July Booknotes

  

“Never stop reading … How can you learn about all the things happening in the world if you don't read?” ― Lea Davey

Non-fiction: Science/Medicine/Health

Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World by Theresa MacPhail

Several weeks ago I experienced a runny nose that flowed like a waterfall and eyes that felt like a handful of sand had been tossed into them. I was miserable. I thought, “Did I finally catch COVID?” Two negative COVID tests and one doctor’s visit later, I learned it was just my seasonal allergies. I did not have any allergies as a child. I first experienced allergic reactions as an adult when we moved to Virginia and I encountered yellow pine pollen. No big deal, just a lot of tissues. So why have my allergies gotten worse years later?

My doctor explained that the recent “up and down” in temperature was causing an increase in tree pollen and, in addition to that, smoke particulates from wildfires in Canada were collecting pollen grains which were then being inhaled by people. I was one of thousands of people suffering. She went on to mention that many people do not “outgrow” allergies – they get worse as we age. Thankfully, I received a prescription for a nasal spray and I felt much better. As a result of this experience, I wanted to learn more about allergies.

This book is detailed and informative! It explains how environmental and lifestyle changes have led to an increase in allergies. It also helped me to understand my blood test results. I couldn’t describe it better than the publisher so here is the publisher’s description: “Hay fever. Peanut allergies. Eczema. Either you have an allergy or you know someone who does. Billions of people worldwide—an estimated 30 percent to 40 percent of the global population—have some form of allergy. Even more concerning is that fact that over the last decade the number of people diagnosed with an allergy has been steadily increasing, placing an ever-growing medical burden on individuals, families, communities, and healthcare systems.

Medical anthropologist Theresa MacPhail, herself an allergy sufferer whose father died from a bee sting, set out to understand why. In pursuit of answers, MacPhail studied the dangerous experiments of early immunologists as well as the mind-bending recent development of biologics and immunotherapies that are giving the most severely impacted patients hope. She scaled a roof with an air-quality controller who diligently counts pollen by hand for hours every day; met a mother who struggled to use WIC benefits for her daughter with severe food allergies; spoke with doctors at some of the finest allergy clinics in the world; and discussed the intersecting problems of climate change, pollution, and pollen with biologists who study seasonal respiratory allergies. This is the story of what they are, why we have them, and what that might mean for the fate of humanity in a rapidly changing world.”

Fiction: Mystery

Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey

Brat Farrar enters the Ashby family posing as Patrick Ashby, the heir to the family's sizable fortune. Brat has been carefully coached by an actor who knows the Ashby family intimately. He instructs Brat on Patrick's mannerism's, appearance, and every significant detail of Patrick's early life, up until he is 13. At that time he disappeared and was thought to have drowned himself although his body was never found. Eight years after his disappearance, now 21 year-old “Patrick” arrives just in time to claim his inheritance.

Of course the Ashby family is startled at his reappearance. Is he really Patrick or a greedy impostor? Is he really the long missing heir? Brat/Patrick has all the right answers and knows all about his earlier life. His polite mannerisms and physical appearance are spot on. Most important of all, he knows and loves horses - the clincher. It seems as if Brat is going to pull off this most incredible deception until old secrets emerge that jeopardize his plan and his life. Does a murderer live within the walls of the Ashby’s idyllic English horse farm?

What I found most unique about this story is that Brat is supposed to be the bad guy in this story. But Brat’s character is very compelling. He grew up in an orphanage and he has never had a family of his own. When the opportunity to become part of a family presents itself, Brat’s desire for a sense of belonging and a place to call home prove to be a stronger temptation then the lure of money.

This was a great summer read. Moving at a slower pace than most mysteries, Brat Farrar nonetheless has excellent dialogue and atmosphere. If you like, or know anything about horses, you will probably appreciate the major role they play in the plot. The ending was satisfying if a tad rushed compared to the pace of the rest of the book, but I still really enjoyed this book.

Science Fiction

The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird

Initially, I was immensely intrigued by this book but by the end of the book I felt somewhat ambivalent about it.

Written before the COVID Pandemic, and published in 1921, the author imagines a global pandemic. This pandemic affects only men. The virus has a 90% fatality rate after only a few days of infection, regardless of age or ethnicity. It also has a huge infection rate, made much worse by women who are asymptomatic carriers. The women are infected extremely easily but they don’t get sick and then they carry the infection – spreading it indefinitely.

Each chapter presents the point of view of a different woman: a college professor; a stay-at-home mother, a doctor from the emergency department, a civil servant, a virologist from CDC, etc. Honestly, there were too many characters! I had to constantly refresh my memory on who-was-who. Plus, the characters were mostly North American or European middle-class women. What was going on in Africa or South America? How about women living in poverty?

There were two main characters. One was a Scottish doctor who single-handedly realized that there was a pandemic after treating a few patients in the ER. She was ignored by her supervisor who was, guess what, a man. Then she is the only person who decides to track down the origin of the pandemic virus – highly doubtful. Too much of a “superwoman,” not realistic, in my opinion.

Then there was the Canadian researcher who is working to develop a vaccine. She “beats” all the other scientists in the world and successfully creates the vaccine. However, she will not share the vaccine formula with the world, they must purchase a license. Her public reason is that production quality control must be maintained. Privately, she wants the recognition and money – which she gets. Eventually she is awarded the Nobel Prize but is upset that she must share it with two other scientists who identified the virus and created the test to diagnose the plague. I didn’t like this character – too much of a “bitch” but probably realistic.

Obviously, there are going to be huge societal changes if millions of men all over the planet are dead. With almost all the men dead, who would take over their jobs? There is a scramble to rebuild the workforce, especially in professions formerly dominated by men; women find themselves at the helm of garbage collecting, electrical repair, military service, policy-making, global leadership. Women are assigned jobs by their governments. But what about the jobs the women had before the pandemic – who will do that work?

There is immense political upheaval. For example, China has dissolved into twelve democratic states because the male-dominated army and Communist Party was ravaged by the virus, allowing rebel parties to take charge of governance.

How will the world’s population be replenished? Again, governments create a “lottery” for artificial insemination. Simplistic solutions to complex problems.

I wasn’t particularly impressed with the writing nor the science in The End of Men. But if you can follow the dizzying array of characters, you might enjoy this interesting exploration into a post-pandemic world without men. I was interested enough to finish it but in hindsight I probably shouldn't have bothered. 

Non-fiction: History/Humor

Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up by Tom Phillips

Author Tom Phillips studied Archaeology, Anthropology and the History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University. He has worked as a journalist, a humor writer, and as the editorial director of BuzzFeed UK. Phillips researched extensively to find Humans unique stories of humanity's biggest mistakes, but he tells them with ironic humor and a lot of f-bombs.

Humans is divided into chapters on our brains (going over confirmation bias, the Dunning-Kruger effect, and other ways that we convince ourselves we're right when we're wrong), the mistakes of the Agricultural Revolution and the domestication/resettling of animals, the rise of leaders (and all the horrible ways they have taken advantage of their positions, no matter the political system), the evils of colonization and war, mistakes of diplomacy, and the unintended consequences of technological breakthroughs.

There's some very pointed commentary on the kinds of things we just can't seem to learn and reading it in today's political climate gives these repeated failures greater emphasis.

Phillips’ style of writing is extremely readable and flows smoothly from one point to the next easily – a great “pop-up” history book, perfect for summer reading. I highly recommend this book, especially for history buffs and those who are open to learning valuable lessons about how fallible we really are as a species. Whether we learn history’s lessons or not is a different matter entirely and, as this book illustrates, it's not always as easy as it seems. 

Speculative Non-fiction: Politics/Sociology

The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future by Stephen Marche

This is a disturbing (and depressing!) speculative nonfiction book that takes a fiercely divided America and imagines our collapse. Using sophisticated predictive models and nearly two hundred interviews with experts—civil war scholars, military leaders, law enforcement officials, secret service agents, agricultural specialists, environmentalists, war historians, and political scientists—journalist Stephen Marche predicts the terrifying future collapse that so many of us do not want to see unfolding in front of our eyes.

Dispensing entirely with the question of whether the U.S. will experience a civil war (like political scientist Barbara Walter did in How Civil Wars Start) in order to focus on why, how, and where one could break out, Marche depicts five near-future scenarios in which the United States either collapses into a vicious armed conflict or breaks apart entirely:

• On a small two-lane bridge in a rural county that loathes the federal government, the US Army uses lethal force to end a standoff with hard-right, anti-government “patriots.”

• Inside an ordinary diner, a disaffected young man with a handgun takes aim at the American president stepping in for an impromptu photo-op, and a bullet splits the hyper-partisan country into violently opposed mourners and revelers.

• A mammoth hurricane erases New York City from the map, while worsening drought shrinks the nation’s food supply, triggering a systemic collapse.

• A dirty-bomb attack on the United States Capitol explodes into a violent free-for-all.

• A secession of states resulting in four smaller countries: Cascadia (California, Oregon, Washington); the Republic of Texas; USA of the South + Prairie states; and USA of New England + Midwest states.

Some of the scenarios are not overwhelmingly convincing. I don’t know how the next civil war, should it come, will begin, but I highly doubt it will be precipitated by “agents” of the Federal Highway Administration. Would half the country really celebrate a presidential assassin as a “heroic resister?” Some of these scenarios may seem implausible, but so would have the idea, three years ago, that if a deadly virus swept through the country, killing a million people, a large percentage of the population would effectively side with the virus. So I think the speculative scenarios, created from known facts, aren’t much more “insane” than our current political/social situation - only more developed and projected further into the future.

Without a doubt there is a well funded, “loud & proud” and armed movement that has a fundamentally different conception of our nation than do other Americans. How do you think they would answer this question: Do some Americans have a special and privileged status as compared to other Americans? What is your answer?

If the United States engages in second civil war or other widespread political violence, the answer to that question will become the dividing line. There is a saying: “no one hates like family.” Our American family, which has endured, with considerable difficulty, for close to 250 years — may soon be reminded of that truth on a brutally, massive scale.

Non-fiction: Law/History/Politics

Nine Black Robes: Inside the Supreme Court's Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences by Joan Biskupic

In May I read American Crusade: How the Supreme Court Is Weaponizing Religious Freedom by Andrew L. Seidel. In his book, Seidel described how a hallowed legal protection, freedom of religion, has been turned into a tool to advance privilege and impose the Christian religion on others (Christian Nationalism). I wondered, “Who are these Justices and how are they doing this?”

Fortunately, Joan Biskupic just published this book. She has reported on the Supreme Court since 1989. Previously the Supreme Court reporter for The Washington Post, Biskupic is the legal affairs correspondent for USA Today, a frequent panelist on PBS’s Washington Week, and the author of Sandra Day O’Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice. Obviously Biskupic has the breadth (34 years) and depth (extensive written and verbal analysis) to write on this topic!

To be sure if you read or watch the news, you are already familiar with the historical court rulings. However, this book provides a well-researched and comprehensive look at the Supreme Court from the period following Antonin Scalia's death in February 2016 (when the Senate chose not to take up President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland because it was “too close” to a presidential election), to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020 and the confirmation of her replacement just days before a presidential election, and through last year's Supreme Court term.

One of the most enlightening aspects of the book is that the author is careful to detail the prior legal experience of the court's members. Most of the members of the court have spent very little time doing what lawyers around the country do every day - representing clients, conducting discovery proceedings, conducting trials, arguing motions and appeals, dealing with adversaries and skeptical judges.

Instead, they come from the narrow class of elites who attend Ivy League law schools, become clerks for federal appellate judges and Supreme Court judges, go to work in a Democratic or Republican administration in a political job, and then get appointed to the federal bench, not so much because their experience makes them qualified to preside over trials or appellate arguments, but because these are necessary stepping stones to a position where they can continue their political advocacy as a circuit court judge or Supreme Court justice. For example, Justice Barrett spent less than two years as a low level associate actually practicing law. She didn't try a case nor argue an appeal or conduct a deposition. Yet, she followed the path with the “correct” politics - now Barrett will be a Supreme Court justice for life. Given this path, it is no surprise that under-qualified Supreme Court justices continue to advocate for political priorities on the court. It is what they were trained to do and what they have always done. It would be foolish to expect them to change especially when they receive “perks” from political supporters such as expense-paid vacations.

Finally, there are 9 Justices: 6 are Catholic; 2 are Protestant (However, Gorsuch was raised Catholic and is now Episcopalian) and 1 is Jewish. Is it any wonder the “majority” overthrew Roe v. Wade? Diversity of thought is important when considering the legal rights of ALL citizens. Our Supreme Court should reflect the diversity, in all aspects, of our citizens.

Nine Black Robes exposes and debunks the false claim, made over and over again by Chief Justice Roberts, that the court is not a political body. Reform is desperately needed, whether in the form of term limits or a different method of selecting justices. Otherwise the legitimacy that has been lost, as shown in this book, can never be regained.

This is an important book that should be read by anyone who cares about our system of government. The Supreme Court is broken and a fix is desperately needed.

Fiction: Mystery/Thriller

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Jacob Finch Bonner wrote a reasonably successful novel. But then he was unable to produce anything as successful after that. So he is “reduced” to becoming a Professor in a little-known Masters in Fine Arts program in Vermont. Years later, Bonner appropriates a plot developed by one of his students, now deceased. While alive, the student had bragged to Bonner that his plot was a guaranteed best seller. So, upon learning of the student's death, Bonner decides to use the student's plot to write his new book. The title of Bonner’s book is Crib – but he is not talking about a baby bed, he is referring to another definition of crib - “to pilfer or steal, especially to plagiarize (another's writings or ideas).

World-wide success and accolades pour down on him. Then at the pinnacle of all the adulation, Bonner receives an anonymous email calling him a thief. Bonner lives in fear that he will be exposed as a fraud and thief. In order to maintain his literary reputation, Bonner makes a series of terrible decisions in order to discover who is sending him the threatening emails. Events spiral out of control ...

I read several good reviews of this book before I decided to read it. Although most reviews warn that the book has a slow beginning, they also assure the reader that it gets suspenseful, thrilling. If you are “into” the publishing world and self-absorbed authors, or enjoy a good mystery, you may find The Plot a satisfying read but thrilling? The mystery is solved in the end, but I could see it coming long before then.

Still I enjoyed reading The Plot because it was a my favorite type of fiction, a mystery! And it made me think about ambition, fame and the nature of intellectual property. Is there a statute of limitations on ownership of unused ideas? Ultimately The Plot is a warning of the grim realities of the literary life to “wannabe” writers.

Memoir: Book Club Selection

Solito by Javier Zamora

This is an incredibly detailed chronicle of Zamora's 1999 3,000-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador — where he spent his childhood without his mom and dad, who had already made their way to the U.S. — through Guatemala and Mexico, and eventually across the U.S. border.

Zamora, 9 years old, traveled alone but in the company of the coyote, Don Dago, and a small group of strangers who are also trying to make their way to the United States. He knows he'll have to run and jump and cross rivers, but nothing could have prepared him for perilous journey he had embarked on, or the fact that the "trip" he expected to be two weeks long turned into two months of survival. While the events could have easily lead Zamora to write about the pains and dangers of undocumented migration or the way awful immigration policies have created a dangerous system, a lot of the focus is placed on the humanity and people he encountered on his journey.

Solito is a gripping memoir that doesn't shy away from the bad while shining a light on the good. It is also a moving narrative that belongs solely to Zamora but that also offers yet another look at what millions of others go through in pursuit of a better life. And that makes it highly recommend reading at a time when immigration is seen as a political talking point instead of as something that affects many lives in very profound ways.

Non-fiction: Psychology

Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Todd Gilbert

The author is the Harvard College Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He has won numerous awards for his teaching and research—from the Guggenheim Fellowship to the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology.

The title is Stumbling On Happiness, not Stumbling Onto Happiness. This not a self-help book. Rather, it delineates the many decision-making errors we make and how our minds trick us into choosing things that might not lead us to happiness in the long run. It's basically about decision-making, risk aversion, and blind spots in our predictive abilities. Which, of course, have huge implications for happiness: if we decide money will make us happy and devote our lives to making as much money as possible, things are unlikely to end as hoped.

Gilbert incorporates psychological research, philosophy, cognitive neuroscience, sociology, behavioral economics, and more to strengthen his points. Some of his ideas I found interesting include:

• our brains construct experiences based on biased memories rather then objective facts;

• we suck at predicting our future happiness because our present state influences us so much;

• certain societal ideas like having millions of dollars or having a large home continue to circulate even when we have many actual instances that demonstrate that they do not create happiness;

• our neurological structures that allow us to store and re-imagine information may serve us all too well, creating a persuasive yet fundamentally distorted picture of what we want and why we want it.

A well-researched book with some significant ideas. 

Science Fiction: Post-apocalyptic

Warday by Whitley Strieber

This book, written in 1984, is about an event that didn't happen, but very well could have and is still possible.

The US and USSR have a limited nuclear war - Warday. In this case, "limited" means the world didn't blow up completely. New York, San Antonio, Washington D.C. and most of North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana have been turned into craters. Radioactive fallout is drifting over the landscape contaminating crops but there are survivors. Because the nuclear war was limited, Asia and most of Europe are unaffected by the exchange – at least initially!

Due to EMP bursts in the atmosphere, the entire technological infrastructure in the USA is gone. Transportation, including cars and airplanes, will not work. All the airplanes that were in flight when the nuclear exchange began, crashed. Electrical substations are destroyed. Computers and telecommunications are useless. Millions of survivors of the initial nuclear blasts, even those who experienced neither the blast nor the fallout, eventually succumb to a flu epidemic and a famine. Yet, there are still some survivors. How would you survive?

Five years after Warday, two authors make a trip (mostly on old trains and buses without electronics) around America to see what has become of the country. The entire USA government was destroyed, along with all the financial institutions, companies, schools, hospital, etc. Japan and Great Britain have sent military, technological, agricultural and medical assistance to the land that was once a great world power. What would American survivors’ lives be like?

Post-apocalyptic fiction is always a fascinating thought exercise and this book is a real workout! Using a first-person journalistic approach, the author includes “official” documents and survivor “interviews” which make Warday all the more realistic.

Even though this book was written in 1984, it's easy to extrapolate how our country is a house of cards based on a shaky technological base. Pull out a card or two and the whole thing comes tumbling down. Add to that recent events in Europe including a dictator with nuclear capabilities, and you have a recipe for many nightmares to come.

An excellent, fast-paced but not-sensationalized picture of a possible nuclear exchange and its consequences.

 

The Great De-Evolution

 

The Great De-Evolution Series – 6 books by Chris Dietzel

Fiction: Science Fiction/Fantasy/Post Apocalyptic

I am a big fan of end-of-the-world books. Usually there is some kind of natural disaster, nuclear war, disease, zombie attacks, or alien invasion but the concept in this series is a new one for me. In The Great De-Evolution there is only humankind winding to a slow end.

The de-evolution happens when babies are born without an essential brain protein. This leaves them as comatose “Blocks”, without the ability to move, hear, see, speak or reproduce. The birth rate for these Block babies climbs and soon, 100% of newborn babies worldwide are Blocks. Unfortunately science fails to find a cure. Humans began to age and slowly fade away – schools close, businesses are no longer needed and the government prepares for “survival.”

Governments have ensured that each household has an incinerator for waste, a “food processor” for nutrition and a generator for power, then the government disbands. Chaos does not prevail since basic needs are met. Besides, Blocks need around-the-clock care from their parents, siblings and, for the orphaned and abandoned Blocks, community caregivers.

While many of the events in this series could happen, there are some things that are just fantasy. For example, how will people get food? Voila! The government provides “food processors” to each household. This machine can produce a multitude of foods plus beer and wine. However, even a 3-D printer needs some sort of “ingredient.” A “powder” is mentioned but is its supply infinite? You can’t just produce food out of air!

Plus, each household is also provided a magical power generator which doesn’t need fuel. How is the water coming out of faucets? Water systems do not run themselves! AC systems don’t last forever, especially in Florida which is where the majority of people migrate. Finally, can humans (the “Blocks”) survive until old age with just a “nutrition bag” attached to their arm? Unable to move, someone has to continually change their diapers and their position so they don’t get bedsores. This is intensive care. Can an aging population maintain their care?

I think the author used these fantastical elements in order to focus on what is happening emotionally, intellectually and spiritually to the characters. Without having to fight over food, water, and shelter, people have an opportunity to seriously consider life.

Each novel or short novelette in this series focuses on a lone survivor meditating on what matters when everything else is gone. Each solitary narrator wrestles with the choices he or she has made, with love and loyalty, grief and anger, regret and hope, and ultimately the question of what gives life meaning.

This series does not have intense action scenes nor happy endings. Rather these stories are introspective, reflective stories contemplating the end of mankind.

*The books in the series are numbered here by order of publication date, they do not need to be read in the order given.*

 

 Book #1

The Man Who Watched the World End

The narrator is this book is a 82 year-old man. His only company is a brother, Andrew, a few years his junior who is a Block. As his brother’s caregiver, the narrator speaks to his brother as if he was a walking, talking human being. In his heartfelt and touching journal entries, he reminisces about how his parents taught him to treat Andrew with love and respect as an equal, as his brother.

While most people have moved south to centralized communities, the narrator and Andrew have stayed in their deteriorating home so Andrew will not be “warehoused” with thousands of other Blocks in gymnasiums called “group homes.” They are the final two residents in the golf course neighborhood of Camelot, trapped in their house by a surrounding forest full of cats and dogs battling with the bears and wolves to eat anything they can find. How will they survive on their own?

The Man Who Watched the World End is an example of how family can often be enough to keep an individual going against the harshest of odds. It is a reminder of humanity's knack for optimistic denial and its inability to believe that our end is not only possible but also inevitable. This story is a true wake-up call to everyone. Luxuries are great - food, water, and shelter are necessities - but family, and the bonds we have with those we love are everlasting.

Book #2

A Different Alchemy

Military officer Jeffrey lives with his wife and Block son, Galen, in Philadelphia. The story circles back several times to Jeffrey’s regret for having persuaded his wife to have a child when they knew he would have an 99.99999% chance of being a Block.

From their Philadelphia home, Jeffrey commutes to Fort Dix. Because of the Great De-Evolution, the military no longer has a mission and the base is closing. Jeffrey, who wants to stay in their home, and his wife, who wants to migrate, argue about joining a caravan of Philadelphians migrating south to Washington D.C.. In preparation for the migration, as Blocks are being gathered in a stadium, there is an absolutely horrific incident. On his way home from his last day at Fort Dix, Jeffrey learns from a radio broadcast the shocking news. He stops his car on the freeway and walks back to Fort Dix. There he takes a tank and heads north, away from humanity.

Jeffrey watches the world as he passes through, noting, but never involving himself with any people he meets along the way. He has given up on humanity and just wants to be left alone and find inner peace. Where can he go to find peace?

This is the story of a father's loss and his inability to forgive himself and his wife. Ultimately, it is a story about healing.

Book #3

The Hauntings of Playing God

Everyone else is dead. All that remains is a 93 year-old woman, Morgan. She is the last remaining Block caregiver in Miami. She has spent ¾ of her life caring for a gymnasium full of Blocks. When her co-worker dies, she is totally alone. How can she possibly care for 64 Blocks? She is old. She is tired. She has aches and pains and struggles to keep up. As the days go on, Morgan is left with the chilling decision to either unhook some Blocks from their nutrient bags or be unable to properly care for everyone. Alone and overwhelmed, will the final member of the human race be thought of as a caregiver or as a monster?

We learn about Morgan’s life through a series of flashbacks. At night, we experience her agony as we enter her nightmares. We listen to her creative “conversations” with the Blocks. Each day she questions her religion and her will to go on. She knows that if she can no longer care for the Blocks they will die.

She constantly questions the possibilities each life holds:

• "Maybe life begins the first time you understand the magnitude of suffering around you, and ends the last time you witness that sorrow."

• "Maybe life starts the first time you play make-believe and ends the moment you admit you can no longer imagine something better for yourself than what you have."

• "Maybe life isn’t defined by the first and last time you believe in something greater than yourself. Maybe life isn’t measured in heartbeats or curiosity or even in acts of love.”

• “Maybe life is whatever you make of it."
  

Book #4

The Last Teacher – a novelette

Teaching is a noble profession but how can one teacher instill knowledge to her students when the end of the world is close at hand? Surrounded by disheartened fellow-teachers and students losing hope, will the Last Teacher give up?

This story takes place as the last of the normal humans are in high school. The children younger than the teenagers are Blocks, so this will be the last high school class.

Although Ray, an English teacher, is surrounded by people who are angry, bitter, and hopeless, she still believes her students can do whatever they want with their lives. No one else agrees with her. With no responsibilities, the teenagers still have the world to explore and enjoy. The earth is still beautiful and there are adventures to be had, but it seems that without a future, all people do is talk about and prepare for the end. The Last Teacher tries to fight against this, but it is a losing battle.

I found it interesting that Ray introduced her students to "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin and "The Stranger" by Albert Camus. Perhaps she wanted her students to explore the never-ending quest by humans to superimpose some meaning and purpose in their lives? Lesson Learned: Knowing that life does end, each human being has to decide how to create their own unique meaning and purpose in their respective lives.

Book #5

The Last Astronaut – a novelette

This is the story of boy growing up as the world is ending. He is ten when his parents tell him that no more normal babies are being born and the world is going through the Great De-Evolution. Most families are heading south to form new communities. That way they can prepare for old age and be with others to help them take care of themselves. Because of the mass migrations, friends pass in and out of the young boy's life and he never gets to experience a close friendship.

Except for his cat, Bob. Bob is his best friend and is always there for him. Sadly, Bob dies when the boy (now a man) is 22. He applies that same day to be The Last Astronaut. There is no talk about saving mankind; they are just sending a man out into space for a final journey. He doesn't want to watch the world end as humanity slowly dies of old age. He has already suffered the loss of who he loved most and doesn't want to go through it - person by person - for the rest of his life.

Traveling through the solar system, he describes its beauty and vastness. As the years pass, he comes to realize that in the grand scheme of things what is happening on earth is inconsequential. It's a tragedy for the people and the planet, but in the vastness of the universe, it's just the blinking out of a light. At the same time, he realizes he now thinks of only the happiness he and Bob shared. It took decades of time and millions of miles, but he finally is able to remember Bob with a smile instead of with tears. He is able to stop wishing Bob was still with him and appreciate what Bob meant in his life.

This is such a unique story which helps us appreciate love and accept loss! Anyone who has “loved and lost” will “get” this story!

Book #6

The Last Voter – a novelette

Before the Great De-Evolution, during his youth, Kurt, didn't believe his vote actually mattered. Now, an old man, Kurt is the only living person left in the city. Yet, every four years he walks to his polling place (a derelict gymnasium) in order to cast his vote.

When he gets there, the place is empty. There’s no election worker, only some animals rustling through the leaves that have been blown in through the shattered windows. Kurt finds the wobbly table and a piece of paper on which he writes in the name of his candidate. That’s it. Election day in a democracy that doesn’t exist anymore.

But why does Kurt go to all this trouble when there have not been any elections for a long time? We learn through flashbacks that, as a child, he was allowed to accompany his father to the gymnasium on election day. He remembers the pride his father had in voting and how, even after his parents migrated south, his father continued to vote and then called to encourage Kurt to vote. His parents are gone, but Kurt keeps voting.

This is a story about how the things that are important to us don't have to make sense to the rest of the world. It is our life to live and it counts.