5 out of 5 stars
A Quality Of Life
We all want certainty because it gives us security, but as the philosopher Alan W. Watts has pointed out, both Buddhists and Taoist have concluded that life is inherently changing, and indeed we can even benefit by abandoning our fixed notions, our structures, our certainties and embrace the convolutions of life. (Watts. The Wisdom Of Insecurity, 1951) If you enjoy a buzz in life Unexpected Tales is for you, but if you enjoy routine, or even want more stability, this book also has notions about life to offer you.
Life has a certain unexpected quality that can come
upon us in many ways. The Preface to
this book points out that these stories come from a wide variety of geographic
places and thus describe different cultures that we might find
“unexpected”. That is indeed true,
though the various descriptions of uncertainty go beyond that. Some of these stories are humorous, with an
unexpected punch-line: we are astonished, delighted, revel in the surprise
twist. Some tales describe the sort of
situation that we call ‘a turn up for the books’. These are the sort of real life events where
we end up saying, “Can you believe that?”
Some of the narratives are enigmas: we assume answers, but that is
exactly what we don’t get. Some of these
yarns are quite philosophical: they express truths which we at first don’t see,
don’t want to see, even hide from ourselves.
Society is depicted in various forms, but never
with complete acceptance. All of these
authors ask questions, forcing us to evaluate where we stand. In particular localities some of these tales
would be considered quite revolutionary, in others, they would be more
conventional, but not quite mainstream. The
philosopher Michel Foucault, and many others, have taught us to question all
structures as possible devices to reinforce powerful minorities, and indeed
many of the tales specifically examine the question of power and elites.
Female readers will be happy to find that there is
an ample representation of positive female characters. Certainly, as in life, some of the women
portrayed are hurt and searching individuals, but others are strong, determined
and even rebellious. In the
philosophical theories of Luce Irigarary and Julia Kristeva women are viewed as
oppressed, but self-containing the possibility of considerable creativity, and
indeed these tales reflect those views; however, even female powers systems are
examined, particularly by Xarina. Women
also can be sell-outs to the system.
Members of repressed ethnicities are portrayed with
considerable understanding in two stories.
These characters receive both criticism and positive acceptance. They are viewed both from an outside
standpoint (the point of view of others) and an inside perspective (self-analysis).
None of the many characters strike the reader as
false; indeed, as readers we often recognise ourselves, even in those tales
that are more bizarre. While these tales
are ‘unexpected’ they very much portray how ordinary people react in unusual
circumstances. That is to say these
stories ring true psychologically.
As we have noted some of the tales are
tongue-in-cheek; that is, slightly larger than life. Many others are written in the ‘social realism’
style. Tomov’s surrealistic vignettes
are a prominent departure from the ‘normal’, though not from real life.
Money, power and success are central driving forces
in our society and it is no surprise that this issue appears in various stories
buy Candy Korman, Abby Fermont, Xarina and Martin Craig-Downer. We see the lengths people will go to achieve:
the tricks and sacrifices of personal value.
We are lead to wonder what real success is: money, reaching the top of
the ladder, friendship?
The stupidity of bigotry, in various forms,
features in the tales of Korman, Craig-Downer and Fermont. This failing is examined in the actions of
governments, but also in the rote thought patterns of individuals following the
pat beliefs of their society.
Looking deeper into the workings of the human mind
we see the quest for meaning in the works of Craig-Downer and Alexandur
Tomov. Can we find significance in work
or do most of us need something deeper than that? How can we escape from the sense of
pointlessness and emptiness?
How could a book be written about people without at
least touching on the subject of love?
Craig-Downer, Fermont, Xarina and Tomov indeed all have written tales
that specifically detail and examine this basic human motivation. We are enlightened by the authors as to how
we come to miss love and botch it, how we fail to give it (though we imagine we
do), how we come upon it and how we deeply need it.
In a world of ever increasing communication and
travel we all must face the issue of cultural difference. Fermont and Xarina each consider this topic
in fairly lengthy tales. The third world certainly operates differently to the
first (Western) world, but increasingly such global divisions are becoming
obsolete. People of third world
background are living in our societies and we are at least visiting there. How do we react and cope when we meet someone
of very different values? Is there, at
least in theory, a ‘right’ way of doing things?
Will we eventually abandon these differences, or are they a result of
particular circumstances that are not going to go away in a hurry?
While all the authors are skilled at their art of
short story writing, Alexandur Tomov clearly stands out as the best
contributor. He contributed 13 tales and
so could be said to be the most prolific, though his stories are quite
short. Beyond that, however, his work
has an informed insight into life with a surprising depth of vision. He is, indeed, an interesting new author of
some considerable talent and understanding.
At first glance Tomov’s stories seem repetitive. There is the frequent dream motif, the
recurrent trip to the future and the unexplained loss of memory. On a closer reading, however, we see that
most of the tales highlight particular points, giving special insight into
particular facets of life and emphasizing new philosophical details. This is the work of one mind and so of course
there is an overall, coherent ideology.
Most notably Tomov is influenced by Existentialism. Tomov’s tale Crime And Punishment, like
Dostoevski’s novel of the same name, examines the question of moral decay
arising specifically from the philosopher’s own reasoning. William Barrett in his book Irrational Man: A
Study In Existential Philosophy (c1958) identifies Fyodor Dostoevski as a
proto-existentialist. In Tomov’s story The Squad the plot is set in the future,
but the society depicted is very much reminiscent of the German Axis or the
Soviet Block. This story reminds us
of Max Frisch’s The Fire Raisers (1953)
in which official state persecution is explored. Tomov’s surreal plots, as indeed Frisch’s,
are of course influenced by Albert Camus’ idea of the absurd. (The Myth Of
Sisyphus And Other Essays, 1955) As
Jean-Paul Sartre demonstrated in Existentialism And Humanism (1946) that
philosophy is not without its ethical implications and Tomov’s works certainly
dig into the issue of moral decay. Always,
like the Existentialist, Tomov leads us to ask, “Do we truly need to live like
this?” Tomov, however, is not simply
rehashing old ideas. These are very much
tales of the Twenty First Century. The
future implications of the ideas, first fully expressed in the post-World War 2
period, are very much examined. Where is
this relativism and absurdity leading us?
The philosopher is in some ways guilty of the ideas he releases, though
of course much of the ‘damage’ comes from other’s misunderstandings, additions
and misuse. In this way Tomov, in the
mode of Postmodernism, deconstructs Existentialism as much as he supports it. Psychoanalysis is another minor influence on
Tomov’s work. More than once characters
refer to “The Ego” as a seemingly rational explanation of ‘mad’ behaviours. These explanations, however, are not to be
trusted. In A Too Confused Dream Tomov
depicts a nightmare which could fit into the category of a Jungian archetypal,
or ‘big’ dream (Ann Faraday. Dream Power: Berkley Books, 1980, p.124), but
which is also reminiscent of Near-Death-Experiences (Raymond Moody. Life After
Life, 1975). Both these phenomena have a
‘life-changing,’ never-to-be-forgotten’ quality, as does the events of Tomov’s
tale.
Tomov’s tales are darkly surreal, ironic and deeply
philosophical (without being overly scholarly or boringly academic). He raises questions about modern relativistic
life, depicting our fears and hopes. He
does not always answer the questions he raises, thus avoiding ‘pat’
answers. Memories of childhood offer
only partial comfort at best. Love is
depicted as hopeful and helpful, but we are not given an abstract, absolute
view of that ‘solution’. Tomov’s love is
very practical and mundane, not reaching much further than finding a friend, or
better still a partner. In line with
Foucault’s thoughts (Madness And Civilization – A History Of Insanity In The
Age Of Reason, 1990), and the theories of other anti-psychiatrists, psychology
is often depicted as being used by ‘the establishment’ to write off very real
feelings by seemingly logical explanations.
The seemingly intelligent ’answers’ when really considered turn out to
be hollow and “absurd”, as indeed many of Tomov’s characters protest. One criticism of Tomov’s tales is that women
mainly appear only as very undeveloped characters: they remain shadow figures:
they represent the unknown ‘Other,’ who we don’t know, but with whom we seek to
unite. Certainly these shadow women offer
the potential for creativity and fulfilment, as the philosopher Julia Kristeva
suggests, but only as adjuncts to men.
Indeed in the three of the four stories in which female characters are
more developed (Eternal Love, From The Future and Crime And Punishment) women
are represented in the stereotypical ‘prime hussy’ role: powerful and active,
but of evil intent. This is clearly an
idea of the dominant patriarchal culture.
Also while partnerships are represented as a positive source of meaning,
all of them are heterosexual: gay partnerships are completely absent from
Tomov’s tales. Over all of Tomov’s tales
hangs a sense of meaninglessness and moral decay that results in a dreamlike,
hazily futuristic, visionary judgement.
Of course it would be difficult to write a review
of Unexpected Tales without some comparison with Roald Dahl’s Tales Of The
Unexpected: the humour, the “Oh my God! endings, and the reflection on the
darker side of human nature are all analogous.
Dahl is of course a master of his art, though his tales are sometimes
over long and in some ways repetitive.
Unexpected Tales holds up reasonably okay in many respects. Coming from the minds of various authors, as
Unexpected Tales does, we see different perspectives of the world and different
writing styles. If you enjoyed Dahl’s
short stories you will certainly want more and this new book is a good choice.
Unexpected Tales is a book ideal for those who like
to be surprised, who like the unusual and even at times surreal, who like to be
challenged to think just a bit deeper.
Most of these stories are short and can be read within half an hour, and
so the book is ideal for people on the go, for weekend reading, or for a brief
read before bed. The writing style is
consistently good and none of the tales are at all boring. The themes covered are varied and we have the
benefit of reading different perspectives on each issue. Different moods are captured, from the
humorous to the chilling. All in all
this book is an excellent read which has something for many different readers,
from those who want to be lightly entertained to those who are willing to think
quite deeply. This book certainly
deserves a 5 out of 5 rating.
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