Book Review - The Stars My Destination

Photograph taken by David Wilder.

This classic science fiction novel was first introduced to me about ten years ago in a Sci-Fi Lit course that I took at my university. I barely remembered reading it as I was glancing at my bookshelves, and decided it would be worth picking up again for a re-read.

The Stars My Destination is a novel by Alfred Bester that was serialized in four parts in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine in 1956. The book was originally published in Britain with the title Tiger! Tiger!—after William Blake's poem The Tyger. In fact, the first verse of that poem is found on the first page of The Stars My Destination.

The novel is set in the 25th century, when a technology called "jaunting" is commonplace. Jaunting is essentially the ability to teleport from one place to another; there are various distances that one is able to jaunt, depending on his or her ability. The widespread adoption of jaunting has disrupted the social and economic balance of the universe, and the Inner Planets are at war with the Outer Satellites. The book's main character, Gulliver ("Gully") Foyle, starts out marooned in space after his ship was attacked and is the only crew member that survived. Another ship passes him by, ignoring his requests for help. From that point forward, Gully begins an obsessive revenge quest with the goal of finding and destroying the person aboard the ship that gave the order to abandon him in space.

Overall, the book is an enjoyable read, although certainly not one of my favorite pieces of science fiction literature. The writing, even though it's only about 60 years old, still seems like older science fiction, which I find simultaneously endearing and yet difficult to read. I realize that this is a classic science fiction novel and attempted to treat it as such, but I wouldn't rank it up there with the works of Philip K Dick, William Gibson, or Neal Stephenson. I do, however, plan to eventually read one of Bester's other highly-acclaimed works, The Demolished Man. If you're interested in classic science fiction, give this one a shot!

3/5 Stars. 258 pages.

Book Review - The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

This book had been on my bookshelves for several years prior to my picking it up a few days ago. I'm not quite sure how it arrived there, although I think I may have acquired it for free at a book giveaway at my alma mater's library. To be completely transparent, I was simply looking for a quick book to read and noticed that this one was short and appeared relatively interesting, so I grabbed it and flipped through it to find out it was actually a short play, and also found the text to be quite spaced out on the page—two things that encouraged my reading of it.

A bit of brief history: The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds had its world premier in the theatre in 1964 and was published in book form in 1970. It was later adapted for the screen in 1972. Its author is Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher from Staten Island, New York.

The plot centers around a dysfunctional family: a widow named Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her two daughters, Matilda ("Tillie") and Ruth. Throughout the play, the introverted-yet-highly-intelligent child Tillie prepares an experiment for her school's science fair involving marigolds raised from seeds exposed to varying degrees of radioactivity. However, her self-centered and abusive mother, Beatrice, continuously attempts to halt Tillie's progress due to her own self-loathing and overall abusive nature toward her children. The other daughter, Ruth, is more extroverted than Tillie but considerably mentally unstable. As the play develops, Tillie wins the science fair through perseverance, Ruth repeatedly attempts to stand up to her mother but experiences several nervous breakdowns, and Beatrice is eventually driven insane and commits several violent acts toward her family and local community. However, despite it all, Tillie continues to believe that everyone is truly valuable.

I greatly enjoyed this play—even though I don't have much experience reading plays. The story is much more character-driven than plot driven, as there isn't a whole lot going on plot-wise, but the characters are fascinating to observe. Watching Beatrice treat her daughters with such vitriol and warden-like control is difficult but it makes for an intriguing book that is difficult to put down. Zindel does an excellent job of keeping the reader in the dark about many of the plot points and character reveals, waiting until the right moment to present new information that will help to understand what is going on in the family's overall dynamic. Even though I don't typically go to the theatre, I would certainly consider seeing this play performed live, and I highly recommend giving it a read if you get a chance, as I was pleasantly surprised.

4/5 stars. 109 pages.

Book Review - The Genesis Generation

Photograph taken by David Wilder.

Lorenzo Hagerty, host of the inimitable Psychedelic Salon podcast for nearly the past ten years, first released The Genesis Generation: A Psychedelic Novel in audiobook format in 2010, and I remember listening to it and enjoying the story as well as the psychedelic ideas that are weaved throughout. He recently released the print version of the book and I sat down to read it over the course of the past couple of weeks.

The book follows the main protagonist, a character named "William", through a transitionary period in his life where he goes from being a corporate stooge working at a large technology company to becoming deeply ingrained in the underground worldwide psychedelic community. Along the way he meets many challenges and has a plethora of eye-opening experiences. I believe Will's story is loosely based on Lorenzo's own life, although Lorenzo appears as a separate character in the novel a few times.

There are several main characters involved in the story, some of whom have real-life counterparts in the actual psychedelic community. This book has the same feel as Alexander and Ann Shulgin's PiHKAL and TiHKAL books, which weave bits of fiction with a mainly-nonfiction story as both a narrative device and to protect those involved.

I enjoyed this book immensely, although I feel as if I cannot give it five stars because of the poor editing throughout the book. I would recommend it to anyone who already listens to Psychedelic Salon podcast or is interested in psychedelics, with the caveat that it isn't a perfect book. However, it is a fairly quick read and should definitely be considered on any psychonaut's bookshelf.

4/5 stars. 398 pages.

Book Review - Letting Go of the Person You Used To Be

Photograph taken by David Wilder.

Lama Surya Das, an authorized lama in the Dzogchen lineage of Tibet and author of the best-selling book Awakening The Buddha Within, offers practical advice about dealing with change, loss, and spiritual transformation in the book Letting Go of the Person You Used To Be.

The book is broken into sections that focus on different aspects of the main topic, such as "Naming Our Losses", "Letting Go of the Person You used to Be", and "Being Heroic in the Face of Loss". Each chapter opens with a thought-provoking and inspiring quote from the likes of Buddhist teachers, Mark Twain, Charlie Parker, and Philo. The words by these wise people offer an excellent introduction to the chapter's topic and serve as a mindfulness reminder before the reader begins the chapter.

Following the opening quote, each chapter launches into a discussion of the topic and includes anecdotes from Buddhist teachers and friends of Surya Das. The chapter then closes with a spiritual or meditation practice that can be cultivated to work on and integrate the topic.

I read Awakening The Buddha Within several years ago when I first became interested in meditation and only had a preliminary interest in Buddhism, and really enjoyed it. I was unaware that it was the first book in a trilogy until picking up this book and reading a bit more about it. This has definitely sparked my interest in reading more by Surya Das!

Overall, I found the book to be extremely valuable and easy to read. I marked inspiring stories, quotes, and pieces of advice to return to later, and also plan to explore the meditation practices included at the end of each chapter. I would recommend this book for anyone, regardless of whether they desire a change or are currently experiencing loss, because both are things that we will all come across during our lives.

4/5 stars. 224 pages.

Book Review - Ishmael

Ishmael is a philosophical novel written by Daniel Quinn that was published in 1992. The story begins with a newspaper ad: "Teacher seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person." The unnamed narrator decides to check it out and finds himself in a room with a telepathically-communicating gorilla named Ishmael. The basic plot of the book involves a Socratic dialogue between Ishmael and the narrator focusing on "how things came to be this way" for humankind.

The concepts covered during their conversation include an exploration of the mythological thinking that forms the underpinning of our modern civilization's consciousness and consequential actions, that humans are not the pinnacle of evolution (nor exempt from the laws of nature or the rule of the Gods), and how the story we have chosen to enact has contributed to our ethical understanding of the world and a potential societal and environmental collapse that lurks just beyond today's horizon. There is also a story woven throughout the main Socratic dialogue that features Ishmael's history as a member of a menagerie and adoption by a wealthy benefactor.

Some of the major themes in the book include the idea that the Book of Genesis from the Bible truly refers to the decimation of nomadic hunter-gatherer societies by agricultural societies, that eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil convinced modern humans that they have the right to decide which species live and die, and that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with people—rather it is the story told for the last ten thousand years by Mother Culture that has been enacted that is harmful. This last aspect of the book really reminded me of Charles Eisentein's The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible, which echoes and expands upon a lot of the points Quinn makes about that story.

Following Ishmael are two books penned by Quinn that form a loose trilogy: The Story of B, a 1996 spiritual sequel, and My Ishmael, a 1997 followup. So far I have only read the first book in this trilogy, but hope to make my way through the rest of it in due time.

I greatly enjoyed this novel. Early on, it reminded me of Sophie's World, a novel by Jostein Gaarder that was the center of discussion during an International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge course in high school. I suppose I drew that comparison due to the format of the book—a wise teacher with an understanding of philosophy uses the Socratic dialogue method to teach philosophical concepts to a pupil. The method involves the pupil working through the concepts "out loud" throughout the book's pages, which allows the reader to absorb them in a different manner than if they had been presented directly from the teacher. Another book I have read that uses the same style is Plato's The Republic. Although it isn't my favorite format, I think it may be growing on me because I really enjoyed Ishmael, and a major reason for that was the way the book allowed me to work through the concepts alongside the pupil. There is quite a bit to absorb from this novel, and it definitely warrants a re-read at some point.

Overall, I found Ishmael to be an excellent book and would recommend it to anyone frustrated with the current state of the world, an interest in human and evolutionary history and/or philosophy, and environmental activists that would like to see positive global changes come to fruition. With knowledge like this in our toolbox, I firmly believe humanity could rethink its position in nature's hierarchy, construct a new story for modern culture to enact, and reverse its course for the betterment of all life on Earth and beyond.

5/5 stars. 263 pages