The Long Tomorrow

Good news: Ken e-mailed me today to let me know he mailed my comics today! That's the kind of information that makes a man think about getting up and dancing a jig. I'm not going to, but you couldn't see me anyway, so just visualize it if you're really interested.

You done visualizing? Then let's move on. The Long Tomorrow, by Leigh Brackett. Basic plot outline: In a post-nuclear war world, the U.S. has passed an amendment barring any town from having more than 1000 people, or 200 buildings per square mile. Technology has regressed to roughly the early 1800s (they have steam engines, but electricity), and most people are extremely wary of advancement. Two boys, Len and Esau, in small Ohio town of Piper's Run are curious about what things were like before the Destruction, a time only dimly remembered by their aged and occasionally nostalgic Grandma. But, being curious or wistful about those times carries danger, and you especially don't discuss the place called Bartorstown, where people supposedly work to restore the world as it was before. But the boys are curious, and thus begins a journey to fnd this place that may not even exist.

In some ways, the book reminds me of an X-Men comic. There's a lot in there about fear, and the things people do because of it*. A lot of it isn't particularly subtle (people burning stuff because they're afraid of a return to the days of big cities, and proclaiming 'There shall be no more cities' while they do so, rarely is), but some of the actions of Len are a bit more so. There's also some pieces in there about how, no matter the cause, fanatics can always be dangerous to unbelievers. There's some discussion about not fearing atomic power**, just because it can be used to create bombs. After all, almost anything that can help people can also harm them. Even water can be toxic if you get too much of it.

I think the primary theme is accepting the reality of things. Len is sort of a grass is always greener type. Wherever he is, he's never content for long, or if he is, it's all pinned on some idyllic dream of what might be. When that falls apart, well then it's time to go, even if that means retreating. Yet, he is frequently forced to face reality, whether it's that he and a girl won't be together, or that you can't force change on some people, because the lengths they'll go to preserve what they know can be frightening. Perhaps most important is the idea that something, once learned, can't be unlearned. I feel as though a large part of the story is trying to force Len to see things as they are, and try to find contentment in them. He can still want to make things better, and should certainly try, but he can't simply expect for it to come easily, or to be able to just happen upon a place where everything is as he hoped it would be. I suppose all that is true, but it's not a particularly uplifting message, not for my money anyway. Still, it's a somewhat post-apocalyptic world where the underlying message isn't that humanity is doomed, rather that humanity has to learn from their mistakes, perhaps to steps to guard against them.

There are certain things I don't entirely buy. One of the things that gets brought up is that after the Destruction, large groups of people turned to the Mennonites to show them how to live without all the things modern life had brought about, to the point that the "New Mennonites" are the major group represented politcally in Washington D.C. I wasn't entirely sure of that since I kind of think even if cities were destroyed by nuclear warheads, people wouldn't simply abandon the concept of living in cities the way the book suggests. Of course, if enough cities keep getting blown up, then maybe all the people determined to make it work are dead, and then it proceeds, but there were clearly some people who liked cities that survived, and passed that longing on to their offspring, so I'm not really sure of that.

Also, if they're going to regress to such a heavily agrarian state, I'm a little surprised they even bother to remain a unified nation. I'd expect a group of city-states, or small nations, ala Ancient Greece or the Germanic region pre-1800s unification***. I know the U.S. was a nation at this stage of technological development (wagons and paddleboats, I don't think they even have trains), but if things are going to fall apart that much, why not go whole hog? I think that could have lead to nations that were more or less inclined to regain what was lost, and hostilities between the different levels of desire for a return. You could have nations wanting a full return to the earlier days, others wanting to remain agriculturally based, still others that want to stay dispersed, but also want to advance so they can defend themselves from their neighbors, and what happens with those societies. That seems like that could have been interesting mosaic for the protagonists to travel across, but it would take someone more knowledgable than me.

One other thing. There's a considerable focus in the book (at times) on the absence of color in people's day-to-day lives. There are comments on the dullness of people's homes and outfits, and Len' Gram likes to discuss a red dress she had in her younger days, and how pretty it was, and that clearly impacts on Len's consciousness, this idea of a bright red dress. I was fairly sure even at the level of technology they've allowed themselves, dying clothes would be possible. I guess the point is that such a thing is an extravagance, and would be seen as a reminder of those sinful days of needless luxury when people turned from the Lord****. And that, could get you stoned. So better to live in a world of drab colors, I suppose.

* I'm reminded of that exchange in High Plains Drfiter. 'Be careful, you make people afraid, and that's dangerous. It's what people know about themselves that makes them afraid.'

** This probably serves to date the work. It's listed as copyrighted in 1955, but first printing was 1974. So was Brackett able to copyright the work, without getting it published for 20 years?

*** Or the situation described in Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge on the XBox.

**** Oh yeah, religion got a big boost from the war, as everyone starts claiming this was God punishing people for all their excesses like TV and radio, and cars, and those were things of the devil, but people didn't listen so God smote them, blah, blah, blah That sort of line comes up a lot in the book, as characters spout about how God gives them everything they need now, and they get along fine, so obviously all that other stuff was unnecessary, and therefore, bad. I think, were I transported into this world, I probably would have been stoned pretty quickly, because I would have strenuously objected to that line of reasoning, as I did while reading the book. Or I would have spent a lot of time running for my life to avoid getting stoned. Or being politely asked to leave the town in question, as some of the people are at least not violently intolerant of such talk. This presumes I couldn't have kept my mouth shut, which I'm usually pretty good at, but there are no guarantees.