Vampires, Vampires, Vampires

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

Vampires keep coming back around. It doesn't matter how much garlic you hang at your windows or if you wear a crucifix upon your person. There is Dracula, Twilight, Let The Right One In, the Hammer Horror films, Buffy the Vampire Slayer etc. etc. etc.

And they keep on a-comin'!

Stephen King's second novel, 'Salem's Lot, poses the question, what might happen if an ancient vampire came to a sleepy little town in America? How would that go?

Well, as it turns out, vampires could probably thrive pretty darn well in your little town, thank you very much. And, you probably wouldn't notice all that much amiss until it was a tad too late for you to do anything about it. You would, I am afraid, most likely end up dead or undead.

Sorry.

I know that some are probably ready to shove a stake through the heart of every vampire book and/or film out there and watch the genre die already - I have never gone anywhere near the Twilight series personally - but, if you have never read 'Salem's Lot, it is worth a read. 

King's vampires are right out of the Dracula mold. Apparently (and I read this on Wikipedia, so...), the idea for the novel was sparked when he, during a conversation with his wife, Tabitha King, was inspired to ponder how things might turn out if Dracula were to appear in modern America. The America of the late twentieth century.

The vampires of the story are quite at home in an American small town. And the story is just as much about the small town of the twentieth century. With characters in the novel being typically important figures of the typical small town - a teacher, a priest, a doctor, a police chief - the book could be read as an allegory concerning the fears of becoming obsolete and small towns, and the people that live and work in them, dying out and struggling with unknown entities from the world outside.

Or perhaps it could just be read as a scary vampire story. That is entirely up to you. Either way, I imagine you will enjoy it.

And, for those a tad tired of vampire stories right now, maybe give it some time. 

But 'Salem's Lot is a good 'un.

Available to purchase here (Disclosure: if you make a purchase through links in this blog, I may earn a commission from the seller, but that does not influence the content of this blog).

A Few Lessons for our Times

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

I have read this book twice now. And, on the second reading I found myself approaching the text with a touch more of a critical eye. However, this may be because I was bringing my own set of beliefs and life experiences to what the author, Yuval Noah Harari had been trying to say. At the end of the book, even he admits that his writing may have been coloured by his own experiences and approach to life, that what has worked for him may not work for you. So, perhaps he would forgive me admitting that some passages made me feel a tad defensive with regards to some of my on points of view. However, having said that, I am aware that any defensiveness I felt arose in myself, not from what was written on the page.

Reading Harari's work can be uncomfortable. He tells of the routes that our nations and societies could take - hypotheses based on historical, political, sociological and technological facts - and warns that we may be heading towards greater disconnect. There may be a disconnect between us as individuals, a disconnect between ourselves and those that sell to us, between ourselves and politics, our nations, our ideals... Really. We could be in for an awful lot of disconnect. We may even be heading towards a greater disconnect from ourselves. Knowing less and less about who we are.

Like I said, it can be an uncomfortable read.

But, Harari hasn't written this book, one feels, so that he can make a few bucks off of people's fears. Within the warnings of a lack of connection is a message. The message is that we should be wary of these disconnects, that we should be aware of what is real and what are merely stories told us to make products, policies, ideals, religions a better sell. Within the pages of this book there is the message that we need not despair over the state of the world - if we can better connect, firstly with ourselves and our reality, we need not fear the hands that might seek to exploit us for their own ends quite so much. Perhaps even, not at all.

So, to conclude, I recommend this book to those that might perhaps wish to try and make sense of the world, though if you do, leave your ego at the door. The author is has shone a light on the holes in many an ideology throughout the course of the book. Perhaps even one or two that you hold, or have held, dear. But, that's kind of the point(ish). No ideology should be above inspection or critique and those that are held up to be so are some of the most dangerous that exist and have ever existed. I recommend you this book, I recommend that you make up your own minds, I recommend that if this all sounds like bullcrap to you that you throw your device to one side in disgust and go do something else.

On a not entirely unrelated note, below is a picture of a rose. I took this picture when out walking not too long ago. The rose looks beautiful in the picture. But the picture does little to represent the feel of the petals or the absolute gorgeousness of it's scent. That rose is perfect. It is what it is and it resists nothing in it's nature and it is beautiful in it's nature. Take this book out on a walk, read it on a bench and if you pass a rose stop and smell it. You will, I believe, feel all the better for it.

(Please note, in my mind, the beauty of the rose and the message in this book are related. To you, however, it may seem that I have descended into gobbledygook. And that's just fine.)

Available to purchase here (Disclosure: if you make a purchase through links in this blog, I may earn a commission from the seller, but that does not influence the content of this blog).