Comments on: “Calliope” by Gaiman et al http://www.girldetective.net/?p=3872 Reading, Writing, Movies and Mothering in Minneapolis, Mostly Mon, 11 May 2026 19:58:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: girldetective http://www.girldetective.net/?p=3872&cpage=1#comment-22054 girldetective Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:12:21 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=3872#comment-22054 A LOT of commenters at Monkey See had problems with the story because of the abducted and raped woman at the center of it. Fair enough. And the comments contain a spirited back and forth about how the story is written, with words, art and how reading the script and the author/artist's notes influences a re-reading of the story. Many comment, insightfully I think, on how the character of Madoc in the story (who "inherits" Calliope, or buys her with a bezoar) is a deliberate avatar for artists in general and Gaiman in particular. What no one added, though, is how Madoc is also a mirror for Dream/Morpheus/Oneiros/The Sandman. New readers may not get this right away, but I think it's hinted at in the conversation he has with Calliope at the end. He is not the judgmental, vindictive jerk he once was, especially to women. His own history of imprisonment and abuse has given him a little more empathy and flexibility. Flexibility, or its lack, is another theme in the comments, with experienced readers of the series noting a recurring tension about rules (how Calliope is captured, bound and kept), how to bend and break them, and what the consequences are. Some commenters seemed irate at the arbitrary and non-physical aspects of her imprisonment; this seemed like it might be coming from a lack of experience with the conventions of speculative fiction. As the tenth Dr. Who tells Donna at Pompeii, some things can't be changed at will and whim. Without the constraints of certain rules and convention, we'd have no tension to turn stories on. Speaking of stories and muses, Elizabeth Gilbert did an excellent presentation <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html" rel="nofollow">on creativity for the fine folks at TED</a>. If you have a chunk of tiime, I recommend checking it out. A LOT of commenters at Monkey See had problems with the story because of the abducted and raped woman at the center of it. Fair enough. And the comments contain a spirited back and forth about how the story is written, with words, art and how reading the script and the author/artist’s notes influences a re-reading of the story. Many comment, insightfully I think, on how the character of Madoc in the story (who “inherits” Calliope, or buys her with a bezoar) is a deliberate avatar for artists in general and Gaiman in particular. What no one added, though, is how Madoc is also a mirror for Dream/Morpheus/Oneiros/The Sandman. New readers may not get this right away, but I think it’s hinted at in the conversation he has with Calliope at the end. He is not the judgmental, vindictive jerk he once was, especially to women. His own history of imprisonment and abuse has given him a little more empathy and flexibility.

Flexibility, or its lack, is another theme in the comments, with experienced readers of the series noting a recurring tension about rules (how Calliope is captured, bound and kept), how to bend and break them, and what the consequences are. Some commenters seemed irate at the arbitrary and non-physical aspects of her imprisonment; this seemed like it might be coming from a lack of experience with the conventions of speculative fiction. As the tenth Dr. Who tells Donna at Pompeii, some things can’t be changed at will and whim. Without the constraints of certain rules and convention, we’d have no tension to turn stories on.

Speaking of stories and muses, Elizabeth Gilbert did an excellent presentation on creativity for the fine folks at TED. If you have a chunk of tiime, I recommend checking it out.

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