Inspiring Older Readers
Picnic On Paradise by Joanna Russ
A recent article that we feature in the Resources section of this website written by Carolyn Cox caught my attention because it was such a robust piece of advocacy on behalf of a writer, Joanna Russ, who I had never heard of before. Cox concludes her review by saying:
"In truth, the breadth and scope of Russ’ fiction is too expansive to lay out here, except to say that her body of work was transformative stylistically and politically, and deserves to be read on a wider scale than it is today. And that’s not to mention her crucial and enduringly relevant nonfiction work, such as the 1983 book How to Suppress Women’s Writing, which clearly explains how women’s contributions to all walks of life are erased or undermined."
It was such an interesting uncovering of Russ and her oeuvre that I was moved to get my hands on a copy of her first novel, Picnic on Paradise, published in 1968, to see what I made of it.
Russ was not only an outspoken, campaigning feminist but she was also that quite unusual figure in the literary world, a female science fiction writer. One of the problems with the science fiction label is that it tends to get associated with nerdy obsessives, usually boys and men, who like to dress up in Star Trek costumes but Russ was a writer (she died in 2011) who used the science fiction genre to explore cutting edge political and identity issues. Cox again nails this point:
"So Russ was no stranger to comments from all camps about her tone, her lifestyle, or her general respectability. These were, and in many ways still are, the lucrative costs of extrapolating science fiction to a step that one might assume would be natural for the genre. If sci-fi can envision new tech and new science, why would it be controversial for a sci-fi author to also envision new social structures and ways of relating to sex and gender? Russ dared to write sci-fi where women are more than just hysterical victims or sex objects. "
Her later 1975 work, The Female Man, is generally accounted as her masterpiece but it is easy to see Russ’ main themes even in this first novel. Picnic On Paradise is not a long work but it also isn’t a particularly easy one either. The plot might take some explaining and so I’m indebted to the website Speculation for this admirably brief summation:
"Hardened female soldier stuck in a semi-utopian civilization, Picnic in Paradise is the story of Alyx. Displaced in time, she is pressed into acting as guide for a group of spoiled humans—all upgraded bigger, stronger, and more beautiful than herself—across uninhabited, scenic terrain. Despite the commercial war going on in the background, Alyx expects the trip to be an easy one, and thinks they can make it in a matter of days. Events quickly escalate, however, and what was supposed to be a week-and-a-half becomes weeks. But the journey is not the only thing that stretches. Alyx’s personality caught in a variety of conflicts with her past and the vices of the travelers, she is forced to confront, and in some cases conquer, personal demons as their journey becomes ever more harrowing in the wild beyond."
As with so many things, context here is important in understanding why this book is so ground-breaking. The key thing to bear in mind is that this is a book in the science fiction genre, written at the end of the 1960s that puts the issue of character and gender right up front. To have a female protagonist of this kind was a very distinct and deliberate statement – a clear step out into the forum of gender politics.
But it’s not only this direct challenge to the male hero hegemony that is makes this book unusual – stylistically it’s sometimes shockingly different. There are times when it flirts with a sort of magic realism and stream of consciousness that bends and distorts time and action and, in truth, it took me a while to tune into the writing style. In a relatively short book this can be a problem and I found myself back-tracking on a couple of occasions to re-orientate myself. Once I’d settled in though it was quite a ride.
Other critics and commentators on Russ’ work seem to emphasize her fearlessness and sheer visceral anger and there are examples of that here as the central character, Alyx confronts the failings of others and herself. This is a book that is essentially based on the classic idea of a journey or mission which acts as a metaphor for the inner journey of self- discovery. The random acts of violence and sex are all aggressive and challenging and seem to tap into the author’s residual well of anger.
To be frank, I’m not sure whether I liked this book or not. It was certainly challenging and sometimes frustrating but I think there’s enough here to make me want to explore more of her writing.
Terry Potter
May 2018