As Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring is a historical novel , so Samuel R. Delany's The Einstein Intersection is a mythic novel.
This to say, when readers click into the world of Johannes Vermeer and 17th Century Delft, Holland, they are poised to enjoy Girl, so if you can click into the world of myth, you'll definitely take to Delany's Einstein Intersection.
Personally, I felt a deep connection with The Einstein Intersection,
which is not too terribly surprising since both Joseph Campbell and
Carl Jung are among my all-time favorites. I even purchased the hardback
edition with a leather cover to get closer to the powerful mythic vibe.
What
particularly struck me is how much mythological material Delany packs
into just 150 pages. Most appropriate since, unlike historical novels
which nearly always benefit by more history, more facts, more detail,
more pages, a mythic novel will be strengthened by compression, by fewer
pages. Jumping to a number of the tale's major features and themes, we
have:
A Hero's Journey
Our main character is a lad of
twenty-three by the name of Lobey, called Lo Lobey in his village to
denote both gender (male) and status (functional or "norm"). Lobey tells
us he's ugly, has a big nose, gray eyes, spun brass for hair, figure
like a bowling pin, toes as long as his fingers. Lobey plays his
flute/machete, an instrument with twenty holes (we can infer Lobey plays
with both his fingers and toes). The novel is, in effect, what Joseph
Campbell termed "The Hero's Journey," as we follow Lobey on his
adventures beyond his village to his eventual arrival in the city.
Samuel
R. Delany composed this short novel in his early twenties and Lobey's
tale is punctuated by Delany's journal entries back in those years when
the young author traveled across the islands of Greece and throughout the
Middle East.
Humans and Aliens
"We are worn out with trying
to be human, Lobey." So speaks an older man. One of the most quizzical
aspects of the novel: we're reading the saga of a race of outer space
aliens who have traveled to our planet thousands of years after humans
have become extinct, probably the consequence of nuclear holocaust.
These aliens have taken human form, including taking on the entire range
of our human emotions and desires.
Curiously, each time I read
the novel, I had the lingering suspicion everyone is, in fact, human,
that perhaps the "we're all outer space aliens" was a myth created as a
survival technique. However, and this is the important point in my
judgement, since we're reading a mythic novel - IT DOESN'T MATTER! That's right, since we're in the world of myth, it doesn't matter one
fig if they are humans or aliens.
Greek Mythology, One
"In
the older story Ringo was called Orpheus. He too was torn apart by
screaming girls." Lobey has lost his beloved Friza. A village elder
relates a story mingling elements of the Beatles and the ancient myth of
Orpheus. She urges Lobey to take on the role of Orpheus to seek out his
Eurydice. And like Orpheus, Lobey is to draw on the power of music as
he journeys forth.
Greek Mythology, Two
"The computer whistled a few notes of one of the ancient tunes, some chorus from Carmen.
The bull-beast glanced at it uncomprehending." Oh, wow! Lobey is a
hunter and one of his encounters is a postmodern reenactment of the myth
of Theseus and the Minotaur in the labyrinth. And to add special spice,
at the end of one underground tunnel, Lobey also has the opportunity to
ask questions of a computer from those ancient human days.
Language, Signs and Symbols
Another
intriguing dimension of the story: how words and symbols can remain the
same or change over the course of time depending on social and cultural
context. Einstein Intersection has a strong 1960s counterculture
vibe. Sure, those old myths play themselves out again and again, but
each new generation can add zip and sparkle.
Spiderman
In
his odyssey, Lobey meets Spider and learns the skills of a dinosaur
herdsman, not the least of which is how to ride a dinosaur. For me, this
section of the tale takes on the quality of magical mystery tour.
Spider assumes the role of a spiritual friend and teacher that each one
of us needs as we travel from our village to realms unknown. Is Spider a
new variation on comic book hero Spiderman? Such an interesting
question I wouldn't want to spoil with an answer.
Juicy Quotes
Love is something which dies and when dead it rots and becomes soil for a new love...Thus in reality there is no death in love. - Par Lagerkvist/The Dwarf
In
addition to excepts from his travel journals, Delany sprinkled in
delectable quotes like the one above, quotes from James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake to Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited.
Kid Death
What's
the difference between Kid Death and Billy the Kid? How will Lobey
combat his formidable opponent? For Samuel R. Delany to tell.
Music
"The
finger that had pressed my hand now touched my lips. She pouted for
silence. With her other hand she lifted my sword. "Play Lobey?""
Music and love, love and music - together forever. Even Spider whistles Kodaly's Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello.
Time for you to join in and read The Einstein Intersection.
Samuel R. Delany, age 23 - photo taken at the time when the author wrote The Einstein Intersection
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