Rod Raglin
This blog will touch on the experiences I have as a writer (not to be mistaken for my experience as a writer, i.e. how many books I've written, etc); the pleasure and the pain, the joy and the grief, the satisfaction and the frustration, the magic and the reality - have I left anything out, oh yeah, the rejection, rejection and more rejection, the humiliation and the embarrassment, the jealousy and the resentment - that pretty much covers it, except for why I do it which perhaps I'll realize along the way. Are you totally confused? Good, let's begin.
Dystopia taken to a literary level
In Peter Heller’s novel, Dog Stars, society has collapsed and the world as we know it has ended. Global warming is changing the environment and a virulent new strain of flu has decimated mankind.
In the midst of the devastation a symbiotic relationship is formed between hardcore Bangley - a shoot first ask questions later weapons expert, and the sentimental Hig, a pilot who can still maintain and fly an old Cessna.
They live on an abandoned airfield in the mid-west of what was America and have the resources, including fuel and solar power, to carry on almost indefinitely.
Hig flies out regularly on reconnaissance flights so Bangley can be prepared to surprise and eliminate roving bands intent upon raping and pillaging their sanctuary.
Hig keeps pining for what he’s lost though he’s not sure exactly what that is, while Bangley is determined to survive and seems satisfied with things as they are.
When his dog, Jasper, dies, Hig questions the purpose of the life he’s now living. He decides to fly out in search of some semblance of civilization, but he’ll settle for humanity in the true sense of the word.
This is dystopia taken to a literary level. Though the topic is not at all original, the plot is realistic and without flaws. The writing is powerful, the imagery beautiful and the emotion genuine.
