4 ms·
"The Repairer of Reputations", is such a weird story. I love that fact that it takes place in 1920's NYC, 30 years in the future from when it was written (1985)
by weatherlight 2y ago
"The Repairer of Reputations", is such a weird story. I love that fact that it takes place in 1920's NYC, 30 years in the future from when it was written (1985).
It's not quite science fiction, though. The descriptions of New York aren't dark or dreary, like one would expect from a short story that usually firmly placed in the horror/weird fiction category. There's these hints that something is not quite right, though. like the presence of these "Government Lethal Chambers" in Washington Square Park where, I guess one could kill them selves publicly. It's hinted at, but not really addressed further. it's these little details that color the story and make it uncomfortable. It seems tht United States that has embraced authoritarianism, and society social structure is heavily enforced by a militarized government.
EDIT: Written in 1895 not 1985!
- darkwater 2y ago> it takes place in 1920's NYC, 30 years in the future from when it was written (1985). Is it you, Marty? (sorry, could not resist)
- weatherlight 2y agoI meant to type 1895! *ugh.
- dghf 2y agoI couldn't work out from the story whether it was really set in the 1920s, or whether that was a delusion on the part of the main character.
- 7thaccount 2y agoI read it not that long ago. I agree with the comments that the setting is deeply unsettling.
- linksnapzz 2y agoIt's also one of the best examples I know of for "unreliable narrator".
- stevenAthompson 2y ago"Book of the New Sun" will always be my favorite unreliable narrator story.
- UltraSane 2y agoThe Book of the Short Sun takes unreliable narrators to 11
- stevenAthompson 2y agoI never got that far in the series, despite New Sun being one of my all time favorites. I'll give it a go. Thanks.
- UltraSane 2y agoIt is a sequel trilogy for The Book of the Long sun.
- zanellato19 2y agoYeah, its those underdeveloped details that actually make it awesome. It just hints a world that is quite different and _maybe_ that has everything to do with the play/book? Its quite uncomfortable indeed. I really like it.
- jhbadger 2y agoYes, it is always fun to read things set in a future time from the author's perspective long after the future date is past. I remember plenty of SF growing up in the 1970s about the "future world" of the 1990s or even the year 2000. But KiY with its "future date" in the 1920s is the earliest I've encountered.