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
Discussion Question:
Races
Main Characters in Perdido St.
Discussion Question
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
Why talk about characters?
Annotated Bibliography
Do you believe that the kind of punishment remades receive is fair and why?
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?