Factory Girl Trilogy Thoughts (caution, may contain spoilers)

[Foxbat]

Finished. Really enjoyed it. Very thought-provoking. Currently mulling over what I've just read.

Some observations.

Dante's Inferno and the passage of the soul towards God seems to be an influence on this where the factory is concerned.

Evolution. I remember reading somewhere a while back that death creates holes in a population that allows for variation. Similar here. Interesting use of the Duloid's books as an analogy for the creation of mistakes/anomalies within the information. Also, external influences forcing an 'adapt or die' situation. I remember learning about the moths mentioned in Biology class at school (many, many, many moons ago) Nice, ironic use of Darwin characters.

Don't know if these thoughts make any sense but it's what I'm getting from it without trying to reveal too much of the story.

Ultimately, when completing a book, I always ask myself..will I ever go back to this story?
I'm probably going to buy these books again...in paperback this time.

 

[Vertigo]

I think the identity issue is interesting. What marks us out as unique individuals? Apart from physical differences what distinguishes one individual mind (or soul if you like) from another? Is it primarily just our experiences, in other words our memories? If this is the case then given that Kora/Roka has serious memory problems and can remember very little from her past and given that AutoRoka has shared every waking moment with Roka for at least a year and is programmed to remember and indeed mimic Roka as closely as possible, it is almost arguable that AutoRoka will become more Roka than Roka herself.

Note: I haven't quite finished the last book yet.

 

[Foxbat]

I think the identity issue is interesting. What marks us out as unique individuals? Apart from physical differences what distinguishes one individual mind (or soul if you like) from another? Is it primarily just our experiences, in other words our memories? If this is the case then given that Kora/Roka has serious memory problems and can remember very little from her past and given that AutoRoka has shared every waking moment with Roka for at least a year and is programmed to remember and indeed mimic Roka as closely as possible, it is almost arguable that AutoRoka will become more Roka than Roka herself.

An intriguing point.

 

[Foxbat]

Some other musings.

I get the feeling that I'm missing something important regarding the ripping out of tongues but I'm not quite sure what.

Also, initially, I wondered if the Duloid twin thing could be analagous of chromosome pairs but there appeared to be no dominant or recessive- which is what I would expect. Still, it made me think about dominant/recessive in a gender sense - for example, the Y chromosome is dominant over the X (otherwise males would not exist). I thought it would be an interesting situation where a pair of Duloids had opposing genders (or at least somehow gender-analagous to the human set up) and could lead to an interesting path regarding gender equality(especially in such a male-dominated age).

Perhaps I'm just havering

 

[Vertigo]

I've finished now and put up my review here; The Girl with Two Souls by Stephen Palmer

As I said in the review I've thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the thought provoking questions it poses.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Dante's Inferno and the passage of the soul towards God seems to be an influence on this where the factory is concerned.

I've never read it! (& know nothing about it… unlike Philip Pullman).

Evolution. I remember reading somewhere a while back that death creates holes in a population that allows for variation. Similar here. Interesting use of the Duloid's books as an analogy for the creation of mistakes/anomalies within the information. Also, external influences forcing an 'adapt or die' situation. I remember learning about the moths mentioned in Biology class at school (many, many, many moons ago) Nice, ironic use of Darwin characters.

Ta! I much enjoyed playing with Darwin ironies. He is of course Shrewsbury's most famous export…

Don't know if these thoughts make any sense but it's what I'm getting from it without trying to reveal too much of the story.

Ultimately, when completing a book, I always ask myself..will I ever go back to this story?
I'm probably going to buy these books again...in paperback this time.

Good news!

 

[Stephen Palmer]

If this is the case then given that Kora/Roka has serious memory problems and can remember very little from her past and given that AutoRoka has shared every waking moment with Roka for at least a year and is programmed to remember and indeed mimic Roka as closely as possible, it is almost arguable that AutoRoka will become more Roka than Roka herself.

Even Sir George Taubman Goldie could see that Dr Spellman's ideas and plans had a long reach…

btw - Sir George Taubman Goldie was a real person.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Some other musings.

I get the feeling that I'm missing something important regarding the ripping out of tongues but I'm not quite sure what.

It's interesting that Mr Merimnau having his tongue taken out did not stop him communicating.

Also, initially, I wondered if the Duloid twin thing could be analagous of chromosome pairs but there appeared to be no dominant or recessive- which is what I would expect. Still, it made me think about dominant/recessive in a gender sense - for example, the Y chromosome is dominant over the X (otherwise males would not exist). I thought it would be an interesting situation where a pair of Duloids had opposing genders (or at least somehow gender-analagous to the human set up) and could lead to an interesting path regarding gender equality(especially in such a male-dominated age).

Perhaps I'm just havering

It's more an metaphor of capitalism than genetics.

 

[Foxbat]

Thanks for the clarifications. They only confirm that this trilogy does indeed require another read through.

Also, I didn't realise Darwin was from Shrewsbury.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

What did you guys make of Amy's Garden?

 

[Vertigo]

Well I saw elements of it mirroring the main story but to honest I didn't really see quite what its role was overall from the reader's perspective. I also enjoyed the style of it as an homage to Lewis Carroll.

 

[Foxbat]

I feel much the same as Vertigo. I think it's significance increased once Roka posessed it and I saw it almost as if the dual personality (despite the death of Kora) still existed - and that the book itself became the now repressed character. Roka's need to own the book was almost as if she were subconsciously acknowledging that the hidden depths of our personalities are just as important as those on the surface.

But, honestly, I think you could remove it completely and it wouldn't make a whole lot of difference to the story.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Interesting…