The Island of Dr
Death and Other Stories and other stories by Gene Wolf was published in
1980, an amusing and even playful title to this collection of his short
stories.
‘Alien
Stones’ is a complete departure: an alien space vehicle has been discovered,
apparently empty. Partly a mystery, there is little action, but the
personalities hold, as does the immense alien ship: an empathist who fails to
know the aliens, a Captain who has an unusual younger alter-ego. Reality is
questioned, and the story concludes with the old puzzle: can two alien cultures
draw together and learn?
‘La
Befana’ and ‘The Toy Theatre’ are short-shorts with appropriate twists in their
tails.
‘The
Hero as Werewolf’ creates a post-catastrophe world in which mutants roam and
lycanthropy is commonplace. A dark gruesome piece – the streets depressing and
claustrophobic, the characters shot through with pathos.
‘The
Death of Doctor Island’ features a boy who is to undergo psychotherapy, his
doctor being the island upon which he awakes. It is also a study in
psychopathology and schizophrenia. The Island’s construction, the psychological
insights and the empathy all work. This won a Nebula award.
Besides
delving into the origins of myth, ‘Feathered Tigers’ is a metaphor for the lost
cultures of the Earth, destroyed by man’s ‘progress’. The ending may be
predictable, but the journey is worthwhile.
In
‘Hour of Trust’ Wolfe employs his ironic humour to good effect, where the War
of Commerce has reached terrible proportions. International conglomerates
employ weaponry and terrorist tactics in their sales drives! It reminded me
slightly of James Tiptree’s ‘Birth of a Salesman’ – though with less overt
humour; they both work on a basic premise and stretch it just far enough
without going over the top; well done, with a sanguine ending.
One
of the longest stories is ‘Tracking Song’, evoking a world of cold wastes with
great eloquence. The narrator shows us he is in a technological era, but apart
from the machine into which he dictates, there is no further evidence until the
end. The land is sparsely populated by characters similar to those in North
American Indian mythology, yet the narrator feels alien. He sets out on a quest
of curiosity and discovery – a poetic trek, with a mystical ending that seems
about right.
‘Cues' is a rather long pun – and little fun. But next comes fifty-eight pages of ‘The Eyeflash Miracles’ – in my opinion worth buying the book for this story alone. It tells of a blind boy who has hallucinations populated by characters who help him to see. The characters and situations in the story have some Dickens, Bradbury and Baum in them, but the magical prose is pure Wolfe and a delight to read.
The last story, ‘Seven American Nights’ is an interesting, never dull travelogue with a 19th century flavour, written in diary-form, reminiscent of Jonathan Harker’s Journal in Dracula. And the discoveries are every bit as terrible. North America cities after are crammed with disease riddled beggars, street-sellers hawking physical and materialistic delights. The West has fallen and the Byzantine culture has resurfaced, superior, refined. But this refinement has eased out risk and adventure, the narrator’s spirits are low, so he is drawn to exotic divertissement, with forbidding potential…
Not one story spells things out: the reader has to work, and is rewarded: total immersion in a variety of brilliantly described lands; and the atmosphere of each clings, memorable, haunting almost. I recommend that you walk these wondrous, humane, ironic, bleak, always different pathways.
You can see Wolfe's bibliography here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Wolfe_bibliography
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