Robert Sheckley
Opzioni

"The Mind is the Buddha, while the cessation of logical thought is the Way. If you stop thinking in logical terms of existence and non-existence, long and short, subject and object, active and passive, etc., you will discover that your mind is inherently the Buddha, that the Buddha is inherently Mind, and that Mind is inherently a void" (Zen Doctrine of Huang Po).

If someone were to ask me, "Who is the most explosive, surprising, funny, paradoxical, and irreverent writer?" Without doubts or uncertainties, I would reply: "Robert Sheckley!" Sheckley (1928-2005) is a writer endowed with a prolific creative reserve and a broad intellectual repertoire. I find it difficult to choose a particular book or a collection of his memorable short stories from his vast and brilliant output. It is essential to mention novels such as: "The Alchemical Marriage of Alasdair Humphrey", "Immortality, Inc.", "Mindswap", "The Witnesses" and the collections "The People Trap" and "Never Never". However, in my opinion, the most bizarre, peculiar, and 'out of this world' remains "Options". Started in '67 and completed only in '75, it is actually a compendium of various writings. Options, that is: to opt, to choose between two or more paths. The protagonists are Tom Mishkin and the robot SPER (Special Purpose Environmental Response). The two characters, due to a malfunction of the Intrepid III spaceship, on which they are traveling through the Lesser Magellanic Clouds, are forced to land on the mysterious planet Harmonia, in search of the defective part L-1223A. Their hope is to find the replacement in a strategically located warehouse.

The adventure is actually just a deceptive pretext because the 'real' protagonist of the story is Sheckley's irrepressible imagination. So, do not ask at all what the plot of the story is, you just have to let yourself be calmly carried away by the mind of the writer. Only in this way might the whole 'reveal' itself to you and become 'enlightenment'. "Confusion is the key to understanding", this is what Sheckley communicates to us on page 60. WARNING: "The rules of normality will be temporarily suspended and new rules will be established. It may be that the new ones are different from the old ones. No clue regarding the new rules will be given..." (Taken from Options).

The Acme & Adder is pleased to present and propose for DeB's Interiors (Vol 1.6) "Options" by Sheckley. During the review break, free refreshments will be distributed to all readers. Reading each page will be a surprise like a play of mirrors and optical illusions, of apparent reality-unreality, banalities will become decisive, and frightening threats irrelevant and fictitious: the only certainty will be uncertainty. You will encounter discontinuities of the space-time continuum. You will meet incomprehensible creatures, wizards, talking objects, and more. You might get further revealing insight by observing the cover of the inimitable Karel Thole. Hence, a 'plausibility generator' is unnecessary to arrange it all, because the novel is like a Chinese box containing Chinese boxes, or it is everything but a Chinese box... Don't worry if in the story, at some point, the protagonist might be replaced by the new Hero to reinforce the plot deemed insufficiently dramatic. "But who is Mishkin?", someone may ask. Mishkin is a sort of puppet continually manipulated by the creative and sarcastic flair of Sheckley, through varied adventures and situations.

Book rating: 4.01123581321345589 (according to the Fibonacci numerical sequence, known as Leonardo Pisano, 'son of Bonacci') out of 5. Reading difficulty: 3 out of 5 (without repetition). Associated music: in this case, I wouldn't know what to recommend, although years ago I read about a curious music-writing project between Sheckley and Eno. Stop: after this complete 'immersion' in fantasy, I return to my 'fantastic reality', perhaps... I'll go stretch my antennas and 'happily flutter' in the vast sky. Optional regards.