Comments on: PC019: Galatea

By: Rachel Swirsky giving a reading at Borderlands in San Francisco, July 23 7:30 | Alas, a blog

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:08:04 +0000

[...] I haven’t personally encountered Amelia Beamer before, but Vylar Kaftan, Pat Murphy, and Tim Pratt are all amazing authors. Pat Murphy may be most famous for her story “Rachel in Love”. As for Tim Pratt and Vylar Kaftan, I can recommend work of theirs that I’ve published on PodCastle: Tim Pratt’s “Cup and Table” and Vylar Kaftan’s “Galatea”. [...]

By: Spork

Spork — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:51:26 +0000

I can suspend my disbelief for a lot of things. Talking animals, flying carpets, centaurs, magic in general.

But, I can’t believe people would continue to live in a city that makes their bodies fall apart a piece at a time.

For that reason, the entire premise is flawed, and the resulting story product is stupid and painfully irritating.

By: The Fix | From the Podosphere: August 2008

The Fix | From the Podosphere: August 2008 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:43:22 +0000

[...] “Galatea” by Vylar Kaftan (read by Rachel Swirsky) begins PodCastle’s August offerings. It’s a surreal fantasy about a young woman trying to settle in a new city, when she and all around her are losing body parts. She strikes up a tentative relationship with a neighbor who promises to tell her why this is happening. Though the intro before the story informs us that the tale is based on a traditional fantasy, this doesn’t excuse the heavy-handed symbolism with which the story concludes. It’s competent but thin, and the plot goes nowhere other than to point up an obvious moral. [...]

By: Shiatis

Shiatis — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:56:33 +0000

Predictable, but enjoyable. My question is what the “mature listener” warning was for in the intro? Because someone’s hair fell out?

By: LaShawn

LaShawn — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:54:37 +0000

I knew the ending as soon as Galatea made her first appearance. Didn’t stop me from listening, though. I liked Julie’s transformation, and towards the end, as important pieces fell off of her, I felt her despair and fear. Nicely done!

By: Vylar Kaftan

Vylar Kaftan — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:46:39 +0000

I did visualize San Francisco, yes.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:30:20 +0000

I could see a lot of symbolism in this story that I could apply to my own life. However, I did not particularly like the story it felt to much like fiction and not fantasy. This story was like going to a hamburger stand and ending up with a cucumber sandwich. Again not that it was a bad story it just does not match up with what comes to mind with a floating castle. Please, PLEASE bring back the magic…

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:09:26 +0000

Vylar, would you be willing to say what city you had in mind when writing? I pictured San Francisco, but many of our readers on the forums seemed to imagine NYC.

By: Vylar Kaftan

Vylar Kaftan — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:58 +0000

Thanks for the comments. I’m glad people are enjoying the story.

Some background, if anyone’s curious. “Galatea” was written during the Clarion West Write-a-Thon a few years ago. I was wondering what to write about when a friend called me from Japan. He told me about how alienated he felt from the people around him. His words reminded me of how alone and strange I feel in big cities, particularly next to tall buildings. Julie emerged from that feeling.

Trent was a character that had been floating around my head for a while–part sculptor, part performance artist–and it seemed like the two of them should meet. For me, most stories emerge from characters and what happens when two unrelated ones meet in a common setting.

By: scatterbrain

scatterbrain — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:02:48 +0000

Now this is my kind of fantasy: weird things happen and people treat it as near-normal, the kind of deconstructive argument to real life.

By: LittleLotus

LittleLotus — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:21:43 +0000

This story was fantastic, loved it to pieces, but I can’t tell if it truely is fantacy. It reminds me too much of science fiction in how the problem arises of the disapearing, falling apart, and decomposition of the city folk. Yet, the ending is beyond fantacyin that she becomes what the city believes she should be. Great reading and great story! Thank you!

By: Christopher Reynaga

Christopher Reynaga — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:29:09 +0000

Great story, Vylar. I’ve always had a whimsical place in my heart for body parts kept in a shoebox, like old photos.

By: Audita Sum

Audita Sum — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:36:33 +0000

Really nice story. It caught my attention more than usual, plus it was just… good. It actually reminded me a little of Pseudopod’s fare.

By: Galatea by Vylar Kaftan for your tunage pleasure

Galatea by Vylar Kaftan for your tunage pleasure — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:17:24 +0000

[...] Listen here! [...]

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:14:09 +0000

What a feeling of utter despair I got listening to this story!

The author really captures the main character, Julie’s hopelessness and the frustrating almost listless guess-work that she and the artist attempt.

Large cities can really suck out your soul and leave you dry and empty, if you let them.

I really agree with the message of the piece as I read it: let go of your fear! It’s the fear that paralyzed all human relations and smothers real life in a city, especially American ones.

Fear is really our worst enemy.

By: querkus

querkus — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:08:32 +0000

I felt a great kinship with your character. My mate and I moved to a city from a small town setting before he became disabled.
Now I am the sole support and main care giver for my family.
It’s easy when you are far from family and friends (and though I know lots of people here )to feel like you are falling apart or the city is chewing on you.