One
of the primary differences between the naturalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and
Henry David Thoreau is the manner in which they present the idea of God
in their writing. The former
attributing the glories of nature to the Christian deity in doctrinal fashion,
the latter veers toward a universal model of spirituality that most often
transcends monotheism. The story of a
man recovering from a serious accident in the countryside, Clifford Simak’s
1970 novella The Thing in the Stone
slides into the middle of the two.
Wallace
Daniels is a man whose wife and daughter died in a car crash. Alive but still
suffering from the bang he took to the head, Daniels has moved to the wilds of
Wisconsin to recover. Living like a
hermit, he raises farm animals and tends a garden, taking relaxing walks
through the hills and valleys that surround his rural home to heal. Neighbors not the friendliest, they are,
however, the least of his concerns: strange things appear on his walks and in
the twilight hours—pterodactyls and saber-toothed tigers, mastodons and ancient
ferns, and other extinct life forms.
Investigating a cave one day, the reason behind his hallucinations begins
to take shape.
The Thing in the Stone is novella that creates
mystery and builds suspense simply but admirably. Daniel’s time in the cave crosses and
re-crosses the line between delusion and reality to the point the reader can
only wonder where Simak is headed with the tale. Yet at the same time, the story does not
confuse itself, progressing consistently and positively. Written in cogent prose that effectively
utilizes nature to supplement scenes, the transcendence escalates, and then
collapses nicely into a relatable reality in keeping with the mood and tone
created. From a storytelling
perspective, Simak shines.
Regarding
the story’s spirituality, it is not obvious at the outset, but slowly becomes
clearer and clearer—despite the usage of the most common science fiction tropes
known. To say what that trope is would
be a minor spoiler, so it’s best for the reader to discover on their own,
particularly the role it plays in outlaying Simak’s symbolic perspective of
cosmology. Christian? Ultimately I think yes, but not in any
televangelical, knock-on-your-door, let-me-explain-doctrinal-truths fashion. Even agnostics like me can enjoy it.
In
the end, The Thing in the Stone is a
good novella that relates a man’s coming to terms with the spiritual side of
life after an accident took his family and left him with a strange
ability. Never melodramatic, as stories
with such a premise have the tendency to become, Simak sticks to the more
thought-provoking and metaphorical aspects in relating Daniels’ experiences in Wisconsin’s
countryside. Neither proselytizing,
Simak nevertheless has a spiritual agenda that, whether you agree or disagree,
is presented via a nicely told story with an aligned theme in the same indirect
manner that Gene Wolfe and Cordwainer Smith present their worldviews.
I was amazed by this short story. Your review makes a lot of sense
ReplyDeleteNominated for Nebula, Best Novella, 1970
ReplyDelete