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A review by lizshayne
The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
It's been way too long since I experienced Dirty Computer so I've forgotten like a significant amount of the concept behind it and also I'm not sure it's necessary for the stories to make sense.
(I'm the 🎵 reader who never remembers anything 🎵 )
The way that the stories take place in the same world, but tell different stories is awesome and the hmm... evolution from cyberpunk science fiction to speculative fantasy in the way the stories imagine the world is super interesting. That the first one feels very grounded, not in reality or in real science, but in a willingness to commit to sciency-ness as a genre constraint. And each story after that gets progressively less interested in conforming to science fiction as a set of rules that confine the how of what's possible.
Which is kind of the point of being a Dirty Computer even if it means that you can't read the stories out of order.
(I'm the 🎵 reader who never remembers anything 🎵 )
The way that the stories take place in the same world, but tell different stories is awesome and the hmm... evolution from cyberpunk science fiction to speculative fantasy in the way the stories imagine the world is super interesting. That the first one feels very grounded, not in reality or in real science, but in a willingness to commit to sciency-ness as a genre constraint. And each story after that gets progressively less interested in conforming to science fiction as a set of rules that confine the how of what's possible.
Which is kind of the point of being a Dirty Computer even if it means that you can't read the stories out of order.