Today, in hopes of shaving some books off my to-do list, I will post about three books. That said, I hope I get to finish writing about them before my eyelids shut down for their siesta.
I Am Legend by
Richard MathesonHis name is Robert Neville, the last man alive. Gee, that's a pretty good description save that no one's there to appreciate it. Unless you count the number of vampires outside his boarded up house, stalking him, waiting for him to come out in the middle of the night and finally allow himself to fall prey to them: the undead. This book is considered a science fiction classic. The latest adaptation features Will Smith as the last man alive, a film I've seen parts of on cable while channel surfing but I never got into the story the way this book did. Mainly because the parts I've seen are very much different from the book. For one thing, the main character in the film is a doctor which somehow made it easier to deal with all the stuff he did in understanding the vampires. In the book, Robert Neville is your regular guy who loathed school when he was younger. And his being left all alone forced him to come to terms with the epidemic by hitting the books and learning as much as he can. But I'm getting ahead.
The beauty, if I may say so, about the story is not exactly the horror brought about by the vampires although technically there's that. You don't exactly ignore the vampires because they are the meat to the suffering Robert goes through daily. But being left all alone in this world, the story is basically about solitude. One is left only with memories of loved ones, of the past. And reading through Robert's routinary daily life: ensuring the safety of his house, pounding garlic, befriending a stray dog, searching for the sleeping form of the undead during daylight you ask yourself if living alone is actually worth it. For what purpose, exactly. At that point it's actually easier to give in, go outside once the vampires start arriving at your doorstep and succumb to fate. That or turning to drink, which Robert did early on. But our regular guy Robert isn't about to give up and practically shows us his mettle by continuing on, hoping against hope that there is someone, somewhere out there. Isn't hope the stuff that makes us continue in the face of the darker, everyday suffering that we all go through?
And on the other side, it's also funny.
Two cups of burning black coffee only made his stomach feel worse. He put down the cup and went into the living room. To hell with it, he thought,I’ll get drunk again. But the liquor tasted like turpentine, and with a rasping snarl he flung the glass against the wall and stood watching the liquor run down onto the rug. Hell, I’m runnin’ out of glasses.
There were no psychiatrists left to murmur of groundless neuroses and auditory hallucinations. The last man in the world was irretrievably stuck with his delusions.
The first one he got was worthless... But, of course, he knew nothing about microscopes, and he’d taken the first one he’d found. Three days later he hurled it against the wall with a strangled curse and stamped it into pieces with his heels. Then, when he’d calmed down, he went to the library and got a book on microscopes.
And yet it's still a dark story that is basically about evolution. Did I just give away the ending?
Free Live Free by
Gene WolfeThe only inkling I had that this book is science fiction is that the spine says so. Hahaha. Oh, don't get me wrong, I would've reached the same conclusion while reading the book. Hahaha. But I'm not making sense so let's see if I make some sense now. This is basically a story about the search for Ben Free. Who is Ben Free? He apparently owns an apartment building which he rents out for free. That's not exactly the story but that's where we meet the four colorful characters who all took advantage of the free rent: Madame Serpentina who's a witch, Candy who's a hooker, Barnes who's a salesman and Stubbs, a detective. But the characters, while colorful, won't be enough to tell what the story is all about, right? Let's hope I figure it out before the end of this post.
Mainly it's about the search for something valuable the Mr. Free has hinted at with two of his tenants. And the strange twist of events led to all four tenants working together first, to look for Mr. Free who disappeared after the apartment was demolished, and second, to look for that something hinted at.
Still I'm not making much sense.
If it looks that way, well let me just say that this book is like one long rollercoaster ride of things happening one after another. Because the four aren't the only ones searching for Mr. Free. Heck, Mr. Free is searching for Mr. Free. Ooops! I did mention that this is science fiction, right?
So yes, I know it's difficult to say much about the story considering that I've revealed far too much and somehow far too little. Maybe the trick to this is similar to riding a rollercoaster. You just get a ticket and hope for the best. That or you scream your hearts out. Unless you have vertigo and well, riding a rollercoaster is against doctor's prescription. I had fun with this; made me laugh at certain instances, made me aware that some language are dated. But mostly made me believe that despite harrowing situations as such encountered by the four colorful characters I mentioned earlier, they remain true to their landlord Ben Free which is both funny and touching, considering that at first they were merely after that uh, something hinted at. Hahaha!
The Sirens of Titan by
Kurt VonnegutThe story, from Malachi Constant's point of view, is the fulfillment of the prophecy made by millionaire astronaut Winston Niles Rumfoord. And it's a harsh, tragic story. Well, funny really considering that Vonnegut can make you laugh while making you think. Either that or I have very screwed-up sense of humor.
The prophecy is this: Malachi Constant, the world's luckiest man, will sire a son named Chrono with Rumfoord's wife Beatrice. That and a few space travels are also in the mix. Although the prophecy failed to mention a few glaring details, such as Malachi forgetting his identity or becoming a soldier in Mars' war with Earth, among other things. The prophecy is accurate to a point because Winston Niles Rumfoord has seen and lived it all. You see, he's a victim of space's chrono-synclastic infundibulum, which makes him something of a pure energy traveling the span of Earth and Betelgeuse all at once: past, present and future. Thank goodness he's not alone. He has his dog, Kazak, with him. Well, it's better to have a dog than not have anyone with you, at least.
But more than the space travel part, the heart of the story remains with the stuff that both Malachi and Beatrice went through in the process of uh, fulfilling the so-called prophecy. We get to see them both being used by forces beyond their control and yet both somehow never learned to give up being uh, human, even if at first glance they don't have the characteristics of what we look for in our favorite leading men and women. And heck, this isn't even a love story.
It's their relentlessness that spur us to believe they'll triumph in the end although I should probably call it merely a small victory. Then again, victories are victories no matter how small. Am I making sense? Have you read a Vonnegut before? If so, they you probably know why I'm merely using general topics to discuss the book. Vonnegut's books are fun reads but takes a deeper look at what it means to be human. And maybe someday we'll all find a way to any of the fifty-three portals to the soul.
Done with three books. A lot more to follow, I hope. Oh well, siesta beckons on a sunny, summery late Sunday.
