David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "reincarnation"
The Incarnations
Author Susan Barber spent several years learning about its culture and history; she's also of Chinese-Malaysian-British descent.
This book is about a taxi driver named Wang who thinks he's being stalked. Someone is leaving packets for him detailing his supposed previous lives. Wang is a former college student who spent at least seven hours a day studying. He had a nervous breakdown and was sent to a mental asylum where he had a homosexual affair. Ten years later he's married with a daughter, but he bumps into his former lover/musician who is now a barber and immediately blames him for the stalking.
The book travels back in time at least a thousand years, but it's not just Wang's story. There is another person who leads a parallel life with Wang. I will bet you a dollar to a doughnut you will never guess who the other person is.
One of the most interesting incarnations is when Wang is a concubine in Emperor Jiajing's court. She and fifteen others plot to poison the emperor who has a bad habit of torturing his sexual partners with knives, sometimes forcing another concubine to do it. I had trouble telling the difference between Wang alternative character and the other reincarnated person, but she/he is telling the story so if you pay close attention you can figure it out.
The other most interesting interlude was when Wang is a young woman during Mao Tse Dung's Red Guard revolution. Wang is the daughter of a high level member of the party, and she falls in love with Yi Moon whose father has been imprisoned because the Communists bureaucrats needed to fulfill their quota. Yi Moon is quiet and unassuming; Wang is a young communist leader with charisma. She must recognize Yi Moon as a kindred spirit. They're soon having sex.
The sexual attraction between the two characters continues from incarnation to incarnation. I'm not quite sure what Davis was getting at. Is she trying to make some sort of point, or is this just gratuitous sex to liven up her story? It seemed like it to me. The ending was a real surprise, and it put an end to the ongoing sexual attraction theory.
I know Buddhists believe in reincarnation, but there's no mention of that religion in the story. It does make for an original story. Another factor is how similar the modern Chinese are to Americans, despite the political differences.
This book is about a taxi driver named Wang who thinks he's being stalked. Someone is leaving packets for him detailing his supposed previous lives. Wang is a former college student who spent at least seven hours a day studying. He had a nervous breakdown and was sent to a mental asylum where he had a homosexual affair. Ten years later he's married with a daughter, but he bumps into his former lover/musician who is now a barber and immediately blames him for the stalking.
The book travels back in time at least a thousand years, but it's not just Wang's story. There is another person who leads a parallel life with Wang. I will bet you a dollar to a doughnut you will never guess who the other person is.
One of the most interesting incarnations is when Wang is a concubine in Emperor Jiajing's court. She and fifteen others plot to poison the emperor who has a bad habit of torturing his sexual partners with knives, sometimes forcing another concubine to do it. I had trouble telling the difference between Wang alternative character and the other reincarnated person, but she/he is telling the story so if you pay close attention you can figure it out.
The other most interesting interlude was when Wang is a young woman during Mao Tse Dung's Red Guard revolution. Wang is the daughter of a high level member of the party, and she falls in love with Yi Moon whose father has been imprisoned because the Communists bureaucrats needed to fulfill their quota. Yi Moon is quiet and unassuming; Wang is a young communist leader with charisma. She must recognize Yi Moon as a kindred spirit. They're soon having sex.
The sexual attraction between the two characters continues from incarnation to incarnation. I'm not quite sure what Davis was getting at. Is she trying to make some sort of point, or is this just gratuitous sex to liven up her story? It seemed like it to me. The ending was a real surprise, and it put an end to the ongoing sexual attraction theory.
I know Buddhists believe in reincarnation, but there's no mention of that religion in the story. It does make for an original story. Another factor is how similar the modern Chinese are to Americans, despite the political differences.
Eternal Life
ETERNAL LIFE starts around the time of the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem. Rachel has a baby with the son of a Jewish high priest, but she's already married to her father's apprentice scribe.
This is a theme I'm sure I've seen before: If you could live forever, would you want to? Some would say, “if I can remain healthy and moderately young looking, why not?” That's Rachel's problem. Her baby starts to die, withering away. Rachel and her lover go to the high priest. If she'll make a vow to live forever the baby will get better. Elazar, the young father and priest, must make the same vow. He agrees and the baby gets better. Suspension of disbelief is always a problem with this kind of theme. As a reader, I couldn't accept that a Jewish high priest would have the power to make such a bargain.
We skip ahead to the 21st century. Rachel has been with her present family for over seventy years. She meets Elazar again. They're still as passionate for each other as ever. Rachel moves from one incarnation to the next by being consumed by fire. She always wakes up in a different setting with the body of an eighteen-year-old girl. Coincidentally, Rachel's granddaughter in this life, is a scientist with the goal of increasing our lifetimes or even defeating death. Ironic, huh? I had recently read about why we age. It has to do with this wick like thing in our cells that gets shorter as we age. Rachel doesn't look like any 84-year-old her granddaughter has ever seen. You can guess what happens. Rachel becomes a test subject, as does Elazar. Both of them want Hannah, the granddaughter, to help them die.
Okay, the them seems to be “be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.” Most of us would say we'd like to live forever. But what about all your children and grandchildren, all your friends, who die as you keep living? Would you be able to handle that? Then, author Dara Horn goes and screw up the ending, seemingly disagreeing with what she's been preaching throughout the book.
Not only have I probably read this book before by a different author with a slightly different plot, but I can't recommend it. It's inconsistent and the beginning isn't believable. It's also hard to accept that Rachel's granddaughter would just happen to be a genetic scientist.
This is a theme I'm sure I've seen before: If you could live forever, would you want to? Some would say, “if I can remain healthy and moderately young looking, why not?” That's Rachel's problem. Her baby starts to die, withering away. Rachel and her lover go to the high priest. If she'll make a vow to live forever the baby will get better. Elazar, the young father and priest, must make the same vow. He agrees and the baby gets better. Suspension of disbelief is always a problem with this kind of theme. As a reader, I couldn't accept that a Jewish high priest would have the power to make such a bargain.
We skip ahead to the 21st century. Rachel has been with her present family for over seventy years. She meets Elazar again. They're still as passionate for each other as ever. Rachel moves from one incarnation to the next by being consumed by fire. She always wakes up in a different setting with the body of an eighteen-year-old girl. Coincidentally, Rachel's granddaughter in this life, is a scientist with the goal of increasing our lifetimes or even defeating death. Ironic, huh? I had recently read about why we age. It has to do with this wick like thing in our cells that gets shorter as we age. Rachel doesn't look like any 84-year-old her granddaughter has ever seen. You can guess what happens. Rachel becomes a test subject, as does Elazar. Both of them want Hannah, the granddaughter, to help them die.
Okay, the them seems to be “be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.” Most of us would say we'd like to live forever. But what about all your children and grandchildren, all your friends, who die as you keep living? Would you be able to handle that? Then, author Dara Horn goes and screw up the ending, seemingly disagreeing with what she's been preaching throughout the book.
Not only have I probably read this book before by a different author with a slightly different plot, but I can't recommend it. It's inconsistent and the beginning isn't believable. It's also hard to accept that Rachel's granddaughter would just happen to be a genetic scientist.
