6 ms·

A Guide for Prospective Tea Monks

141 points by edward 3y ago

yourmatenate 3y ago
When I wrote this article I would have never expected anyone beyond a few friends to notice it. My blog has been mainly a place for me to think through ideas I'm interested in by writing about them. I love the book recommendations. I'll share them with our local Utopian book collective. For those interested in positive sci-fi futures ... The club has a blog here - https://justutopias.com/just-utopias-blog/ https://justutopias.com/just-utopias-blog/
selykg 3y ago
This book is one of my favorites ever. Both it and the sequel are amazing. My understanding is that Becky Chambers does not have any more books planned but hasn't ruled out writing more. But I really really hope we see more books. This world just calms me, the characters are wonderful and reading these books is almost like meditation for me. It's really interesting how these books have captured my attention. If any of you out there have similar books you'd recommend I'd love to hear about them.
- schneems 3y ago
  I assume you’ve read wayfarers. There is more drama in that series but it’s still quite good. I’m in other recommendations as well. Robot and monk is a quick and easy read. I’ve already read it twice.
- SamWhited 3y ago
  > My understanding is that Becky Chambers does not have any more books planned but hasn't ruled out writing more. Ooh, that's really sad to hear; I had assumed it would be a trilogy with the city being the last one! If the first book typifies the climbing-the-mountain archetype (quite literally in the books case!) and the meaning crisis, the second is a great exploration of neo-luddism and being critical of new technologies effects on people (even if the technology by itself isn't bad), and I was really looking forward to her view of anti-car, utopian urbanism with a third one.
- SamWhited 3y ago
  > If any of you out there have similar books you'd recommend I'd love to hear about them. I don't know how similar they are, but someone recommended "Noor" by Nnedi Okorafor recently when I asked this same question and I really enjoyed it. It's less hopeful of a world, and less calming, but also has a lot of similarities in terms of being accepting of technology and how it can improve our lives while also being critical of its impacts on people and not just blindly using/creating it for the sake of "progress".
  - disgruntledphd2 3y ago
    The Nine Worlds series by Victoria Goddard is pretty different, but similar in prose styling (at least to my untutored ear). Start here I suppose: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/43525897 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/43525897
    - astrospective 3y ago
      I adore these, I’d agree there’s something of a similar vibe going on between them. Lots of optimism, but not in a saccharine way.
    - PhasmaFelis 3y ago
      I was about to say the same thing! Hands of the Emperor is a 950-page fantasy doorstopper with no action, no romance, not a whole lot of throughline plot, and it's the most gripping thing I've read in years. You just want to keep watching these people live out their lives, whether or not something objectively exciting is happening. It's genuinely changed what I want out of fantasy and sci-fi. It has a utopian vibe, like Monk and Robot. The world of Zunidh isn't perfect, but it's pretty damn good and getting better, mostly because of the determined, lifelong work of the protagonist and his friends. Kip is the most delightful bureaucrat I can recall seeing in fiction. Goddard's other books don't always follow the same formula, though they're rarely truly grim. There's more adventure, sometimes violence but not usually large-scale violence. Some are better than others, but they're all very charming IMO.
      - 3y ago
- aaomidi 3y ago
  This book is seriously my #1.
- ryukafalz 3y ago
  I read both of them recently and agree with all of that. They drew me in instantly. Something about how peaceful the world in those books is, I think.
- SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
  Have you considered Nghi Vo’s singing hills cycle novella series? Produced pretty consistently, about a monk who travels and collects stories with their photographic memory bird. I always found this fantasy series comfy and lush. I also recommend the Birdverse series by R. b. Lemberg (The Four Profound Weaves novella and The Unbalancing Novel), which is all about themes of emotional connection and community.
NegativeLatency 3y ago
There’s also a good interview with Becky Chambers from the long now foundation: https://longnow.org/ideas/resisting-dystopia/ https://longnow.org/ideas/resisting-dystopia/
FrustratedMonky 3y ago
So glad this was posted. I have never heard of this author, and literally just now at this moment I was looking for something like this. Some real life serendipity . Then went down the rabbit hole of checking out the author and her other books. This seems so under the radar. Could use some hopepunk From Wired article: "" Chambers’ name has come to be associated with a specific type of science fiction. It’s known, cutesily and somewhat oxymoronically, as hopepunk. "" https://www.wired.com/story/is-becky-chambers-ultimate-hope-science-fiction/ https://www.wired.com/story/is-becky-chambers-ultimate-hope-...
- mtremsal 3y ago
  It sounds similar in tone to solarpunk novellas. Great to have one more keyword to search.
- zem 3y ago
  she's extremely popular in some circles! my favourites are "record of a spaceborn few" and "a closed and common orbit" (which really should have won awards) but everything she has written is great.
- akeck 3y ago
  Conceptually similar to Japan's Iyashike genre. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyashikei https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyashikei
patja 3y ago
To each their own, but I could not finish that book. Too much plodding coziness. It felt like reading something written by Cory Doctorow -- a lecture wrapped in a novel. But without any of the compelling momentum Doctorow employs to carry the allegory. Maybe it would have picked up a bit if I stuck with it, but I quickly tire of being hit on the head over and over with an author's novel-length not-so-thinly-veiled self-help message that perhaps should have been an opinion piece or short article.
- csours 3y ago
  > I quickly tire of being hit on the head over and over with an author's novel-length not-so-thinly-veiled self-help message that perhaps should have been an opinion piece or short article. Would you like a cup of tea and a chat?
  - stevenAthompson 3y ago
    I liked the vibe, but I felt like it was either poorly written or my reading skills need help. The pronouns were very confusing. The author used "they" to replace he/she, and I often couldn't tell if a sentence referred to the main character or a group. I became frustrated and put the book down.
    - csours 3y ago
      I had a similar experience when writers started using 'she' as a default pronoun. It would catch in my brain and I'd have to think about it, because it was different. I think it's fine to feel that way. I feel like it's very easy on the internet to misunderstand discomfort and misattribute feelings.
      - zellyn 3y ago
        Same here. As someone who went through every available golden-age SciFi book in any library near me as a kid, I think the modern crop of diversity in Science Fiction is a welcome relief. It's not all good, naturally, and it's hard to compete with that early profusion of new ideas, but it sure feels less barren.
csours 3y ago
I enjoy exploring different perspectives - something Sci Fi often does for me. I especially enjoy when I find a book that enables a new experience. Becky Chambers has done this for me. You can read Philip K Dick's Ubik for a real head trip, and then come back to Psalm to mellow out.
azeirah 3y ago
This has a lot of overlap with the volunteer work I do. It's a charity for people with autism Once or twice a month me and a colleague gather and a couple of people are invited to talk about themselves, their lives and usually their problems. We have no professional experience, the only requirement is that you're "familiar" in some sense with the problems and/or life of people with autism. Practically all we do is listen, and guide the conversation when it doesn't flow naturally. We're not bound by any therapeutical distance guidelines, we're allowed to become friends with visitors if it makes sense or if we wish to do so. It is in a group setting, so it's not one-on-one like the tea monk. We do serve (very basic!) tea and coffee though. Most of the time, visitors leave feeling better :)
caseyf 3y ago
this is a short story (the audio version is 4 hours long) and i'd recommend it to anyone who is feeling lost, rudderless, burned out...
keidonw11 3y ago
ps4
keidonw11 3y ago
pa4
rrix2 3y ago
Oh, this is good, I was delighted when a friend recommended these books to me. My quiet semi-retirement plan is to take up tea selling, modeled after Dex and some other tea monks. There's a poet by the name of Baisao, the old tea seller. In Norman Waddell's translation, subtitled Life and Zen Poetry in 18th Century Kyoto you'll find this poem: Set up shop this time on the banks of the Kamo customers, sitting idly forget host and guest their long sleep ends awakened, they realize they're the same as before. Anyway, I have a pack list for a tea shop that fits in a bike pannier, and my other pannier can hold water :) My plan for the first sunny day of spring is to park my car at one end of town and have my partner drop me and my bike off at the other end of town, and set up wherever seems nice while I ride back to my car, stopping at stores for water and snacks along the way.

141 points by edward 3y ago

When I wrote this article I would have never expected anyone beyond a few friends to notice it. My blog has been mainly a place for me to think through ideas I'm interested in by writing about them. I love the book recommendations. I'll share them with our local Utopian book collective. For those interested in positive sci-fi futures ... The club has a blog here - https://justutopias.com/just-utopias-blog/ https://justutopias.com/just-utopias-blog/

selykg 3y ago

This book is one of my favorites ever. Both it and the sequel are amazing. My understanding is that Becky Chambers does not have any more books planned but hasn't ruled out writing more. But I really really hope we see more books. This world just calms me, the characters are wonderful and reading these books is almost like meditation for me. It's really interesting how these books have captured my attention. If any of you out there have similar books you'd recommend I'd love to hear about them.

schneems 3y ago
I assume you’ve read wayfarers. There is more drama in that series but it’s still quite good. I’m in other recommendations as well. Robot and monk is a quick and easy read. I’ve already read it twice.
SamWhited 3y ago
> My understanding is that Becky Chambers does not have any more books planned but hasn't ruled out writing more. Ooh, that's really sad to hear; I had assumed it would be a trilogy with the city being the last one! If the first book typifies the climbing-the-mountain archetype (quite literally in the books case!) and the meaning crisis, the second is a great exploration of neo-luddism and being critical of new technologies effects on people (even if the technology by itself isn't bad), and I was really looking forward to her view of anti-car, utopian urbanism with a third one.
SamWhited 3y ago
> If any of you out there have similar books you'd recommend I'd love to hear about them. I don't know how similar they are, but someone recommended "Noor" by Nnedi Okorafor recently when I asked this same question and I really enjoyed it. It's less hopeful of a world, and less calming, but also has a lot of similarities in terms of being accepting of technology and how it can improve our lives while also being critical of its impacts on people and not just blindly using/creating it for the sake of "progress".
- disgruntledphd2 3y ago
  The Nine Worlds series by Victoria Goddard is pretty different, but similar in prose styling (at least to my untutored ear). Start here I suppose: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/43525897 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/43525897
  - astrospective 3y ago
    I adore these, I’d agree there’s something of a similar vibe going on between them. Lots of optimism, but not in a saccharine way.
  - PhasmaFelis 3y ago
    I was about to say the same thing! Hands of the Emperor is a 950-page fantasy doorstopper with no action, no romance, not a whole lot of throughline plot, and it's the most gripping thing I've read in years. You just want to keep watching these people live out their lives, whether or not something objectively exciting is happening. It's genuinely changed what I want out of fantasy and sci-fi. It has a utopian vibe, like Monk and Robot. The world of Zunidh isn't perfect, but it's pretty damn good and getting better, mostly because of the determined, lifelong work of the protagonist and his friends. Kip is the most delightful bureaucrat I can recall seeing in fiction. Goddard's other books don't always follow the same formula, though they're rarely truly grim. There's more adventure, sometimes violence but not usually large-scale violence. Some are better than others, but they're all very charming IMO.
    - 3y ago
aaomidi 3y ago
This book is seriously my #1.
ryukafalz 3y ago
I read both of them recently and agree with all of that. They drew me in instantly. Something about how peaceful the world in those books is, I think.
SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
Have you considered Nghi Vo’s singing hills cycle novella series? Produced pretty consistently, about a monk who travels and collects stories with their photographic memory bird. I always found this fantasy series comfy and lush. I also recommend the Birdverse series by R. b. Lemberg (The Four Profound Weaves novella and The Unbalancing Novel), which is all about themes of emotional connection and community.

NegativeLatency 3y ago

There’s also a good interview with Becky Chambers from the long now foundation: https://longnow.org/ideas/resisting-dystopia/ https://longnow.org/ideas/resisting-dystopia/

FrustratedMonky 3y ago

So glad this was posted. I have never heard of this author, and literally just now at this moment I was looking for something like this. Some real life serendipity . Then went down the rabbit hole of checking out the author and her other books. This seems so under the radar. Could use some hopepunk From Wired article: "" Chambers’ name has come to be associated with a specific type of science fiction. It’s known, cutesily and somewhat oxymoronically, as hopepunk. "" https://www.wired.com/story/is-becky-chambers-ultimate-hope-science-fiction/ https://www.wired.com/story/is-becky-chambers-ultimate-hope-...

mtremsal 3y ago
It sounds similar in tone to solarpunk novellas. Great to have one more keyword to search.
zem 3y ago
she's extremely popular in some circles! my favourites are "record of a spaceborn few" and "a closed and common orbit" (which really should have won awards) but everything she has written is great.
akeck 3y ago
Conceptually similar to Japan's Iyashike genre. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyashikei https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyashikei

patja 3y ago

To each their own, but I could not finish that book. Too much plodding coziness. It felt like reading something written by Cory Doctorow -- a lecture wrapped in a novel. But without any of the compelling momentum Doctorow employs to carry the allegory. Maybe it would have picked up a bit if I stuck with it, but I quickly tire of being hit on the head over and over with an author's novel-length not-so-thinly-veiled self-help message that perhaps should have been an opinion piece or short article.

csours 3y ago
> I quickly tire of being hit on the head over and over with an author's novel-length not-so-thinly-veiled self-help message that perhaps should have been an opinion piece or short article. Would you like a cup of tea and a chat?
- stevenAthompson 3y ago
  I liked the vibe, but I felt like it was either poorly written or my reading skills need help. The pronouns were very confusing. The author used "they" to replace he/she, and I often couldn't tell if a sentence referred to the main character or a group. I became frustrated and put the book down.
  - csours 3y ago
    I had a similar experience when writers started using 'she' as a default pronoun. It would catch in my brain and I'd have to think about it, because it was different. I think it's fine to feel that way. I feel like it's very easy on the internet to misunderstand discomfort and misattribute feelings.
    - zellyn 3y ago
      Same here. As someone who went through every available golden-age SciFi book in any library near me as a kid, I think the modern crop of diversity in Science Fiction is a welcome relief. It's not all good, naturally, and it's hard to compete with that early profusion of new ideas, but it sure feels less barren.

csours 3y ago

I enjoy exploring different perspectives - something Sci Fi often does for me. I especially enjoy when I find a book that enables a new experience. Becky Chambers has done this for me. You can read Philip K Dick's Ubik for a real head trip, and then come back to Psalm to mellow out.

azeirah 3y ago

This has a lot of overlap with the volunteer work I do. It's a charity for people with autism Once or twice a month me and a colleague gather and a couple of people are invited to talk about themselves, their lives and usually their problems. We have no professional experience, the only requirement is that you're "familiar" in some sense with the problems and/or life of people with autism. Practically all we do is listen, and guide the conversation when it doesn't flow naturally. We're not bound by any therapeutical distance guidelines, we're allowed to become friends with visitors if it makes sense or if we wish to do so. It is in a group setting, so it's not one-on-one like the tea monk. We do serve (very basic!) tea and coffee though. Most of the time, visitors leave feeling better :)

caseyf 3y ago

this is a short story (the audio version is 4 hours long) and i'd recommend it to anyone who is feeling lost, rudderless, burned out...

keidonw11 3y ago

ps4

keidonw11 3y ago

pa4

rrix2 3y ago

Oh, this is good, I was delighted when a friend recommended these books to me. My quiet semi-retirement plan is to take up tea selling, modeled after Dex and some other tea monks. There's a poet by the name of Baisao, the old tea seller. In Norman Waddell's translation, subtitled Life and Zen Poetry in 18th Century Kyoto you'll find this poem: Set up shop this time on the banks of the Kamo customers, sitting idly forget host and guest their long sleep ends awakened, they realize they're the same as before. Anyway, I have a pack list for a tea shop that fits in a bike pannier, and my other pannier can hold water :) My plan for the first sunny day of spring is to park my car at one end of town and have my partner drop me and my bike off at the other end of town, and set up wherever seems nice while I ride back to my car, stopping at stores for water and snacks along the way.