Nelson Lowhim's Blog, page 102

Mirror Mirror on the Wall, who's the best writer of them all

Once upon a time, in a land far away... Sounds familiar, doesn't it? There has been a little bit of a resurgence in retelling fairy tales. The redux of Snow White is one example. The stories focus on the idea of someone older and in power, trying to destroy all youthful usurpers, meaning that beauty is some method of taking power—against a matriarchal oppressor. 
The film starts out with an old male staring at a mirror (looking suspiciously similar to a  computer screen) and asking "mirror mirror on the wall, who's the best writer of them all?" Of course, this writer comes up once he presses a button. He chuckles and the film pans to him writing on scrolls and etched wood for those in the halls of power of the castle in which he lives.
One day, however, he asks and there's the answer: not him, some dark girl spraying text on the walls of his castle. Furious, he goes after the girl with the help of the nobles who don't take too kindly to what she's saying about them. [1] An assassin is sent after her, but she flees to the woods. 
There she finds a group of rebels. Here she amazes them with her writing. She galvanizes them enough to gather support from the other peasants in the nearby areas and organizes a full on rebellion and they march on the castle. On the way there, an assassin finally poison the girl. A witch in the woods tells the rebels that to save her, she must be soaked in the blood of those who did this. 
They take over the castle and put to the sword all who live there. The girl is revived and all live happily ever after. Harsh stuff. Even heavy-handed, but it at least speaks to trying to upend an entire system instead of a single "bad" person.
Unfortunately, the film has not grown in popularity. I'm not sure why, especially when other pseudo-rebellion TV shows are growing in stature. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to seeing what the director (an anarchist) goes on to say. 


[1] There are actually a handful of endings at the time that I saw the film. The one mentioned in the main text is what was winning the overwhelming amount of votes, but the others, like the girl getting caught, thrown in jail for damaging public property and mysteriously killed in jail. 


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Lionel Shriver & the writing world

Lionel Shriver's latest post in the NY Times would, in a fair world, be relegated to the dustheap of history. Instead we have someone with privilege complaining about having to explain herself and—this part is important—throwing back some hyperbolic tripe to defend herself.

Update: Read the top comment here. Also sums up the view against political correctness.

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Short Story

When I saw him, he looked bigger, fatter than the previous times we'd hung out, though he was at least much more joyful than that skinny kid I knew could run a 2 mile in 10:40 flat. 
His personality had changed: no, not the joyous part, but an annoying righteousness had grown upon him that I never thought him capable of. It was after talking to him that I changed my whole perspective of him. It wasn't merely that he was fatter and that he was possibly damaging his cardiovascular health. it wasn't even a matter of too much food.

My friend certainly saw it that way and said as much as he ate a full course meal. His view was that plenty were dying to enable him to eat, so why not gorge himself? The least he could do was victory eat. I think he actually derived joy from knowing how much that excess food was worth to people elsewhere on the globe. 
Well, it didn't make much sense and made me downright uncomfortable to hear someone talk like that. I was already in an angry mood after losing a bet on an earlier soccer match and told him as much. He nodded and claimed that lost bets would be the end of me. We parted ways and, thankfully, never saw each other again.
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Patreon & a New Place for More Stories

I'm trying out a few new places to expand my writing. The first is the PATREON account where I'll have stories I don't normally share elsewhere. I do hope to see you there and give me as much feedback as possible. The point will be to see if this new canvas provides much that is new.


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New Audiobook out!

Oh my, I think I forgot to mention that there is (finally, and thanks to Troy Cunningham for his hard work!!) the Struggle Trilogy Audiobook finally up. [1] A solid book, you should read it, and barring that, at least get the audiobook so you can listen whilst doing chores and such. Below are a handful of the reviews this book received. Not to be missed, like I said (and at least it seems to have been prescient in many ways). Here are the reviews :



ByJohn P. Jones IIITOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICEon March 10, 2014Format: Kindle Edition|Verified PurchaseNelson Lowhim was in the American Army; based on his biography, he did two tours in Iraq and they were not "desk jobs." War has often been described as being one of long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of intense, adrenalin-pumping terror. Lowhim does not appear to have been too bored; in fact, he utilized all that "boring time" to gain an understanding of the people of Iraq, and the social and economic dynamics that were unleashed by the American invasion to remove Saddam Hussein from power. He also learned far more Arabic than most American soldiers learn German if they are stationed in Germany. But what truly makes this an "extra ordinary" work, even a work that is in a class of one, is that while serving as a soldier on one side in a war, he acquired a thorough understanding of the thinking and actions of the other side - enough so, to produce this novel.

There aren't any "good guys" in this tale, and it is definitely not for the "fun-read crowd." I never felt that the horror and the cruelty - like the alternate uses for a power drill- were thrown in for shock effect. No, they were just an integral part of the scene, like the smell of cooked fish in Sadr City, the cheap cologne, the wet dreams and the bank accounts in Dubai. If there is a single protagonist in this tale, it is Walid. He is a Shia, who is deeply disturbed by the car-bomb killings of his brethren by Sunnis. He is also not very happy with the Americans, and joins his older brother Mahmud, in fighting them in Karbala. Mahmud is killed, and will haunt Walid's dreams. Walid has to decide whether he is a coward or a "real man," and accomplishes the latter status the old-fashioned way: by killing another. Bashir is a Lebanese "go-between," which seems to be a national occupation. Qassem is the "face" of Iran, and the bag-man who dispenses the money, and supplies the road-side bombs to Walid, and his nascent group, to be used against the Americans - and pays double for a good video of a successful attack.

Roughly 80% of the novel concerns the Iraqis, the other 20% concerns the Americans. And none of them are portrayed very positively either. Lowhim provides most telling negative details that demonstrate his clear grasp of the underbelly of American culture. The ugly racism towards the "raghe*ds" is pervasive. The author develops well the tragic intersections between these two groups, depicting them by laying the groundwork that results in that often fatal interaction in alternate sections of his work.

Many a denizen of the corporate world would recognize (and authenticate!) the group dynamics that Lowhim uses to advance the plot: Duplicity, betrayal, intimidation, intrigue, venality, money, actions predicated on "face-saving," "playing king on the mountain," and the endless pursuit of better "intelligence" as to the motivation and actions of those within and without any selected group. In the corporate world, all these machinations usually do not lead to death. In Iraq, as with most wars, all too often, they do. Students of the history of the French Revolution would recognize the same dynamics that lead the Revolution to "consume its children." In the end, are they ALL just so many pawns in an overall game being played by the Masters of War? And do some of the pawns recognize this?

Is Lowhim's novel an authentic depiction of those tragic events in Iraq? I think so, though I have never been to Iraq. I took the two "vectors" of my own personal experience, that of an American soldier in Vietnam during the war, and crossed it with my 20-years plus work experience in the Arab world, and at the intersection, I found Lowhim's account. Of the telling details was Lowhim's use of the Arabic word "Shlonik," which he does not explain for the "uninitiated," or non-Arabic speakers, but means, literally, "how is your color," and is simply an familiar way of asking: "how are you doing." And if anyone else knows of an authentic novel written by a soldier on one side in a war, about the forces on the other side, I'd loved a comment addressing same. As for Lowhim's novel, definitely 5-stars.   ByCate's Book Nut Huton January 29, 2014Format: PaperbackAlthough this is a review on a trilogy of books, I really feel it is more a review on just one book. If you are going to read this, please don’t try to break it down into three parts, just jump straight in and read it as if it is a complete book, I assure you that you will not be disappointed. While I am on this subject, I’m not sure why the Author chose to split this book into three as it works very well as a full novel on its own. Also you if have a weak stomach, be warned that this is a book set in a combat zone; the scenes of violence contained in it cannot be avoided and, in some places, they may make the reader sick to their stomach. However, this is also one of the strengths of this book, as it serves to bring right into the readers comfortable reading spot a perspective on a war that has often been used as a political tool by Governments far and wide.

The main protagonist is in this book is not a likeable one at all, despite starting out with good intentions in his fight for the preservation of his life and that of his Family’s he soon slides into a world that brings about actions which truly make the reader doubt if he ever had a decent bone in his body to start with. If it had not been for several other characters I encountered in reading this novel, I think the main character would have truly made me reconsider completing this book. Other characters are written in such a way that they add depth and breadth to the story; the humanity or inhumanity of war is reflected through their actions and shown in the turmoil they face on a day to day basis. The Author has done an excellent job of taking personalities from both side of this conflict and making them equally likeable or not, regardless of their background; with a skilful pen the Author demonstrates the motivations of all the different groups operating in this war without taking a firm stand for one group or the other. Regardless of whether the reader likes the characters or not in this book, there is no avoiding the fact that we are reading about real and suffering people who endure the unthinkable and have, like all humans lapses in their moral codes.

For me, I found this to be a very emotional book to read; knowing the Author is a Veteran themselves and had actually been in the same dark place my Husband had, made me realize that this was just as much as healing tool for the Author as it was a piece of fiction based on facts for the reader. The book is full of common military terms and, at times I could hear the words of the Author echoed in conversations I have had with others that were in Iraq during the early years of the war. Although many readers may think that the ending to this book is rather weak compared to the rest of the contents, I felt it was very indicative of the nature of this conflict; there are no clear rules of engagement and no nice clean happy endings, at the end of the day there are losses on both sides and each have to rebuild not only their homes but their lives as well, physically and mentally.

This is a very thought provoking novel, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who would like to get another perspective on the Iraq war and those who are interested in military books.   



[1] You can sign up for the email above and get a chance at winning a free version.

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On The Batman Series

Rare to find an interesting movie review these days (such as this one). With as many reviews that are out there, this is sad to say the least. Nevertheless, it brought me back to the idea of Batman as the Jesus/savior of Gotham in that series. I had never thought of it like that. Indeed, the entire thing seems to circle around the idea of Batman sacrificing himself for the worthless people who don't appreciate him. 

Wonder if the great stories of the past would have a similar impact with such a conman as protagonist? Your thoughts?
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'Sabra And Shatila Massacre', Dia al-Azzawi, Ink and wax crayon on paper mounted on canvas, 1982–3

Rare to find a piece of art so shocking and haunting at the same time. Well, here it is . Take it in.

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Death & Taxes & Bars

Death's a funny thing that we're not supposed to talk much about death in this society about ours. Better to fear death, I suppose, and make much about avoiding it. Thus, when I stumbled upon a bar here in downtown Spokane, I found myself in something akin to another world. It was down an alley that smelled like dogs and bubblegum, with a cat perched on a window sill beneath a "Nona" sign. The logo under the Nona text, a Sumerian coin, intrigued me enough to open the door under the gaze of the suspicious cat. 

This was all matched with its twisted torso and knees winded together and evoked in me a dissonance so strong that it put me on alert—even if the beer and oak aroma of the bar was familiar enough. 
The rest of the bar was dimly lit via LED ropes fired out from the mouth of another statue; this one a dragon tied to the ceiling and that twitched and breathed as if real. The tables too were fascinating. On each were frozen game—chess, go and scrabble—that, upon closer inspection, were near their end states. I was absorbing this decor, amazed, really, when someone asked me what I wanted.
I jumped back, but soon realized that all five people in the bar were staring at me. I ordered a dictator's mule with extra vodka. Soon, I was talking with the regulars. They were discussing death and what it was. 
An old man with an internet of wrinkles and a smile that seemed less cynical than I'd ever seen volunteered his view: death was something that grew inside everyone, until it became so big that it attracted bad luck, or something like cancer. The bartender clucked in disagreement: death was obviously a counterfeit bill, you tried to be smart and avoid it, but sooner or laters it got you.
This brought up a murmur of disapproval. No no no, said a young woman with ears that were eerily like the statue's. Death was the ocean, and each of us in a boat, sometimes a big wave hit the boats sometimes the boats got a hole and sunk. She seemed smart so I asked what the boats represented.
Silence crashed through so fast, I could hear my heart beating past my ears. Everyone looked at me funny. Another woman shook her head at me and said that death was actually life, but a sweeter and more conniving lover. Everyone drank to this—me included, even though I didn't understand what she was saying.
A few rounds later, and I was really enjoying the bar. They asked me what death was. I said it was the end of life, what else? Silence. Fed with the good gut-burning vodka, I went on: it was a randomized destroyer of lives, what else would it be? The silence was again deafening and I think even the statues were glaring at me. I was kicked out and had my name placed on a shit list. That's a shame, because it was a great bar. Too bad I didn't answer the question right, then. 


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50,000!

Welp, it ain't all that much. Not in this viral social media world, but the blog has reached 50,000 page views! Thanks to all for reading.

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Another Post Over at the Mantle

A quick post here. Over at The Mantle I have a piece on the border between fiction and non-fiction . It took me quite a while to write it and it was mainly because the idea itself was barely afloat in the detritus of the writing I was churning out in realtime. I think I've talked about this, how the influence of Borges might have been too much over the past few years and how I still think that the border between fiction and nonfiction, damn near impossible to define, is still something of great importance to me and my writing.

I once posted this story about what ISIS wants on Facebook and the reaction was one where a friend even wondered if it was real. Good times for the pseudo-essayist, bad times for those who demand (wrongly, I and most post-modernists would say) a hard line between fiction and non-fiction. 
I could write so much about this, but I won't. Go over there and check out the article (and the other ones that The Mantle has) and discuss. 

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