2.06.2005

Where posts ramble on and the worm dieth not.

It isn't her fault, really. Maja is not to blame for this week's series of apocalyptic nightmares. But I can't help but wonder, "What was she thinking?!"

She's a beautiful friend I see only a few times a year now, and every visit we exchange whatever books we've been reading, share new finds, and return borrowed ones. In the past year she has developed an interest in reading through the classics, and I love when we get to spend time talking about ideas and authors. Her recreational reading interests include fantasy and romance, and I am definitely not a fan of either genre, but we always find a few books we enjoy in common.

She brought two books this past weekend: Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, and Dean Koontz's The Taking. It's my habit to read a book, and THEN read the reviews. Do publishers pass out crack to reviewers before they harvest their blurbs?

Oryx and Crake was a good read, though Atwood was a little lazy with the characters and plot development. Novelists don't want to spend a lifetime writing a single book, but it would be delicious to read a novel that explores the same subject matter with Tolkienesque depth.

If you're curious, read a synopsis and review. For an even creepier chill, read about the real life "Crakist" ideas that are developing even now: abolitionism and paradise-engineering. "How our descendants will rewrite the vertebrate genome, redesign the global ecosystem, and abolish suffering throughout the living world."

Oryx and Crake doesn't seem that far fetched. 5 stars for theme and imagination, 2 stars for largely one dimensional characters. Oryx herself might have spawned another full novel, but she's the least known and most enigmatic character in the story. I highly recommend this book, and it was shortlisted for the Giller, Booker, and Orange Prizes, as well as the Canada's Governor General's Literary Award. (Not too shabby, eh?) If you'd like to share your thoughts on the book, feel free to comment below.

Now.. about The Taking:

Dean Koontz, Stephen King and their ilk should only be read if, while sitting on the john, there are no available product labels to read.

I despise the subject matter they (and other horror writers) choose. They churn out sewage for the mind and soul. All the more dangerous because it's poison sandwiched in slick, mesmerizing covers - toxic mind candy. Parents eagerly shell out cash to buy the latest 'work' for their teenagers, justifying it with.. "At least they're READING." Koontz and King both share a penchant for churning out grammar-school-vocabulary shite, published and marketed with every slick advertising gimmick available, and they have made immense fortunes preying on human misery, fear, and popculture mythology.

The Taking isn't worth picking up, much less finishing. It isn't worth the apocalyptic nightmares that keep recurring nightly: combining the themes of Oryx and Crake and CNN Headline News, with the imagery of The Taking combined with scenes from films like The Rapture and Event Horizon. Think: semen-scented rains spawning gruesome lifeforms, end-of-days seal breaking, Satan and his minions as alien invaders, sexual orgies in hell, depravity, violence, and humanity as a doomed and infectious species.

Nights have been no picnic lately, as you can see.

Mom would say, 'Good god, it's only a book!', and the rational mind knows it's just a book, just an idea, just ink stamped on paper. Too bad the subconscious mind doesn't realize this. Talk about doing a number on the psyche.

Don't invite me to contemplate evil and horror, indulge in paranoia, and call it entertainment. I want to maintain my hope; continue to believe, with conviction, that even the most depraved human being has the capacity to choose to follow a path of light and goodness. There are those who believe that God's wrath will soon fall upon the earth. I don't believe that I will be 'rescued' from an existence of suffering by an all-powerful being. The earth may end, it may not. In any case, it's a waste of my time and energy to dwell on matters that are completely out of my sphere of influence.

The only power I have is over my own mindset and behaviour. Dreams cannot be controlled, but I damn sure have some choices when it comes to what the mind is allowed to digest. I believe I am a compassionate person, but that compassion can only extend outward to a range of practical application. I frequently shut off the television news, not because I don't care about the suffering of others, but because my heart cannot remained centered when it tries to grieve for a multitude, or dwell on horrors (real and imaginary).

Why should a crappy piece of scary writing wield such influence? It's time to stand up for emotional health by boycotting that which has the power to incite despair and horror in the name of amusement or recreation. There are just some books not worth reading, and some movies not worth watching, and some ideas not worth thinking about.

I can't wait to pick Maja's brain again. What did she think of the book? What kinds of emotion (if any) were stirred in her by reading The Taking? Why did she pass it on to me? She doesn't seem to want to share her volume of Mein Kampf. Maybe she thinks I'll have nightmares?