Reality by Other Means is a short-story collection from the ... sci-fi? fantasy? philosophical? satirical? ... author James Morrow. I picked it up as a pure bookstore impulse buy, based on the inner flap's characterization of the contents as "fictive thought experiments" and the author as worthy of a special issue of the academic journal Studies in World Literary Genres –– an honor bestowed on just one other writer, Ursula K. Le Guin.
When done well, science fiction and satire are both excellent vehicles for providing new perspectives on abstract ideas. When done poorly, though, they can feel like embarrassing attempts to be clever. Morrow sets out to emulate Kurt Vonnegut, with absurd premises illuminating serious ideas, but ends up sounding like a smug college sophomore.
Exhibit 1: In "The War of the Worldviews," the diminutive inhabitants of two Martian moons fight each other in New York City. The casus belli is a philosophical dispute between idealism and realism; the narrator and three mental asylum inmates resolve the conflict by making a convincing argument for one side (chosen by a coin flip).
The title is unimaginative. There is no reason for the battle to be on Earth, and no explanation for how the mental patients understand the aliens' worldviews. The theme and the action have no relationship to each other: the aliens' behavior is not influenced by their philosophy; the plot doesn't hinge on the ideas. We don't learn anything about idealism or realism or hear anything about human conflicts (such as the Crusades) fought for similarly abstract ideals.
Exhibit 2, sampling Morrow's 'humor': "Arms and the Woman" recounts the Trojan War from Helen's point of view. Before taking her to bed, Paris slips on "a sheep-gut condom, the brand with the plumed and helmeted soldier on the box". Later he complains about her aging and suggests that with a combination of ox blood and river silt she can "dye your silver hairs back to auburn. A Grecian formula."
No comments:
Post a Comment