The 1970s were marked by their
violently stark contrast to the optimism and civil consciousness of the
previous decade. Crime was on the rise, as was poverty. The war in
Southeast Asia had already bubbled over into a full-scale
disaster. Even the arts, especially film, were grittier and bleaker than
the relatively tame 1960s. In The Dreamt and Deathless Obscene,
Andrew Bonazelli capitalizes on the atmosphere of the period and increases
the stakes, making 1975 the setting of a post-apocalyptic
nightmare.
In 1973, an event occurred that changed
the face of the earth. This event is not described in any great
detail, but essentially separated the world into the three classes:
regular folks, the afflicted, and the unsound. The unsound are the most
obviously changed. Diseased and depraved slaves to their carnal and
violent desires, they roam about attacking anyone and anything in their
path. The afflicted apparently have some form of the disease that
created the unsound. They live in the quarantined cities under an
Orwellian program to ease their “unnatural” appetites and desires.
In the meantime, other folks try to pick up the pieces of their lives
outside the shattered urban zones and the violent anarchy of the
countryside.
The novel follows the lives of Allan,
Neil, Rosie, and Sophie, and occasionally Walter, as they try to
make sense of their lives in a shattered Philadelphia. Allan and Neil
are brothers, sons of Walter, who handle the situation in very
different ways. Allan is emotionally stunted and self-absorbed while Neil is
choosing the ill-advised path of starting a family with his pregnant
fiancée, Rosie. Sophie was Allan’s girlfriend before the
affliction began and now lives in the quarantine zone with the other
afflicted, where she takes her turn manning the “touchline” phone
service used by its citizens to achieve release. Walter generally just falls
back to old memories of football from before the end times.
Bonazelli’s writing is crisp and
lively and displays a unique voice—though occasionally dances on
the line between style and affectation. Further, he truly captures
the emotional and physical wasteland that his characters inhabit.
Unfortunately, those characters are largely unsympathetic and are not
moved in any meaningful way by the plot. Events happen, but the
characters—and the plot—simply tread water. Nothing truly changes in their
lives. The plot doesn’t really begin to move from exposition to
conflict until the final third of the narrative, setting the reader up for an
ending that doesn’t really happen. The story simply stops.
The true shame is that the final third
of the book introduces some characters and ideas that would have
been more interesting to explore than the central characters of the
novel. Even gonzo wordsmithery cannot save a novel from a shallow
plot. Unfortunately, this novel suffers for it, essentially showcasing
a place where uninteresting characters wallow in the bleakness of
their landscape.
Reviewed by Shedrick Pittman-Hassett
Shedrick Pittman-Hassett is a
full-time librarian and part-time writer trying to do that the other
way around. He has written reviews for Library Journal and has also
had two articles published in the award-winning Knights of the Dinner
Table magazine. Shedrick currently resides in Denton, Texas ("The
Home of Happiness") with his lovely wife and the obligatory
demon-spawn cats. When not writing, gaming, or watching cheezy
kung-fu flicks, he can be found in a pub enjoying a fine brew.
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