Category — reading

Title: Fahrenheit 451
Author: Ray Bradbury
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 190 (incl. afterword and interview)
ISBN: 0-345-34296-8
Price: $7.99 (CDN)

When I first read Fahrenheit 451, I was in grade nine, and though I liked it, I was too young and inexperienced a reader (and person) to get much more than the basics of the plot from it. When I tried again in university, I abandoned the protagonist, Guy Montag, and his wife, Mildred, in their parlour, hashing it out over the books Guy had been secreting away in the duct work. Finally, in October of last year, while visiting with my grandparents in Stratford, Ontario, I saw a copy of the 50th anniversary paperback of Fahrenheit 451 sitting on the shelf in Fanfare Books and I bought it (my previous copy was lost in one of my many moves all over Ontario) and tried reading it again.

The third time was the charm; this time, I really read it. I didn’t just skim it, I didn’t turn the pages and let osmosis do the rest, I really read it. I really thought about what I was reading, and the more attention I paid to the words and ideas, the more I felt like I was seeing pieces of our present and glimpses of our future.

This books gave me the chills.

The plot is still more or less as I remembered it from grade nine: Guy Montag is a Fireman, and his job is to start fires. He burns books that have been banned, because their contents make people think, and that makes them unhappy. It isn’t until he meets Clarisse McClellan, a young girl considered crazy because she enjoys thinking and imagining, that Montag begins to question the world he lives in, but when he does, his world falls apart pretty quickly.

As the story moves forward, as I met all  the characters and really listened to what they were saying and thinking, I kept being surprised by the parts that were so much like our own world. Consider this passage from the book:

Montag’s wife has overdosed on sleeping pills, and Montag has called in help to rescue and revive her. Two machines are brought in by two operators: one to pump her stomach clean, the other to replace her pill-saturated blood with clean blood.

The operator stood smoking a cigarette…”Got to clean ‘em out both ways,” said the operator, standing over the silent woman. “No use getting the stomach if you don’t clean the blood. Leave that stuff in the blood and the blood hits the brain like a mallet, bang, a couple thousand times and the brain just gives up, just quits.”

“Stop it!” said Montag.

“I was just sayin’,” said the operator.

“Are you done?” said Montag.

…”We’re done.” His anger did not even touch them. They stood with the cigarette smoke curling around their noses and into their eyes without making them blink or squint.

“That’s fifty bucks.”

…”Neither of you is an M.D. Why didn’t they send an M.D. from Emergency?”

“Hell,…you don’t need an M.D., case like this, all you need is two handymen, clean up the problem in half an hour.”

It’s as if an overdose is no more problematic than a leaf-clogged gutter. Just clean it up, and bob’s yer uncle. No need for a doctor, or personalized attention at all. Just send in a couple of guys with a machine.

While I sincerely hope that our health care system will never get to this point, I can relate to the impersonal treatment that Montag’s wife receives. I know not all doctors are like that: bored, indifferent, and kind of rude – but too many of them are. I’ve had appointments with doctors who spent the entire appointment staring at a laptop and barely even glanced at me. I would have bet money that if you’d put me in a line-up five minutes later, they wouldn’t have been able to pick me out.

This passage about schooling in Montag’s world (as spoken by his boss, Beatty) caught my attention too:

“School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually gradually neglected…Surely you remember the boy in your own school class who was exceptionally ‘bright’, and did most of the reciting and answering while the others sat like so many leaden idols, hating him. And wasn’t it this bright boy you selected for beatings and tortures after hours? Of course it was. We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against.”

Sounds like our modern ideas about social promotion to me. And given that classes are getting larger and that teachers have very little authority over their students, I could see there being a proposal to shorten the school day, lighten the homework requirements, and forego discipline altogether – and I could see that proposal getting some serious consideration, too. I know, and have known, teachers – even English teachers – who have overlooked poor spelling and grammar because “the ideas were good”. They didn’t want to fail a student and deal with angry parents, hurt feelings, or the possibility of having what little authority they do have undermined by an unsupportive administration who passes the kid anyway. I could talk for pages and pages about the bullying epidemic going on in our schools today – and it’s not just the “bright boy” who is being bullied either, there’s a lot of kids who get tormented everyday by their so-called peers for a lot of different reasons, or no reason at all.

And Beatty says this to Montag in regard to books:

“You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred. Ask yourself, What do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn’t that right?…Coloured people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book…Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely brilliant with information…And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change. Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy.”

We still – still! – ban books because the subject matter is upsetting in some way; because the book might bring to light or trigger our less than savoury characteristics and beliefs:  racism, homophobia, cruelty, murder, greed, corruption, religious intolerance, cowardice, rudeness, selfishness, and any number of other flaws. We seem to prefer that the uncomfortable bits of books be taken out, or cleaned up and sanitized. We would rather speak incomprehensible, ‘politically correct’ gibberish to each other than speak plainly, because we don’t want to risk upsetting anyone. We’d rather ban a book (or burn it) than explain it or learn from it.

Montag and Beatty, their observations and explanations, the similarities of their world to mine…this book raises so many questions for me! It makes me wonder, is Ray Bradbury right – are there too many machines now? Are we in the process of building Montag’s world for ourselves? Is our technology helping us, or holding us back?  Are we getting further away from each other despite all the technology that is supposed to make it simpler to come together? Have we developed too many ways for us to escape real life and forget how to be truly human? Are there too many false things to lose ourselves in? Are we going through life with our eyes shut? Do we ever really see anything, or are we just taking a quick glance at things because that’s what everyone else is doing? Are we becoming more stupid, more insipid, more greedy and entitled and remorseless?

Some days, the pessimistic and melancholy days, I think we are up the creek as a species and I simply assume that this vision of ourselves will one day be a reality. Other days I feel hopeful that we’ll be OK, that’ll we’ll stop before it’s too late to take it back, and that we’ll avoid forcing ourselves to live in Montag’s world. But, most days, I wait to see what happens, and I try to keep from becoming part of the problems we have, I try to avoid the things, and behaviour, and stupidities that could lead us to Montag’s world.

I don’t always succeed in this, but I always try.

Title: The Adventures of Benjamin Skyhammer
Author: Nicole Sheldrake
Publisher: Amazon e-publishing
Pages: 310 (on Kindle)
ISBN: 9780987670700
Price: $2.99 (USD)

The titular character of Benjamin Skyhammer is a guy that pretty much everyone can identify with on some level: he doesn’t fit into society very well, he hates his day job (but loves his hobby), and he spends a good deal of time dreaming about the day when things will change for him. However, it’s all the reasons behind why he’s so easy to relate to, that make Benjamin Skyhammer stand out.

Skyhammer lives on Pingala, a world where everyone uses magic in their day to day lives – everyone except for him. Born without magic, Skyhammer is looked upon as something less than fully human. At their best, his fellow humans go out of their way to avoid any sort of contact with him; at their worst they openly taunt him (at rather low point in his personal history, a group of kids turned him into a snake for a lark).

As Keeper of the Retrograph Vault, a job he was forced into by virtue of being the only one able to get into the vault in the first place, he’s expected to be grateful and happy with such a cushy and easy job. Given that his predecessor spent most of his time as Keeper completely intoxicated, most people think the job is more than Skyhammer deserves as a magic-less outcast. Skyhammer, however, feels the job is a sort of boring punishment and is not content to sit on his laurels and take the easy way out. Instead, he and his best friend – his only friend really – Higgins, (a clever young lady, proficient in wizard level magic) spend the majority of their time hunting down the one Relic – a glove – that could bestow magical powers on Skyhammer and finally make him equal to everyone else.

During his various quests for this glove, Skyhammer finds other Relics and sells them as a source of income. This income goes towards paying informants who are helping him track the location of the Relic. When Skyhammer finally gets a solid lead on the whereabouts of the glove, he and Higgins are caught up in a race against time to get to it before someone else does

Without giving too much away, things go horribly awry and the fallout sends Skyhammer and Higgins on an adventure that ends up becoming far more complicated than either of them could ever have dreamed. Unexplained murders, political intrigues, and battles become the norm as they brave both beautiful and harsh landscapes to find the truth and to fulfill Skyhammer’s only desire. As might be expected, Skyhammer learns a few things about himself and the people around him along the way. Finding the truth, and seeking out your heart’s desire is hard, and sometimes frightening, work – but the rewards are great.

There are many things in this book to interest readers,  and of all the interesting things in it, I was most intrigued by the concept of the Retrograph.

Retrographs are pictures that are taken every minute of an individuals life – picture having a sort of camera as a third eye that takes a snapshot of one moment in time, every minute you’re awake. These Retrographs can be viewed at anytime – but only by the person to whom they belong. No one knows why the Retrographs exist, or for what purpose (those answers died with the ancients), they simply are – and every human, magic or not, has their whole life captured by this inner-eye. I have to admit, if we had anything like that now, I’d want the option of a delete button. After all, who’d want to look back on all the times you brushed your teeth or went to the bathroom (or worse!)?

I also enjoyed the wide variety in races (everything from humans to amoebas that like to knit) and the interesting technology too (flying carpets, magic slates, whole cities that float); it’s a world that is nothing like our own, but its inhabitants make it feel familiar and comfortable. The names of some of the inns that Skyhammer and Higgins pass through gave me the giggles as did the stories the locals feed the tourists regarding the name of their town, Four Hills (all I have to say is “conjoined princesses” – you’ll see).

The story itself moves along at a pretty quick pace. There were a few spots where I felt it went a little too fast, and the landscape, people and conversations went by in a bit of hurry. I’m a greedy reader, I like detail and back story (in the right measure). And there were some questions that I felt were not answered (perhaps the answers I wanted were deliberately not given to add an air of mystery – but I felt a little disappointed at not being let in on it)  and I must also be a little bit voyeuristic, as I would have liked more inner-dialogue – especially from Skyhammer – or at least more description of how the characters were feeling about certain events.

The only other thing that gave me a moment’s pause while reading, were the two instances where I felt that Benjamin Skyhammer acted wildly out of character. He generally seems like a fairly sweet sort of guy – the kind you take home to mother – even a little goofy and helpless at times. I had a hard time reconciling that Skyhammer to the two instances in the story (I could tell you which ones, but I don’t want to, a) spoil the plot or b) put ideas in your head about how you should react before you’ve even read it.) Let’s just say that I couldn’t (and still can’t) see someone of his character doing such things.

All in all, The Adventures of Benjamin Skyhammer is a good, fun read set in an interesting world that you’ll find yourself wishing you could visit for real.

Title: The five secrets you must discover before you die
Author: John Izzo, Ph.D.
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Pages: 167 (not including index)
ISBN: 978-1-57675-475-7
Price: $16.76 CDN

I don’t normally buy anything from the self help section of bookstores. I’ve always considered the fiction and literature sections to be all the self help I could need or want. I bought this book since it was the selection of the month for the book club I just joined. I opened it with the expectation that it would be full of new-agey, cheesy sort of talk about becoming one with the flow of the universe and eating more vegetables or something.

As it turns out, this book was actually not too bad.

The author, along with a team of people, interviewed over 200 people over the age of 60 (screened from a much larger pool of candidates) to find out the secret of their happiness. The interviewees were chosen by their friends and loved ones because they seemed to have a knack for being happy, and can look at their lives and say “I have no regrets and I am happy.”

The book is organized so that there is one secret per chapter so I found it very easy to read. I was also able to skip around a little in the book when I wanted to without worrying about keeping a storyline straight (or spoiling a storyline).

Speaking of spoilers, here comes one now: I’m showing you the man behind the curtain and revealing the five secrets (you’ve been adequately warned):

1. Be true to yourself.
2. Leave no regrets.
3. Become love.
4. Live the moment.
5. Give more than you take.

Not exactly mind-bending stuff.

These are all things anyone could have figured out on their own. However, there is something to be said for having them all collected in a book. I think the real difficulty of these “secrets” is incorporating them into your own life – especially as that generally involves a blunt self-appraisal of how you live and who you are and a lot of courage.

I did find parts of the book very repetitive – these secrets are really hammered home – and the third secret made me roll my eyes a little. The phrase  “become love” is a little saccharine for my taste, but I do agree with its meaning: acting like a self-absorbed jackass will ultimately lead to unhappiness (and probably a lot of loneliness since no one will want your company) so you should be nicer.

This book made me feel kind of guilty somehow though – like how I feel when I walk past people canvasing for charities downtown (“No thanks, just out for bus tickets!”), but I’m not sure this feeling is a point against the book. Maybe that little feeling of uncomfortableness is the point of the book.

The best part of the book (for me) was not Dr. Izzo’s explanations about what he means by these secrets. What stood out as I read and flitted from chapter to chapter were the direct quotes from the interviewees. The people Dr. Izzo and his team interviewed weren’t a bunch of young 30-somethings like myself who are only just starting to glimpse what it might be like to have some wisdom one day. These are people who have 30+ years on me and make me look like a silly kid – and what they have to say is valuable.

Their messages, in my opinion, were summed up best by the woman who said she always tried to think ahead to when she’d be old and grey and sitting in a rocking chair: would that woman look back at this moment with happiness or regret. If the answer was happiness, it was the right path.

Will I think that for myself when making decisions about my life? Probably not as often as I ought to, but at least it’ll be there in my head and I have the option of having a moment of wisdom.

I still stand by my opinion that the best self-help is found in the literature section, but Dr. Izzo’s book exceeded my expectations and gave me some food for thought.