A Quick Look Back

Hello Fellow Readers. This post is taking things in a bit of a different direction. I'm not sure if we're ok to veer off the book we're on, but I have some thoughts banging around in my head and I wanted to comment on them. Also, the things I have to say are linked to the first book we ever read in this little group - Almanac of the Dead.

I was just reading the transcript from a recent Democracy Now! show ( http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/26/1416203 ) and I couldn't help thinking about the maniacs Silko created for that story. I used to be convinced that the reason I've had difficulties getting throug the book at times is because it is so violent. I now realize that it's not the violence in the book that is so troubling to me, but it is the fact that the violence is alive and well in our world right this minute. It would be comforting to be sure that the characters that thrive on human torture and suffering were simply figments of an engaging story - kind of like the blood-thirsty, psycho clown that lives in the sidewalk drains in "It" - but these are the people who are running our country. I've heard and read about all these debates about torture and this particular episode was telling about prison officials from the U.S.A. who were Prison Officials at Abu Ghraib - who took their special brand of prisoner care across the world. I read about the treatment these men support and I am reminded of the sickos in Almanac and I'd like to vomit. Perhaps her work is so powerful because it is real in countless ways. I suppose while recognizing the horrific parts of the book that are reflected by our own society, it's equally important to remember that amidst the violence, oppression, and out-of-control power-hungry freaks there were glimmers of hope and revolution. We need to give that book another read.