The Starless Sea: A Novel
1 2021-04-16T14:24:24-07:00 Anna Michelle Martinez-Montavon 1459b2fc55591cd9b08a290af468d31b5dfe46a3 33948 6 Morgenstern, Erin. The Starless Sea. New York: Anchor Books, 2019. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/535366/the-starless-sea-by-erin-morgenstern/. meta 2021-04-17T21:13:36-07:00 November 1 2019 "Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a rare book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues -- a bee, a key, and a sword -- that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to a subterranean library, hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians--it is a place of lost cities and seas of honey, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a beautiful barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly-soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose -- in both the rare book and in his own life" Morgenstern, Erin. The Starless Sea. New York: Anchor Books, 2019. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/535366/the-starless-sea-by-erin-morgenstern/. Morgenstern, Erin 11 01 2019 Natalie K Meyers 4b3948ab8901940da5f2eb884c2cc86b3dc6ac22Media
resource | rdf:resource | https://scalar.usc.edu/works/refusal/the-starless-sea-a-novel |
type | rdf:type | http://scalar.usc.edu/2012/01/scalar-ns#Media |
is live | scalar:isLive | 1 |
thumbnail | art:thumbnail | https://erinmorgenstern.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/starless-sea-1600x2447.jpg |
was attributed to | prov:wasAttributedTo | https://scalar.usc.edu/works/refusal/users/34711 |
created | dcterms:created | 2021-04-16T14:24:24-07:00 |
Version 6
resource | rdf:resource | https://scalar.usc.edu/works/refusal/the-starless-sea-a-novel.6 |
versionnumber | ov:versionnumber | 6 |
title | dcterms:title | The Starless Sea: A Novel |
description | dcterms:description | Morgenstern, Erin. The Starless Sea. New York: Anchor Books, 2019. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/535366/the-starless-sea-by-erin-morgenstern/. |
url | art:url | https://erinmorgenstern.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/starless-sea-1600x2447.jpg |
default view | scalar:defaultView | meta |
was attributed to | prov:wasAttributedTo | https://scalar.usc.edu/works/refusal/users/4374 |
created | dcterms:created | 2021-04-17T21:13:36-07:00 |
type | rdf:type | http://scalar.usc.edu/2012/01/scalar-ns#Version |
date | dcterms:date | November 1 2019 |
abstract | dcterms:abstract | "Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a rare book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues -- a bee, a key, and a sword -- that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to a subterranean library, hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians--it is a place of lost cities and seas of honey, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a beautiful barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly-soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose -- in both the rare book and in his own life" |
bibliographic citation | dcterms:bibliographicCitation | Morgenstern, Erin. The Starless Sea. New York: Anchor Books, 2019. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/535366/the-starless-sea-by-erin-morgenstern/. |
creator | dcterms:creator | Morgenstern, Erin |
temporal | dcterms:temporal | 11 01 2019 |
This page has tags:
- 1 media/dctermstimeline.png 2021-04-12T00:11:25-07:00 Natalie K Meyers 4b3948ab8901940da5f2eb884c2cc86b3dc6ac22 Genealogy of Refusal Timeline Natalie K Meyers 36 timeline 2021-09-14T21:36:29-07:00 Natalie K Meyers 4b3948ab8901940da5f2eb884c2cc86b3dc6ac22
This page is referenced by:
-
1
2021-01-09T16:02:31-08:00
Why don't librarians "Just say No"?
83
Do we prefer to suffer in silence because its a vocation and not "just a job"
plain
2021-04-20T11:28:44-07:00
In this page we begin to explore why the librarian stays silent, why the word "No" never seemed to make its way into the vocabulary of librarians, and why sometimes it is difficult for librarians even to say: "I prefer not to."
We started this page laughing about anti-drug campaigns (DARE and "Just say No") and then found ourselves returning to a circumstance that will not shock anyone who has ever worked in a library: libraries and librarians are often complicit in their own silence, organizationally so desperate to prove their worth, that refusal is not an option.Morgenstern's Starless Sea takes things quite a bit further. Reviewers describe the book as a beautifully written and compellingly imagined book that introduces a mystical library. These librarians are physically and emotionally inculcated to their vocation, devoting themselves entirely to serving the library.
The librarians will be blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs and then either be branded or de-tongued before they can start work. The mutilations are the critical prerequisites that mark the point at which the librarians in the Starless Sea can be trusted to do their jobs.
Why elinguation? Because, borrowing from Popowich, their role is to be caretakers who can't say "No". Not meaning makers. (2019)
In the 1995 film Party Girl, Mary gets fired from her job at the public library and her godmother, the librarian, goes on a rant about the demands of the profession. She tells Mary that "Melvil Dewey hired women as librarians because he believed the job didn't require any intelligence! It was a woman's job! That means it's underpaid and undervalued!" (Mayer 1995)
The feminization of the profession plays a big role, but there is of course, no single reason, librarians don't "Just Say No." But it is worth remembering that even Bartleby in all his mental anguish was able to voice that he "preferred not to"--surely this is a language we can adopt more? Scarcity scenarios have been playing out at universities worldwide, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic situation which drives counter-intuitive decision making.
For example, some libraries unnecessarily delayed closing during the COVID-19 pandemic, as other academic libraries closed to protect their patrons and their staff (Hinchliffe and Wolff-Eisenberg 2020). The rationale for those that remained opened was the library staff were up for the risk and that their sacrifice was worth it.- Were library administrators able to just say "No" and Refuse to send their people to work without PPE during a pandemic situation?
- Were library staff able to say "No PPE? Then I'm not coming in to work/I'm not working where I don't feel safe [around co-workers who wont practice social distancing or around maskless patrons]?"
- Were library staff able to refuse to work when they found themselves denied surveillance or diagnostic testing offered to other members of the campus community like students living in dormitories or professors doing classroom instruction?
- Were library staff able to say "if you want us to "Stay open/re-open without COVID-19 testing available, I'm not coming in to work"?
-
1
2020-12-22T11:12:40-08:00
I am not your hero
25
Murderbot: the alternate patron saint for librarians
plain
2021-09-14T13:25:10-07:00
In our genealogy there are stereotypical librarians from the Bookmobile Bad Girl, to the Parks and Recreation "Sssshh!" librarian, to Morgenstern's Acolytes, Keepers, and Guardians in The Starless Sea. Each of these stereotypes help us to recognize the encumbered ways librarians live out saying nothing but "yes" so we can "deliver it all over town," or how we "Ssssh!" in the face of actual crisis, or even offer ourselves up to elinguation so that saying "No" becomes impossible. The burden of these roles make it difficult for library employees to refuse, let alone have the difficult conversations we need to work through if we want to experience greater trust in community, whether during abundance or crisis.
As an antidote to the hero narrative and accompanying vocational awe, we propose Martha Wells' Murderbot, an anti-hero, as the new patron saint for librarians.In her novella All Systems Red (2017), author Martha Wells introduces readers to Murderbot, an artificial intelligence designed to serve as a security unit (SecUnit) for profitable ventures. The SecUnit was created for a single purpose: keep the contract alive, even if it means taking damage to itself. Murderbot's feature set ensures that it can do so--but through a first-person perspective, it becomes clear that Murderbot is no gung-ho saviour seeking adulation. In fact, the Murderbot cares about keeping its cohort alive, but only in a self-interested capacity that requires the minimum level of effort and interaction with those it protects.
We learn that Murderbot has hacked its own governor module--the device that is supposed to keep it under the command of the mission leader--and is free to make its own decisions. With this newfound freedom, Murderbot isn't volunteering to take on more work; nor is it attempting to fraternize with its cohort, or ingratiate itself in search of greater acceptance or promotion. Murderbot uses its specialist capabilities to create workplace efficiencies that allow it to spend less time working, and more time doing the things it prefers to do. Self sacrifice is the furthest thing from its mind as it escapes the tedium of work and its workmates by watching episode after episode of Sanctuary Moon re-runs.
This fan-imatic by Mar set to a soundtrack by Canadian duo Tegan and Sara depicts Murderbot, freed from its governing module yet no less expert, no less effective as it [re]-negotiates its relationship with work and team members. -
1
2021-09-14T12:57:48-07:00
Vocational Awe
3
plain
2021-09-14T13:04:07-07:00
Vocational awe is the belief that libraries are inherently good and beyond critique. It leads library workers to prioritize their institutions over their own well-being, leading to persistent problems in librarianship such as burnout, overwork, and low salaries. It shows up in popular depictions of librarians, such as Erin Morgenstern's The Starless Sea.