Subject: Review: "Celestis" by Paul Park

From: [email-masked] (p-m agapow)
Date: 06 Aug 1997 20:32:56 GMT

"Celestis" by Paul Park
	A Postview, copyright 1997 p-m agapow

A planet of the edge of colonised space, Celestis is isolated in time and
distance, feeding off decades-old news from Earth.  The aboriginal
population of Celestis is subjugated by the humans, living on the fringes
of the colonies, transforming their bodies into human-like forms via drugs
and surgery.  After Earth breaks off contact, a clumsy rebellion erupts.
Simon, a diplomat who has actually seen Earth, and Katherine, a
transformed native, are taken hostage.  Deprived of her medicine,
Katherine becomes more and more alien as her body returns to its natural
state.

Many years ago, a "National Geographic" photo-essay on South Africa
contained a picture of a roadside billboard for "whitening cream."  The
advertisement was illustrated with cartoony pictures of beaming black
Africans, with peculiar beige-toned skin, in doctors smocks and business
suits.  The photo caption did not mention the billboard, referring only to
the people walking by in the foreground.  The picture spoke for itself.

A reading of "Celestis" (confusingly aka "Coelestis" in another edition)
calls that image to mind.  The "colonists," most of whom were actually
born on planet, celebrate an exaggerated image of Earth, a homeland that
in reality is hopelessly alien to them.  Although not intentionally
malign, the colony's very presence has engulfed Aboriginal culture.
"Improved" natives have their jaws broken into a human shape and take
carcinogenic drugs to look more human.  The author does not preach or
demonise the colonists but his metaphor is obvious and coldly furious.

The details of the setting encourage a comparison to colonial days.  The
majority of technology and social mores seen are contemporary, a point
which jars slightly.  Officials are ferried around in limousines between
rambling mansions and garden parties.  Park is disinterested in technology
or spouting science.  At the same time, it would be wrong to read the book
too literally.  Although the colonists speak in English, that language has
mutated into unrecognisable forms too.  Further, as Katherine reverts to
an alien form, her mind and perceptions follow too.  Humans and natives
see the world in entirely different ways.  Park shows great skill in
depicting this transition, making it alien yet believable.  His
descriptive powers are excellent, conveying both this decaying corner of
empire and the turmoil in the minds of its inhabitants.

Unfortunately the plot and sense of the novel are conveyed so well that
for a period near the end it seems like the narrative has finished before
the story.  The pace slows down for a while before picking up for the end.
Apart from this minor complaint, "Celestis" comes highly recommended.  Not
one for the the techno-fetishists and science buffs but a thoughtful and
well described story of another world.  [***/interesting] and dawn over
the Nile on the Sid and Nancy scale.

%A Paul Park
%T Celestis
%I Tor
%C New York
%D 1995
%G ISBN 0-312-86285-7
%P 287pp
%O paperback, Aus$17.95

paul-michael agapow ([email-masked]), La Trobe Uni, Infocalypse
"There is no adventure, there is no romance, there is only trouble and desire."
[archived at http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~agapow/Postviews/]