Vengeance parables and vengeance fantasies
Last week, I wrote about the second book in RF Kuang's Poppy Wars trilogy, which I found disconcerting for a variety of reasons. The first book was an interesting examination of how the drive towards vengeance could lead to dark places, set amid a metaphor for the Second Sino-Japanese War in a fantasy world. It was, at least as I read it, a cautionary tale. Yet the second book in the trilogy seemed to throw that ethos by the wayside, embracing the urge to avenge, not just blind to the lessons of the first novel, but blind to the specific lessons of historical reference. I recoiled. Yet it is at least worthy of note when a book keeps me thinking, as The Dragon Republic did, about other types of stories. Specifically, vengeance fantasies. Consider a few prominent movies by Quentin Tarantino with historical reference points: Django Unchained , and Inglourious Basterds [sp]. (Sorrynotsorry about the "[sp]") Both a...