Oliver K. Langmead

this is an ambitious and original work from an author well worth keeping an eye on. high marks for a high concept re-invention of what the sf novel can be, though the execution of the epic and concrete poetry in which it's written is somewhat uneven. Calypso is a generation ship in flux, and also an echo of a parable of Homer's tale in which Calypso is keeping Odyseus from getting home after the long war. in this story there has been a deadly schism onboard between the Botanists and the Engineers in how to terraform the world the ship is heading for: go high tech (the future) or naturalistic (the past). so it's quite interesting on many levels and i'll be looking out for this author in future.… (més)

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/glitterati-by-oliver-k-langmead-brief-note/

I thought the protagonist was really unpleasant and selfish, even after his moment of personal transformation, and didn’t feel that the satire quite came off. Lyrical description but rather harping on a single note until very near the end.… (més)

1,5 stars - rounded up.

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Does that mean that Glitterati is esthetics only? I wouldn’t say so, but esthetics are the main dish, even if some ruminations about human society can be discerned. The problem is that those ruminations are fairly superficial and mostly standard too, so don’t expect any thorough analysis.

According to Jean Baudrillard the cycle of fashion gets driven by 2 impulses that are contrary to each other: the impulse to belong and the impulse to stand out. I don’t think the way fashion works in Langmead’s book is realistic in any way, not even in the book’s own terms: the social (fashion) rules of the Glitterati sub-society seem primarily there to amuse Langmead and Langmead’s readers, they are not there to reflect human conditions, provide insight in our own society or say something about how creative fashions or art works. Again, it’s mainly esthetics over ethics in Glitterati – and by esthetics I don’t mean theoretical esthetics, but neat shiny things. That’s not necessarily a bad thing: satire also aims to amuse, and there surely is an audience for this.

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Full review on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It… (més)