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Why do you think Mieville took creatures that are considered a deity, god, or spirit and placed them at the bottom of the hierarchy, even below humans?

Perdido Street Station

Main Characters

Iron Counsel

- power hungry AI

Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin

- a human scientist

- not your typical "hero"

Lin

- a khepri artist

- an outcast in several aspects

Weaver

- a spider creature

- lives below New Crobuzon

Vermishank

- a bio-thaurmaturge remaker/artist

Mr. Motley

- a combination of everything grotesque

Khepri

Garuda

Discussion Question:

Races

Main Characters in Perdido St.

Discussion Question

The Xenians

Yagharek: a Garuda Man

- His punishment

- His effect on Isaac

- His demeanor

Why do you think Mieville decided to appropriate some creatures while at the same time creating some of his own? Do you think this takes away from some of his creativity?

Slake Moth

Background on Perdido St. Station

Mieville's Works

Discussion question:

- The world of Bas-Lag

- "Dungeon and Dragons" tradition

With New Crobuzon being an imperialist power hell-bent on expansion, what real-world countries could Mieville be referencing?

As a whole:

- Multiple narrators/stories

- Focus on hierarchy

- Idea of excess

Other works:

- New Crobuzon as an imperial power.

- Other creatures

Handlinger

Discussion Question

Politics

In the beginning of the novel, Yagharek has a hard time telling Isaac about the crime he committed because he claims there is no word for it in Isaac's culture. Do you feel that this is true and there is a lack of concrete communication between cultures, or that Yagharek was simply unwilling to share his crime with Isaac? If you think it's true: where else do you see this error in communication happen throughout the novel?

World Building

  • Social Surrealism
  • Hierarchy of races
  • Fear of authorities

Remades

How they are different from all other species in their deformities

- The Tolkien method of world building

- Marxism

- Surrealism

- Dungeons and Dragons

Discussion Question

Cactacae

Jack Half-a-Prayer

is an exception to the

disgust of the public

Would Perdido Street Station be as effective as a fantasy novel had Mieville not used as many details to build his world?

What is

grotesque?

Discussion question

Wyrman

Mr. Motley

Vodyanoi

Why talk about characters?

Annotated Bibliography

Do you believe that the kind of punishment remades receive is fair and why?

- Voluntarily remade

Discussion Question

  • Why did Mieville make Mr. Motley one of the most drastically remade characters and why, despite being a remade, does he command so much fear and obedience?

  • What are some reasons why someone would choose to have themselves remade?
  • Blackburn, Stuart H. "Domesticating the Cosmos: History and Structure in a Folktale from India." The Journal of Asian Studies (1986): 527-542.
  • Eiichiro, Ishida. "The "Kappa" Legend. A Comparative Ethnological Study on the Japanese Water-Spirit "Kappa" and Its Habit of Trying to Lure Horses into the Water." Folklore Studies (1950).
  • Farrell, Henry. “Socialist Surrealism.” Hassler, Donald and Clyde Wilcox, eds. New Boundaries in Political Science Fiction. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2008. 272-289.
  • Gordon, Joan. “Hybridity, Heterotopia, and Mateship in China Miéville's "Perdido StreetStation"”. Science Fiction Studies 30.3 (2003): 456–476.
  • Hassler, Donald and Clyde Wilcox. New Boundaries in Political Science Fiction. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2008. 272-289.
  • Mieville, China. Perdido Street Station. New York: The Ballantine Publishing Group, 2000.
  • Morgan, Cheryl. "Interview: China Miéville." Article:, by Cheryl Morgan. Strange Horizons, 1 Oct. 2001. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
  • Ward, William A. "Beetles in the Stone: The Egyptian Scarab." The Biblical Archaeologist (1994): 186-202.

Do you believe the government of New Crobuzon cares for the citizens in any way?

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