Book Review: The Forest of Time and Other Stories by Michael Flynn

The Forest of Time and Other Stories by Michael Flynn

This collection of stories has been sitting on my Kindle for ages. I finally came back to it. Here's the story-by-story review:

The Forest of Time--In an alternate present, the United States of America does not exist. Various commonwealths and confederations have been in conflict for two centuries, so the Industrial Revolution was severely curtailed. Into this backward land a time traveler lands. His time jumps have turned into reality jumps, causing new Earths to emerge. The current story is set in his sixth jump. His problem is getting back. The locals' problem is whether he is telling the truth or is insane or is a spy for one of the other small nations on the North American continent. Conflicting ideas and moral commitments are shown by the scout who found the traveler, the general who is interested in the fantastic stories of advanced technology (for military purposes, of course), and the psychologist who wants to cure the traveler of his delusions. The story is about much more than science fiction. I found it very interesting.

Great, Sweet Mother--A seemingly melancholic story about stumbling across someone picnicking by the sea. The person misses a friend and tells their story in fits and starts. The story is interesting because it's given as a dialogue, with the reader being half the conversation. The readers part is ellipses, but the questions are obvious from context. The slow reveal of what's going on is nice.

On the High Frontier--A space cowboy has a run-in at a bar in the outer limits of our solar system, forcing him into a trip with his cyborg spaceship. The story is more of a tall tale than a great tale. The Old West dialogue and cliches were fun enough. 

The Common Goal of Nature--A financial exec in New York City who has a lot of disdain for the "useless" people who live on the streets and beg/steal/prostitute themselves. He has an idea for fixing the situation and enlists the newly visiting aliens, the Hraani. Their language is strange and their grasp of English is also very odd. The language barrier causes an interesting problem for the negotiations and provides forward movement for the characters. The ending is obvious but satisfying.

Grave Reservations--Another NYC story, this time set in a future where the city is its own country and people come from out of town (i.e. other countries like Ecotopia and The Breadbasket) to see the sights on a guided tour. The satire is fun (the tour includes a staged mugging!) and imaginative.

The Engineer Discourses on Love--Some dirty poetry using scientific double entendres.

Mammy Morgan Played the Organ, Her Daddy Beat the Drum--A librarian experiences something seemingly supernatural late one night in the old college library. A scientist is brought in to investigate because he has a materialistic explanation for ghosts. He's got his own agenda, making for an interesting and thoughtful ending to the story.

Spark of Genius--An author gets drunk because his seventh novel is, according to his editor, a soon-to-be bestseller and the best work he's ever done. The drinking isn't to celebrate, though, and the ultimate reason is another thought-provoking explanation.

On the Wings of a Butterfly--Pizarro is exploring South America when he runs into a half-breed native who guides him in country. Pizarro is looking for gold and glory; the guide has another agenda. This story wasn't as strong as others in the collection.

The Feeders--A World War I German soldier gets a head injury during a battle and suddenly can see small, naked, bat-like creatures who seem to feed off both the living and the dying, but not everybody. Are they demons or aliens or just his own imagination? A fun, seemingly-predictable puzzle ends much better than I thought it would.

Melodies of the Heart--A cynical doctor who has been serving part-time at an assisted-living home becomes obsessed with one of the patients who complains because she hears music on an off, though there is no audible source. Is she having some sort of memory relapse, re-experiencing earlier times in her life? Can the doctor turn it into an article or book? But the songs go back farther than her supposed age. Can she really be over 120 years old? That premise is intriguing enough but Flynn gives the story a much deeper level and resonance since the doctor has a daughter who has a rare disease--she is aging too quickly and will probably die at puberty. The parallel stories play off each other and meet naturally and dramatically at the end.

 

The stories are very entertaining. The book is even better because Flynn gives little essays after each story describing the creative process for the story.

Recommended.

Book Review: Great Short Works by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Great Short Works by Nathaniel Hawthorne

A long time ago I picked up a copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne short stories from Barnes and Noble with the intent of eventually reading them. Finally, this year A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast covered The Scarlet Letter, which got me to read about half of the book. I decided to finish it off. Here's a story-by-story review...

1. The Scarlet Letter--reviewed here, because, let's be honest, this is a great work but not a short one.

2. My Kinsman, Major Molineux--A man comes to town searching for his kinsman. His inquiries are met with a mixture of rudeness and laughter. Being a country bumpkin, the man naively wanders about with little success. The ending has a nice twist and successfully humanizes the characters in the story.

3. Roger Malvin's Burial--Two soldiers, Roger Malvin and Reuben Bourne, are wounded in battle and try to return home. Roger's wounds are too severe to continue and he has a hard time convincing Reuben to return to civilization without him. Roger wants Reuben to take word to his daughter Dorcas of his fate in the woods. He also wants Reuben to marry his daughter. He finally convinces the young man that he may be able to bring back help, or at least come back and bury him properly after Reuben has recovered from his wound. Reuben makes it back to civilization and marries the girl but an inopportune lie keeps him from fulfilling his promise to return. Tragic results ensue. The story is touching if a little bleak.

4. Young Goodman Brown--Goodman Brown, against the advice of his wife Faith, goes for a walk after dark into the forest. He has an appointment that he really shouldn't be keeping, but he insists on going. He's meeting up with the Devil (or maybe just one of his minions) and along the way he meets most of the good folk of his town, who have apparently all done what he's about to do--join up with the wrong side. Goodman starts to have doubts but can he get out of a bad situation? I'm not quite sure if this story is lamenting the Puritan mindset that everyone is evil or lampooning that idea.

5. The Minister's Black Veil: A Parable--Mr. Hooper is minister to a small Puritan town. He shocks his congregation one Sunday morning by coming to the meeting house with a black veil that covers most of his face, leaving only his mouth and chin visible. A lot of whispered speculation happens behind his back. A lot of unease happens in front of his veiled face. He won't explain it, even to his fiancee Elizabeth. She breaks off the engagement. He continues his ministerial duties, often comforting the afflicted and the dying. The well have no need of such a physician, as can be seen when he brings down a wedding party at which he officiates. He wears the veil to his dying day and even to the grave. When a young minister tries to take it off Hooper while on his death bed, Hooper refuses and tells everyone there (including the nurse, his beloved Elizabeth) that they too wear black veils. Hawthorne's parable shows how we all have hidden sins and need to find consolation. Embracing that knowledge is a fearsome thing for all involved.

6. The Birthmark--A husband becomes obsessed with his wife's birthmark (on her left cheek). He's a brilliant scientist who had no time for love until he met her. At first he ignored the mark (a red, hand-shaped blemish) but soon his disgust is apparent to her. She's willing to have it removed so as to remove his revulsion. He tries several methods with continual failure. A final concoction works on a blemished plant. The wife gladly takes it, removing both her birthmark and her life. The story is an interesting allegory of someone obsessed with a minor flaw in another without noticing the major flaw in himself.

7. Rappaccini's Daughter--Giovanni, a poor student, moves to Padua for a university education. He takes a cheap room that overlooks a garden. The garden is tended by Doctor Rappaccini, a botanist who has been crafting his own breeds of plants. He has a beautiful daughter, Beatrice, who helps with the plants he can't come near. He uses gloves and sometimes a mask, presumably because the plants are less than healthful. Beatrice has no problems, especially the fantastic purple one next to the decrepit water fountain. Giovanni is smitten with Beatrice. One of Giovanni's teachers, Baglioni, warns Giovanni of the dangers of Rappaccini. Baglioni and Rappaccini are rivals, so he may not be the most objective source. There is something weird about the garden and Beatrice. The purple flowers are toxic to insects and the first bouquet Giovanni gives to Beatrice almost immediately starts to wilt. Tragedy ensues. The story is quite fascinating and full of rich and bittersweet details.

8. Ethan Brand--Bartam the lime-burner is the latest in a line of kiln-tenders who use Ethan Brand's kiln. Ethan left town twenty years ago in search of the Unpardonable Sin. Many stories have grown over the years about Ethan, e.g. that he summoned the devil inside the kiln to discuss his search. On this night, Ethan returns and proclaims his success. Ethan has an evil laugh and unkind words for the old guys who come from the town tavern to see him. In spite of being asked, he never reveals what the Unpardonable Sin is, though he gives plenty of hints of the evil that he has done on his journey. Now at his journey's end, Ethan says he'll watch the kiln overnight for Bartram, who has an unpleasant and mystifying discovery in the morning. This is another tale of dark and hidden sin that resides not just in Brand but in most of the characters. Perhaps Brand is the only self-aware person, or the only one to see and embrace his evil rather than see and ignore it. The story isn't as compelling as the other but is interesting and fits in with the themes of his other stories.

I enjoyed these stories a lot. They give you a lot to think about and present a time long ago in a familiar and convincing way. Julie and Scott comment on Rappaccini's Daughter and Young Goodman Brown in episode 194 of A Good Story is Hard to Find.

Highly recommended, though I don't think this version is in print anymore. It should be fairly easy to find a collection of his short stories and well worth the hunt.

Book Review: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

It's 1999 and the people of Earth send rockets to Mars. These trips aren't just scientific exploration, they are colonization. The first few expeditions run into trouble with the locals. Martians are telepathic (so no need for translators) and, in a classic Bradbury twist, benignly skeptical about their visitors. A mission finally succeeds when the Martians have disappeared. People flood away from Earth. They hope for new opportunities and escape from old oppressions.

After the first expeditions, the book focuses on the odd and interesting individuals who come to Mars. The political and technical situation is entirely secondary to the stories. The threat of a global atomic war on Earth looms in the background, but there's hardly any mention of government on Mars, other than a story where a man recreates Edgar Allan Poe's House of Usher. The construction is deemed forbidden and offensive by the Moral Climates Department (an unfortunate import from Earth) and the eccentric homemaker gets his night of glory before the house is destroyed. The Earth war eventually breaks out, the main effect on the story being a rush on the luggage store (whose owner was ready) and the collapse of a hot dog stand (whose owner was not ready for the weird feedback he gets). And the depopulation of Mars.

The book is anachronistic, with actual Martians who have built cities on Mars and boats for the water-filled canals. Some readers will be put off by that, which is tragic since the stories are so full of imagination and wonder. Bradbury's style is very poetic and draws vivid pictures of people and places. The writing is fun, thoughtful, and generally optimistic.

Highly recommended for those who can stand a bit of fiction in their fiction.

Also, the book is discussed on A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast, which inspired my re-reading of this classic.

Book Review: The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories by Ernest Hemingway

The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories by Ernest Hemingway

Ten short stories by Ernest Hemingway fill this book with intrigue and excitement:

1. The Snows of Kilimanjaro--A man's man faces his mortality at the foot of Africa's tallest mountain, Kilimanjaro. He's with his wife out hunting and drinking and loving. Unfortunately, he scratched his leg and didn't take care of it. Gangrene has set in and he pretty sure he will die before the plane gets back to take them to safety. The man has dreams or reminiscences of his past, especially of the more important lovers and events in his life. He's a writer and the memories would have made great stories, but is it too late to write them down? The story is the sort that needs to be read twice to get the most out of it, though it is fascinating enough with just one read.

2. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place--Two waiters get close to very profound issues as they wait up till the last bar patron finally leaves. A surprising amount about the characters' attitudes is conveyed in five pages.

3. A Day's Wait--A slight story of a sick child and his father. The ending reads more like a punch-line to a joke. The story is entertaining but not deep.

4. The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio--Mr. Frazer is a patient in an American northwest hospital. A Mexican gambler is brought in with several gunshot wounds and is not expected to live. A nun working at the hospital prays for him, just as much as she prays for the Notre Dame team to win their football games ("They are playing for Our Lady," she reasons). They all look for some transcendence or perfection in their lives but are unable to attain it. The story more poses the question why they can't than provides a pat answer, making it some intriguing food for thought.

5. Fathers and Sons--A father and son are on a car trip when the father remembers his strained relationship with his own father and significant times from his childhood. I didn't really care for this one.

6. In Another Country--A Milan hospital provides care for maimed soldiers with the latest equipment that will supposedly undo the damage of crippling injuries. Nick and a few other characters deal with their injuries and their future. The story is a tough look at hope and despair.

7. The Killers--Two assassins show up at a diner waiting for a certain customer to come in. They have the look and speech of noir criminals (e.g., black trench coats with hats and calling guys "pretty boy" in a derogatory way). Their mark never shows up; when the one customer goes to warn the mark, his reaction is surprising. This story is the sort of hard-edged noir that inspires someone like Quentin Tarantino.

8. A Way You'll Never Be--Nick is wandering around Italian battlefields (it's the same guy from #6, I think) and meets up with an Italian officer he's pals with. Nick tries to pass himself off as an American soldier sent to bolster the local troops with the hope of more Americans to come and turn the tide of the war. But how many screws are loose in Nick's head? This story is only sort-of intriguing to me, the ending wasn't as sharp or dramatic as I'd have liked.

9. Fifty Grand--An aging boxer goes for one last fight. Can he make some money, keep his dignity, and not get beat to a pulp? The story's plot is practically a genre unto itself. The main character has enough heart and grit to make this a compelling story.

10. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber--Francis is on safari with his wife. They have a comfortable tolerance of each other that's shattered when things go poorly during a lion hunt. The situation just about destroys Francis. The twists and turns in the story are interesting and kept me riveted.

Overall, the book provides some interesting ideas to chew on. Hemingway's straightforward style is sparse on interpretation, so readers are left to draw their own conclusions.