Search This Blog

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Nightflyers

Of all the stories in Dreamsong 1, except his youthful experiment with "Dr. Weird", Nightflyers is the only story I do not care much for, and the only relatively predictable one. It is really two stories mashed into one: the pursuit of a mythical gigantic ship that glides slowly across the universe and a sci fi version of "the locked room" (or "the locked spaceship") plot. Neither too original. The first part is very AC Clarke-ish with a twist. The second part is fairly common space horror stuff with a family relationship that the Chinese understand well.

The lack of originality apparently makes it perfect material for adaptation to screen. In the novella, the heroine is black and superior. In the movie, she's of course white.

No comments:

The Ending of Le Samourai (1967), Explained

A quick online search after watching Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai confirmed my suspicion: The plot is very rarely understood b...