The Lion of Camarre and Against the Fall of Night by Arthur C. Clarke

213 pages (Hardcover) Fiction

I have been a fan of Clarke since I was teenager and first got into reading science fiction. This blog actually came into being because of Clarke in its own way. He has written over 50 books some fiction and some non-fiction. Many of them have similar names. I started writing brief reviews of each book I had read so when I was looking for a new one I could make sure I hadn't read it before. This is one of the curses of buying all your books in used book stores. Anyway, Clarke has entertained me repeatedly through the years and I was happy to find one that I hadn't read. This is actually two stories in one book. The Lion of Comarre is a short story and Against the Fall of Night is more like a novella.

The Lion of Commare follows a ingenious young man, Peyton, who attempts to find Commare, an almost mythical city made far in the past that was supposed to be a Utopian place to live. Many others had searched for it and either failed or never returned. Peyton concludes that the hidden city must reside in a wildlife preserve and flies there in an attempt to locate it. He parks outside the preserve and walks in. On his journey he ignores numerous warning signs and eventually meets a lion. It is docile and quickly becomes a traveling companion. Peyton find the city of Commarre, which seems to be a self sufficient enclosed building. Once inside he realizes why those that came before them never left and only with the help of his new found friend is he able to keep the city defenses at bay.

Against the Fall of Night seemed very familiar to me. I realized later that the idea of the novella was later expanded into a whole book called The City and the Stars  which I had already read. It was a bit confusing, because some things seem very familiar: a huge isolated city with people that never age. A young person one of the first people born in ages, a city park the was the center of the the living quarters. There were differences as well and once I figured out that I had read a similar story it made sense.

Alvin is the first person born in thousands of years. His society has learned how to extend life indefinitely and people are only produced when people have died of accidents. Alvin finds himself in a stagnant society that doesn't explore or invent anymore. He has a creative drive that has no partner. He explores the back areas of the city and wants to find a way out. On one of his adventures he find a note seemingly left there thousands of years in the past. It says: THERE IS A BETTER WAY. GIVE MY REGARDS TO THE KEEPER OF RECORDS. Alvin contacts Rorden, the Keeper of Records. With his help they start to find the path way that was blocked and eventually leads out of the city. From there the real adventure begins.

One of the things I find most appealing about Clarke is that he makes things seem real. Everything that is portrayed in his books, although fantastic, are based in reality. His novels focus on the future, but from my perspective, they are from the past. This book was written before we even landed on the moon yet many of the things described such as personal airplanes and cell phones are now a part of our every day life.

3 Intellectual/Emotional - I find the ideas of the future intellectually entertaining, but I found little emotional substance.

4 Style/Readability - Clarke is always easy to read. The ideas can be complex, but it is always presented in an easily digested way. I never struggle to understand what is happening, but never feel like it is simplified.

2 Long Term Impact - Clarke is a monolith in science fiction and has had an enormous impact on sci fi writing. This is a lesser known book, but still worth while.

9 out of 13. I enjoyed it, but think many other books by Clarke would be a better place to start.

Keep Turning Pages

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

337 Pages (Paperback) Fiction

I have been a fan of Cormac McCarthy ever since reading The Road. I found it to be one the of the best books I had read in many years. My wife suggested that when I was ready for a heavy book I give Blood Meridian a try. Man, she wasn't kidding.

The book loosely follows the "adventures" of a character referred to only as the kid. The boy witnesses a killing right away in the book and soon finds himself traveling with Captain Glanton. They travel across the Texas/Mexico boarder hunting Indians for their scalps. The cover of the book describes is as, "A classic American novel of regeneration through violence." That is a huge understatement. Most of the book is dirty men traveling across wastelands, hunting Indians and killing them. Then using the gold they make to drink, whore and destroy everything they come upon. It takes the classic Western novel and turns into a slaughterhouse.

I felt it was a bit much and I struggled to get through the book. I read a number of other books while I was reading this one since often times I didn't want to pick this one up. It doesn't change my opinion of McCarthy's writing though. It was crisp and clean and minimal. The writing itself was engaging and I enjoyed it, but the reality and grittiness of the subject matter was hard to handle. Although the book is fiction it is certainly based in reality and you know the things described, despicable as they are, happened again and again as people spread out across our country.

It takes the idealized vision of westward expansion in America and presents it realistically horrifying and disturbing.

4 Intellectual/Emotional - This is tough one to rate. I can't say I liked any of the characters and that makes it hard to get invested, but I certainly had an emotional response to the book. It made me feel uncomfortable. Since that seems to be the point I have to conclude it is a success.

2 Style/Readability - I rate this low not because McCarthy isn't a master of modern literature. He is. The writing is superb, but the nearly endless slaughter and violence made it very difficult to read.

4 Long Term Impact - McCarthy is already considered among the best of authors producing work in our time. Many consider this the best of his writing and it will go down in history accordingly.

10 out of 13. I can't recommend this book. It can only be defined as brutal. If you are looking for "the truth until it hurts" this may be for you. I do recommend you pick up The Road instead.

Either way, Keep Turning Pages.