#554 The Token Superhero- David F. Walker

#554 The Token Superhero- David F. Walker

Parents often have contradictory hopes for their children. On one hand they want them to be safe, normal, comfortable, but they also want them to be extraordinary, better than they were and someone that helps make the world better. Kelvin Ramey is in such a quandary. His son Alonzo is a superhero, and as much as Kelvin wants to be proud of him, he is worried that he will be in danger.

“Daddy K, are you really going to be angry that our son was blessed with wings and has decided to use them to fly?”

A genetic anomaly called K-24 has given superpower mutation to a select few in society. Most of the power are called “Standards” like extreme strength, speed, and bullet proof skin. But some have developed even more anomalous mutations that are uncontrollable. Kelvin is happy that Alonzo is a “Standard” because he believes that the world would look unkindly to a black man with super-human abilities. As it is, he is unhappy that his son will be part of a force called the Teen Justice Force, worried that Alonzo will become a tool for “The Man.”

Exploitation of Alonzo manifested itself first in his name, The Black Fist. He was also the only member of the force not to get his own comic series or an action figure.

“At the age of twenty, Alonzo was already bitter, cynical, and tired of being a token. He tried to reinvent himself, with a new costume and a new name, but none of it took. Twice he’d been attacked by other superheroes who’d mistaken him for a supervillain, and then there was the time he’d been shot by cops. Fortunately the bullets had bounced off.”

There is some pretty good satire here. And like most super hero stories there is a few good lessons to learn about symbolism, identity, and materialism…and that’s one to grow on.

Rating: 7-7-8-8 Total= 32

#232 The Kidney-Shaped Stone that Moves Everyday- Haruki Murakami

#232 The Kidney-Shaped Stone that Moves Everyday- Haruki Murakami

Junpei is a short-story writer, very apt for this blog. His father once told him that in life, a man only holds true meaning for three woman, no more, no less. So Junpei goes through life careful of giving himself to the wrong woman, too careful. We see him with a potential woman who is mysterious and luring, and acts as his muse getting him past a bit of writers block. Her name, Kirie, means Light in Latin, as she shines light on Junpei’s story.

The story he writes is about a Kidney-Shaped Stone with anthropomorphic qualities. As you would expect, the stone symbolized something damaging that grows inside us, something we create ourselves that weighs us down until we are able to remove it from within.

Wind is a big theme in this story, the un-attainable nature of it, the personal way it effects us but the supernatural way it is beyond us.

“No one could come between her and the wind, he realized, and he felt a violent rush of jealousy. But jealousy for what? The wind? Who could possibly be jealous of the wind?”

Murakami often gives power to the natural world, we saw it with the kidney stone itself, but he also hides deep spiritual meaning in the earth and its qualities.

“The wind envelopes you with a certain purpose in mind, and it rocks you. The wind knows everything that’s inside you. And it’s not just the wind. Everything, including a stone. They all know us very well. From top to bottom. It only occurs to us at certain times. And all we can do is go with those things. As we take them in, we survive, and deepen.”

As with many of his short stories, this one feels like it could have been taken from, or turned into a larger story. Unlike Junpei who loses steam the longer his tales go, Murakami is at his best when he lets loose with strong material such as this. I would like to see more of Junpei, and his three meaningful woman. Thus this story, was great up until it ended, where it left me wanting more.

Rating: 10-8-6-8 Total= 32

#149 The Mirror- Haruki Murakami

#149 The Mirror- Haruki Murakami

Not every story in a collection can be a winner. This one most certainly is not my favorite. It’s not on par with the quality that I’ve come to hope for in a Murakami story.

A lot of Murakmai works deals with supernatural occurrences, but in a more subtle, spiritual manner. This story talks about the occult square-on, in a more literal form. The narrator is hosting some sort of gathering and his guests have all shared stories about personal contact with ghosts and unexplained phenomenon. His turn arise and he tells his ghost story. Unfortunately for readers, the story reads exactly like a ghost story told around a campfire. In other words, its campy, cliché, and predictable. I expect a Murakami ghost story to be more inventive.

Notable Passage: “What I saw wasn’t a ghost. It was simply—myself. I can never forget how terrified I was that night, and whenever I remember it, this thought always springs to mind: that the most frightening thing in the world is our own self?”

Rating: 7-6-5-6 Total= 24

#45 Echo Tree- Henry Dumas

#45 Echo Tree- Henry Dumas

This is a deeply spiritual scene, more of a dialogue than a short story. Two boys in the forest after Leo has died. One boy, Leo’s brother is a skeptic, a city boy, a non-believer. He’s being lead to the Echo Tree by Leo’s best friend. He’s a devout believer, connected fully to the world around him. They’ve come together to search for something, peace, closure, direction, etc.

He warns the skeptic to open himself up:

“If you don’t believe in the echo tree believe what it hears from the spirits and tells you in your ear, then you’re in trouble.”

“…iffn you don’t get that hard city water out of your gut, you liable to taint yourself.”

Be quiet, accept the world, listen to the spirits and they will give you their wisdom.

“…[the sun is] gatherin in all the words talked in the daylight. Next, them catcher-clouds churns ‘em up into echoes. When the time is right, the echo tree will talk.”

Another great piece by Dumas, so different from anything else out there. It’s powerful, meaningful, stark, and beautiful.  The supernatural nature of his writing allows for higher levels of discourse, going beyond the mundane and trite trivialities of everyday existence. He reaches for something better, and has tapped into it with ease.

Notable passages: “The sound pierces the wind. It rides down into the valley, rolls up…towards the sun. It resounds like a note of thunder made by children instead of Gods.”

“There is silence…the silence of an empty lung about to breath in.”

Rating: 9-8-10-8 Total= 35