The damned have come to life. Led by an imp cripple who speaks five
languages and his daring brother who speaks one. 2000 squatters in the sky, scraping
60 stories. Occupying an abandoned tower, so-called 'private property.' Guarded by the Chinaman, a Japanese sumo
son. All standing against the Torres
terrorists who breathe the sins of capital – military, political and
economic. Living in a land of many
languages and cultures, not just one. Our world. To hell with your ‘sense of place.’
 |
| The Real Tower of David in Caracas |
Sky above them, garbage below. Rottweiler Avenue or Boondoggle Street. Humor in the street names of ghettos and
shanty-towns and favelas and garbage villas, bursting full of peddlers and
children. The working poor in a ruined
world – dystopic broken factories, empty zoos, toxic buildings. Surrounded by wastelands of emptiness riven
by train tracks and road warrior ruts.
A pack of heroic wolves, warning rats and a giant sinkhole
save the day. Assassination fails. Nature results in dead soldiers - a rare result. The people’s utopia survives in a way. It is the end of this trash war.
Dostoevsky’s damned, Babel’s
Tower, the Two-Headed gorgon, Slum-Dog Millionaire, the stone heads of Easter
Island, David & Goliath, The Flood and the tall Ark,
Gilgamesh, Golgotha – all resonate. Magical realism, but better than magic,
better than Marquez. An abandoned
skyscraper, maybe in Caracas,
Venezuela, but
perhaps in every other city in the world. The
homeless make this their home.
A great book, with flaws.
It reflects the outlook of a world citizen. Wilson was
born in Germany, having a
Nigerian mother, an English father, grew up in the UK.
Lived in Egypt, Columbia, Lesotho,
Italy and the U.S.
The damnificados are useless as a military force. Civilians with brooms and outdated weapons,
afraid and untrained. No match for real
killers. They have not been brain-washed
that way. Would nature or animals really come to their aid, like the trees or
eagles from ‘Lord of the Rings?’ Does
this kind of thing really happen? Only in magic.
Why does the cripple get healed after being dunked in the
waters of the dirty (maybe Ganges) river in a
miracle of religious baptism? The
religious hovers in the background, certainly.
Why do progressives write fantasies or science fiction or
magic reality? Why the remove from the
present? It is obvious that their books
really relate to present society. Do they have to aestheticize their angle? Or make it more presently consumable. Relatedly readable. More lyrical and more literary. More distant, less blunt?
After all, the real Tower of David in Caracas was partly made possible by a social movement of millions strong.
Nevertheless, a great read. Pick it up.
After all, the real Tower of David in Caracas was partly made possible by a social movement of millions strong.
Nevertheless, a great read. Pick it up.
Other progressive fantasy/science fiction reviewed
below: Bisson: “Fire on the Mountain,”
Atwood: “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Le Guin:“The Dispossessed,” Dick: “Do
Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” Spinrad:
“Raising Hell”, "Cloud Atlas," and Abbey: “Good News.”
P.S. - the author responded to the review here: Thanks!
https://jjawilson.wordpress.com/tag/mayday-books/
P.S. - the author responded to the review here: Thanks!
https://jjawilson.wordpress.com/tag/mayday-books/
And I bought it at Mayday Books!
Red Frog
January 16, 2016
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