RiboFunk

So, this is one of the more interesting books we've read in this class so far...I think anyway. I find it interesting because of the way it's broken up into different stories. I'm a bit confused by how they're all related, although I know all the characters are apart of the same world which I'm also pretty sure is our world perhaps just in the future. I'm drawn to the idea of multiple species that interact, like splices and humans. I'm also drawn to the idea of changing oneself (bodymods) for multiple different reasons. One character, for example (the PI who is in more than one story) is required to have bodymods if he wants to continue working for the Protein Police. The descriptions of all the different types of people and creatures is, at some times, unimaginable because of the boundaries the author pushes. It's hard for me to picture a human with jaguar and fish qualities, or "tattoons" that move. I like how the many different characters choose different things to do to their bodies, and how it's almost unthought of to not have body mods done. In Brain Wars the person writing the letters mentions to his "host mother" that his love interest has less than 20% bodymods and that this is something impressive. For a person to be happy being the way they are without artificial changes to their body is hard to come by in this time; let alone in a time where people can make themselves run faster, learn faster, climb up buildings, have leopard patterned skin, or change themselves into roaches (although this seems to be looked down upon as a race that is disgusting and I agree, who would want to be a bug?) - but even in our days people do things to enhance their bodies (although it's mostly for physical appearances and often done not for oneself but for the image portrayed through our society that becomes harder and harder to reach.

The revolution of the splices is something I saw comming. It's only natural for a independent thinker kept in captivity and slavery to dream and fantasize about being free. After reading "Little Worker" I was surprised at how complacent she was with her life style, although that was all she knew, she didn't have any thoughts or feelings about being free. As the book continued though I began to see, especially in "The Bad Splice" that not all splices where treated as well as little worker was and had they been treated better this need for revolution may not have arised. But, even given respect and treated well, a being cannot be satisfied with their life as a servant. The former PI (I cannot seem to find his name since he talks in the first person and is hardly every addressed by his name) even grasps this concept when Graham-Ballard becomes upset and says, "Creatures with up to forty-nine percent human genes are property?" (157) He is doing his job, but the morality of slavery becomes something that he starts to question; afterall, what right do humans have to rule over a creature simply because they're not considered human?