Review: Year Zero
And, The Choice by Og Mandino, actually.
Not too long ago, I finished Year Zero by Jeff Long. I got this book, mainly, because I’d read one of his other books, The Descent, based on a reccomendation from a website some time back. Year Zero is about a plague that gets released into the world from a sealed reliquary, purported to contain the blood and bones of Jesus. It’s never determined if they are, or not, but a terrible disease is loosed upon the world as a result of the search. A disease for which we no longer have any immunity or defense.
Certainly, this is not an old theme. It’s been a favorite of science-fiction and horror writers for a long time. (As in The Stand, by Stephen King, among others.) This one does blend in a little early Christianity and spirituality to the mix by basing it on a search for the physical body of Christ. It’s interesting to me to see how Long handles both the beauty and cynicism that I associate with organized religion. I think he does it quite well, showing both the good and not so good aspects of religion and science. For instance, not all the scientists in the story are heros trying to stop the deadly plague. Some are quite amoral and rather brutal in the pursuit of an Answer to the question of the hour. It’s actually quite a fine line sometimes and this book handles it well.
I won’t reveal too much of the plot, but, things do work out, in a way, at the end. And, of course, hope is reborn.
I do reccomend this book to anyone looking to break out of a reading rut, like I have been. Any one who’s a fan of the softer science-fiction will like this just fine. And, of course, anyone looking for an interesting, but not too taxing read, would be fin with Year Zero, too.
Immediately after finishing Year Zero, I started in on The Choice by Og Mandino. I have to warn you, this was reccomended to me by my psychologist, so it was almost a reading assignment. Almost. This was an “inspirational” book, both by design and, for me, because of the subject matter. In short, it’s a story about a man who bails out of the “rat race” of insurance sales to become a writer. Gee, can anyone figure why my shrink would suggest this book for me? At first, I wasn’t quite sure, but at the end of the second or third chapter, when he writes, in response to a question from his former boss about what his big plans were that made him leave, “I’m going to be a writer!”
In spite of this, I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of this book. I mean, I am somewhat cynical, so overly sappy inspirational books just aren’t my style. This short book was different, though. I have to admit, it really caught me. Also, it was short and I read it, while doing laundry and my regular weekend chores, in just two short days. It’s actually his second book and I sort of wished I’d read them in order, but I do have his first, A Better Way to Live, waiting for me. The Choice is, basically, a somewhat ficionalized account of how the first book came to be written. I say somewhat because Mandino uses a different name for the “main character” of the story. It was a little off-putting, to be honest, but, after I managed to just set that incongruity aside, it wasn’t a bad story at all. And, yes, it did, in fact, get me all emotional. If you’ve ever dreamed about changing your life for a dream, this is just the right kind of inspirational book for you.
Now, though, I’m reading some trashy “chick-lit”, titled Dirty Little Secrets by Julie Leto, though, it’s hardly “literature”. It was on the sale rack and looked like fun, light reading. Besides, it was totally different than anything I would normally pick and on sale for $3.95, so I figured I didn’t have much to lose. And, I have to admit, it does give me inspiration that I can break into print. After all, if this trash can get published, so can mine!
