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The Deathgate
2002-06-11 6:46 pm
Good fantasy/sci fi/scifantasy literature has a dual nature. It can be both entertaining, engrossing escapism while providing an allegory which touches any and all aspects of the human condition (i realize i'm preaching to the choir, but bear with me, there's a point to this). on my way home from work today i realized that certain elements of weis&hickman's Deathgate Cycle bear a striking resemblance to my current situation. All you need to know about this series of 7 books for our present purpose is that the Sartan have created an immense sentient and hostile prison called the Labyrinth in which they imprison the whole population of their bitter enemies, the Patryn. This prison consists of a series of realms linked together by Deathgates, dangerous and hard to reach portals. At the center of this prison realm lies the Nexus, a paradise/prison where those who reach it can make their home, safe from the terrors of the outer Labyrinth. Certain groups of the Patryn have been travelling through the prison for generations trying to get to the nexus, certain others have accepted their fates and have become squatters in the various realms."so what?" you ask? well, i can only speak for myself, but our western consumer culture seems to be nothing less than a prison of this sort, and while i see those around give up and force themselves to look upon their prison as a home- i'm fighting as hard as i can to escape- and with each hellish harrowing i become more bitter and cynical. the current hells i find myself in are Hunter college, and the consulate general of greece.
Hunter, is a small penniless enclave of a vast bureaucracy, and while its faculty is great (at least in the anthro dept) it is an uphill battle to create/complete a masters thesis. this seemingly impossible task is my ticket out of that hellhole- and on to the next.
the other hell is the consulate general of greece- where i am currently employed. now there is nothing wrong with this place in particular- i suppose my real problem is with working for a living. being forced to work a soul-retarding job in exchange for currency that i only need beause i am forced to need it. my escape from this- my masters thesis- not that i will avoid working- but i do not consider anthropology work- i consider it science and thought, recieving money for something like this seems to me a vindication of sorts. so then, i strive to reach the nexus, but the nexus, as we all know (is we've been paying attention)-is still a part of the prison. it will never be over, i wll never let it...
on a side note- i'm not getting much sleep-as its World Cup time- and i'm greatly enjoyig it, but i would've enjoyed it far more had greece been in it. i'm behind germany and ireland- they're going strong- good luck to them both.
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