Book: Animal Farm, by George Orwell
Genre: Religious parable
Themes: commandments, exclusivity, morality
Comps: The Torah, The Bible, The Koran, Dianetics
Representative quote: "These Seven Commandments would now be inscribed on the wall; they would form an unalterable law ..."
Page: 22
It is not often that we are presented with a religious tract aimed at founding a new faith (or cult, depending on your perspective) but Animal Farm stands as one of the top few from the twentieth century. That it is told as parable using animals--a tradition as old as Aesop in fiction, though not common in holy books--rather than speaking directly to human qua human is more unusual.
Orwell's Seven Commandments is at first glance an obvious riff on the ten commandments of Bible and Torah. The suggestion, by only requiring seven instead of the traditional ten, is that his intended faith is a simpler, no-nonsense sort of tradition. The proscription against murder ("6. No animal shall kill any other animal.") might be as universal as anything, but the restriction on alcohol may seem surprising at first, though it may be a crafty attempt to appeal to followers of Islam and Mormonism, two swiftly growing faiths that might be top targets for seeking converts.
Though the seventh commandment admirably insists that all are equal, this is perhaps mitigated by the first commandment's definition of a literal enemy. As in most faiths, this one is quick to define an in group and an out group, using proscriptions as a distinguishing trademark, tenets upon which they can plant a flag of individuality and establish their tribe. Oddly, Orwell chooses bedding ("5. No animal shall sleep in a bed.") as one of these points of distinction, something that at first glance seems an unduly harsh restriction. Only time will tell if this injunction, much like Jesus's urging his followers to give away all possessions and trust in him, will fall by the wayside or calcify into unyeilding dogma. This author's bet is on many followers providing lip service while maintaining at home the shame of a secret bed, perhaps in the form of a Murphy bed or convertible couch.
Final rating: 2/5 bookmarks. Engaging, but ultimately inadequate. Parables make for notoriously confusing source documents, and the inevitable schisms are as likely to destroy the fledgling cult entirely than to support proliferation. Also, alcohol is a way of life, and if forced to choose between my spirits and my immortal soul, I'll find a more booze-amenable faith elsewhere.
Monday, April 23, 2018
Monday, April 16, 2018
Fear and Loathing - A Screed on the Inefficiencies Inherent in Beauracracy
Book: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson
Genre: absurdist fiction
Themes: bureaucracy, absurdity, the lurking threat of a controlling state
Comps: Waiting for Godot, Rozencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Representative quote: "Be quiet, be calm, say nothing ... speak only when spoken to: name, rank, and ... affiliation, nothing else ..."
Page: 22
It is a bleak, absurd look that cuts to the heart of the machine that is modern society. Red tape engulfs, nay, smothers, all human impulses for the productive, effective, and simple, leaving only a mad lusting for what can never be achieved.
In a telling moment Raoul makes the mistake of mocking the ineffectiveness of the system, saying, "We haven't done anything yet!"
"There's somebody waiting for you," says a woman who isn't even given a name. She is an anonymous piece of the machinery, like everything else. For his candor Raoul has been threatened with the sinister presence of some man--again unnamed and this time also faceless--who lurks, waiting, in a room that is not even ready yet. The threat of punishment looms real, unabated by any suspicions that in this failed bureaucracy punishment might never actually ever come. The uncertainty is part of what hoists the existential dread to excruciating heights.
The book concludes as it opens, with Raoul standing in line with all the others. Nameless, faceless others, waiting for who knows what, destined to be standing there for who knows how long. Look upon these works, ye mortals, and linger in despair!
Final Rating: 5/5 bookmarks. A compelling, immersive tale from 1971 of an inevitable future that, from this late date in 2018, seems increasingly prescient. Some may say we have already realized that bleak future entirely.
Genre: absurdist fiction
Themes: bureaucracy, absurdity, the lurking threat of a controlling state
Comps: Waiting for Godot, Rozencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Representative quote: "Be quiet, be calm, say nothing ... speak only when spoken to: name, rank, and ... affiliation, nothing else ..."
Page: 22
It is a bleak, absurd look that cuts to the heart of the machine that is modern society. Red tape engulfs, nay, smothers, all human impulses for the productive, effective, and simple, leaving only a mad lusting for what can never be achieved.
In a telling moment Raoul makes the mistake of mocking the ineffectiveness of the system, saying, "We haven't done anything yet!"
"There's somebody waiting for you," says a woman who isn't even given a name. She is an anonymous piece of the machinery, like everything else. For his candor Raoul has been threatened with the sinister presence of some man--again unnamed and this time also faceless--who lurks, waiting, in a room that is not even ready yet. The threat of punishment looms real, unabated by any suspicions that in this failed bureaucracy punishment might never actually ever come. The uncertainty is part of what hoists the existential dread to excruciating heights.
The book concludes as it opens, with Raoul standing in line with all the others. Nameless, faceless others, waiting for who knows what, destined to be standing there for who knows how long. Look upon these works, ye mortals, and linger in despair!
Final Rating: 5/5 bookmarks. A compelling, immersive tale from 1971 of an inevitable future that, from this late date in 2018, seems increasingly prescient. Some may say we have already realized that bleak future entirely.
Monday, April 9, 2018
Foundation - A Dated Techno-Thriller
Book: Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
Genre: Thriller
Themes: spies, technology, suspense, courtroom processional
Comps: Fleming's James Bond books, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Representative quote: "The recorder I have on the table,--which is a perfectly ordinary recorder to all appearances and performs its duties well--has the additional property of completely blanketing the spy beam. This is something they will not find out at once."
Page: 22
Published in 1951, just two years before Ian Fleming's debut of James Bond in Casino Royale, Asimov's Foundation falls into an unfortunate technological chasm, placed in a world where DuPont's "Better living through chemistry" (a slogan that brought us such "wonders" as fancy glass and plastics) is fifteen years old, but the height of cold-war tech has yet to develop.
Consider the following; "Avakim was carefully emptying the contents of a flat folder onto the floor. If Gall had had the stomach for it, he might have recognized Cellomet legal forms ... He might also have recognized a pocket recorder." Dry, passive, tentative. Gall feels "disheveled and wilted," and this master spy's primary desire is a "hearing with the emperor." It is a book that feels the need to posture itself as a spy thriller, when in reality what it most aspires to is probably courtroom drama. But with Perry Mason still 6 years away, Asimov fumbles, uncertain and ineffective, towards a genre and tropes that have yet to be invented.
The technology itself is laughable by today's standards. A listening device and a recording device that can jam the listening device? How original. Where are the exploding pens, the car chases ending in a button-triggered explosion, and the laser-guided anythings? I know that starting in 1950 there isn't much to go on, but even Back to the Future, written in 1985, could imagine flying cars, hoverboards, personalized advertisement, and so much more, which have yet to be realized after three decades. Surely a 1950's tech thriller could have at least envisioned a cell phone?
One can only imagine what might have come from it if Asimov was writing from the modern day, with the currently available crop of electronics, robotics, and software to pull inspiration from. If only he'd been more visionary, instead of limiting himself to the smallest of technological leaps, he could have captured the imagination of generations.
Final Rating: 1/5 bookmarks. Dated and unconvincing. Confused about whether it wants to be a courtroom drama or a thriller, and it shows. It's clear why Bond became the iconic spy character, rather than Asimov's Gaal.
Genre: Thriller
Themes: spies, technology, suspense, courtroom processional
Comps: Fleming's James Bond books, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Representative quote: "The recorder I have on the table,--which is a perfectly ordinary recorder to all appearances and performs its duties well--has the additional property of completely blanketing the spy beam. This is something they will not find out at once."
Page: 22
Published in 1951, just two years before Ian Fleming's debut of James Bond in Casino Royale, Asimov's Foundation falls into an unfortunate technological chasm, placed in a world where DuPont's "Better living through chemistry" (a slogan that brought us such "wonders" as fancy glass and plastics) is fifteen years old, but the height of cold-war tech has yet to develop.
Consider the following; "Avakim was carefully emptying the contents of a flat folder onto the floor. If Gall had had the stomach for it, he might have recognized Cellomet legal forms ... He might also have recognized a pocket recorder." Dry, passive, tentative. Gall feels "disheveled and wilted," and this master spy's primary desire is a "hearing with the emperor." It is a book that feels the need to posture itself as a spy thriller, when in reality what it most aspires to is probably courtroom drama. But with Perry Mason still 6 years away, Asimov fumbles, uncertain and ineffective, towards a genre and tropes that have yet to be invented.
The technology itself is laughable by today's standards. A listening device and a recording device that can jam the listening device? How original. Where are the exploding pens, the car chases ending in a button-triggered explosion, and the laser-guided anythings? I know that starting in 1950 there isn't much to go on, but even Back to the Future, written in 1985, could imagine flying cars, hoverboards, personalized advertisement, and so much more, which have yet to be realized after three decades. Surely a 1950's tech thriller could have at least envisioned a cell phone?
One can only imagine what might have come from it if Asimov was writing from the modern day, with the currently available crop of electronics, robotics, and software to pull inspiration from. If only he'd been more visionary, instead of limiting himself to the smallest of technological leaps, he could have captured the imagination of generations.
Final Rating: 1/5 bookmarks. Dated and unconvincing. Confused about whether it wants to be a courtroom drama or a thriller, and it shows. It's clear why Bond became the iconic spy character, rather than Asimov's Gaal.
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