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I've been thinking about this novel lately. Something about reading
plenty of William Gibson (COUNT ZERO, MONA LISA OVERDRIVE, BURNING CHROME),
and thinking about outcasts of society making their way in a decaying
world.
I stumbled up TBOTPROA when researching Antarctica for a stage
adaptation of "Who Goes There?" This novel is a dark tale of outcasts,
refugees at sea when the world has its 19th nervous breakdown. Drifting
south, the narrator finds a new life amongst the ruthless new culture that
springs up at the end of the world. Elements of Norse myth and modern chaos
recombine under the shadow of a social apocalypse. Intimate and tragic,
this is a vision of the end of world that veers off course from
expectations. Though I've lost my copy, the story has stuck with me for,
what, 14 years or so. That says something -- only about two dozen or so
stories are locked away in my psyche. John's is one of them.
An alternate story of our world, yet a very possible reality. Change the dates forward a few more years again, and it remains a very possible future. Gritty and detailed look at Fate.
More accurately his book is that rare animal in the XX century a political fiction talking about the issues of freedom and personal responsibility in the face of antiutopian fictions like 1984 or The Brave New World and actual political utopian projects like the Soviet Union or Third Reich.
It is easily recognizable that Batchelor is writing from a Libertarian perspective and that would allow me to label the book as a 'Libertarian fable' however this book is much more.
Taking Sweden in the early 70's as the location of his books beginning the writer appropriates the heritage of Norse mythology and epic poems for his flawed hero and this imagery stays with the reader throughout the book in tone, names and a whole chapter that takes place during a 'berserk' war fury during which the Hero Skallagrim Strider commits many crimes.
However Batchelor posits his crimes against the political crimes of those who convicted not just the hero but millions to a fate worse than his. The metaphor of the 'road to hell is paved with good intentions' is aptly used here.
In the end the Hero is given a sort of a political redemption by becoming a "Republic of one" incarnating the libertarian ideal of personal responsibility and freedom in the wastes of Antarctic islands.
Fascinating read that will stay with you, slightly dated due to the basic premise of a breakdown in world social order by Oil crisis, racism and religious fervour. Otherwise, to the point, asking the most fundamental questions about the political animal-Man.
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