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Alternate History General Discussion

Charles EP M. said:
Manchukuo 1987 follows a remembrance of brutal counterinsurgency by the war-crime committing Survey Unit with an aside about a schoolgirl doing a dance routine & cute photos in a survey man cosplay outfit. The world building is damn good.
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Sounds reminiscent of Peppermint Candy, a 1999 South Korean movie whose protagonist took part in the violent crackdown of the Gwangju Democratization Movement, but since the story is told in reverse order, most of it is about his later life.
 
Hendryk said:
Sounds reminiscent of Peppermint Candy, a 1999 South Korean movie whose protagonist took part in the violent crackdown of the Gwangju Democratization Movement, but since the story is told in reverse order, most of it is about his later life.
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Still need to watch that film, I think it was one of the first films to depict Gwangju Massacre. I think if a story is reminiscent to a Lee Chang-dong film then it must be doing something right.
 
(Not sure if this is the right thread for such a question, but here goes):

I’m currently preparing for a low-key event where I’ll be discussing my writing experiences and published works. One of those works, a short AH story titled “For State & Country” (in brief, VA remains neutral—for a time—in the Civil War, and Robert E. Lee narrowly chooses to stay in the Union Army as a result), I’ve developed mixed opinions about, even allowing for its being one of my earliest efforts, to the point where I’m thinking about not only omitting it from the list of stories I’ll discuss, but taking it down from Kindle altogether. Part of me is sad at the prospect, and wonders if it’s self-censorship, always a loaded issue; another part, however, thinks it’s an acknowledgment of having written something that didn’t turn out as hoped, and so there’s no shame in its not being out there in the world.

Thoughts?
 
MAC161 said:
(Not sure if this is the right thread for such a question, but here goes):

I’m currently preparing for a low-key event where I’ll be discussing my writing experiences and published works. One of those works, a short AH story titled “For State & Country” (in brief, VA remains neutral—for a time—in the Civil War, and Robert E. Lee narrowly chooses to stay in the Union Army as a result), I’ve developed mixed opinions about, even allowing for its being one of my earliest efforts, to the point where I’m thinking about not only omitting it from the list of stories I’ll discuss, but taking it down from Kindle altogether. Part of me is sad at the prospect, and wonders if it’s self-censorship, always a loaded issue; another part, however, thinks it’s an acknowledgment of having written something that didn’t turn out as hoped, and so there’s no shame in its not being out there in the world.

Thoughts?
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Edit the file with an afterword talking about how your view of the story has changed.
 
@MAC161 There are plenty of writers, especially self published ones, who remove 'old shames' from market. If you think its not up to standard then the question is whether you think it damages your reputation more than enhances it.

But I don't think there's a morally bad call. Its whatever you're happier with.

Honestly self-censorship is part of being a writer, in that we choose what we think is worth sharing.

I have written plenty of things I won't share that still helped me to write in terms of honing my craft.
 
SpanishSpy said:
Edit the file with an afterword talking about how your view of the story has changed.
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Gary Oswald said:
There are plenty of writers, especially self published ones, who remove 'old shames' from market. If you think its not up to standard then the question is whether you think it damages your reputation more than enhances it.

But I don't think there's a morally bad call. Its whatever you're happier with.

Honestly self-censorship is part of being a writer, in that we choose what we think is worth sharing.

I have written plenty of things I won't share that still helped me to write in terms of honing my craft.
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Time Enough said:
I’m reminded of Ursula Le Guin’s essay on gender which she released an updated version in which she kept the original text and then essentially argued with her past self about how her opinions have changed.
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All great advice; thanks, everyone! Right now my top choices are removing "FSAC" altogether or altering the "Historical Note" afterword I had at the end to better indicate the qualms/opinion changes I've had since the work was released in 2016; happy to share the latter if anyone's interested in critiquing. Tilting a bit more towards the former at the moment, not only because of said qualms but also seeing formatting and writing habits from way back that make me cringe nowadays--perhaps those will tip the scale more than the other, in the end, lol.
 
Manchukuo 1987 ends with
communism, especially the real Chinese stuff, is great and will make things work out
which is a bit awkward for me,
a guy who doesn't believe that
, but still a pretty epic tale that gives everyone a satisfying, of not all happy, arc and ending. Also boy does he deliver on the sex and violence he promised!
 
Charles EP M. said:
Manchukuo 1987 ends with
communism, especially the real Chinese stuff, is great and will make things work out
which is a bit awkward for me,
a guy who doesn't believe that
, but still a pretty epic tale that gives everyone a satisfying, of not all happy, arc and ending. Also boy does he deliver on the sex and violence he promised!
Click to expand...
One wonders
if this was a decision made to make the work marketable in China
.
 
I'm a bit over half way through Manchukuo 1987 right now (so I won't look at spoilers at the moment) but it is blowing my fucking mind - best AH novel I've read in a long time.

It has taken me longer to read than I had expected - the prose is very good, the characters are very well fleshed out, but it is substantive, a very meaty novel, and it's not easy to just breeze through. It's too rich for that, I think.

I am most definitely reviewing this book for Nerds of a Feather.
 
Been ever so slowly reading through Wrapped in Flames on the other place.

Boy do I love everything but the division counting and that stuff. Puts my clean to sleep as soon as I start reading it, but the more narrative part (or literally anything that isnt explaining the breakdown of say Grant's Army) I enjoy reading.

-------

This Manchuko 1987 sounds interesting though. Maybe it'll be the next thing I start reading. Esp with the positive comments from people here.
 
Not sure if this is the right thread for random PoDs, but if you've ever wanted to dispose of Norman Baker's career, he faced a challenge for Lib Dem Group Leader on Lewes County Council in 1995, just after the locals (provoked--at least in his account--by a general atmosphere of discontent against him and the belief that some of his comments about cannabis had cost them a council seat), and won by 14-13. If one councillor's vote goes the other way, he's very unlikely to stand as an MP, which has a big impact on the Expenses Scandal and Peter Mandelson's career...
 
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