Already fascinated, reading Luminous by Silvia Park, by an imaginary future Bodhisattva called the Buddha of the Miasma. I'm not even sure what miasma is, but it was pretty big in Hellenism, the idea that is kind of putrid fog would pass diseases on. Like things that smelled bad would cause sickness. We know it's germs or fleas or whatever now, but it's possible that the smelly vapor had germs or fleas sometimes.
Korea has a strong Buddhist culture, they have the two best Buddhist movies (Mandala (1981) and Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall ... Spring (2001)). It's just a detail in this sci-fi novel, that is also a police procedural, and a family novel, three in one.
Ms. Park teaches in Kansas and lives in Korea when she's not teaching.
Notes on things I've learned, had to look up:
There is a shopping center in New Zealand called Silvia Park.
Joseon architecture (1392–1910) is defined by simplicity, balance, and a deep harmony with nature guided by Neo-Confucian ideals.
Jeju statues, kitchy grandfather statues.
The number 4 is unlucky in Korea because its spoken pronunciation sounds identical to the Sino-Korean word for "death".
Dokkaebi (도깨비) are legendary nature spirits from Korean mythology and folklore that can either help or play tricks on humans. Wikipedia.
Fun sentences and quotes:
"She didn’t have to serve as a direct witness to the changes Jun was going through, and maybe in her head, she’d preserved him as the Jun from high school, devil-eyed and loose-gendered, which was now an effigy collecting dust."
What does loose-gendered mean? He was androgynous? I like how she acknowledges that her characterization is an effigy.
Upshot opinion about novel: Not done yet.
Links:
Silvia Park: ‘No one is your enemy, not even death’ Seeing the author talk about what motivated them to write a novel, and what they were going for, with a really intelligent interviewer, like Alison Flood, who is quite cool, this interview really helped motivate me to do the hard work of reading this text.
She recommends, God, Human, Animal, Machine. Utterly fascinating and interesting interview. She discusses how cybernetics is already here with hearing aids, glasses and other devices. Just a lovely interview, two sweet people, I feel lucky to have watched it.
Park writes an article in New Scientist.
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