….They went to the Stars, my Review of Hanson Oak’s Contribution to the Dark Tides Anthology
IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE SO OTHERS COULD REACH THE STARS
AD ASTRA PER ASTERA
(A ROUGH ROAD LEADS TO THE STARS)
GOD SPEED THE CREW OF APPOLLO I
–Inscription on the plaque in memory of the crew of Apollo I (Gus Grisham, Ed White, Roger B Chaffee)
“Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
And sings the tune without words
And never stops at all.”
-Emily Dickenson
As I read They Came From the Sea, They Went to the Stars, Hanson Oak’s contribution to Gestalt Media’s Dark Tides Anthology, I could see some parallels between his novelette, the Black Hen Witch and this story. The method of approaching the quest for answers between his two stories is philosophically different. I will try to explain (without spoilers). Overall, this story’s haunting themes of love, loss, family and soul mates reminded me of the movie What Dreams May Come (1998) with Robin Williams.
“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” The first gates of the Inferno- Dante’s Divine Comedy
Hanson draws the reader in immediately with the description of Oliver’s suffering at the loss of his wife and children. Five years after the terrible accident that took their lives, he still haunts the graveyard where they were laid to rest—or so he thought.
One night he encounters a beautiful gypsy (she reminds me a lot of his character Corta, from the Black Hen Witch). She tells him she traded them for a second life and convinces him to dig up his wife’s coffin. He does—and realizes the coffin is empty with a door leading out the back. Hanson’s description of the scene as he opens the door into this unknown world to follow his loved ones brought to mind the quote above from Dante’s Divine Comedy.
“But I know, somehow,
that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”
― Martin Luther King, Jr.
Oliver enters a bizarre world reminiscent of a cross between Oz and Wonderland. He has no idea where he needs to go, other than to The Collector of Odd Things, who has his family. The gypsy assured him this was where he needs to be.
One of the interesting aspects of Oliver’s quest to find his family is his need to remove his shoes made of leather. The everchanging path is riddled with thorns “like kitten teeth.” Yet the creatures of the strange land he has entered will not tell him how to get to the Collector of Odd things “carried on death.” The thorns shred his feet to an agonizing, bloody mess, but it is worth it to get to his family.
While it is blood and pain instead of water, his feet, and his soul, are undergoing a cleansing of sorts. The cleansing of the feet goes back to ancient times and referenced multiple times in the Bible and the Quran. It is still practiced today in many eastern religions before important events and holidays. It makes sense in regions where people walk in sandals and bare feet amongst livestock. It is a means to prevent the tracking of dirt and disease into the home.
In Oliver’s situation, he cannot reach the home of the Collector of Odd Things in his old state. He must undergo a cleansing not only of the body, but mind and spirit as well. The physical pain is only one part. Once he removes his shoes and buries them, the creatures tell him the secret to keeping on the path to the home of the Collector of Odd Things. But once more, it is a riddle that Oliver must puzzle for himself.
“To stay on course you must be mindful of the now, but focused on the then.”
Oliver’s quest is introspective. To find the answers he seeks he must look inward. He can’t count on an external savior to just come along and tell him the answer. Every step of the quest will be met with a question or riddle which he must come up with the answer himself.
It is fascinating how much religion comes to play in myths, legends and storytelling of a culture. The style of quest and philosophy portrayed in Hanson’s story is found more often in Greek or Eastern religions where it is common to meet a question with another question. Salvation is never found externally, but through meditation, fasting and guided questioning.
In Western storytelling, often a wiseman (or woman), magical being (God) comes along and reveals the answer to the hero after enough suffering has occurred in the quest. This hearkens back to the differences in the religions themselves. Western Christianity tells you to just believe what is written in the Bible, ask for salvation, and it is given. Islam is more of a hybrid, demanding more fasting and supplication before the answer and salvation is granted. Eastern Christianity (Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Coptic Christian are some examples) are unique hybrids that draw more on Greek Philosophy and demand introspection for salvation.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.-For Whom the Bell Tolls, John Donne
Okay, I had to put this poem in here, because of the scene with the bell outside the door of the house. I really enjoyed the Oliver’s quandary as he debated ringing the bell, and then what happens once it is rung. The reader can feel every moment of this scene. Oliver imagines himself trapped, but he needs only to change his perspective to find his way out.
“We dream to give
ourselves hope. To stop dreaming – well, that’s like saying you can never
change your fate.”
― Amy Tan, The Hundred Secret Senses
In order to be with his family once more, The Collector of Odd things gives him yet another riddle, tell him what the bottle he values contains. The contents are what “drove mankind from the water and took them to the stars.” Once again, the answer cannot be just given, it has to be found. Oliver must set out into the strange world of changing paths to find the answer within himself.
“If she is always changing the path,” Oliver asked. “How can I trust it will lead the right way?”
“The answer is always obscured by questions and not all of them will be your own. If the answer is not in here, then it is out there, and if you don’t know where to look, it doesn’t matter where the trail will lead. You must simply trust it will lead you to right where you need to be, exactly when you need to be there.”
The paths lead him to the very girl who continually changes the paths, The Seeded Girl.
Forever waiting for her parents, she alters the paths hoping they will lead her parents back to her. As he exchanges both questions and answers in her garden, he works his way to his own answer of what lies in the bottle.
“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” –Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl
I will leave it to the reader to follow through to the end and discover what Oliver decides is in the bottle. As to the answer he gave the Collector of Odd Things, I have given clues with the quotes I have included with my review. In the end, I feel that the answer is actually ambiguous and changes based on each person the Collector of Odd Things gathers to him. To me, there is no right or wrong answer, and the Collector will never complete his collection. I get this impression based on the conversation between Oliver and the Seeded Girl. Just as she will wait forever for parents who aren’t looking, The Collector of Odd things will continue to gather things, creatures and answers until the end of time.
Thanks for reading. My next blog post will be about Bombay Peggy, a unique character of Dawson City. I also plan on doing some posts about our upcoming plans for next summer’s building projects in Chicken.