a visit. -
-Una intencionalidad sociopolítica enorme bajo el barniz de género.-
Género. Ciencia ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. En el libro A barlovento (publicación original: Look to Windward, 2000), Worosei es un militar chelgriano que viajará hasta un orbital de La Cultura en una misión diplomática con el objetivo de que Zeller, un músico autoexiliado allí, regrese con él. Pero detrás de la misión hay algo mucho más peligroso, un acto que mezcla la agresión, la venganza y la acción socioreligiosa. Y es que las acciones de La Cultura, mucho tiempo atrás, provocaron infinidad de muertes entre los chelgrianos. Sexto libro de la serie La Cultura.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/... -
I'd recommend Look To Windward, but it wasn't my favorite Banks' book so far. (That's probably Inversions). It took a while to get going, and there were a few too many jumps in time/perspective which I thought detracted a bit from the momentum of the narrative. However, once the reader (finally) figures out what's at stake, it's a tense, unpredictable, and thoughtful (almost philosophical) book set in a complex and interesting milieu (the Culture universe.) Oh, and a great epilogue!
-
Look to Windward is at its core a deeply personal and heartbreaking retrospective romance story - not what you expect from a series that spans galaxies and whose stories are usually driven by epic conflicts such as the obliteration of entire planets to make a political statement or an omnipotent object traveling across multiple universes. Yet Banks works dazzling magic here, weaving the culture and technology and history of his universe to convincingly give his main character - rightly an antagonist, to boot - a moving love story and redemptive arc.
At the same time, new sentient races are introduced, including mammothly enormous flying beast-ships whose bowels act as cities and research stations, and the main character's race, a furry breed far behind the Culture in technology, and chomping at the bit to exact revenge for the accidental havoc the Culture had caused them. The main character is so effectively drawn, so intimately presented, that he does feel human: I think this is what Banks was going for, whereas other readers would've preferred a more alien character, I think his relatability and emotions coming across as universal across species is crucial to the plot. After all, a particular AI is shown to experience the same emotions! -
I don't know whether I like this as much or more than any of the other Culture novels I've read. It seems to be a different sort of beast, really. The others are things that are happening, even in Use of Weapons with the dual flow of the story; this one is the aftermath, things that have happened and dealing with them (or not). That's not to say that there isn't a plot, but the things that're happening are happening as a direct result of a known and understood past: in Consider Phlebas, the conflict is new; in Use of Weapons, Zakalwe gets involved in a lot of unrelated (except by his presence) situations; in The Player of Games, the Culture is actively meddling. But Look to Windward is the aftermath of Consider Phlebas and of the same kind of situation that is played out in Use of Weapons and Player of Games.
The depictions of grief and guilt, loss and longing, are incredibly well done. There's some gorgeous writing in the way Banks unveils his world, and some amazing background to his world.
Two complaints, really: one, I'm no longer sure if Banks is really managing to distinguish aliens from humans, in terms of character and outlook -- I could forget Kabe and Quilan's races if I let my mind wander; two, the last couple of sections/chapters wrap everything up so very neatly, and I've realised that happens in his other books too. Oh for a little bit of ambiguity to take away with me... -
Mmm… ¿por dónde empezar? Los personajes: los personajes no le importan mucho. O nada, salvo uno que usa para mostrar como una tragedia a la que se reacciona mal puede dar lugar a cosas malas. En este caso es el fallecimiento de uno de los miembros de la pareja la que provoca la pérdida de las ganas de vivir y como le lleva a realizar acciones perfectamente razonadas y racionales que no excluyen muerte de miles de millones de personas.
Pero tal y como lo cuenta no suena tan épico-trágico. Le pone un punto humano, de comprensión que yo como lector, aunque vea lo que supone, entiendo su estado. Llevándolo a un campo muy actual ¿Cómo no entender que la viuda de un militar de treinta y cinco años se pueda declarar antivacunas? ¿O la misma posición de quien se pasó meses de agonía cuidados intensivos? En estos casos son situaciones en donde la reacción solo afecta a nivel individual pero el mecanismo es muy parecido.
¿Qué más? La historia por sí misma no tiene mucho. O nada. El contexto, la ambientación, como aunque sus libros de “La Cultura” tengan esa ambientación siempre encuentre un punto de vista o mundo distinto. En cada una de las diferentes novelas siempre acaba añadiendo matices al universo creado.
Vale ya de rodeos, ¡vamos al grano! (y eso por donde cae, por la era no?). Está nuestro cuasiprotagonista de viaje-paseo y observa una montaña en la que hay una especie de monasterio y entonces recuerda el tiempo que pasó en él y durante ese periodo una discusión que tuvo con el canónigo en la que se hablaba sobre el “cielo-post mortem” y su creación.
Así tenemos: el primer nivel de turismo por ahí, el segundo recordando sus tiempos de asueto buscando paz espiritual, y el tercero. No acaba siendo un ejercicio de dinamismo narrativo, no señor. Y en ese tercer nivel se nos explica que una vez que la sociedad alcanzó el punto donde las mentes son almacenables en dispositivos la muerte no es lo mismo y por tanto toda la parte de creencias religio-culturales como por ejemplo a donde van las almas tras fallecer pierde su significado. A menos claro que se cree a su vez una especie de lugar en el que se almacenan a las personas fallecidas. Pues eso con las implicaciones que tiene y más cosas constituyen el núcleo de FILOSOFADAS que conforman el libro. Y será que a mí me pilló juguetón, quizá con unos cubalibres de más pero Iain, ¡¡DAME FILOSOFADAS MÁS GRANDES!! (soy consciente de que el autor espichó)
¿Recomendable? No, joder. Con los tres primeros llega. Pero una vez le pillas el punto al autor lo considero interesante porque con frecuencia acabo encontrando algo.
Luego est�� la otra lectura, la que probablemente quiso hacer el autor y yo no menciono. Pongamos que un imperio lleva a cabo unos actos intervencionistas más allá de sus territorios controlados. Pongamos que años después ocurren cosas que en gran parte derivan de esos actos. Pongamos que está el tema religioso de por medio. Así que explicaría algunas dinámicas de poder, represalias y venganza. Otra lectura, desde luego. -
What if you committed a war crime, and lived to see the consequences?
What if the war crime was letting a star be destroyed - and billions of lives lost - for the greater good, and the consequence was watching the light from the supernova reach your home-world eight hundred years later?
The premise of Look to Windward is cosmic in its sense of loss and melancholy, and the build-up is perfectly paced, progressing from reflective and deliberate all the way to heart-in-mouth near the end. The only reason why it hasn't raced to the top of my favourite Culture novels - or indeed, my favourite SF novels - is the last twenty pages: I'm extremely conflicted about the ending, and the resolution of at least one storyline makes very little sense to me. It's the smallest feeling of a let down after a truly brilliant set up, but that apart, I see the logic that drives (a part of) the ending, and that shouldn't put you off from reading the book. -
Gentile or Jew
O you who turn the wheel and look to windward
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.
I have a weakness for anyone who quotes Eliot, particularly the Waste Land. At first I thought that this title was a bit much given that Banks had already used Consider Phlebas, which seemed to me more appropriate to the novel it graces. But it just occured to me: the people in this book are those who 'look to windward'; the entire book is an extended meditation on the message of Phlebas the Phonecian. A meditation on death, and loss, despair, remorse, I suppose, but mostly on the different kinds of relationships one can have with death.
Windward is very closely linked to Phlebas, both thematically and because it is in part about the aftermath of the war. Maybe the title is supposed to signal the importance of that link, which I didn't pay much attention to at first. I should read the two books back to back some time.
This is the Culture, of course, so the characters have far more relationships with death at their disposal than mere humans do, just as they have more freedom of choice with regards to just about everything else. They can Sublime (which I don't quite buy), have one or several of various kinds of uploaded personality-continuation afterlife, artificially extend their lifespans to arbitrary lengths, enter suspended animation, and probably others I've forgotten or which Banks hasn't thought of yet. But many opt to have the old-fashioned, no backup available, risky kind of relationship, and some of them go to a great deal of trouble to expose themselves to the risk of being killed, and have a horrible time while doing so. (Lava-rafting has to be the most unenjoyable sport I've ever seen described.)
And then the Mind... "There are places to go, but either I would not be me when I went there, or I would remain myself and so still have my memories. By waiting for them to drop away all this time I have grown into them, and they into me. We have become each other. There is no way back I consider worth taking." Quilan said something similar,earlier in the novel, that he could not live with the knowledge of his wife's death, and would not live without it. Two different kinds of death, and loss of the self while continuing to live is judged the greater evil.
