The Exploding Book - Mike Russell’s strange fiction, this time, following his three collections of short stories and a novella, a full length novel that expands to the outer reaches of the outlandish to flabbergast with each flip of the page.
We’re in the village of Gladeville and immediately witness a colossal explosion in the town library. What happens next defies description (at least in this review since I will not spoil the many surprises in store for a reader). I will, however, share a provocative quote about one distinctive book in the library's collection, a black book, 'the Dark Book', that has been read by every single person in Gladeville: “The book's cover is so dark that it exudes darkness, emanating a monstrous black aura."
So many strange surprises, so many weird-ass wonders, too many for me to trace the pathway of plot, thus I'll shift to a clutch of tantalizing themes where I'll link my comments with a direct quote from Mike's book most exploding:
ITS ALL ABOUT YOU
"You see a gold temple.
The gold temple is glowing: it is emanating a gold aura of extraordinary brilliance. The gold light touches you and you feel bliss."
Oh, yes, Mike's novel is written in the second person. Noting like putting you the reader in the middle of his fantastic tale, a tale containing many elements of myth - one myth that comes immediately to mind is the Gnostic myth of the Hidden Pearl where we are spirits lost in a world of matter and forgetful of our true origin.
OOBE
"You hover above your body, then you fly back inside it. You do not possess it, however; you remain as a single point of awareness. Surrounded by flesh, blood and bone, you search for just a hint of a glint of gold. You fly through this glorious, glistening mass of solid, liquid and gas, causing no injury as you pass through muscles and tendons, causing no pain as you pass through nerves; your physical senses are oblivious to you."
Not only are you in the novel but you are in the novel having an extended out-of-body experience. Now that, my friends, is a special twist of Mike Russell signature strangeness!
BEAUTY AND MORE BEAUTY
"The door now opens and a little ginger-haired girl wearing a black school uniform enters the building. the girl's name is Jennifer Yates. She walks toward the circular, yellow desk.
You hover in front of the little girl. She looks right through you.
'Hello, Liberty,' Jennifer says, looking up at the smiling librarian."
Little Jennifer and Liberty the librarian are among the beguiling, curious inhabitants. And as these delightful denizens exchange words, there is a conspicuous Tock and/or Tick as if a cosmic clock is forever counting down from first page to last. Did I say cosmic clock? Perhaps stated more accurately - an eschatological time bomb.
OH DEATH WHERE IS THY STING-A-LING-A-LING?
'What is this box?' Mr Edwards wondered aloud.
As soon as the question has been voiced, both Mr Edwards and PC Carter know the answer. In unison, they both say:
'Death.'
PC Carter and Mr Edwards stare at one another.
'How did I know that word?' Mr Edwards says. 'I don't remember ever having heard it before.'
'Nor do I,' says PC Carter. 'Yet I understand its meaning.'
'So do I,' says Mr Edwards. 'I feel strange."
After their initiation into the reality of death, male Mr Edwards and female PC Carter partake of their first experience of sexual ecstasy. Ah, eros and thanatos linked in ways most marvelous - and, of course, infused with hefty helpings of Mike Russell scintillating strangeness.
LIGHT, LOVE, BLISS
"Their clothes dissolve in the gold light, then they merge with one another to become one single spirit, with an appearance that is a combination of both their features, the two unique gold temples inside them becoming one gold temple with the combined attributes of both."
Having read these words, are you up for joining Mike Russell in the strangeness of exploding imagination? I certainly hope so. Go for it! Picture yourself on the bicycle below with the book illustrated as not other than The Exploding Book.
I've included the vivid surreal art of contemporary Polish artist Igor Morski since the clarity and explosiveness of the artist's images are, to my eye, perfect counterpoint to Mike Russell's novel.
British author Mike Russell, born 1973
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