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Doggone by Erik Ryman (view source)
Revision as of 12:59, 10 November 2014
, 12:59, 10 November 2014no edit summary
Erik Ryman portrays the whole inside mess of politics, secret service, infinite bureacracy and ultimate compliance with the law (however absurd the law is) - and he portrays it leaving nothing behind, no disgusting detail, no atrocity left out. Blood is shed among Nenko Foretsu hailku-like epigraphs, kids left wounded, and the dogs substantially decrease in numbers with every page.
This book leaves one wondering whether this is indeed the society one might end up with - if by chance and circumstance one human being is given indefinite power and control. It stirrs stirs up thoughts and analogies and makes you understand how, for example, Hitler managed to persuade the German nation that Jews were the enemy to be destroyed and overall how little it takes to be led astray and hate your neighbour, even for just having a dog.
Little things really made that book work for me - how the most horrible of orders are being given in a Jeeves-ian impeccable English, how the style jumps from dialogue to third-person observation or a lecture in class and how chapters are named (see for yourself). The choice of names is a special treat - one of the seemingly less important characters name is Erik Ryman (how sweetly self-centered of him) and Hastings, Moriarty and Monroe inhabit the pages comfortably.