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Astronautilia

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Re: Astronautilia

#51

Post by scotty79 »

legerdemain wrote: post #19
TbobbyZ wrote: post #6

I would love to know how Czech culture influenced the novel.

My impression is that central Europe (which I apologize for lumping together) has a pretty long-running tradition of literary absurdism and surrealism. They're works that are more allegorical than "scientific" or "futuristic," even though they might be responding to (or "riffing on") actual early sci-fi of the techno-futurism variety. As some examples, besides his R.U.R. , Capek (Czech) also wrote The War with the Ne…

I'd say that Czech creators are uniquely creative in their absurdist flavors.

Re: Astronautilia

#52

Post by owyn »

rendall wrote: post #50
owyn wrote: post #48

The surreal and dreamlike plot summary reminds me of this strange black and white indie sci fi movie / musical from 2001 (or 2005?) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Astronaut A throwback to vintage serials, shot as time and budget allowed over years. I pre ordered a copy of the DVD and waited a few years for it to arrive so I guess it was like a crowd funding thing long before that was easy to do. "His miss…

The American Astronaut is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I have never met anyone before, online nor real-life, who has even heard of that movie much less liked it.

The other cult classic that I would put in a double feature with this one is Six String Samurai. Another weird movie that absorbs and reflects a lot of genres and tropes (post apocalypse, martial arts, Vegas, Elvis) and that indie DIY aesthetic. Also very musical, with several segments that are basically music videos for the band that did the sound track. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-String_Samurai

Also on YouTube, apparently an official release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaPP00uNkNI

Re: Astronautilia

#53

Post by rendall »

owyn wrote: post #52
rendall wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The American Astronaut is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I have never met anyone before, online nor real-life, who has even heard of that movie much less liked it.

The other cult classic that I would put in a double feature with this one is Six String Samurai. Another weird movie that absorbs and reflects a lot of genres and tropes (post apocalypse, martial arts, Vegas, Elvis) and that indie DIY aesthetic. Also very musical, with several segments that are basically music videos for the band that did the sound track. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-String_Samurai Also on YouTu…

Yes! I love that movie, too.

Mutant: "If I were you, I would run!"

Buddy: "If you were me you'd be good-looking."

Re: Astronautilia

#54

Post by jiri »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #28

I wonder what inspired OudeisPloiarkhos to create an account and upload the plot summary. It's their only contribution to Wikipedia, and it's so detailed I somewhat wonder if it's really proper for the site. I'd guess some kind of academic assignment, though it's strange that they spent a few more months editing it after the original post.

I'd guess that some family member like son Jan Pinkava https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0684342/ or grandchildren contributed.

Re: Astronautilia

#55

Post by jamal-kumar »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #28

I wonder what inspired OudeisPloiarkhos to create an account and upload the plot summary. It's their only contribution to Wikipedia, and it's so detailed I somewhat wonder if it's really proper for the site. I'd guess some kind of academic assignment, though it's strange that they spent a few more months editing it after the original post.

https://cs.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hv%C4%9Bzdoplavba...

The Czech article is way shorter and has a bunch more different authors

Re: Astronautilia

#56

Post by sockaddr »

chadlavi wrote: post #25

I am too stupid to even understand the wikipedia summary of this book.

What about a sheep self-referentially observing itself and thus justifying the existence of an entire cosmos doesn’t make perfect intuitive sense to you?

Re: Astronautilia

#57

Post by defrost »

sockaddr wrote: post #56
chadlavi wrote: post #25

I am too stupid to even understand the wikipedia summary of this book.

What about a sheep self-referentially observing itself and thus justifying the existence of an entire cosmos doesn’t make perfect intuitive sense to you?

Fairly straightforward once realised the sheep is a hardy mountain sheep and not a modern "bred to produce wool" sheep that's frankly dumber than a string bag to carry water.

But it's unclear exactly where the lesbians fit in here, so I guess I'll have to learn Czech and read the full work.

Re: Astronautilia

#58

Post by kykeonaut »

wraptile wrote: post #46
budzes wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The book is hard to find. This copy is sold for 9000 CZK (380 Euro): https://www.trhknih.cz/kniha/9uwthe8b Or you can read it in the study room of the National library (Klementinum): https://aleph.nkp.cz/F/83GIEU45K19XBDL2VVT6CJBMH2LA526L5YQ9U...

It's not digitized?

You can find it on libgen :)

Re: Astronautilia

#59

Post by pattisapu »

strbean wrote: post #16
pattisapu wrote: post #7

As science fiction and fantasy have evolved, they have converged. We can see plenty of fantasy in works of science fiction in the conventional _forms_ of science fiction -- short stories, novels, TV shows, movies, video games. It will be interesting to see science fiction in the conventional _forms_ of fantasy -- epics, ballads, poetry, fairy tales, onomastics, runic and incantatory forms of language.... (As an aside…

> It will be interesting to see science fiction in the conventional _forms_ of fantasy I think this happened a fair amount in the forms of religious texts / mythology and mysticism in the early/mid 20th century, no?

You mean like the cult and occult stuff? True, I guess there were some elements. Heaven's Gate, Scientology, and others appear to have adopted a religious outlook on science fiction ideas. I'm not sure that they really adopted conventional forms of fantasy in their literature.
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