| Xen: Ancient English Edition by D. J. Solomon |
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Second Place $250.00 scholarship & matching award to school
It's hard to imagine a place more perfect than the Utopia described in Xen. Here is a
world with no need for money, where people live for 300 years but never look older than
20, where animals are loved and respected, bugs are banished, all people are
vegetarians, women are the dominate gender, and everyone drinks soda pop! If it takes
eugenics to evolve into that world where "there is tolerance and enlightenment at all
levels", then Hitler be damned, we need to take a closer look.
D.J. Solomon is a master of lexical semantics, lending credibility to the illusion that this
novel is a translation into an Ancient English language that is no longer spoken. Each
character's name has been carefully selected with an underlying meaning. The
translator does not utilize euphemisms so the language is often blunt. A dictionary (the
Lexicon) is included to assist with slang terms, and the translator warns the reader that
an English dictionary might also be desired. For those readers who are looking forward
to having their future determined by the score on an SAT exam, the vocabulary
exposure is a big plus. The translator sets the tone for Xen in a note to the readers by
explaining that he brings a different perspective to the highly revered story, and if we
don't like it, we may prefer Scor Tillum's version.
Xen is a mythical tale of 10 books (not chapters) that is taught to all children of Earth's
distant future as part of their earliest memories so they will know of their origins and
mankind's "exodus from xenophobia." Book 1 begins with the personification of Wind
and Water, and eloquently describes their relationship and their progeny: all life forms
on earth. Mankind is their favorite species by far, and they sometimes help, but more
often just watch as man evolves through the ages. Wind and Water conclude the first
book by making a bet on whether or not mankind will destroy itself or survive.
Pawkey Seneschal is the Scientist and protagonist of three Books of Xen. Readers
become privy to his thoughts as he spends four days alone at a conference observing
people and reflecting on life as it is now, in our present day. Pawkey believes he
doesn't have a racist bone in his body, but he certainly has the lingo down pat! To be
fair, his hysterical descriptions of those he calls scumbags encompass not only blacks,
but Mexicans, white trash, fat people, and just about every race or culture unlike
himself; hence his xenophobia.
Pawkey has an "enlightened perspective of womanhood." All women are worthy of his
lust, except of course, black women and "fat tubs of lard." He has no respect for the
institution of marriage, referring often to his mate as the "bitch wife."
Overwhelmed by the proliferation of propaganda throughout society, Pawkey only
watches television with the sound off so that he can at least ignore those messages. He
questions the waste of resources by politicians, entertainers, and businesses, all
concerned with selling the public their goods or ideas; but rejects the idea of
government control to eliminate the waste, as that would also eliminate the incentive for
production.
One night while Pawkey is sleeping, Water initiates a dramatic transformation in his
body. He awakens with an idea to change mankind forever. Decades pass as Pawkey
leads other scientists to unravel the secrets of long life and the nature of human
thought. Millions of people are sacrificed in the experiments before he has all of the
answers. He then unleashes a Plague that kills half of the world's population, including
all of its scumbags (with an especially large number killed in the southeastern United
States). The survivors are transformed into reasonable, intelligent, compassionate
beings to begin the new Eartherian future.
Exhaustive descriptions of "man's inhumanity to others like himself' are articulated by
Wind in the History Book. After more than 40 pages detailing torture, rape, child
molestation, and war, the reader wants to scream "enough already, I get it; man is a
despicable species!" Intermingled with the bloody and cruel descriptions are valuable
insights into what circumstances drove man to such abhorrent behavior. "For many
generations, there was no need for war since land was abundant and populations were
very low." This valuable point was seemingly forgotten in the new Utopia where the
world's population is very large. It is implied that in the future there is plenty of
everything for everyone because there are so many people willing to make anything; it
is not explained where the abundant natural resources will come from to satisfy such a
large population.
The Mother & Child Book offers the first glimpse of life in the future. While it is sweet
and mellow with entertaining descriptions of futuristic gadgets, the Book doesn't add
much to the storyline. In fact, one aspect of this Book is actually disturbing. The mother
reads the story of Xen to her small child, the same exact Xen that the reader is in the
middle of reading. Everyone knows when reading a book of fiction, that the story isn't
actually true. However, while immersed in the storyline, it is natural to imagine that you
are there and that the story could be happening; this is part of what holds the reader's
interest. But by having the child be read the very book that has a section about the
child being read the book, the reality fantasy is destroyed and detracts from the overall
enjoyment.
The Adolescent Book features the differences between pre- and post-Plague life on
Earth. Surprisingly, two of mankind's institutions, highly and properly criticized in the
History Book, still exist in the Xen future. "The millions upon millions slaughtered related
to religion in one fashion or another would make God Almighty, Himself, questions His
own Existence." Yet, organized religion still persists in the future. One would have
expected such an advanced and enlightened society to have managed to rid itself of
such foolish and irrational rituals that have been the cause of so much death and
destruction.
Weaponry and the "art of war" (an interesting way to describe it) also continue to exist
in the Xen future, even though all people on Earth are peaceful, and "no one can ever
harm anyone else, consciously or unconsciously; this is hardwired into the brain in
multiple redundant pathways." No logical explanation is given for this paradox.
Both religion and weapons were invented by man due to his fears: fear of the unknown
and fear of other men. Apparently and unfortunately, even in the distant Utopian future
of mankind according to Solomon, these fears will persist.
Government, in its present form, does not exist in the Xen future, for there is no need.
Instead, one person is in charge who holds the title of Minister. There are three Books
describing Minister Esse's interaction with an alien species' visit to Earth. The Alien has
come to Earth to inform its inhabitants about the true nature of the Plague and their
subsequent transformation from a brutal species intent on destroying itself, into one of
peace and tranquility. Here is where valuable and insightful rhetoric concerning one
aspect of our culture is revealed.
Something is definitely wrong with a society that celebrates and memorializes war and
its heroes. Children are taught lessons from their earliest days of formal education
which include famous battles and famous war heroes. Many of our national holidays
commemorate the mass murders our ancestors have performed throughout our
country's history. Even our national anthem is a disgrace, "with the rocket's red glare,
our bombs bursting in air..." If we, as a society, are ever to advance beyond weapons of
mass destruction, (to use a phrase now common to all Americans) we need to take a
fresh look at what we are teaching our children, and why. If history teachers and
students across America were required to read Solomon's book, it could be a new
beginning for us all (and a whole lot of fun!)
After hours of thought and effort, it has been determined that the encoded message
hidden by Pawkey Seneschal before unleashing the virus is impossible for any normal
human being to solve. Even more disturbing is the unsuccessful attempt to
conclusively resolve the question of what are the two basic rules of the Xen future.
"Everyone will be reasonably reasonable, there now being only two basic rules; these
will cover every situation." Hopefully the next edition of Xen will shed more light on these
perplexities.
Footnotes
Translations by Teresa:
Adavan - Adavan - like the drug, an anti-anxiety remedy
Esse - in esse - actually existing
Jizelle - jiz - man juice
elle - female
Muliebris - womanly, feminine
Pawkey - pawkey - sly and knowing
Peregrinians- Peregrin - foreign
Seneschal - seneschal - dispenser of justice
Scor Tillum - scortillum - the word for whore, prostitute, or slut
Sum - sum - as in addition, mother plus father's product
See scortillum, above
More hints are necessary to be able to solve this puzzle. To illustrate: the author may
like to solve this similar puzzle which I wrote and which is also based on a simple,
repeating algorithm: etaslaridemslopvtaswredueerlsiclebaprthopm
I offer to trade hints at any time.
_______________________________________________
Editor's Notes: See Readers Guide.
It's hard to imagine a place more perfect than the Utopia described in Xen. Here is a
world with no need for money, where people live for 300 years but never look older than
20, where animals are loved and respected, bugs are banished, all people are
vegetarians, women are the dominate gender, and everyone drinks soda pop! If it takes
eugenics to evolve into that world where "there is tolerance and enlightenment at all
levels", then Hitler be damned, we need to take a closer look.
D.J. Solomon is a master of lexical semantics, lending credibility to the illusion that this
novel is a translation into an Ancient English language that is no longer spoken. Each
character's name has been carefully selected with an underlying meaning. The
translator does not utilize euphemisms so the language is often blunt. A dictionary (the
Lexicon) is included to assist with slang terms, and the translator warns the reader that
an English dictionary might also be desired. For those readers who are looking forward
to having their future determined by the score on an SAT exam, the vocabulary
exposure is a big plus. The translator sets the tone for Xen in a note to the readers by
explaining that he brings a different perspective to the highly revered story, and if we
don't like it, we may prefer Scor Tillum's version.
Xen is a mythical tale of 10 books (not chapters) that is taught to all children of Earth's
distant future as part of their earliest memories so they will know of their origins and
mankind's "exodus from xenophobia." Book 1 begins with the personification of Wind
and Water, and eloquently describes their relationship and their progeny: all life forms
on earth. Mankind is their favorite species by far, and they sometimes help, but more
often just watch as man evolves through the ages. Wind and Water conclude the first
book by making a bet on whether or not mankind will destroy itself or survive.
Pawkey Seneschal is the Scientist and protagonist of three Books of Xen. Readers
become privy to his thoughts as he spends four days alone at a conference observing
people and reflecting on life as it is now, in our present day. Pawkey believes he
doesn't have a racist bone in his body, but he certainly has the lingo down pat! To be
fair, his hysterical descriptions of those he calls scumbags encompass not only blacks,
but Mexicans, white trash, fat people, and just about every race or culture unlike
himself; hence his xenophobia.
Pawkey has an "enlightened perspective of womanhood." All women are worthy of his
lust, except of course, black women and "fat tubs of lard." He has no respect for the
institution of marriage, referring often to his mate as the "bitch wife."
Overwhelmed by the proliferation of propaganda throughout society, Pawkey only
watches television with the sound off so that he can at least ignore those messages. He
questions the waste of resources by politicians, entertainers, and businesses, all
concerned with selling the public their goods or ideas; but rejects the idea of
government control to eliminate the waste, as that would also eliminate the incentive for
production.
One night while Pawkey is sleeping, Water initiates a dramatic transformation in his
body. He awakens with an idea to change mankind forever. Decades pass as Pawkey
leads other scientists to unravel the secrets of long life and the nature of human
thought. Millions of people are sacrificed in the experiments before he has all of the
answers. He then unleashes a Plague that kills half of the world's population, including
all of its scumbags (with an especially large number killed in the southeastern United
States). The survivors are transformed into reasonable, intelligent, compassionate
beings to begin the new Eartherian future.
Exhaustive descriptions of "man's inhumanity to others like himself' are articulated by
Wind in the History Book. After more than 40 pages detailing torture, rape, child
molestation, and war, the reader wants to scream "enough already, I get it; man is a
despicable species!" Intermingled with the bloody and cruel descriptions are valuable
insights into what circumstances drove man to such abhorrent behavior. "For many
generations, there was no need for war since land was abundant and populations were
very low." This valuable point was seemingly forgotten in the new Utopia where the
world's population is very large. It is implied that in the future there is plenty of
everything for everyone because there are so many people willing to make anything; it
is not explained where the abundant natural resources will come from to satisfy such a
large population.
The Mother & Child Book offers the first glimpse of life in the future. While it is sweet
and mellow with entertaining descriptions of futuristic gadgets, the Book doesn't add
much to the storyline. In fact, one aspect of this Book is actually disturbing. The mother
reads the story of Xen to her small child, the same exact Xen that the reader is in the
middle of reading. Everyone knows when reading a book of fiction, that the story isn't
actually true. However, while immersed in the storyline, it is natural to imagine that you
are there and that the story could be happening; this is part of what holds the reader's
interest. But by having the child be read the very book that has a section about the
child being read the book, the reality fantasy is destroyed and detracts from the overall
enjoyment.
The Adolescent Book features the differences between pre- and post-Plague life on
Earth. Surprisingly, two of mankind's institutions, highly and properly criticized in the
History Book, still exist in the Xen future. "The millions upon millions slaughtered related
to religion in one fashion or another would make God Almighty, Himself, questions His
own Existence." Yet, organized religion still persists in the future. One would have
expected such an advanced and enlightened society to have managed to rid itself of
such foolish and irrational rituals that have been the cause of so much death and
destruction.
Weaponry and the "art of war" (an interesting way to describe it) also continue to exist
in the Xen future, even though all people on Earth are peaceful, and "no one can ever
harm anyone else, consciously or unconsciously; this is hardwired into the brain in
multiple redundant pathways." No logical explanation is given for this paradox.
Both religion and weapons were invented by man due to his fears: fear of the unknown
and fear of other men. Apparently and unfortunately, even in the distant Utopian future
of mankind according to Solomon, these fears will persist.
Government, in its present form, does not exist in the Xen future, for there is no need.
Instead, one person is in charge who holds the title of Minister. There are three Books
describing Minister Esse's interaction with an alien species' visit to Earth. The Alien has
come to Earth to inform its inhabitants about the true nature of the Plague and their
subsequent transformation from a brutal species intent on destroying itself, into one of
peace and tranquility. Here is where valuable and insightful rhetoric concerning one
aspect of our culture is revealed.
Something is definitely wrong with a society that celebrates and memorializes war and
its heroes. Children are taught lessons from their earliest days of formal education
which include famous battles and famous war heroes. Many of our national holidays
commemorate the mass murders our ancestors have performed throughout our
country's history. Even our national anthem is a disgrace, "with the rocket's red glare,
our bombs bursting in air..." If we, as a society, are ever to advance beyond weapons of
mass destruction, (to use a phrase now common to all Americans) we need to take a
fresh look at what we are teaching our children, and why. If history teachers and
students across America were required to read Solomon's book, it could be a new
beginning for us all (and a whole lot of fun!)
After hours of thought and effort, it has been determined that the encoded message
hidden by Pawkey Seneschal before unleashing the virus is impossible for any normal
human being to solve. Even more disturbing is the unsuccessful attempt to
conclusively resolve the question of what are the two basic rules of the Xen future.
"Everyone will be reasonably reasonable, there now being only two basic rules; these
will cover every situation." Hopefully the next edition of Xen will shed more light on these
perplexities.
Footnotes
Translations by Teresa:
Adavan - Adavan - like the drug, an anti-anxiety remedy
Esse - in esse - actually existing
Jizelle - jiz - man juice
elle - female
Muliebris - womanly, feminine
Pawkey - pawkey - sly and knowing
Peregrinians- Peregrin - foreign
Seneschal - seneschal - dispenser of justice
Scor Tillum - scortillum - the word for whore, prostitute, or slut
Sum - sum - as in addition, mother plus father's product
See scortillum, above
More hints are necessary to be able to solve this puzzle. To illustrate: the author may
like to solve this similar puzzle which I wrote and which is also based on a simple,
repeating algorithm: etaslaridemslopvtaswredueerlsiclebaprthopm
I offer to trade hints at any time.
_______________________________________________
Editor's Notes: See Readers Guide.
| Teresa Ristow South Fork High School Miranda, CA Almost Paradise |
| © Copyright 2004-2008 by Avar Press. All rights reserved. Copyright of the individual essays belongs to the respective writer and may not be reproduced in any fashion without express written permission from each author. Interested parties may contact the author via their high school or by sending correspondence to Avar Press. |
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