{"id":468,"date":"2017-11-30T05:09:27","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T05:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edictbackup.home.blog\/2017\/11\/30\/speed-reads-the-problem-of-susan\/"},"modified":"2019-03-17T13:39:54","modified_gmt":"2019-03-17T13:39:54","slug":"speed-reads-the-problem-of-susan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/2017\/11\/30\/speed-reads-the-problem-of-susan\/","title":{"rendered":"Speed Reads: The Problem of Susan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Himali Thakur, Class of 2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Reading for pleasure is a myth for most of us at Ashoka. It\u2019s sad to see our reading habits slide into oblivion as classes assault us with a never-ending stream of papers and assignments. To save the voracious reader in you, <\/em>The Edict brings the <\/em>Speed Reads Series\u200a\u2014\u200astories handpicked to fit your planned\/unplanned study breaks.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Source: Narnia Confessions, Tumblr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This week\u2019s story is \u201cThe Problem of Susan\u201d by Neil Gaiman<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Genre<\/strong>: Fantasy<\/p>\n

Reading time<\/strong>: 2967 words, approximately 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

Trigger warning<\/strong>: The story contains graphic discussions of violence and death.<\/p>\n

Link<\/strong>: \u201cThe Problem of Susan\u201d on Grotesque and Decadent<\/em><\/a>, Tumblr<\/p>\n

Synopsis<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026I remember thinking what a great deal of damage a train can do, when it hits another train, to the people who were travelling. I suppose you\u2019ve never had to identify a body, dear?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a blessing. I remember looking at them and thinking, What if I\u2019m wrong, what if it\u2019s not him after all? My younger brother was decapitated, you know. A god who would punish me for liking nylons and parties by making me walk through that school dining room, with the flies, to identify Ed, well\u00a0\u2026 he\u2019s enjoying himself a bit too much, isn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Greta Campion is all set to interview Professor Hasting, a mild old woman who specialises in the field of children\u2019s literature. How can a discussion of children\u2019s stories be complete without a mention of Narnia<\/em>? And most of all, how can a conversation about Narnia<\/em> be complete without talking about the problem of Susan Pevensie\u200a\u2014\u200athe elder sister who does not get to go \u201cfurther in and further up\u201d to Aslan\u2019s country because she is too interested in \u201clipsticks, nylons and invitations\u201d?<\/p>\n

Why should I read it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gaiman gives a wonderful response to an ending that unsettled many of us: is Susan excluded from Aslan\u2019s country (read: Heaven) because she became aware of her sexuality\u200a\u2014\u200abecause she indulged in the \u2018sin of Eve\u2019? Even if you are not familiar with the Narnia<\/em> series, \u201cThe Problem of Susan\u201d makes for an excellent quick read that unsettles ideas on sexuality and desire. Gaiman also has interesting comments on the \u201csanctimonious\u201d nature of the stories now written for children.<\/p>\n

If you have read Gaiman before, you will hardly need more than a nudge to read this story. People familiar with his style will note that he starts the story with a dream; Gaiman often uses dreams as a device to introduce a surreal feel to his stories, and he utilises this device with great effect in \u201cThe Problem of Susan\u201d.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in writing for this series, email your recommendations (in the same format as this article) to <\/em>edict@ashoka.edu.in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Himali Thakur, Class of 2019 Reading for pleasure is a myth for most of us at Ashoka. It\u2019s sad to see our reading habits slide into oblivion as classes assault us with a never-ending stream of papers and assignments. To save the voracious reader in you, The Edict brings the Speed Reads Series\u200a\u2014\u200astories handpicked to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[27,146,150,209,243],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1405,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468\/revisions\/1405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}