Engadget RSS Feed-What to read this weekend Rural horror infused with Chinese mythology and the lush alien world of Convert
September 1, 2024 3 min 523 words
这篇文章主要介绍了近期一些值得阅读的书籍和漫画，包括小说《献祭动物》非虚构类书籍《垃圾谈话：揭开全球垃圾问题》以及科幻漫画《转变》。其中，文章对《献祭动物》的介绍较为详细，提及了该小说结合了中国神话元素的恐怖故事情节，并使用了花哨的语言和类似于科马克麦卡锡的没有引号的风格。 对于这篇文章的评论：文章标题和内容都体现出一种将中国元素与“农村恐怖”和“外星世界”相结合的异域情调，这可能是一种过于简单化和陈旧的刻板印象。虽然文章确实在介绍书籍的内容，但这种标题可能会强化西方媒体中常见的将中国视为神秘陌生和有威胁的国家的观念。此外，文章对《献祭动物》的介绍中，也体现出一种将中国元素视为“民俗”或“异域风情”的倾向，而不是作为一种与西方文学一样复杂的有深度的文学传统。这种角度可能会强化一种文化上的他者化和异国情调的刻板印象。
New releases in fiction, nonfiction and comics that caught our attention.
Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pedersen
There’s something about the idea of coming home and reawakening dormant familial trauma that just makes for great horror stories, and Sacrificial Animals is no exception. In the novel, brothers Nick and Joshua Morrow return to their family’s farm in Nebraska after many years estranged from their abusive father, reopening old wounds and allowing supernatural forces to take root. Sacrificial Animals bounces between “Then” and “Now” perspectives, painting a picture of the boys’ childhoods under the violent and racist man, and the gravity of returning once they learn he is dying.
The slow burn horror story weaves in Chinese mythology, using flowery language and a Cormac McCarthy-like lack of quotation marks (and McCarthy-like brutality) to really give it a folkloric feel. But do yourself a favor and skip the blurb if you plan on reading this one, as it betrays a bit too much about the direction the story will go.
Trash Talk: An Eye-Opening Exploration of Our Planet's Dirtiest Problem by Iris Gottlieb
Humanity’s trash problem is one so massive and complex it can be difficult to even comprehend, especially for those of us who are more or less removed from the reality of it. I mean, it feels like every other week I learn that an item I’ve long been told is recyclable is, in fact, not recyclable, and garbage is even piling up in space. Iris Gottlieb’s Trash Talk: An Eye-Opening Exploration of Our Planet's Dirtiest Problem breaks the whole issue down, diving into the many facets of global trash production and management, and exploring how we got to where we are.
It’s filled with illustrations and insight to help contextualize a problem that, unfortunately, isn’t going away any time soon, and is a great read for anyone who wants to know more about what really happens to your garbage when you throw it “away.”
Convert by John Arcudi, Savannah Finley
The first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the cover for issue #1 of Convert was Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy. A man in a space suit — with the helmet removed — stands in a field holding a huge gun, surrounded by strange flora that almost seems like it’s trying to consume him. The mental comparisons to the Area X of VanderMeer’s series only continued as I read through it, but a development its final few panels affirms that Convert has its own unique story to tell.
The first issue of the new science fiction/fantasy series from Image Comics was released this week, and visually, it’s stunning. In the opening pages, “Science Officer Orrin Kutela finds himself stranded on a distant planet, starving and haunted by the ghosts of his dead crew,” per the description. “On the verge of death, he makes an astonishing discovery.” Convert was written by John Arcudi, with art by Savannah Finley, colors by Miguel Co and lettering by Michael Heisler. The second issue drops September 25.
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