Wednesday 24 August 2022

“Appliance” by J. O. Morgan - review


 “Appliance“ by J. O. Morgan:

J. O. Morgan has earned himself recognition as a poet, this is his first novel. 


In this very compelling, highly entertaining, often tender and philosophical fable we are, in eleven chapters, confronted with the impact, the disturbances, the repercussions and ramifications of the dramatic changes a new clever invention, the Machine, brings onto mankind. 


In eleven snapshots or vignettes different protagonists, different voices, highlight another aspect of the machine’s impact on society. In this regard the novel is similar to, say, the famous poem by Steven Wallace 13 Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird. Eleven different perspectives on one central theme and they all form a chorus that tells of how this new technology is changing, morphing and growing and on its way changing, morphing and relentlessly and inevitably distorting everything on our planet and us with it.


Teleportation, the instant breaking apart, sending and reassembling of matter across immense distances in almost no-time is fairly well known in the genre of science fiction. But this is not a Science Fiction novel. It uses the idea of teleportation to show how a society, always on the move for more, always progressively expanding and advancing, might be made dependent and irretrievably transformed by it. It raises the question of the necessity of dubious progress. 


The novel does not focus on the techology but focuses on the dangers, frustrations and bewilderment it causes to those who live with it. The System, as it is called, advances the infrastructure around everyone, creeps into every aspect of human life, transforms houses, decors, fashion and work, attitudes and values and changes society to the point of utter dependency. 


In one chapter an old woman is forced to transport an old oil painting via the new technology and ponders on the concept of the Original. Not a new thought, one which Walter Benjamin explored in his The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction in 1935. Seen in this new context it offers surprising new aspects, though. What is an original, what is a mere copy. Must an original  be linked to a bodily manifestation? Is the body sent the same as the body received or a mere copy?


And what about personality, consciousness and individuality? In another chapter a woman’s husband returns after a transportation slightly altered, a much nicer, more pleasing individual as the one she had to endure and live with before the event. So, might there be something that is not attached to matter, like a soul or spirit?


Innovative, full of questions, philosophical and infused with humanity, this fable forces us to re-examine our faith in technology, take new measure of our greed for new things and urges us to reflect on the future we really want and on what really matters. 




#robertfaeth, #painterinBerlin, #painting, #art, #bookblog, #bookreviews, #literaturelover, #poem, #poetry



No comments:

Post a Comment

“Old God's Time“ by Sebastian Barry - review

  “Old God's Time” by Sebastian Barry: It is somewhere in the middle of the 1990s in Dalkey at the Irish sea and widower Tom Kettle, f...