Customer Reviews

Dom and Va

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When I was in seventh grade my literature teacher, in all her wisdom, read the class this book. Reading out of a binder that contained a photocopy of the book (with the author's permission, mind), we listened to the story. I remember as an assignment, we had to draw a scene from the book. Another assignment had us get in group and act out a scene. In my circle of friends, there is an infamous line in the book to the effect of: "And so Dom beat her under the moonlight." To a seventh grader, that line is at once amusing, horrific, and representative of the harsh truth this book presents.

Sure, the whole premise of the book is speculation. Dom, son of the chief in a wandering tribe of hunters, comes into contact with Va and her more civilized village. The ferocity of Dom's tribe, and the human fear of the unknown, the different, lead to the destruction of Va's village. Dom kidnaps her away, and Va thinks he is despicable, a monster.

Eventually, however, they learn to survive together. In what is, quite honestly, a rape scene, Va is impregnated with Dom's child, and while Va never learns to love Dom throughout the story, she at least accepts her reliance on him for protection and thanks him for her child.

It is a new creation story. The names, Dom (Adam) and Va (Eve) were not chosen by accident. It can be seen as a more accurate and likely myth than the myth of Genesis. A mitochondrial Adam and Eve tale, if you will. There is symbolism in the simplicity of the situation and the writing, too. It really is a beautiful story. The wildness of man, the gentleness of woman, and mixing for the first time to create a new society and world where both of these things are a part of us.

Ten years later I wanted to purchase and re-read this book. I can safely say that without my seventh grade teacher, I would never have heard of Dom and Va. My life is better having read this book, and I say that honestly. It is a shame that it is out of print and was so despised upon its release. If you can find a cheap copy, this is a book you will not be disappointed with buying.

I read this book a long time ago the key themes are still clear in my mind. I remember being struck by the brutality of it during the interactions between Dom and Va, two people from primitive tribes who each brought something to the relationship and ultimately the society they created.