Followers

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Oh, God!



In God Is Dead by Ron Currie, Jr.—a novel in stories—we see what happens throughout the world after God dies. Literally. He takes the form of a Dinka woman in Darfur, gets killed, and is eaten by feral dogs. Then the shit really hits the fan.

I don't want to give too much away, but the reactions around the world are varied, and Currie handles each separate chapter expertly, and with a streak of black humor. I mean, the world continues, and could/would remain the same as it ever was if not for the extreme reactions worldwide. So society breaks down for a while as humans adjust to life without God, as new beliefs are put in place, as new reasons for war are born, and as new reasons for carrying on are examined. Kind of like I felt after my Yankees lost to the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS.

Coincidentally, I've read three post-breakdown-of-society books in a row: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, God Is Dead by Ron Currie, Jr., and The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Three very different books, so it may not be fair to compare them. But Currie more than holds his own against those much-honored writers. In fact, God Is Dead is one of those books that leaves a lasting impression, and sticks in your mind long after reading it. I already want to go back and re-read it.

5 of 5 stars.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Road Trip



Well, I finally gave in and read THE ROAD, by Cormac McCarthy. I usually resist reading books that I am "supposed" to read. This novel just won the Pulitzer, but come on, how many post-apocalyptic stories, novels, and films have been done? Dozens? Hundreds? Nothing new under the sun, I figured. I also resisted for so long because of McCarthy's lack of punctuation in his novels, a trick that I find pretentious. But I caved and joined the bandwagon.

Now, besides his lack of quotation marks and apostrophes, his writing style is of the sort that you either love or you don't. I swear at some points McCarthy was just making up words on the fly. Thirty pages into the book I hated it, and regretted ever going down the road. But like a bad movie you don't want to walk out on in the hopes that it will get better, I stuck with the novel, waiting for something to happen.

The father and son, who are the lead characters, travel the road in search of other "good guy" survivors of the unnamed apocalypse (nuclear war, I guess) that ruined the world, burning it to a lifeless gray ash (if you removed all the times McCarthy used the words "gray" and "ash," the novel would be a third shorter). They are on a vague route toward the coast, in the hopes that it will be better and there will be more people near the ocean. Meanwhile, they have to scavenge for clothes, food and water, while keeping an eye out for the "bad guys," other survivors who might want to kill them and steal their provisions.

Page 90 (of 241) came and went, and I still wasn't liking it any better. McCarthy seemed to be as lost as his characters, wandering aimlessly in search of something meaningful. Then on page 93 McCarthy decided the book needed more of a plot. There is a scene in a basement of a house that just turned the whole book around. Now it got interesting. Also at this point, McCarthy begins to tell the story in a more straightforward manner, shaking off his Mr. Fancypants literary style somewhat and just getting down to the basics of telling the story.

But there is more to this book than "stuff happening" on the road. It is about the relationship between the father and young son, and the father's attempt to keep the boy alive and well, as well as keeping him on the side of the "good guys." That part isn't hard because the kid is innately good, and there were a few instances where I wondered if McCarthy was hinting at something larger, messianic. Either way, the father's instincts were to protect the boy; if the Earth was going to have a future that included humans, his life was more important than the father's.

I'm not one for having everything wrapped up nicely at the end of a story. And McCarthy didn't do that. Without giving it away, I can say that the end is left open and he can write a sequel if he chooses. Or, it can stand as it is, with the reader left to imagine the next day, month, year, century of this place called Earth.

4 of 5 stars.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Get AMERICAN COOL this summer!



AMERICAN COOL now on sale!

ENTER the world of AMERICAN COOL, where risk, rejection, and romance are played to win. When characters meet every roll of the dice with grit, humor and determination, is it enough to change the stakes? AMERICAN COOL is Susan DiPlacido's first collection of short stories.

Amazon
iUniverse

Available soon at Barnes & Noble and Booksamillion!

Also, read a lively interview with Susan HERE!