First Lines of Premee Mohamed's "These Lifeless Things"

"Today we dug up bones in the Botanical Garden.

I was briefly, reflexively confused: How did these get here? But what a question. People just die where they die."

 

- Premee Mohamed, These Lifeless Things

A fun novel covering what would happen if Lovecraftian creatures didn't immediately destroy our sense of reality. What would learning about such creatures do to us? What meaning is there in a world where such creatures exist? What would we do? The parts of the novel that deal with these questions are the strongest, utilizing the 1st person to share delicious observations in line with someone struggling to make sense of something unknowable: "Pain is interesting, I was told when I started my studies. People don't want to read about happiness. They want to read about pain. That's what will get you published."

 

I enjoyed the book's post-apocalyptic world with the left-over quality of a Roadside Picnic or The Leftovers even if I felt like the slow burn towards a final quest was a bit forced.

 

 

First Lines of László Krasznahorkai's "Satantango"

 "One morning near the end of October not long before the first drops of the mercilessly long autumn rains began to fall on the cracked and saline soil on the western side of the estate (later the stinking yellow sea of mud would render footpaths impassable and put the town too beyond reach) Futaki wok to hear bells. The closest possible source was a lonely chapel about four kilometers southwest on the old Hochmeiss estate but not only did that have no bell but the tower had collapsed during the war and at that distance it was too far to hear anything."

 - László Krasznahorkai, Satantango

What an impressively strange book! On it's surface a depiction of the decay of socialist society, Krasznahorka's mesmorizing prose and psychologist insight create a universal tale of how modern life creates people desperate for saviors - but the saviors are themselves corrupted fools who know no more than the people who look up to them. It's all surprisingly entertaining - his sentences go on forever, winding and rolling around subjects and actions, spinning tales of terrible lives with such energy and invention that it becomes almost funny. Not an easy read but one I loved - and have thought about many times since closing the cover. 

First Lines of Hermann Hesse's "Siddhartha"

 "In the shade of the house, in the sunshine on the river bank by the boats, in the shade of the sallow wood and the fig tree, Siddhartha, the handsome Brahmin's son, grew up with his friend Govinda. The sun browned his slender shoulders on the river bank, while bathing at the holy ablutions, at the holy sacrifices."

- Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

This is a much different book than it was when I first read it 20 years ago. I remembered this book as an examination of the inner struggles someone goes through in order to realize / understand who you are. I also remembered Siddhartha's learning from the river, the realization that live is always changing and yet always the same. (Which inspired The Ferryman, a great orchestral tune by Pete Townshend.)

This time around, I learned more about purpose - the very quantum idea that intent changes what it is you're trying to do. As Hesse wrote:

“‘When someone seeks,’ said Siddhartha, ‘then it easily happens that his eyes see only the thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing because he always thinks only about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal.’” 

A powerful description of beginner mind, about seeing things as a child. And the journeys adults need to go through to unlearn societies biases and mental models in order to see reality as it is, right in front of us, every moment of every day.

Siddhartha is filled with insights like this. It's a patient book, one that rewards slow, thoughtful reading. I'm looking forward to re-reading it again in another decade or two.

First Lines of Jeff VanderMeer's "Annihilation"

"The tower, which was not supposed to be there, plunges into the earth in a place just before the black pine forest begins to give way to swamp and then the reeds and wind-gnarled trees of the marsh flats. Beyond the marsh flats and the natural canals lies the ocean and, a little farther down the coast, a derelict lighthouse. All of this part of the country had been abandoned for decades, for reasons that are not easy to relate."

- Jeff VanderMeer's "Annihilation" 

A bizarre but fascinating read. A group of women, all without names - just titles like "Psychologist" or "Anthropologist" - are part of an expedition into Area X, a mysterious region of land cut off from reality for unexplained reasons. The book is filled with mystery and conspiratorial thinking, but in the end appears to be about the ways that we make - or don't make! - meaning in the face of a universe that may not have an underlying purpose. I can't say I understood it all but found myself extremely engaged with story despite the deliberate depersonation of the characters and the lack of explanation of just about anything in Area X. Recommended for those who like to ponder the unknown.

Related Posts:

• First Lines of Jeff Vandermeer's "Authority"
• First Lines of Jeff Vandermeer's "Annihilation"