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This is our group Classic Novel Discussion for February, 2014:


Grass by Sheri S. Tepper (1989)


Let's pull on our padded pants, mount up and ride the Hunt. Remember, never mentioned this book where they can hear. Never where they can hear.

From the department of wholly extraneous sidetopics, here's yet another example of how old men are as easy to confuse as cats. In the earlier parts of the novel, there are several references to the "Green Brothers" who appear to be exploring some Arbai ruins on planet Grass (whatever Arabai are). E.g.:

It’s enough we let them stay on digging up the Arbai city, enough that those Green Brothers make mud pies with their little shovels.

At this point, I got it into my head that the Green Brothers were actually a pair of brothers (or perhaps a trio) from the Green family. You know, Zach and Ernie Green, interplanetary archaeologists. Even a later reference to them being Sanctity penitents didn't disabuse me of that. I clung to this interpretation until chapter 9, which is about a quarter (?) of the way through the story, which introduced Brother Mainoa and the Friary, that the coin finally dropped that this was a group of religious monks (named for the color of their robes, apparently.)

Okay, finished reading last night.

An interesting story, set on an alien planet (the titular Grass) that's one of those suitable for human habitation. The human presence there is pretty small though, consisting of one trading city and a few rural estancia out in the veldt

Grass 10' tall or more is an expansive definition of grass to me, but appears in line with the technical definition, which apparently includes bamboo. (I have cacti in my front yard, not grass, so what do I know?)

We have an interesting collection of alien life forms, most notably the hypea or "mounts", which the aristocratic "bons" of the estancia seem to enjoy hunting giant ferocious foxen while riding the hypea, a dedicated ritual known as simply the Hunt which even frequent deaths and maimings don't discourage.

I occasionally wondered what the economics of the estancia are, given that most of the adults spend all their time out Hunting during the habitable seasons? No matter.

The rest of the human universe is ruled by a theocracy, Sanctity (though there are still some Old Catholics around). An ambassadorial couple is sent from the religious capital to Grass to secretly investigate why a plague on other planets doesn't come to Grass, in the hopes of finding a cure. Thanks to a misunderstanding about the nature of the Hunt on Grass, the ambassadorial couple are chosen for their fox hunting, and take their horses along with them. They misunderstand the nature of The Hunt on Grass.

I think of Elizabeth Moon's preface to her own Herris Serrano stories, "why not fox hunting and spaceships?"

The story creates an interesting mood, centering on the mysterious nature of the local Grass lifeforms, especially the hypea, a mystery that borders on sci-fi/horror with vague menace. I'm not a big fan of horror, but the story manages to just skirt the edges.

I find Marjorie, the wife half of the ambassadorial couple, to be an engaging protagonist. Her husband, Rigo, doesn't get a lot of sympathy.

There are some great observations in this book.

Father Sandoval had decided it was perhaps the same thing Rigo wanted� the thing called intimacy. Though neither of them would set themselves aside long enough to work for it. They wanted family, but they wanted it on command, like water from a spout, ready when they turned it on, absent otherwise. “Help me now, give me now, comfort me now. Then, when you’ve done it, get out of my way!�

And my favorite:

Characteristically, preferring actual ignorance to the appearance of it, he did not ask.

(Amazon tells me that sentence gets highlighted a lot. :)

I just began reading it. I found the names to be quite interesting: "Rowena" is the second growth of hay in a year, "Dimity" is a cotton fabric and "Sylvan" is a woodland.

The families are called "bon" which might be derived from German "von" (e.g. "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe") which is a nobiliary particle. Quite fitting, as the families seem to come from noble families and they behave in a decadent way (with all the fox hunting etc.). Don't get me wrong, I don't think that hunting as such is decadent - only fox hunting ;)

Do I over-interpret?

Andreas wrote: "I just began reading it. I found the names to be quite interesting: "Rowena" is the second growth of hay in a year, "Dimity" is a cotton fabric
The families are called "bon"..."

I made the same assumption about "bon" as you. Didn't know that about Rowena or Dimity, tho. Tepper being playful, I guess. (No meaning to Shevlok?)

25% in. Fine world-building with the tension between Commoners and aristocracy, tension within the embassy family and the religious background.

G33z3r wrote: "a mystery that borders on sci-fi/horror with vague menace. I'm not a big fan of horror, but the story manages to just skirt the edges."

I don't like horror at all and the mounts just started getting creepy. Thanks for the heads up, now I'm at ease :)

G33z3r wrote: "I find Marjorie, the wife half of the ambassadorial couple, to be an engaging protagonist. Her husband, Rigo, doesn't get a lot of sympathy."
I can't connect to any of them, yet. Maybe because of the long exposition where the main protagonist is introduced that late.

I like the story so far but I don't think that it is grand.

Andreas wrote: "I can't connect to any of them, yet...."

I didn't connect with any of the characters, either. (Marjorie clearly becomes the main character, but several others also get PoV treatment.) It's one reason I only gave Grass 3 stars, despite some interesting aliens and philosophical discussions, I never really invested in the outcome for the characters.

now 60%.
I don't quite understand why this feminist author projects religions exactly that way. Catholicism isn't known to be exactly feministic, but a woman having to support her man while he has a mistress? I mean, those two religions give an interesting contrast and the discussion of original sin and its relation to aliens gives me some thoughts. But why had Tepper to introduce those heavy-handed preachery?

Finally, I managed to connect to the various protagonists like Marjorie, Sylvan and Brother Mainoa.
The story got really interesting as well, it introduces different facets like those fanatics who introduce the plague to salvage everyone.

It isn't a shallow story and know I understand why Tepper needed that long exposition to slowly introduce the foreignness.

I'm very curious where all that leads to and how she unwinds the threads.

The lost Arbai culture could be interesting but isn't explained enough (yet). I wonder if we'll see more of it.

Did anyone read the other parts of the trilogy and explain how they connect to the story on Grass?

I just finished the book and gave it three stars. Overall, I thought the story was interesting, but it rotated through multiple pov before settling on Marjorie as the primary character. By the end, I did not feel I connected with any of the characters (as mentioned above in a similar post).

I did enjoy the discussion about the Arbai culture and the "translations" that eventually occurred. Having never read anything else by this author, I am not sure what other stories were written that involve the story on Grass.

Infiniteyak wrote: "Having never read anything else by this author, I am not sure what other stories were written that involve the story on Grass...."

I don't think she's written anything else set on Grass, but she has written two other novels involving the Arbai.

I just finished and gave it 4 stars. I liked the philosophical discussions and the action-oriented second half of the book. And I really liked the main protagonists.

More in my review.

Andreas wrote: "I don't quite understand why this feminist author projects religions exactly that way. Catholicism isn't known to be exactly feministic, but a woman having to support her man while he has a mistress..."

It is somewhat puzzling, though Catholicism has long opposed divorce for almost any reason. If this future Old Catholic religion retains that catechism, Marjorie doesn't really have a choice.

Tepper isn't kind to either of her religions. Sanctity are clearly lying hypocrites. "Acceptable Doctrine denies that plague exists." Even though Sanctity's leaders know it's real. "All the questions had been reduced to doctrine; all the doctrine had been simplified to catechism; all the catechism had been learned long ago. Besides, what would the penitents do with more knowledge? They had no use for it..."

Likewise, the Old Catholics don't get off. "In Father Sandoval’s opinion, religious experiences were something Old Catholics should eschew in the interest of balance and moderation. Once matters of faith had been firmly decided, religious experiences just confused people." and "Father Sandoval had no patience with the idea that there might be other intelligent races."

And yet each religion has a local apostate: Sanctity's Brother Mainoa and Old Catholic Father James.

And then there's Rillibee. I thought it interesting that at the beginning of the story he's called Rillibee, then for a while after he receives his monastic name, Lourai, outside of dialog, he's called "Rillibee/Lourai" in the narration, and by the end he's just called Rillibee again, completing his exit from Sanctity.

Andreas wrote: "I liked the philosophical discussions ."

So, what does one make of Marjorie's "religious experience" (dream, hallucination, audience with God?)

I thought it was interesting that Father James (the younger of the Old Catholic priests visiting Grass) offers a suggestion to Marjorie of a somewhat revisionist theory for God's relationship to humans: he uses an analogy of a "smart virus" used as a vaccine, where God expects the vaccine as a whole to work, but doesn't keep track of the individual viruses.

In her religious experience, Marjorie is introduced to God as a nameless "very small being."

The angel in the doorway spoke impatiently. "The very small being is working on mercy, Sir. And justice. And guilt."
"Mercy? And Justice? Interesting concepts. Almost worthy of direct creation rather than letting them evolve. I wouldn’t waste my time on guilt. Still, I have confidence you'll all work your way through the permutations to the proper ends�."
..."The trouble is that very small beings write books that contradict the rocks, then say I wrote the books and the rocks are lies."

Marjorie totally embraces this concept of "very small beings":

Very small beings are important, not individually but for what they become.... Even if I die, I’d rather be here. If there’s anything important for a very small being to do, it’s fighting the plague.

An interesting embrace of collective action for the common good.

I read this a few years ago, and it made my inner Evolutionary Biologist cringe. I just can't fathom how a world like that would ever come into existence.

Sue wrote: "I read this a few years ago, and it made my inner Evolutionary Biologist cringe. I just can't fathom how a world like that would ever come into existence."

Which part bothered you? The planet covered with dozens of varieties of grass? (view spoiler)[The egg -> peeper -> hound -> hippea -> foxen -> egg lifecycle?(view spoiler)[ Something else? (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I think it was the lifecycle part that really got me.