On a new novel
“Who hasn’t, in the middle of a long, dull journey, wished they could remove themselves from its boredom? Who hasn’t thought… this whole ordeal would be much better if I simply wasn’t present?”
Step-Stone, one of several sinister corporations that populate [the novel] Model Citizens, Daniel Shand’s witty, scabrous satire of fin de creation capitalism, has the solution – the closest thing, they say, to teleportation. After self-sedating in the comfort of their own homes, travellers are picked up by a Step-Stone driver and loaded onto a van, where they remain unconscious for the duration of their journey, only waking in their hotel room. In case you’re concerned about them taking advantage (“they’d have to be saints not to consider it”), drivers are administered anti-arousal medicine to guarantee a molestation-free trAavorite ip; a panel in the storage compartment where passengers are stacked reads: “IN RARE EVENT OF WAKING MID-TRANSPORT PLEASE DO NOT SCREAM OR CLAW.”
Just few random thoughts; I have not read the novel yet. The writer appears to be Scottish, and I was in love with Scotland for a while as a tourist. I think the first sentence may have to do with Freud’s notion of thanatos, the desire to die or at least be gone. Also, the idea of being on a long and somewhat dull journey reminds of taking trains around Europe my junior year of college on Spring vacation. I tried to fully read a history book but mainly listened to a cassette tape of Achtung Baby, which is still one of my favorite albums.