9.4 KiB
Unsong: Chapter 31: The Foundation Of Empire
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Author: u/itisike Dragon Army*
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URL: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-31-the-foundation-of-empire/
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Score: 39
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Created: 2016-08-01T02:29:01
Post:
Comments:
u/LiteralHeadCannon [+17] (an hour later)
I'm curious what Unsong's take on the Holocaust is. Yes, it happened before the sky cracked, but it had a huge effect on Jewish culture in real life, whereas it's not even been mentioned thus far in Unsong, as far as I recall. Did the events of the sky cracking simply overshadow it to the point of irrelevance? I somehow doubt it.
Is it a coincidence that our rocketry programs, which destroyed the beautiful order of things everyone had settled on, relied on the employment of Wernher von Braun, an engineer who worked for the modern empire that made the most credible attempt of wiping out God's chosen people within that beautiful order?
They enslave their children's children who make compromise with sin.
u/Frommerman [+15] (2 hours later)
The Holocaust has been mentioned. The Rebbe who created the Liberty Golem was a Holocaust escapee, and he mentioned that "As New York saved the Jews, it is time for the Jews to save New York."
Other than that, no.
u/LiteralHeadCannon [+7] (3 hours later)
Ah, yes, of course; I think that's what originally brought it to my mind, and then I forgot.
I would still think this is a matter of enough significance to get explicitly, personally discussed at length by Aaron in the narration.
u/jaiwithani [+2] Insufficient data for a meaningful answer (11 hours later)
Also mentioned in The Broadcast.
u/-LVP- [+8] (3 hours later)
Is it a coincidence
You know exactly what you are reading.
u/Venoft [+2] (18 hours later)
Hitler and the jews they killed have been mentioned in the Broadcast.
u/wtfbbc [+11] (3 hours later)
Maybe my favorite chapter so far! Learning about the Comet King and the history of this world has been my absolute favorite part of this story, so this was a solid hit of satisfaction
u/None [+3] (16 hours later)
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u/Ninmesara [+2] (17 hours later)
Yeah, it would be great if the normal human we can relate to were to do interesting things instead of demi-gods just generally being there, siring bastards or holding meetings and fighting wars against a mostly undescribed demon horde (all descriptions of fights agains demons are way too vague).
u/LiteralHeadCannon [+6] (18 hours later)
I find it a lot harder to relate to Aaron, with all of his all-too-obvious blunders.
u/LiteralHeadCannon [-1] (16 hours later)
Stop it. The entire story is good; you can't break it into bits and pieces.
u/alexanderwales [+11] Time flies like an arrow (16 hours later)
What? That's ridiculous, of course you can break a work down into pieces. That's a fundamental critical technique. That's what criticism is. Is your understanding of how we evaluate works so warped that you think something like "the pace was too slow" or "his motivation didn't make sense" is somehow invalid because it's not holistic?
u/LiteralHeadCannon [+1] (16 hours later)
I'm saying that the Aaron parts of Unsong are great and the Comet King parts of Unsong are great and they are both part of a singular, beautiful whole, like the world itself. A belief on your part that one section is worthier than another is your own flaw, and a sentiment that you would destroy one part for more of another is simply disgusting.
u/None [+3] (17 hours later)
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u/LiteralHeadCannon [+3] (19 hours later)
I'm sorry you can't appreciate omnipresent beauty. Really, I pity you.
u/None [+1] (19 hours later)
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u/LiteralHeadCannon [+4] (19 hours later)
Not really.
u/None [+0] (19 hours later)
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u/LiteralHeadCannon [+0] (19 hours later)
When there's air all around you, how do you feel grateful for its presence?
u/None [+2] (19 hours later)
[removed]
u/LiteralHeadCannon [+1] (19 hours later)
How, then, are you grateful for causality, or the fundamental forces, or the consistency of mathematics, or any other number of very real and good but inescapable things?
u/ratanon [+0] Holy, holy is the lord of /etc/hosts (a day later)
Grateful to whom?
u/ArisKatsaris [+2] Sidebar Contender (16 hours later)
Are you trying to be mystical or something? Are you on LSD? Are big green bats talking to you?
u/LiteralHeadCannon [+1] (16 hours later)
Just reading Unsong.
u/ArisKatsaris [+7] Sidebar Contender (16 hours later)
Being a reader of Unsong doesn't mean you need speak like Neil Armstrong after he went through the Outer Gate where everything is perfect and nothing can possibly be improved.
u/None [+4] (17 hours later)
[removed]
u/LiteralHeadCannon [-2] (18 hours later)
No; you have to tell the truth and say that you enjoyed the whole story; refusing to do so is not giving the author his due. So it is in life.
u/TK17Studios [+3] Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning (a day later)
Are ... troll?
^(Guys, can't tell if troll ...)
u/ratanon [+4] Holy, holy is the lord of /etc/hosts (a day later)
No. Probably just a fanboy.
I've seen this kind of attitude ("the author is a genius and every criticism is wrong") somewhat frequently in, forgive my arrogance, somewhat less sophisticated fandoms than this subreddit. Though to those people's credit, they weren't as obnoxiously militant about it.
u/TK17Studios [+2] Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning (a day later)
Yeah. Saw similar on the Significant Digits subreddit. Seemed less ... intoxicated, though.
u/ArisKatsaris [+1] Sidebar Contender (a day later)
I originally thought they were genuine, but I think they are either trolling now, or (more charitably) just mildly self-mocking their own attitude via exaggeration.
u/None [+1] (5 days later)
No. He's the author of Ginny Weasley and the Sealed Intelligence.
u/scruiser [+2] CYOA (17 hours later)
... You are reading a "Kabbala-punk" story. Multiple key events have involved or outright hinged upon puns and choices of letters... Thus Unsong itself can be thought of breaking up sentences into word and words into letters, so I don't think you can criticize a criticism that involves breaking things into bits and pieces.
That I think I don't mind Aaron's parts, but only because they provide a narrative for the interesting interlude pieces to give context too, otherwise those pieces would be too disconnected.
u/Jello_Raptor [+9] The Last Tool User (23 hours later)
Wait a second. Ronald Reagan is a weaponized meme being piloted by Gadiriel.
This story is nuts in the best way.
u/ZeroNihilist [+5] (14 hours later)
“Like you did, Jalaketu ben Raziel?”
So this makes Jala's father, Comet West, Raziel.
Raziel was previously mentioned in Chapter 20:
Raziel was missing, as always, out doing his thing, whatever Raziel’s thing was.
...
“Sometimes there comes upon us the desire to seek out and explore new parts of God’s creation, that we may appreciate ever-greater portions of His glory. ... Thus Raziel, who has absented himself from this assembly to traverse the gulfs beyond the world.”
...
“Raziel?”
“Off somewhere,” said Michael.
Jala's other patronymic, "ben Kokab", appears to mean "son of a star" (or the star; I don't know how the grammar works there).
In the comments of this chapter, Scott said:
I really wanted her to actually call him “Jalaketu bar Kochba”, but I remembered at the last moment that angels can’t speak Aramaic.
This is the aramaic translation of "ben Kokab", and it refers to Simon bar Kokhba. He led a revolt against the Romans and established an independent Jewish state that was conquered within 3 years.
Given what we know of Jala's eventual (presumed) demise and the fall of his empire, it seems kabbalistically appropriate.
He was also a Messiah candidate, but that wasn't bourne out for obvious reasons.
It seems likely that Raziel was aware of the kabbalistic connotations of siring Jalaketu. So what was his plan? I can't remember if he's still around. Apparently he was giving Jala dreams throughout his childhood, so at the very least he didn't die in coitus.
u/LiteralHeadCannon [+3] (15 hours later)