Steve Hutchinson wrote:
The figure is an intrinsic part of the book?
Is the book a good read?
Steve H
Yes, and not bad.
The Anarchist is Satan. The apple is important to both the hero of the story as well as the chaotic force which turns our young hero away from his divinely scripted path.
It's a deliberate retelling of Voltaire's Candide. A young man lives in a perfect world overseen by a benevolent Watchmaker (symbolic of the Garden of Eden or perhaps even heaven). But he becomes bored and disillusioned by his dreams of bigger things. He makes a leap of faith, begins a life changing adventure and finds that true enlightenment can only occur through solitary, self-reflective discovery. (a notion of eastern religion rather than western philosophy)
The book itself is a story you've read a dozen times before. But there's a whole backstory which makes the novel a lot more interesting.
If you're a fan of the Canadian Rock trio, Rush (even if you're not a fan, I guarantee you've heard their songs on radio) you will know that the drummer and lyricist Neil Peart lost his whole family back in 1997. This event put him on a course of personal discovery and soul searching which lasted nearly a decade. He wrote a couple of books about his years-long motorcycle trek across most of North America.
If you've read those travel logs, you will notice strong parallels between the lyrics contained in a body music lasting 40 years, Neil Peart's personal journey and the story told by the hero in the novel.
For many years Neil Peart and well established science fiction writer Kevin Anderson have been friends. They collaborated in creating the novel Clockwork Angels concurrently with the release of Rush's studio album of the same name.
In short, it's a book you've read before. But those who know the history will get more from reading it.