Blindsight

By Peter Watts

Hard Science Fiction

Blindsight by Peter Watts is a hard science fiction novel about extraterrestrial first contact in the far future AND BEFORE YOU CLICK OFF THE PAGE SAYING YOU AREN'T INTERESTED,

hold on. 

Stick around, for a moment. 

Because I too, didn't really find appeal in humanity's first contact with extraterrestrials 

(even if it is SUPER COOL)
(actually writing that out loud kind of shifted my views, first contact novels were always cool)

Lots - LOTS - of media don't do aliens well. I will admit, alien first-contact novels are not something I am overly well-versed in, so I don't have much to compare it to. Most first contact media are summarized with either a resounding "we made contact with aliens, they want to kill us", or "we want to make contact, the antagonist doesn't want us to, we made contact anyways and now we're all friends" and while that plot is typical of many different genres outside of science fiction, what usually happens is the actual extraterrestrial first contact sections of the first-contact media are supplanted by unnecessary romantic side-plots or leave the aliens as vague unmentioned beings who are never addressed along with Earth's implied societal reaction. 

Blindsight was a new experience for me. I had not read an abundance of hard sci-fi (hard sci-fi is defined as science fiction with a specific attention to detail directed towards making sure it is realistic and logical) or sci-fi in general, and even less of books about aliens (probably only one other I can name off my head). Holding this in mind I regardless found Blindsight to be personally enjoyable.

Now, what is the plot of Blindsight? Alien's first contact doesn't really tell you much. Well.

Sometime in the future humanity has casually perfected cryosleep travel (if you want to go anywhere in space, you are frozen to stop aging briefly because space travel takes a very, very, very long time), uploading your mind to the internet, AI, and integrative cybernetics, and so on.

One day, a bunch of small probes enter Earth's atmosphere, all simultaneously snap a picture of the entire Earth in a giant selfie, and leave. Earth detects a small, unidentified planetary body outside the solar system emitting the same signal as the probes, tries to radio it, and it goes dark. Earth eventually tracks a similar signal some ways out of the solar system and decides to send a small expeditionary force in an attempt to make peaceful first-contact with the first known instance of extraterrestrial life.

This task force/group of our story characters are:

A living translator with multiple personalities, each of which are physically independent of one another and confined to separate parts of the brain

A human computer, who prizes metal over flesh, who acts as a biological tool compartment.

A pacifistic soldier in the bleak event that war is declared.

A synthesist (don't worry, I didn't know what that was either), with half his brain missing whose role is to recontextualize and reframe the world around him into easy-to-understand chunks. (Also, this is our main character).

The captain, who is a resurrected vampire.

Upon arriving at the signal, the crew finds a massive empty asteroid (I think it was an asteroid at least, had lots of tunnels) orbiting an uninhabitable planet being skimmed by large drones. And thats all I will say. Because Blindsight is part of a series, and one of the main parts of the book is figuring out the mystery of how first contact is going to be established when there is no one there.

The rest of the review will be me covering some cool details that I thought were interesting while reading through the novel. There are mild SPOILERS, but nothing too significant; primarily just worldbuilding.

1. Vampires are real. They are an ancient sibling to humanity and there are a few neat tidbits about them. a), they evoke a primal fear in those around them from, b) they are not afraid of crosses, they simply are incredibly perceptive and sensitive to visual stimuli. 90 degree angles on crosses essentially cause hyper-sensitivity and hurt for them to look at, so they need drugs to repress their perception.

2. Heaven is a cyber-hellscape. Heaven is a digital simulation that people upload their brains into when they are about to die, allowing them to live eternally in an isolated digital afterlife that they completely control. This leads to theological and political divide as people paying for an afterlife or circumventing death is a divisive topic. 

3. There is a difference of societal expectations and perceptions on the worth of the individual and the purpose of being human. The majority of the characters have undergone some form of brain surgery or medical procedure to replace parts of their body for the sake of efficiency and utility. 

If any of these plot points sound relevant to you, then give Blindsight a try. Its the first part of a series called Firefall (which I have not read in its entirety), but I found it to be rather enjoyable overall. It doesn't overly describe or go into how every piece of technology works down to every screw and bolt, which I think is good as it keeps the reader engaged.

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MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

SERIOUSLY
IF YOU ARE READING THE BOOK PROBABLY DON'T READ PAST THIS POINT

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I will be briefly talking about the aliens of Blindsight, and talking about them for a few sentences. So don't read if you want to read the book.

...

...

...

...you've gone to read the book (or are just really curious)?

okay good

I think the aliens in Blindsight are really interesting, in terms of their culture, communication, and physiology. The aliens are, well, alien; they aren't just humans in space, and having their intentions are initially difficult to understand compliments the ability of the main character as a synthesist (making hard things easy to understand) and the plot point of the missing Rosetta Stone; why won't the aliens contact humanity again, and how can humanity reach out to them? 
I like how they are a hive mind (kind of like a brain), where each individual alien is the equivalent to a synapse whose goal is to propagate and remain as efficient as possible. They are pretty much just a sentient nervous system. Each one stores all of their knowledge in themselves and when they're ready to share information they just tear each other apart and pass the information down to to the rest of them. Strangely, the aliens slightly mimic humanity in their views on efficiency; both aim towards the idea of progress and being the most efficient one can be above all else. In fact, the aliens become hostile to Earth and initially went dark because they were exposed to language, media, advertisements, and thought these were useless forms of communication that did nothing but waste energy. Why would another organism want to waste another organisms energy? Parasitism, viral infection, sabotage. Ergo, humanity is a threat.
I also like how the aliens physically hide from the crew. As their whole body is just a nervous system, they just move really, really fast for a split second whenever a person's eye is stuttering. The human eye doesn't see one continuous image when seeing, it sees a bunch of snapshots all blended really close together to create sight. The aliens simply "jump" whenever one of these snapshots are taken; in short, it allows invisibility but only for one person who is looking at it because different pairs of eyes are taking snapshots at different times (If any of this is wrong, I apologize. I'm not an expert on eyes and their function.). I think this is pretty cool. That's it. Just wanted to divulge how cool I thought the aliens were.


Thanks for listening to my ramble!

 

The Library at Mount Char

By Scott Hawkins

Urban Fantasy + Mystery + Lots of Others

The Library at Mount Char is a story where a person who I will only be referring to as "God" adopts a bundle of recently parentless orphans after the US president tries to assassinate God by bombing a local neighborhood park. This attempt fails - thankfully allowing us to continue the story - and double thankfully orphans 13 children who can conveniently be adopted by him and serve as the entourage of main characters we will be seeing throughout the story. These children are taken to a massive library on top of an isolated hill whose contents cover everything (and this is a quite literal everything) about a swathe of subjects relating to the secrets of creation and the world as it stands; War, Death, Nature, Medicine, etc... and are each given a specific domain that they will dedicate their entire lives to learning and mastering. Our protagonists domain is Language; not particularly important for this review, but I wanted to mention it since I might as well (not as in she can talk to animals and control anything she can speak to, she just CAN speak to them. So talking to a bird just means she's, well, having a conversation with a bird.).
These studies and these children lives continue monotonously until one day they find that they've been locked out of their house. Specifically, they cannot physically move towards the library without violently seizing up and bleeding, and God is missing so they can't get back inside. With God presumably dead, the group of once-again-orphans struggle amongst themselves to figure out what's going on and find a way into the library whose contents control the world.

Well, that seems like a straightforward plot, right? Wrong. Undoubtably wrong, and I am ashamed to have mislead you in thinking that. 

The Library at Mount Char is a hard book to categorize to genre. It is described online as "Science Fiction", "Fiction", "Fantasy", "Dark Fantasy", "Urban Fantasy", "Mystery", "Horror", "Thriller", and so on. For the sake of this review and to maintain some form of categorical organization for this blog, I believe the best description for it would be Mystery + Urban Fantasy with vivid mental imagery. 
You can expect from my vague descriptions that the plot is weird, ekphrastic and evoking, and fills me with what I describe as a narrative wanderlust. Do not mistake these words, however, for the plot being nonsensical. It is organized, it is structured, and it is clear in the rules it lays out for the story and its progression.

So, what about the plot? Well, the plot is not entirely linear. It starts off from the characters getting locked out of the library and as the story progresses the protagonist reflects on their thoughts of life after being orphaned the first time. It jumps in-between the modern present day and flashbacks which the characters recount to one another which reframes previous scenes and actions in a new light or context. Now, let me multitask and nip another worry you may have had in the bud; 13 children adopted by God. Does that mean that we will have 13 different perspectives and plotlines all running at the exact same time? No, no no. No. Don't worry, there will be no rapid jump-cuts between every single one of the 13 children's perspectives. There is more than one protagonist, but their perspectives are entirely relevant to the story and adds to the plot as a whole. I won't say who though as I'm not entirely sure if its a spoiler because I don't remember when they show up (could be Chapter 2, could be 20.) To find out you'll have to read the book. 

The lore. Why am I talking about lore, you ask? What worldbuilding and lore could there possibly be in the 390 paperback pages of - lots. A lot of lore, and a lot of good, solid, worldbuilding. It is endlessly interesting to me; even if you don't like worldbuilding in your stories, the lore developed and described throughout the book is phenomenally stellar when it pops up. It doesn't go into Lord of the Rings detail, and somethings are left unsaid as they are not relevant to the who, the why, the here, the now of the book, but they are fascinating to me just the same. It is not overtly complex either; none of the book requires you to make charts explaining who did what or why that happened. Everything is digestible and delectably consumable, explained in curt, simple terms, and most importantly adds to the whole of the story.

 The book is set in the modern day. Not overly significant as a detail, but I thought I'd mention.

Finally we have my thoughts. Yes, yes, we're cutting right to the end of the review and recommendation, as I don't want to spoil any surprises and to talk more would spoil much more. If you really want to get a taste for what the book is like, here it is:

Ethos, Pathos, Logos.
You should never get something unless you value it deeply and credibly, so what better way than the trifecta of persuasion.

You should get this book because:

Ethos - It is credibly good. Genuinely. Go to Goodreads, see the reviews! Its got mountains! I'm just one of many people who have read or have wanted to read this work.

Logos - Over tens of thousands of people have read this book, probably (I'm not omnipotent), and its sitting at around 4.5 stars. Statistically that's fairly good, in my humble opinion.

Pathos - You aren't going to read everything in life. You aren't going to get everything in life. You have a limited amount of time on this world; when was the last time you remember you sat down, cracked open a book, and really just sat there and enjoyed your time? When was your last memory of someone smiling? Dancing? Rain? Grass, the sunset even! The way I see, we all have to spend what little time we have wisely. Costs are running up, hearts are stumbling low, but in the meantime we might as well enjoy ourselves. I'm not asking for any money, not asking for you to shelve your life away; get a copy from your library, its free. You don't like it, you don't like it but - if you do, if you really enjoy what you read, at least you have something to remember. Might as well try it out.



That's my review. Hope you enjoyed, and let me know how you found my third favorite book of all time.



Also I remember 5 years ago checking if a sequel came out. Lots of people apparently also checked because the author put up multiple answers over the years. The short answer is - maybe, probably, wants to work more on it to make sure a sequel is actually satisfying and of good quality. Understandable, and honestly good on him. He also did a lot of books about Apache and Linux, if you are also interested in those.

 

 The Wailing

Written and Directed by Na Hong-jin

Horror, Thriller, Comedy?

The Wailing is a horror thriller movie directed and written by Na Hong-jin. The movie is about a police officer who is investigating a strange rash of families being murdered across a village in Korea, with the culprits all being family members covered in a litany of sores, boils, and scabs. As the officer continues his investigation he overhears several rumors about a Japanese man who moved into the mountains just before the murders began, and rushes to solve the mystery when finds his daughter coming down with the same type of sores.

The Wailing is a movie that I personally really enjoyed due to its themes of spirituality and ambiguity in conflicting information. The viewer is almost always given the exact same information the main character is, meaning you as a viewer are almost always left in the dark as to what is going on. You are given information, it is up to you to decide whether it is correct or not, as almost every clue in the movie is either a rumor or acquired through word of mouth. They weren't lying, in case you were curious. There is a LOT of wailing throughout the movie. 

One common custom we all share watching horror movies is telling others what we would do in the main characters situation. We'd say, "Of course we wouldn't go down that dark hallway", or, "No, I think I could have circumvented x by doing y, and the main character should have done that." While you are watching this movie you are reacting to the main characters narrative choices and events with a similar vein of intent. Or at the very least, you understand why the main character would react the way they do. You don't tell the character not to go down that dark hallway, because you and the character both know that at the end of that dark hallway is his family who he needs to reach. The movie uses ambiguity to a great extent to demonstrate the conflicting choices the main character has to make in the story, and is one of the strongest selling points in the movie. In fact, there was an alternative, deleted, ending for this movie which solidifies the intents and actions of a few characters and further clarifies their role in the mystery. I think I agree with the decision to remove this ending, because the audience already has enough information to infer the mysteries conclusion and everyone's role without having it specifically explained. However, even after the conclusion is said and done, and you figure out who did what and what they want, viewers still come to their own separate conclusions for some parts of the movie. (This will be discussed later, after a SPOILER section).

As previously stated, the movie showcases a broad variety of internal beliefs and spiritualism as people try to advise the main character as to what they believe is happening. The two main spiritualities in the movie are Korean shamanism and Christianity; the main character consults with a shaman partway through the movie in an attempt to both exorcise his daughter and kill what he believes may be the source of the towns deaths, while one of the characters is a young deacon who joins the main character to act as a translator for the Japanese man. These characters, the shaman and the deacon, have different views as to what is causing the blight of boils and murders across the town, and the Japanese man. In fact, everyone has their own opinions. Some claim the Japanese man is a demon, others a vampire, or a ghost, or a professor, or criminal. Some tell the main character to cure his daughters illness through an exorcism, others through a doctor, and some believe the illness will be cured through the murder of the aforementioned Japanese man. Everyone has their own idea of what is best, based on their own hearsay; what is the source of the disease and the murders is the point of the mystery. As you might guess, the identity of the Japanese man is a core mystery of the movie. No one really knows who he is, but everyone has some story about him and his existence only brings questions for the main character. 

    

There are some aspects of comedy in the film as well, which surprised me. Usually, horror movies are not done well with comedy; the grittiness of horror does not tend to juxtapose well against a lighthearted comedic moment. This movie, strangely, in a way that I was not expecting does. Comedy does not take up the bulk of the movie or is the centerpiece of the film. But there are humorous moments sprinkled throughout the film and some of the darker sections.

Overall, the Wailing is a great movie; if you are into thriller, horror, mystery, mysticism, and just watching someone who is out of their depth doing the best they can. Many things are left in the background or subtext, or left unsaid, allowing the audience to connect the dots along with the main character. If you ever wanted to know what a Call of Cthulhu RPG game looked like as a movie, where the protagonist persists through a dwindling reserve of fortitude and patience, then this movie is for you.

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[SPOILERS AHEAD]

WARNING: IF YOU PLAN ON WATCHING THIS MOVIE, DON'T READ FURTHER. SERIOUSLY.

THERE IS NOTHING HERE BUT SOME FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS OF THE MOVIE.

PROCEED WITH CAUTION AHEAD.

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There is an interesting moment of symbolism with the Japanese man and the shaman during one particular scene of the movie, where both are in the middle of an ritual called a Gut. During this ritual, both sacrifice various animals. However, one detail I noticed about this scene was that the shaman sacrificed white animals while the Japanese man sacrificed black animals. I couldn't find much about the symbolism of this online, but I thought it was a neat detail. 

One of the primary parts of the show is the identity of the Japanese man. At the end of the movie, its revealed that the Japanese man is a demon, and he and the shaman are working together to plague the villagers. This is definitively told to the audience without a doubt. However, there is one scene that disputes the identity of the Japanese man being a demon (or at least, being a demon by the end of the film), that being the Gut scene. If the shaman and demon were working together, why would the shaman target the Japanese man? Why does the Japanese man pray over dead bodies and hold rites for them? In the ending, we see the demon take photos of the priest before presumably killing them, and the shaman taking pictures of the main character before they die, but earlier in the movie the old man takes a photo of a man dead in his car. The old man appears surprised when the presumably dead man turns out to not, in fact, be dead - he is very much alive, and very much trying to eat the main characters face. Throughout the movie, we see the main character's daughter lash out and act aggressive towards her family in what is believed to be a possession. Furthermore, we see the shaman claim to have mistaken who the demon was when he was casting his death hex only AFTER the woman's ghost appears and he personally experiences supernatural phenomenon. The shaman initially tries to flee the village, but only turns back after experiencing supernatural bugs-on-windshield. From this, we can gather two interpretations.

1. The old Japanese man and the shaman were always evil; they were always killing people in the village, both are demons, and both always intended to deceive the main character.

2. The demon is based on possession, and neither the old man or shaman are evil. The reason the death hex strikes the old Japanese man during the ritual is because the old man IS possessed by the demon and likely does not realize this. The shaman later becomes possessed by the demon too and claims that the old man is not possessed to keep one of his bodies safe (for whatever reason).

One final detail I liked was the ending. At the ending the main character must decide between listening to the woman's ghost who says that if he goes to help his family, they will all die, and the shaman (possessed or always evil, you decide) who says the woman's ghost is behind the spree of murders. In this scene, no matter what, the protagonist really can't win. If he went to help his family, he and everyone but his daughter dies. If he didn't, then the ghost's trap to destroy the demon would have likely been used to destroy the demon by killing his daughter (possessed by the demon), and even if it didn't and the daughter lived, the main characters wife and mother-in-law would still have died. One question is "if the old man IS the demon, and is possessing people to bring them under his control and murder others, why also cause a disease that later kills them?. Another question, when the main character asks the woman why his daughter is being possessed he is told that it is because he committed a sin against the demon/Japanese man upon which he replies that his daughter got sick first. I think to a certain extent both of these questions are answered by the idea of the spirit and the demon are "playing" against each other. The main characters daughter gets sick via the spirit to trick the main character into killing the demons main body. The spirit relieves the disease from his daughter, but the demon curses the daughter with the disease in response to being murdered. Or some variation of that. Main summary of this interpretation is that the murders and possessions are being caused by the demon/old man, while the illness and boils are from the woman's ghost who is trying to kill off the demon by destroying those he possesses.

All of this is purely speculative. Watch the movie yourself and come to your own conclusions; this is one movie you cannot really get a definitive answer to as a lot is left up to interpretation. Anyways, those were my two cents.

Last Days by Adam Nevill

 

Last Days

By Adam Nevill

Horror, Mystery

                        If you are looking for Last Days by Brian Evenson, this is the wrong page. 

An indie filmmaker and his cameraman, in desperate need for funds, are hired by the head of a wealthy company to create a documentary regarding a cult called the Temple of the Last Days by visiting the cult's previous hangouts and interviewing former members and victims. As the filmmaker travels around Britain and France to investigate the Temple of the Last Days, and its founder, he becomes embroiled in supernatural circumstances and becomes witness to horrifying dreams and hauntings.

The Last Days is a found-footage styled book about ghosts, a cult, and the mystery surrounding their influence in the modern day. It delves into the fabled Temple of the Last Days, a cult run by a charlatan named Katherine who promoted an austere and ascetic lifestyle to her followers while she squanders her followers money on luxurious pleasantries. Later, Katherine and her followers move to a farm where she and her closest confidants murder the remainder of her compound in a mass ritual, with only a few survivors and cult deserters remaining alive today. As the filmmaker travels around Europe to interview these survivors, he and his crew gradually uncover what happened to the last filmcrew as he suffers from a flood of dream sequences and flashbacks. 

I found that Last Days was written quite well; the sentences and narrative was structured together in a fluid way, with inventive prose and phenomenal descriptions. However, the book - is - long- and - slow- to - read. Scenes spend a long time discussing their surroundings, the characters thoughts, what is happening, and as a result at times it felt more like I was reading a screenplay or narrative script then a book. For the plot twists, and revelations of the story, and the mystery, I was able to solve it early on. I'm not sure if that is the same for everyone's experience with the book as I do tend to predict some plot points beforehand (especially in some murder mystery novels), but the main twist, who the antagonists were and their identities, and their motives, were all realized before the first half of the book was over. 

One positive I have to say with the story is that any scene with the supernatural, or dreams, were excellent. The writing evokes vivid imagery, is sharp and jagged as dreams are (or as I imagine dreams are), and offers good foreshadowing at the larger plot in play. Tense scenes with action and horror were also directed well; the supernatural portions were strained and tense, and set the reader in alongside the protagonist in the harsh tone of the scenes.

Overall, I did not intensely enjoy or infatuate myself with Last Days. I enjoyed it, it was a good book, but it just wasn't my cup of tea and its hard to say why. The writings good - great, even - I liked the portions of the supernatural and dream sequences, even if the actual filming and regular sections leading up to these scenes are slow-paced. While I predicted major plot points long before the reader and protagonist actually receive the major clues to figure it out, primarily through meta knowledge of mystery books, the book was still constructed well and retained my engagement. It could be that I don't like ghost stories, and the problem lies with me. Or maybe I went into the book with different expectations compared to the actual content. Either way, pick up this book if you like writing about ghosts, found footage based horror, dreams, or documentary settings; this would be right up your alley.

Last Days by Brian Evenson

 

 Last Days

By Brian Evenson

Mystery, Horror

                        If you are looking for Last Days by Adam Nevill, this is the wrong page. 

This left my wrists and arms tingling whenever I read it. A depressed detective, and recent amputee, is kidnapped by an amputation cult to solve a murder. It is a cult noir murder mystery bound in Shakespeare. Brian Evenson writes well, and makes my limbs feel pains from nerves I’ve never dreamt to feel.

The foreword by Peter Straub describes this book as being an initial noir mystery set on the backdrop of an amputation-driven cult that later expands into a Shakespearean styled bloodbath as the protagonist goes and wreaks a terrible vengeance to ensure his survival. The story features a detective named Kline, who on his last assignment lost his right hand, shot his attacker, self-cauterized his stump, and fled the scene with a bag of money. Kline is pessimistic and still mentally recuperating from this incident when his flat is kicked down and he is kidnapped by two voluntary amputees, who I will be referring to as Puck and Gaus (these are not their actual names, but I have misplaced my copy of the book and can't find their names online), to be brought to the Brotherhood of Mutilation. Upon arriving at the cult's compound, Klein is tasked to solve the murder of the cult's leader. During this time Klein finds that strangely no one is willing to tell him anything at all regarding the murder, let him see the body, offer alibis, or answer his questions regarding the crime as a whole. This is due to numerous reasons which I cannot uncover (can't spoil the fun now, can I?)  

The book is well-written in terms of mystery and touches on aspects of theology, humanity, and hierarchy.  A great deal of philosophy and religion is discussed in the book surrounding the ideas of religious hierarchy and interpretation. One repeated question asked throughout the book is "What makes the purpose of a person", and whether Klein as an individual has control over the situation, or if he is a literal and metaphysical tool for something greater. The book addresses the notion of Klein as both an divine instrument who is being guided by a theological force beyond, and as simply a misfortunate man brought out of his depth by other people. We see Klein expand as a character in his journey through a partially religious lens and the question is brought up if he has any free will in all of this; if his actions are preordained by a higher power; is his free will, or lack of it, being forced by a religious power, or only a religious institution lead by very mortal men.

The mystery of the book is good. It is reasonably foreshadowed, has enjoyable dialogue between characters, and Klein is reasonable in his deduction of clues as the book progresses.

There is a fair amount of body horror within the book, and while reading I noticed that my hands, wrists, and forearms would begin tingling whenever I read for too long, especially around certain scenes and descriptions. As the book surrounds an amputation cult, it should be said you should not read this if you are overtly squeamish.

The book does have some humorous and wholesome moments, surprisingly. Puck and Gaus serve as a comedic duo who follow the main character around and offer him genuine compassion and companionship during the story; they serve as a stark contrast to the rest of the secretive cult, and are blatantly clear with Klein when they can.

If you liked the Wickerman, of a man stumbling into a place completely separate from his mainstream ideas of culture and religion, trying to solve a mystery, then this book would be for you. I hold this book quite highly, and even reread it recently to see if it was as good as I remembered in previous years. 

 

 

 Metamorphosis

By Franz Kafka

Classic

So, you skipped your English reading assignment on the themes of Kafka's Metamorphosis until the last second. Or maybe you want to delve into the numerous metaphors riddling the text. Either way, the Metamorphosis itself is a delight to read, and I am assuming you have read it before coming here, and want an explanation as to what it is about.  The story is rather short and can be read in an afternoon; I’m not going to tell you to leave now and only come back once you have formed your own perspective on the book, but I will (like many, many, MANY, other writers and bloggers before me) recommend you do choose read the book yourself to fully appreciate it.. Don’t cheat in English class, the book is well worth it.

The story is about a wandering salesman named Gregor Samsa, the sole breadwinner of his family, who awakens to find himself having the misfortune for being turned into a giant insect (depictions of what insect exactly are usually a beetle or a cockroach, depending on the translation or media). His family are mortified by his transformation and while initially sympathetic to his plight, eventually find themselves resenting the young man as they try to figure out how to financially provide for themselves. The story ends with Gregor Samsa, having been exceedingly beaten and abused, finally succumbing to his injuries and starvation as the family (who have undergone their own personal “metamorphosis") move on from their perceived burden and head towards a brighter future (without their dead son).

After reading this synopsis, you may initially think that the story is nonsensical, simple, or has nothing to bring to the table other than a man who happens to turn into a giant beetle. Unfortunately for you (and the joy of everyone else), the story of Metamorphosis thrives on its frequent interpretations, real-world metaphors, and symbolism. The story covers a wide variety of themes; psychological, religious, financial, and as a result the book may touch an entirely different meaning for you than it did for me. These interpretations change the viewpoint of the book from a thematic perspective of course, and also a narrative one that changes how we perceive the characters (Check out the Wikipedia page for the entire list of interpretations, as there have been dozens across the years).

Personally, I find that there are five themes most poignant:

1. Alienation

The entire story of Gregor Samsa, and other of Kafka’s works, center themselves around the alienation and isolation of the protagonis. Gregor Samsa spends the beginning of the book feeling alienated from his family, resenting his dead-end job and feeling relatively detached from everyone before realizing his transformation into a bug. This theme of isolation continues as his family reacts with apparent disgust at Gregor Samsa’s mere existence, confining him to his room and abusing him whenever he escapes. 

2. PTSD and Disability

By an extension of the last theme of Alienation, the plot of Metamorphosis and Gregor Samsa’s transformation can also be seen as an allegory for disability and PTSD. It is briefly mentioned that Gregor Samsa was previously a lieutenant, and his feelings of isolation and alienation with the rest of the world could be inscribed as a form of PTSD, with his transformation being a physical representation of that alienation.

3. Burden on family

Again, tying onto the previous two themes are the notions of burden; outside of Gregor Samsa’s existence, we see the burden his absence has on his family. We see the family suffer financially as the sole breadwinner of the house is stricken with being a bug. We see them change from support to revulsion once it becomes clear that Gregor Samsa’s state is not showing any signs of reversal. And we see, throughout the whole story, Gregor’s lamentations as he and those around him view him as a burden to the family as a whole, and thus ostracize him.

4. Being used by others to support the family; Gregor and his family

One sinister perspective that can be taken throughout the book is that Gregor, even when he was human, was only valued by his family because of the financial liberty he provided to them. When Gregor no longer is the sole income provider of the family, they blame their financial woes on him as they struggle to manage their now dwindling finances as they now must - dramatic pause - work. And rent out spare rooms in the house. Obviously the family does not become destitute and relocates to a cheaper house at the end of the novel, but even when their money troubles are slowing there remains an unspoken idea in the book - this is all Gregors fault. Due to Gregor’s bug-tastic transformation, his parents now have to work, they can’t afford their usual luxurious lifestyle, his sister can no longer take violin lessons, and Gregor… Gregor remains locked up in a room alone while the rest of the family complain of their misfortune and eat dinner together in the dining room. It shows a frightening viewpoint, one where Gregors sole perceived value to the family was providing finance. And that's it. Even when the novel ends, it ends with the parents seeking to marry their daughter off, possibly for money or to use her to provide for the parents and sustain their lifestyle. Possibly not. I am not an expert on arranged marriages in 1915. But the theme of Gregor being solely valued as a fountain of gold for his parents remains.

5. Meta

There are numerous interpretations of this story which place the ideas of Gregor Samsa as a stand-in for Kafka’s father complex, feelings of self-regret and doubts, and family. I am not well versed in Kafka’s life, only summary information being known to me. Kafka was a repressed wet-cat of a man who suffered from EXTREME self-doubt, burned numerous copies of his work out of fears they weren’t good enough, and lived a secluded but extensively well-documented life, with several articles online.

6. I know I said there were only 5, but truthfully there are enough interpretations of Gregor Samsa out there that I am not equipped with the time, knowledge, or preparation to cover them all, and if I were to, then I doubt it would be something I could say quick enough to not take up the next few hours or days. 

It should be noted that the metamorphosis, or change, of the story is reflected in the family, Gregor Samsa’s physical appearance, Gregor Samsa himself as a person, and the environment as everything is forced to undergo a change and transformation by the end of the story. Though some of these themes may not have been in Kafka’s mind at the time of writing, the universal experience of their existence can be applied to the minds of the modern day.

This book is a classic, holds metaphors and writings well-applicable to the modern day, and is very enjoyable. I will recommend 53 cockroaches out of 1 lonely depressed man in a cozy wool bed.

Mister B. Gone - A Horror Meta-Autobiography

 Mister B. Gone

By Clive Barker

Horror, Fictional Autobiography, Meta 

Mister B. Gone is a short meta-autobiographical horror novel written by Clive Barker. The story is about a demon by the name of Jakabok Botch who is trapped inside of the book you are reading and is divided in between sections of Mister Botch regaling his life and how he came to be trapped in the book intercut with him desperately trying to goad the reader into setting the book on fire. 

Narratively, the plot is fairly straightforward. Jakabok describes his life in hell, with an abusive father and distant mother, at the bottom of the Ninth Circle where the final vestiges of demonic pariahs and outcasts live. After being fished out of hell by some humans, Jakabok continues his travels on Earth with a demon and (unrequited?) love interest named Quitoon through the Middle Ages in search of a machine being built which will reveal a great Secret about the world. 

Now, many of you may skim this and think - "Meta? Autobiography? Is this going to break the fourth wall?", so before we begin let me ease your woes. Meta plots are difficult to conduct; usually (at least in my experience),  most meta plot points are performed in a harsh, jarring manner that slaps the reader in the face with cold water, breaks the readers immersion, and most importantly disrupts the flow of the story. Fortunately this book incorporates its meta-qualities well and keeps the reader immersed throughout, trying to sell the reader the idea that there is an actual demon living inside of the book. The book tries to sell the authenticity of this idea through several tricks, such as having the pages of the book printed to appear stained, blotched, and yellow, to reflect the idea that the book has been around for several centuries, and thus is incredibly old. Another detail were the psychological tricks Jakabok deploys and uses when addressing the reader during one of the many sections centered around one-on-one conversations. 

For example, take the line:

I'm Jakabok the Nobody. As far as you're concerned, Jakabok the Invisible. 

But you're wrong. You're wrong. I'm *here*. I'm right here on the page in front of you. 

I'm staring out of the words right now, moving along behind the lines as your eyes follow them.

You see the blur between the words? That's me moving.

You feel the book shake a little? Come on, don't be a coward.

You felt it. Admit it.

Admit it.

An additional example is, as your reading, Jakabok mentions that for every page you read forwards he gets one step closer towards you, the reader, until you reach the end upon which he plans on killing you. This is done where, as you read, you are told with every line, another step is taken, and asked if you can sense him behind your back.

You know, logically, that there is no demon in the book; no matter how much you read, there is nothing unique inhabiting its pages, or dwelling in its spine - yet the words you read evoke a reaction. When I say, "Oh, dear reader, I have been reading and staring at this screen for a very, very long time. I can only imagine by now that both of our eyes must be extraordinarily dry, so excuse this pause while I blink away the itching that covers my poor red eyes." You probably blinked during that sentence, out of subconcious reflex, or at least felt the urge to. I know, when reading this book, I definately twitched, and felt a looming presence over my shoulder as Jakabok describes his gradual, deliberate steps behind me as I turned page over page to the end of the book.

Finally, there are some parts of the book that (whether intentionally or indirectly) make a direct comparison with the reader and Jakabok. Specifically, Jakabok (and presumably all demons) are described with having the innate fixation with knowing suffering, overriding self-preservation. If Jakabok were to hear  the sounds of a crying child from a locked room, and had to choose between seeing what was in there or leaving, he would be on that door faster than the wind. In a sense, you the reader also suffer the same compulsion. Jakabok pleads with you, threatens, tempts you to stop reading the book, and throughout it all you continue without a single regard to the possibility of harm it may bring to either of you. In essence, while not a core, central theme, it was one I thoroughly enjoyed.  

Alright, now that my ramble has ended, what did this book do well, and what did it do poorly?

Well, for one this book has some mild depictions of gore and insinuations of sex, similar to other Clive Barker novels. Not unexpected, but if you are overly squeamish you may wish to avoid. There are also depictions of abuse, torture, and many people dying a horrible nasty death with blood and boils and burns and so forth. Again, if you are nauseous by the mere mention of these, best avoid. 

Narratively, as I said before, the plot and story of Jakabok itself is simple. The words used are easy to understand, and the length of the book means you can breeze through it in one or three busy evenings. Of course because of the simple plot, you are less likely to be reading the book for the actual narration, but to discover WHO Jakabok is as a person. Overall, the best parts of the story were his early years, his unrequited romance with Quitoon (I'm a sucker for romance sometimes, okay?), and of course whenever Jakabok develops as a character and comes to a great realization or "change" within himself. Many times Jakabok will renounce all notions of love and his (relatively weak) humanity, achieving in a revelation what I like to think of as a form of self-actualization (albeit a murderous one). 

One aspect about Jakabok's character is that he is sometimes variant in his morality between scenes. Jakabok is shown as both a character whose faults are complimented with his tragedies and failings. He spends the book failing at everything he sets out to achieved, and lashing out at others when he can; but not every single action is out of internal wickedness and he still shows questionable compassion when he wants. One example is him actively trying to dissuade the murder of a pie baker. However, in other scenes, Jakabok is cruel for the sake of it; he is arrogant, openly malicious, and fails to muster even a speck of selflessness for others. Also he bathes in a literal bloodbath for fun. These scenes take place over the course of centuries and numerous character realizations though, so I cannot really judge Jakabok for not remaining a singular, continuous character over time. 

Overall, my recommendation is 3 bloodbaths out of 15 worldly secrets.