Saknussemm,
Kris. Zanesville. New York: Villard Books, 2005. 496
p. Paperback. ISBN 0812974166.
CONTROL
FREAKS AND DEMI-GODS
Imagine
Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Lathe of Heaven crossed
with Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America,
then lace it with some sardonic Twainian humor and a tab of
Naked Lunch — and you may have some idea of what
Kris Saknussemm's Zanesville achieves.
Beginning
with the apparently simple premise of a quest and pursuit story
set in an embattled futuristic America, first time novelist
Saknussemm creates a crazed and compelling vision of a culture
both out of control and under too much control.
Zanesville
combines our contemporary obsession with conspiracy theories
and a range of mythic stories including Prometheus, the Christian
Gospels and Near Eastern fertility gods (not to mention elements
of Frankenstein and the Wizard of Oz). The
principal character, Clearfather, is a man with a past but no
clear memory, only shadows and echoes of an earlier existence
and a curious arsenal of magical powers that he does not know
how to use. What more pointed allegorical assessment of America
could there be? This link between the hero’s conflict
and the nation at large is delineated with an almost eerie degree
of timeliness. Consider the following passage in light of the
tragic calamity in New Orleans:
“Look
at the map. What if you had more earthquakes hitting the Now
West Coast, forest fires ravaging the Mountain States, tsunamis
swamping the East Coast, hurricanes blasting the South and
tornadoes running wild in the Midwest — all at the same
time?”
“I’d
be thinking Wrath of God.”
“We
all know that at some point human psychology and the physical
environment link. Clearfather may be a locus — like
a transistor, capable of amplifying human psychic energy.”
“To
what end?” Aretha wondered aloud.
“Maybe
he’s a weapon system,” Lila said. “In any
case, if the turmoil within him continues to gain in intensity,
he’ll have a major impact not just in his local field
of contact but throughout the continent. There could be chain
reactions on levels we haven’t even considered. And
there are Jungian implications. Imagine a bomb going off in
the Collective Unconscious.”
Funny,
frightening, exasperating and exhilarating, Zanesville
is the work of someone who has experienced a seasoned life and
imagined more than we might care to know.
For
more information on the author and his book, check out the following
websites: www.saknussemm.com
and www.zanesvillethenovel.com.
—
Karen L. Ratcliffe
