In the meantime, I picked up two fiction titles recently that made me think, and made me smile.
We'll start with Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King. I have always been a fan of Kipling's short stories that I read as a child, but never really thought of him in terms of "what should I read now?" I stumbled upon this book while in the stacks. I needed a small book to read on the train, and this tiny volume from 1898 (a mere 16cm) fit in my purse quite nicely. I am one who reads a book by its cover, so why not by its size?
I enjoyed this tale of two eccentric characters who conquer the mountainous lands of Kafiristan, in Afghanistan, only to be run out again. The style is of an old, ornate speech that sometimes you just NEED to sink your brain in to. For me, this style reads quickly. Though a very slow reader, I found with this novel the words just flying by, but without losing any meaning or beauty in them. And they are beautiful. Kipling describes a man's beheading, but with grace. It was his era and his way. Too often, with piles of archaeological data and analysis, I lose that sense of beauty in the written word. I know that I will seek this title out again, and that I need to read more Kipling!
We begin with the corespondent of a newspaper meeting Callahan on a train. They make a deal, that the narrator will give a message to Callahan's friend, Dravot, on his return train journey. The narrator later realizes the two are up to no good - blackmailing a Raja under the pretense of being from the press - a puts a (temporary) stop to their game. They later come to him in his office seeking aid - information about Kafiristan and a look at some maps. They have decided that India is too small for men such as them, and they will trek to the lands of Kafiristan and become Kings there. The recollection of their adventures comes from Callahan, when her returns to our narrators office a few years later, ragged, and in need of telling his tale. They had succeeded, but then were run out of the country, and Dravot killed.
It is an interesting thought, how these two characters can set out with such conviction against all odds and succeed. It is such an American ideal, coming from this British author. But then, Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out to rule EVERYONE. But how do these mighty giants of personality and will fail? Is it their desire to be Kings? To be gods? Is it the ego they have in walking in to a village and declaring themselves in charge? Dravot's death comes after he makes designs to marry, but is his need for a warm body his true downfall? I'm not saying Kipling answers these questions, but they are fun to think about. The English are so audacious to begin with, especially those with adventure in their blood living in Asia at the time of the story. This is a people who come from a small island, and are always desiring more space. A morbid part of me giggles upon seeing such an outrageous man have his spoils crash down upon his head - literally. Of course, it's sad as well - hopes and dreams crushed and all that.
Life happens, and there are good times and bad. At the end of the story Kipling does not offer us any consolations or soft promises of a better future. Our narrator meets two men, foils their blackmail plans, helps them w/ maps of the mountains, and listens to their story. This matter of fact perception of life appeals to me in literature. It's odd - life is hard and we seek literature to escape. But I have gotten so sick and tired of those who would sugar-coat the world that I am seeking out a harsher alternate reality.
I also (FINALLY) picked up Philip K. Dick's classic Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Yes, I am incredibly late to the Philip K. Dick party. I learned of him late in life, and even when I worked in a science fiction library did not partake of his offerings (sob). I did take home an extra ACE Double Novel, and years later read Vulcan's Hammer. LOVE flowed over my brain like waterfalls and sunshine. This was an author for me. Do Androids is definitely one of him more famous works and I've been eying the library's copy for over a year, looking for a time to snatch it away.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep follows Rick Deckard, bounty (android) hunter, who finds that he can discern a v. new and shiny, complex android and destroy them. He seeks to own a real, live animal in his post-nuclear war world, and dreams of money and fame. Taking out these androids is the key to this wealth. Along the way, however, he has to rethink what he does and why while his fragmented, dying Earth culture copes.
This novel has some key elements that appeal to me: future, post-nuclear war, space travel, and introspective on what makes us human. It takes place on Earth, even though it is during a time that has space travel. Most novels tend to deal directly with that space travel, with the colonies on the moon, Mars, station, etc. Dick instead takes a look at what, and who, is left behind. Those who do not have the money to emigrate must remain on the dust-choked, radiated planet, as do those who have been physically affected by the radiation. The honesty in this perspective is unique, I think, for the time period. Many times authors were so caught up in the glorious technological future that they forgot little things like social stratification and the economy. Many dreamed of futures where there were no poor or deranged. I feel that we always have these sorts of troubles, even if we do colonize Mars and destroy Earth, so I appreciate authors who explore this as well. I think that authors today look through that lens a little more.
With the new Nexus 6 android, many of the rules for Deckard's profession are broken. It is not the test he gives them that tells him the answer, he must use his instinct and heart. It is this that makes him believe that he may be the only one who can spot them. It is all based on empathy and caring about life. Androids cannot process empathy and would therefore not care about, say, ripping the legs off a spider. In our own world many people are like this, but on a post-nuclear Earth where most animals have died off, a religion based on empathy has emerged. You ask an android about hurting an animal, they cannot process that it is horrible. It's not just the answers, but their eyes and pulse. With the creation of an android that nearly fools even the most experienced bounty hunters, it begs the question about what makes us alive? What, aside from biology, makes us human. Indeed, even the biological component begins to fade with the newest androids. This question has plagued us from the beginning of robotics and the ideas behind AI. Asimov's I, Robot is about this question. Technology is making rethink our definitions of life, and how we define ourselves.
