GIRL IN LANDSCAPE

 GIRL IN LANDSCAPE

Jonathan Lethem

Books for Bigots

You would think that this book, GIRL IN LANDSCAPE, might be an appropriate book for a Bigot, but then again questionable, as one thinks about it further.  A family, the Marsh's,  moves to the planet of the Archbuilders which requires being frozen twenty months for the trip.  Not like moving to Costa Rica or somewhere similar because you no longer like the neighborhood.

The problem is that humans have destroyed earth and everyone lives underground.  Apparently the lack of ozone in the atmosphere will allow the sunlight to kill you; you are required to wear a protective cone when going to the surface.  Not a good situation.  This is the first problem; most Bigots can not accept the idea that they, humans, are destroying their own habitat.  Once again we have in the first chapter a description of earth that most Bigots may not be comfortable with.  

A requirement for any Bigot is to deny the life in front of them and create some fictional, usually conspiratorial in nature, account of reality that meets with their ideas of how things ought to be, not as what they actually are.  Hence, it would be unlikely that a true Bigot would venture much further into the book than the first chapter establishing the premise that earth is literally cooked.

But once on the planet of the Archbuilders, one finds most of the original inhabitants, the Archbuilders, have moved on to other planets and what civilization remains is in ruins with a few of the original inhabitants remaining.  A person could draw the conclusion that the setting and interactions between the remaining archbuilders and the incoming humans, have an uncanny resemblance to the settlement of North America by Europeans and their interactions with and view of the original inhabitants where once again the original inhabitants must conform to the habits and customs of the newcomers if they are to survive further.

What the deciding factor very well may be in any decision regarding the acceptability of this book for Bigots are the allegations made against a couple of archbuilders of some sexual exploration between an archbuilder and a human.  The reaction is historically typical and certainly would meet with the approval of most Bigots.  One was killed and another almost killed, but saved by the main character who unfortunately did not believe in killing  based on false allegations.  The idea that such discrimination was not approved of by the main character nor the author would be another variable in any decision of a Bigot to not read this book.

Whether the allegations of sexual indiscretions are true is unclear. The allegations were meant to cause the archbuilders' demise in unseemly ways.  But, alas,  in the  end we have what appears to be a future of  harmonious fellowship between the remaining archbuilders and remaining humans. This would likely be rather unseemly to certain readers.  Hence, in the final analysis, this book is not one that would be enjoyed by a Bigot.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo