WAG - Book Review Time
I think I have a 28-hour circadian rhythm.
Note: I’ll get to the literary evaluation referred to in the title, but first; a short digression.
I am a night owl by nature and typically have no trouble staying up late. Granted, most people can pull a late night if necessary, but I don’t find it too difficult to stay through dawn if necessary.
I pay for it the next day, of course, which is why I rarely attempt all-nighters. However when it comes time to crunch, I don’t require any extra sugar or caffeine assistance to pull it off.
That being said, when I have insomnia, I get it wicked bad.
Last night was one of those nights.
So the first major quandary of the day was posed around 2 in the morning: What to read?
So, early in the morning, I started a 20-hour period where I started and finished 3 books, which I shall now briefly recap.
I read The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Prey by Michael Crichton, and Shopgirl by Steve Martin.
The common theme was the innate tendency for man to self-destruct, though the methods were different. The instruments were isolation, technology, and love.
The Lord of the Flies is a modern classic that recounts the tales of a "tribe" of British boys that get stranded on a jungle island during WWII and how they slowly turn feral. It’s been on my long-term list of books to read since I first heard about it in Middle School. I had heard snippets of the story, so certain dark twists weren’t as surprising as they could have been, but it still was a gripping read (especially so, when you realize I was still flipping pages around 5 o’clock in the morning).
Society is a hard thing to setup, let alone maintain. Without the guiding hands of an overall authority, all you have is your personal morals to go by. And if your rationale of what is right or wrong conflicts with others, things can get ugly.
That’s true in the wild or in more “civilized” quarters.
Even Silicon Valley can be a fearsome place. In Prey, the quest for improved “artificial life” threatens to consume everyone involved.
(Note: There a key distinction is made in the book concerning the differences between “artificial intelligence” and “artificial life.” A.I., the more commonly known one, is the grail for those looking to reproduce a simulated consciousness. A.L. seeks to mirror biological systems – or the behaviors or protocols that guide life. Think of it as programming instinct guidelines that would help a machine cope with the outside world).
When being summoned to help spruce up some code, the hero of the novel finds himself trying to control (and later contain) an artificial organism gone berserk.
Once again ethics, or the lack of quality ones, prompt the near-disaster. When important questions concerning risks or “how far is too far” aren’t asked, one is destined to be answering the questions after the consequences have hit.
Thus, we drift into the last book, Shopgirl, which I figured would be a nice change of pace after the previous downers.
I was both right and wrong.
Steve Martin has the rare ability to be both tragic and uplifting at the same time. At least that’s what the reviews on the cover said. I recalled the same accolades being given for his short story collection Pure Drivel, but it was truly earned here.
Shopgirl recounts the ups and downs of a fragile girl who starts a relationship with a man 30 years her senior. I believe it is one of the best chronicles or the tragic and hilarious things that go on during courtship.
It perfectly pegged the naïve expectations people have, the frequent miscommunications and missteps, sweat triumphs, heartrending mistakes, and other foolish things people do while under the influence of love.
I knew these lessons, but they were humorously reinforced: Love can hurt and it can heal. It all depends on how and who wields it.
And you need not a “Hollywood ending” where the boy gets the girl for everyone to live “Happily Ever After.”
Mankind has come across many things through which it can destroy itself: unsupervised freedom, miracle machines, and love.
Of course, if they are used properly, they can make life a treat too.
Finding the right balance is the key.
Good luck.
'read_on'
