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Capitol (1979)

by Orson Scott Card

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: The Worthing Chronicle (1)

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2312116,966 (4.02)5
Our world is charged with both the grandeur of God and the void of his absence. The seven deadly sins are the force causing that hole. They are at work in each of us. They decimate our relationships, our souls and our world. These deadly sins often seem pleasing and good for gaining what we desire, but they are thoroughly poisonous. Conversely, the Beatitudes are Jesus' pictures of a restored creation. The Beatitudes introduced what Jesus said to his earliest followers about a life strong and fruitful. In fact, the Beatitudes give us a glimpse of a world empty of evil and filled to the edges with God's life. Looking at the Beatitudes and the seven deadly sins in turn, we see two paths, two sets of invitations. Both call to deep places within us to come and taste. Both invite us to take up residence. Both present themselves as life as it actually is. But only one will draw us further into reality. And only one will make us happy. "Of the many, many books about the Gospels, or about Jesus, or about Christian morality, only one in a thousand gives us a real breakthrough, a new ‘big picture'. Most are just nice little candles on the cake. Seven is a bonfire. It's not just good; it's striking. It doesn't just say all the things you've heard a thousand times before. And yet it's totally in sync with both the saints and the scholars." --Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College, and author of over forty-five books, including Fundamentals of the Faith.… (more)
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Orson Scott Card's novel The Worthing Chronicle, which I read several times as a kid, was a rewrite of his first novel, Hot Sleep. Hot Sleep had a companion book, a collection of short stories called Capitol, which gave the backstory for it. Capitol is the Trantoresque (now we would say Coruscantesque, I guess, but not in 1979) center of a galactic empire, where the elite spend much of their time in suspended animation; the richer you are, the more you can afford. This only multiplies the power of the elite. I had read a selection of stories from Capitol in The Worthing Saga (a collection from Tor that republished Worthing Chronicle along with some related short fiction), but I had never read the book itself. So I tracked it down to see if there were any other stories in it worth reading.

There is indeed some good stuff. "Skipping Stones" is a decent tale about two boys, one rich and one poor, who grow increasingly separate thanks to use of somec (the drug that creates the suspended animation). I also really enjoyed "Second Chance," which deals with some issues of memory manipulation as well.

There are some other solid stories here. "Lifeloop" is a trifle obvious but well written, about a person whose whole life is broadcast (we would now say "streamed") such that the self has become a performance, even more relevant now, I suspect, than it would have been in 1979. "And What Will We Do Tomorrow?" delves into the psychology of Mother, the ancient ruler of Capitol, who uses somec so much she's only awake for a day every five years.

I checked the contents of Capitol against the ISFDB's entry for Worthing Saga as I went, and I have to say, I think Card absolutely made the right call on which stories he kept in print, and which ones he did not. Many of the stories here, especially earlier in the book are bad, clumsy vehicles for exposition about Capitol and somec that don't make any sense, especially "A Sleep and a Forgetting." So Capitol is more an interesting curio than something worth tracking down on its own merits; if you want the good stuff, you can already get that from The Worthing Saga.
  Stevil2001 | Feb 11, 2022 |
This book was a strange commentary on society and the differences between the haves and have nots. Since this was written to make a point I can kind of overlook the HUGE GLARING hole in the story and why things went the way they did. This was an OK book with some interesting concepts but overall NOT one of Cards best works, far from it I would say.

Someone invented a way to put someone into stasis and pull them out healthy months or years later, in preparation of trying interstellar travel. There's a catch, their brains are wiped to that of a new born. Eventually someone figured out how to record the mind and reload it back. This allowed the human race to move out and populate the stars, and was used by the rich and famous to try and live 'forever' by going into stasis for years at a time and spend only little bits of it living. ( )
  readafew | Jun 28, 2007 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Orson Scott Cardprimary authorall editionscalculated
Moore, ChrisCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
A Sleep and a Forgetting:
There is no remebrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
- Ecclesiates 1:11
A Thousand Deaths:
Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
- Galatians 4:16
Skipping Stones:
Unreal friendship may turn to real
But real friendship, once ended, cannot be mended.
- T. S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral
Second Chance:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
- Gerard Manley Hopkins
Breaking the Game:
Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the mose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.
- Proverbs 30:33
Dedication
To Jay A. Parry,
Who has read everything
And made it better.
First words
A Sleep and a Forgetting:
There was nothing remarkable about a rat failing to run a maze.
A Thousand Deaths:
"You will make no speeches," said the prosecutor.
Skipping Stones:
Bergen Bishop wanted to be an artist.
Second Chance:
By the age of seven Batta was thoroughly trapped, though she scarcely recognized it until she was twenty-two.
Breaking the Game:
Herman Nuber's feet were asleep, and every timr he shifted his weight they tingled unbearably.
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Our world is charged with both the grandeur of God and the void of his absence. The seven deadly sins are the force causing that hole. They are at work in each of us. They decimate our relationships, our souls and our world. These deadly sins often seem pleasing and good for gaining what we desire, but they are thoroughly poisonous. Conversely, the Beatitudes are Jesus' pictures of a restored creation. The Beatitudes introduced what Jesus said to his earliest followers about a life strong and fruitful. In fact, the Beatitudes give us a glimpse of a world empty of evil and filled to the edges with God's life. Looking at the Beatitudes and the seven deadly sins in turn, we see two paths, two sets of invitations. Both call to deep places within us to come and taste. Both invite us to take up residence. Both present themselves as life as it actually is. But only one will draw us further into reality. And only one will make us happy. "Of the many, many books about the Gospels, or about Jesus, or about Christian morality, only one in a thousand gives us a real breakthrough, a new ‘big picture'. Most are just nice little candles on the cake. Seven is a bonfire. It's not just good; it's striking. It doesn't just say all the things you've heard a thousand times before. And yet it's totally in sync with both the saints and the scholars." --Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College, and author of over forty-five books, including Fundamentals of the Faith.

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Book description
Contains the short stories:
- A Sleep and a Forgetting
- A Thousand Deaths
- Skipping Stones
- Second Chance
- Breaking the Game
- Lifeloop
- Burning
- And What Will We Do Tomorrow?
- Killing Children
- When No One Remembers His Name, Does God Retire?
- The Stars That Blink
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