On Dreams by Sigmund Freud

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Freud's first major work was the epic Interpretation of Dreams, published right at the turn of the century (1899, that is). What I didn't know until recently was that the work was a pretty major commercial flop. It only sold something like 600 copies in total over the first few years.

Freud thought his work was very important, so about a year later he wrote and published "On Dreams," a much shorter, much simpler work, intended for a wider audience. It leaves out much of the dense material that makes IoD a slow read -- the survey of the history of dream interpretation, the detailed analyses of multiple dreams. It also leaves out Freud's explication of his theory of mind. But, it does include a succinct and easily digestible overview of what I always found to be most interesting about IoD: the description of the dream-work. While the symbologies Freud devises always seem to me a bit too precise, his identification of the processes by which the "latent" dream content becomes the "manifest" content is useful and provocative, especially from a literary perspective. As I said, he doesn't explicitly describe his theory of mental topography, but it is implied, and I think this work provides a useful intro for those people who would like to get a window into Freud's early work. It can be a helpful starter work before one jumps into IoD, giving one a handle on Freud's basic understanding of mental operations and work as a guide to the longer, more complicated work.



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The Renegado by Philip Massinger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A simply fabulous play.



Grimaldi the Venetian "turns Turk" -- abandoning his Christian roots to become a Barbary Corsair in the employ of the Muslim Viceroy of Tunis, Asambeg.



He kidnaps the beautiful and virtuous Paulina and sells her to Asambeg, who falls in love with her but, disarmed by her beauty, refuses to force her to submit.



Paulina's brother Vitelli travels to Tunis in disguise to rescue his sister, accompanied by his Jesuit confessor Francisco and his comical, materialist servant Gazet.



Mustapha, a Muslim general, courts Donusa, niece of the Turkish Sultan. But she prefers Vitelli, who she seduces, threatening both his masculinity and his faith.



This tragicomedy about seventeenth-century English fantasies about the Ottoman Empire is made up of equal parts terror and fascination, and it reveals how European anxieties over religious, economic, and gender identities were bound up with one another. And not only is it rather well written, with a few really excellent speeches, but its pretty damn funny too, and especially topical in today's political climate.



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The Walking Dead Vol. 13: Too Far Gone by Robert Kirkman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I love The Walking Dead, but this volume of the long-running series is a bit underwhelming.

We've followed Rick Grimes and his companions for a few years now as they travel across a zombie-overrun United States, attempting to come to survive and develop a new life for themselves. The series has been fascinating for its psychological realism; Kirkman explores the limits of the human mind, just what people will do when their survival is on the line, and how they struggle to maintain some semblance of sanity in a post-apocalyptic world. But, I wonder a bit about what may be left to explore.

This and the previous volume deal with Rick Grimes' arrival at a "gated community" of sorts -- a group of people who have managed to build a small, stable village, relatively "normal" and protected from the horrors of the zombies outside their walls. The drama arises from the conflict between the members of the community -- who have gotten used to a return to a quasi-normal life -- and Rick Grimes' group, strung out from month upon month of living on the edge. The problems that were teased at the end of the last volume emerge here, but they are resolved too quickly and neatly, undermining the naturalistic feel of the series thus far. Another potential threat that is raised is also quickly dealt with, making it seem like an exercise in treading water. The cliffhanger ending promises interesting new developments, but I wonder if the upshot of them will be any different than what we've already seen. There's also some potential in the growing tension between Rick and his son Carl, but again, I don't know what Kirkman can do that will wow us the way he had in the past.

I think that, just maybe, it is time for Kirkman to begin moving us to the endgame. Either that, or something "game-changing" needs to happen -- a shift to all new characters in a radically different situation, something that makes the series new again. While I'll probably keep reading the series as long as Kirkman keeps writing it -- provided it doesn't get completely terrible -- it is slowly moving down my priority list. I am mildly hopeful for the next installment, but I think that The Walking Dead is past its heyday.



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The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love big books. The first book in Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy is definitely a big book, and I don't just mean in length (although the 1000+ pages help). It's a big book in scope: Hamilton attempts to create a vivid, believable future in which humans have colonized the galaxy, modified their genetic code, and made first contact with alien species.



Hamilton's novel is a galaxy spanning space opera, big on action, sex, and military tech. It's a species of "hard" sci-fi, I would say, although how well thought out and developed the scientific aspect of the story is, I can't say. Despite its length, its a relatively quick read; Hamilton's prose is clear yet evocative, and he handles dialogue and action quite well. Some of the characters are a bit cliched -- the grizzled veteran, the dashing young hero, etc. etc. -- but he keeps it fresh.



The main story, which doesn't really emerge until quite a ways through the novel, is the discovery of "the Reality Dysfunction," a mysterious temporal phenomenon that unleashes chaos on a small, developing planet and threatens to engulf the entirety of human-occupied space. But in many ways, the "Dysfunction" is only a device for Hamilton to imagine how human society may develop over the next few hundred years. He's imagined a fractured galaxy, where corporate interests, religious orders, and neo-feudal dynasties each compete for power and resources. Extraterrestrial colonies are ethnically segregated, and while some embrace new technologies and develop new ways of life, others attempt to turn back the clock and recreate older social orders. Hamilton jumps from character to character, each one providing a different perspective and brought up to understand the workings of the galaxy in completely different ways. While Hamilton is not a world-class writer, he's a very talented and imaginative one, and each character speaks in their own voice. Following each as their lives intersect with one another and with the central story is as interesting as the mystery at the heart of the novel itself.



Speaking of which, the "Dysfunction" is a bit of a let-down when its nature is finally revealed. Don't get me wrong, it is still an intriguing idea, but not quite as mind-blowing or fantastic as I'd hoped. But, the novel ends with major developments in the works and huge plot threads still unresolved, so I think there's a lot of good stuff to come. Definitely recommended for fans of smart sci-fi.



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