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Book Review: The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco

Umberto Eco, famous for his medieval mystery The Name of the Rose and slightly less well known for occult classic Foucault’s Pendulum, managed to sneak in a different, remarkable book on my shelves.

The Island of the Day Before is Eco’s thorough exploration of an age of exploration and of the baroque. He navigates among a Europe on the verge of enlightenment, and the book spins lengthy ramblings on geography, religion, and science as the characters try, and often falter, to make sense of their world.

Young Italian aristocrat Roberto is a baroque paragon who absorbs shifting and contradictory worldviews as easily as he meets unusual characters on his travels. Roberto finds himself shipwrecked upon a ship, a turn within a turn. The ship is beeched on a coral reef within a bay or atoll. From its deck, he can see islands on either side of the ship, and later guesses they are the same island. There, he spends his days reminiscing about the travels that brought him to this end, and having a few odd adventures with a bizarre mystery shipmate.

Roberto’s flashbacks, told by the narrator who refers to Roberto’s journaling on the ship, comprise the meat of the novel, and certainly the most entertaining, even absurdly humorous episodes. Eco portrays Roberto as a noble’s son who, upon facing discipline from his hard farther, concocts tales of an evil twin, Ferrante, his ultimate foil, an evil mirror image whom Roberto repeatedly and imaginatively plots into wild romances to explain his own miseries and misfortunes.

Roberto battles the Spanish (where he watches his father die futilely, if somewhat valiantly), lounges with occult philosophers in Paris, learns sword dueling from an old atheist skeptic, and dabbles in espionage at the behest of the French cardinal. And, in each such episode, he encounters worldview after worldview, readily lapping up each one right after the contradictory other.

Roberto does show flourish – he absorbs those disparate philosophies and weaves in his own variations and swirls, a creative act that lands him at the mercy of the cardinal and puts him aboard a doomed ship destined for the titular island. Their mission? Discover what the British are up to in using a strange sympathetic magic to master measuring longitude at sea.

That mystery – the measurement of longitude – becomes Roberto’s obsession so he can return to his unrequited Parisian love. Once he discovers a mad old Jesuit who hides from him on the wrecked ship, the two set out with contraption after contraption to reach the shores of the island where the Jesuit has erected a device he claims proves the spot the antimeridian. Oddly enough, neither of them can swim.

Father Caspar is a mad genius, and wildly colorful character, who confounds Roberto into believing that God borrowed water from “the day before” by carrying it from beyond the antimeridian to carry out Noah’s flood. Here again, Roberto laps up apocalyptic notions from Caspar, and again rolls those into his amalgamated worldview even after Caspar perishes in a bit of black humor while trying to invent a diving bell contraption.

For all the color and absurdity (from a modern reader’s perspective, especially) of the cast of characters, Roberto is Eco’s accomplishment. Eco writes a novel in celebration of the baroque era, transforming his written narrative in substance and style as a baroque homage. It’s no small effort; today the word baroque is derogatory. But, importantly, Roberto is not merely the modern readers “eyes” to experience it all. In the end, he’s Eco’s triumph to reveal his genuine love for the art, and the soul of Roberto.

Despite challenging chapters, and ever expanding meanderings of philosophical fancy and minutiae, the book delivers in the end. It’s a flawed, but absolutely fascinating book.

The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco: B+

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Upcoming book reviews

Rumors of my demise … probably never happened. Nonetheless! New book reviews coming up, including:

The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco

Purity of Blood by Arturo Perez-Reverte

The Last Run by Greg Rucka

That means I’ve read the books already, and need to write up my reviews. Oddly, I have about the same reaction to all three books. I read each with very high expectations, and all three fell short of those, but barely. That’s a my critical way of saying these were pretty damn good, just not damn good enough.

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Speculative fiction as a political act

I'm still reading Brave New Worlds. My reading pace is normally pretty slow. Throw on to my schedule a new workout regimen and my and my wife's new addiction to watching Dexter on Netflix means I'm way behind here.

The anthology is fascinating. It's been a long while since I read any short fiction, especially speculative fiction like this. I studied it formally in college years ago, and outside of that I had read a lot of science fiction short story classics.

I confess, I have forgotten how thick with political identity the speculative genre is. It's almost quaint to me to see how things have changed. That sounds more condescending that I mean it, though. I'm just fascinated to see so many of the stories in this collection featuring climate change as a key premise, for example.

The collection is, at least thus far, also heavy into themes surrounding gender issues, GLBT, and especially reproductive issues like abortion, fertility and population growth (or devastation on a couple cases). I have no quibble with the topics. Indeed, I don't think I can say I even have a quibble with the political positions these authors take.

But, I do find the conceits surrounding the oppression and the ruling powers of these dystopia are sometimes so bizarre as to be political farce. In one story, an evolved Catholic church conducts infanticide-by-baptism because the infants are diagnosed as infertile. In another, a new American theocracy resurrects a Green party pot smoker and then summarily cites imaginary George W. Bush era terrorism laws for his being a terrorist. To be fair, other stories go the opposite direction as political commentary, including troubling story of a matriarchy run amuck that imprisons violent men.

But, I will say there's precious little political viewpoint in this collection that isn't either left-leaning being self crticial or left-leaning criticizing the right. That's not really surprising; it's not even disappointing. That's not my point. It echoes my experiences and observations for current day geek subcultures, most of which at least acknowledge slightly left-leaning politics and at most extreme rant against race, religion or conservative politicies with their own shouting groupthink.

So, yes, I find some of the stories to be those kinds of screeds. Which I think is an odd reaction for me to have. Speculative fiction is a vast playground in which I like to think of myself as the open-minded adventurer, eager to explore unusual worlds and stretch the boundaries of settings, ideas, and themes. And, dystopian fiction is especially likely to present extreme, political landscapes and villains. Yet, I still find a small number of these stories to be careless. Stories in which the terror of dystopia isn't villainous, or even bleakly humorous, but trite and ill-conceived.

I think those kinds of stories do not stand the test of time, which is the bullshit way of saying they aren't very good stories.

Thankfully, Brave New Worlds is not full of such stories. They are the exception, not the rule.

Up next: Brave New Worlds anthology edited by John Joseph Adams

I've already dived in to my next read, Brave New Worlds, edited by John Joseph Adams. It's a collection of dystopian short fiction from diverse authors.

The Kindle edition notes that the digital rights to three classic stories by famous authors (Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick and J.G. Ballard) aren't included. Disappointing, but understandable. And, along with many other American high schoolers, I've already read Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron.

So far, it's quite enjoyable. I'm about a third through the book, and the stand out in the book so far is The Funeral by Kate Wilhelm. It's a superb story, a dark and severe tale of a girl reared in an ultra-severe caste school. Wilhelm's murky ending teases out a string of implications about the generations of teacher tyrants in a bleak future.

Waking up a dream

I'm 35. This year, my wife and I moved into our dream house after six frustrating and stressful years of trying to move out of our first home. Now, we and our two children have a wonderful place to live.

When I was 15, my dream was to be one of two things – bass player in rock band or a novelist. I'm was always a pretty mediocre musician at best, but I could write. Or so I thought, anyway. I chose my beloved University of Iowa based solely on its world renown graduate fiction writing program, the Iowa Writers' Workshop. My mother made me reply to at least one other school just to be safe. I barely bothered. I was a Hawkeye.

I actually made it into a select portion of the university's undergraduate creative writing program (taught by some talented Writers' Workshop graduate students), but the truth was I wasn't ready to become a world renown fiction writer. I got the journalism bug not long after I decided I needed to have some kind of job. I needed that job because I wanted to marry my girlfriend – now wife – and have a home and family. That desire outweighed my novelist dream.

I got a great education along the way, and a degree in English and journalism both. The journalism degree turned out well. I've been working at a media company for 13 years, and have a respectable income sufficient to buy this wonderful house I'm sitting in now.

No regrets. I knew all along I was making choices that would prevent me from being the writer I dreamed of being some day. Pay the bills first. Feed the kids. Get a nice home for us to have a decent life in. Then, writing.

Ok, not even then. I'm currently a graduate student . . . in a Masters of Business Administration program. Not exactly a beatnik existence, huh? At least it's also at Iowa! Life-long Hawkeye, here. Classes chew up a lot of my time, and will continue for a couple more years. But, it helps my career considerably. It ensures my kids have great coverage and a college education some day.

Still, I didn't lose that creative urge entirely. For much of my leisure time over the last 10 years, I created indie role-playing games. I had some decent success, too, and wrote and published three unique games – a Western game called Dust Devils, a horror game called 44: A Game of Automatic Fear, and a Greek myth inspired modern fantasy called Nine Worlds. The latter two are available for free at StoriesYouPlay.com.

But all of that added up to much less time reading, and almost zero time writing fiction.

About two months ago, something changed – the kind of change I think people require before they can will themselves into doing something hard. After all this time, I wanted to read fiction again. I've read more books in the last two months than I have in the last two years. It's refreshing, and it's not going away any time soon. Something in me clicked.

Something else clicked, too. I got that desire to write again, that dream revived. And, I confess, it remains just a desire. Writers write, of course. So, all I can say so far is that aspiring writers research. I've spent my last few days writing some imaginative notes about the age of sail, the moons of Jupiter, Archimedes, and Pascal. Oh, and pirates.

There's a wonderful idea there, begging to get out as a work of long fiction. It'll take hard work, patience and willpower, all amid an already very busy life of work and school and family and friends. Given 20 years of distant dreams, I have no illusions how challenging it will be.

I'm going to give it a shot.

Ebook Review: Ammortals by Matt Forbeck

Full disclosure: I've met Matt Forbeck a few times. I can't say I know him well, but what I do know is he's an extraordinarily nice guy.

Angry Robot Books just recently released Amortals by Matt Forbeck in the U.S. It's been making rounds in the UK on reviews, and is currently gathering up good reviews here  in the states as well. It's a science fiction thriller with plenty of twists, turns, and technological tricks.

Hot on the heels of my reading of Sandman Slim, Amortals is another first person account with a detective fiction feel. The protagonist narrator is Ronan "Methuselah" Dooley, the world's first and oldest amortal. Amortality is the technological centerpiece of the book, a process where people can be resurrected by means of a clone and downloaded memories. Dooley dies protecting the president in the early 21st century, and his heroism helps usher in widespread acceptance of the new technology for a new era of rich, amortal haves and poor, mortal have-nots.

The book begins with Dooley's latest death. After a string of dying in the line of duty over about 200 years, Dooley's almost become used to the process. But, this death is more gruesome than most, and leaves a cold trail of who or what his killer wants.

Forbeck wastes no time propelling Dooley and his mortal partner Querer, a middle aged woman whom he distrusts initially, into action. After a presidential celebration of his rebirth, Dooley begins collecting up information, especially via his nanoserver implants. The effect for readers is seeing the technological layers of the world through Dooley's eyes as a living, breathing internet enabled world reveals clues and threats. It's a nice touch to consider how information swarms our senses, even in today's real world.

Pacing in the first half or more of the book earns that thriller label for the book. Dooley's attacked by Indian gangster, snipers, and rocket launching mystery men, then chasing after same in acrobatic hover car action. The action makes for a pleasant, page turning read.

Dooley himself is a salty dog of an agent, but also a lens for readers. He's roughly my contemporary (and Forbeck's) – someone born in the late 20th century, and still remembers bits of his family life from that time. Forbeck adds just a tad too much for my tastes on some minor details – it's clear he's writing for geek culture by drumming up Dooley's fondness for Settlers of Catan in one passage, rather than the more rough and tumble Eastwood type that he otherswise behaves as in the line of duty. It's a small thing, but one that snapped me out of an otherwise well done character who's far too old for his young cloned appearance.

The Amortal Project, the official organization that controls amortality for an elite superpowered United States, is the matter of much controversy. Dooley's investigation is peppered with references to religious objection and activism against the immorality of amortality. Here again, Forbeck makes some interesting commentary on the consequences of amortality, including class warfare and religious extremism, for which Dooley seems to have no interest.

Nestled between action sequences is Dooley's introduction to his sixth generation descendant grandson, whom he calls Six. The teenager forms a bond with Dooley, but also introduces the relationship with the boy's father, whom Dooley calls Five. It ends badly, or so Forbeck leads readers to believe.

It all turns sharply when Dooley encounters his killer, someone much, much closer to him than he ever suspected. The book then builds rather quickly to a revolutionary turn for Dooley with Querer at his side. Here, the book suffers. While the future shocks revealed in the final chapters of the thriller provide interesting turns, Forbeck rushes. The story builds to a dramatic confrontation with the Amortal Project conspirers, and then ends abruptly. Forbeck abandons Dooley's relationship with Six. We see nothing of a key religious figure, or the presumably messy consequences of a probably better world. It's a clumsy ending to an otherwise entertaining near-future science fiction thriller.

The book does provide a fascinating appendix (I read the Kindle edition — I assume it's also in print). Forbeck includes a brief history of him getting the book published, and how he crafted the work over several  years. He even includes the original version of the first chapter written in the 90s. It's a interesting peek inside his emergence as a published writer, and will be especially worthwhile to aspiring writers.

Amortals: B-

Sandman Slim's real life mentor

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Eugène François Vidocq

In my recent review of Sandman Slim, I was unaware of the historical figure of Vidocq. Eugène François Vidocq is the father of criminal investigation, i.e. the grandpa of detectives, and creator of the French Sûreté Nationale. Kadrey's cleverly including Vidocq to liven up his Chandler-esque fantasy.

Read all about Eugène François Vidocq on Wikipedia. Great stuff.

I love discovering stuff like this in books. Wish I had realized while reading to catch the good references (I'm remember some already, including the bit about him creating the Sûreté!)

Brave new readers

It's news to no one that we're on the leading edge of a digital revolution. The rise of ereaders this past year is the most obvious sign of rapid changes in how we find, acquire, read and reflect on fiction.

I for one am excited! The changes coming should make things better for readers in the long run. But, it could get ugly for writers, for publishers, and for booksellers, especially in the short term. Rumors abound that Borders faces bankruptcy. This comes at a time when some book publishers are tightening belts. Should Borders fail, those publishers won't just tighten belts, they'll tighten nooses.

But, now writers facing a much tougher market have a new option that just wasn't feasible even a few years ago. They can now publish digitally. They can work with innovative publishers, or maybe assemble themselves into publishing collectives, or even publish as individuals.

Digital media changes everything. Even readers who demand books the old fashioned way face changes in price, availability and selection in coming years. There's no way to avoid it – the change will affect you somehow.

Digital infinity?

Geek culture – indeed, popular culture in general – is all about the consumption of media. We read books. We play video games, watch movies, listen to music, and collect merchandising that's mostly spun off from some content. It's the core of the hobby, genre fiction especially.

All of these things we consume can be digitized. And, that means that, at least in theory, the supply of these things is limitless. How many copies are there of an ebook? Effectively, as many as you like. Not only that, but the cost of hosting and distributing "as many as you like" copies of that ebook is so small anyone with ambition can try publishing.

In this new universe isn't a matter of having enough media to consume. We have a supply of media so vast it may as well be infinite.

But, how much media can you consume? Not as much as you'd like. I have bookshelves full of unread books, for one. My Netflix instant queue keeps getting longer not shorter. There's only so much time in the day.

Supply far exceeds demand. There is more fiction out there than you want to read. Or, at least than more fiction than you have time to read. Publishers will try all kinds of techniques to boost that demand, whether by often maligned Digital Rights Management (DRM), special editions, or the dreaded (for them) lower prices.

An army of readers

As more and more authors feel the squeeze, and more fiction gets distributed digitally, rather than the pretty presentation of handsome covers on display at bookstores, it becomes more challenging to wade through it all, to find that diamond in the rough.

That's where something interesting happens, once again thanks to that digital revolution. Readers aren't just browsing  around in the local bookstore or library anymore. They're actively seeking out help to wade through all this surplus of stuff to read. They read reviews on Amazon.com, catch up with a favorite blogger, or seek recommendations from people they've never actually met on Twitter.

This blog's just getting started, and I have just a couple connections with other bloggers so far. That's one of my goals this year – expand my network of fellow readers and authors. Taken alone, my reviews will be too few, too random to reliably help readers find their way to good fiction.

But I'm excited to see others doing already what I want to do – take part in an army of readers and reviewers that help people figure out how to survive the revolution.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! It's a nice time to have kicked off my blog. I'm eager to see this new thing grow.

Here's to interesting times in 2011.

Up next: Amortals by Matt Forbeck

On deck is Amortals by Matt Forbeck. I've started reading, and I can tell I'm going to need to get that Sandman Slim first-person voice out of my head for this book. Amortals is a science fiction thriller wherein Secret Service agent Dooley seeks out his own killers, thanks to the wonders of technology that back up and clone people.

Forbeck's actually an acquaintance of mine from my other life as a game designer and hobbyist. I've met him a few times, and he's an exceptionally nice guy. I'm looking forward to reading his stuff!