
The more: a possible allegory for the American Civil War or reconstruction in the pursuit by the USS Abraham Lincoln of Captain Nemo's Nautilus while most people still think the vessel is a sea unicorn (that is seriously what people think it is); how Captain Nemo withdraws from society instead of trying to improve it with his impossible wealth and talent reads as a precursor to Atlas Shurgged; the obvious comparison to be made between the Nautilus and the white whale in Moby Dick (in Admiral Farragut, commander of the Lincoln, Verne provides an Ahab character).
The less: I expected more of a story. I suppose I haven't read a lot of adventure literature, which is what this is. Each chapter is heavy on explication of some underwater phenomena, either natural or human generated, but quite thin on character and plot advancement. Of course, neither character nor plot advancement is the goal. The goal is fantastical description. And the description is fabulous.

A woman is sitting alone in a house. She knows she is alone in the whole world: every other living thing is dead. The doorbell rings."The Drowned Giant," by J. G. Ballard, about turning the fantastical into the commonplace. "The Man Who Collected the First of September, 1973," by Tor Age Bringsvaerd, about a man who learns all the information he can about that particular day at the expense of all other knowledge. "The Blind Spot," by Barry Perowne, about a playwright who invented and forgot the perfect crime. "Macario" by B. Traven, about a dude who just wants to eat turkey.
The collection took me several months of bedtime reading to get through, but it was well worth it. I'd recommend it to anyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment