A Book A Week

"The people in charge can always justify doing terrible things in the name of the greater good."

Over the years, I've become a fan of Joe Hill. His early works, 20th Century Ghost Stories and Horns showed that the young author's imagination could conjure characters and scenarios that were as thought provoking as they were entertaining. I enjoyed his last novel NOS4A2, a genre-bending throwback to the kind of novels that his father is famous for producing, so much, that I was ready to devour anything he could come up with next. The Fireman is a sprawling story written by an author who has full control of his craft.

In the novel, Hill imagines a world that is riddled with a plague. The mysterious Dragonscale first emerges as a topical affliction that causes dark marks to appear on infected peoples' skin. Eventually the infected spontaneously combust. The disease is highly contagious and spreads like wildfire. Harper Grayson, an elementary school nurse who models herself after Mary Poppins, first encounters the disease at her school. As the book opens, she witnesses one of the infected men burst into flames on the school playground. Clearly, this is no Disney movie.

Months later, the disease has evolved into a full on epidemic. Harper finds herself volunteering at the local hospital when a disturbance in the line of infected people waiting to be admitted arises. A fireman dressed in full uniform is holding a small boy and demanding that a doctor see them immediately. Harper steps in to bring order to the situation and to try to help the child in any way that she can. Who is this mysterious fireman and why is he holding this child?

I won't go into much more about the plot, and I would urge you to try to go into the story as blind as possible. With the main focus being Harper Grayson's dealing with the epidemic, The Fireman becomes one woman's tale of survival against all odds. As she faces the horrible reality of a world engulfed in disease and flames, Harper attempts to maintain her morality and personal safety.

Joe Hill's latest novel reminds me why I have enjoyed his previous works so much. He populates the book with imaginative characters whose evolution serves as the book's primary propulsion. At over 700 pages, The Fireman can drag on at times, but the slow burning suspense that permeates the book helped to keep me reading. Echoes Bradbury and Orwell fill the crevices of this tale with cautionary revelations and warnings that are inevitable in a book of this nature. Somehow the book left me wanting something more and equally wishing it had been a bit shorter. Even if the story overstays its welcome, The Fireman is a solid effort by Hill that easily cements his well-deserved place on our bookshelf.

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.

(2017, 16)

"There must be something in books, something we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing."

My first encounter with Ray Bradbury's classic novel Fahrenheit 451 came during my junior year of high school. It was our assigned summer reading and couldn't have been less interested in it. To be clear, I spent my summer devouring tons of other books, but there's something about a "required" read that did little to motivate me. I skimmed through the novel a few days before classes resumed and survived our minimal discussions mostly unscathed.

Flash forward to today. I've made it a point to try to consume more classic literature to both appreciate the great works of our culture and to counterbalance my otherwise populist tastes. After finally reading Fahrenheit 451, I realize that this is a novel that speaks directly to me as a life long reader. The future that Bradbury imagined 63 years ago painted a dim future for the written word. In the book, firemen are tasked with burning books as a way to advance a societal utopia. One fireman, Guy Montag, begins to see through the smoke of this dark undertaking and decides to disobey his orders.

I don't think that the 17 year old me was ready to fully appreciate this work. The story takes a bit of time to materialize and I think I lacked both the patience and understanding to see it through. Now I understand that Bradbury is crafting a deliberate vision of the world as he feared it could become. At the same time, he is careful to allow the story and characters to lead the reader to conclusions about the effects of technology on arts and culture without falling into the trap of becoming overtly preachy. It is a tight rope to walk, and Bradbury does it elegantly. Unlike many other dystopian novels in the same vein, Fahrenheit 451 ultimately presents a quietly optimistic picture of the world built by those who still value the power of life.

"Stuff your eyes with wonder, he said, live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories."

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.

(2016, 31)