Johnny E. Mahaffey
July 15, 2018

The Novelist Portent
Reply ID: gmqd

To: RavenJaws

I like the literature that has something to say, and it says it in a way that the story can still be just that--a story--for those that just seek to be entertained, and sneak in a little subliminal ideology.
Teaching readers without them knowing it.
Or, at least without them minding, if they do notice.
"Hunger Games" and "Divergent" are good examples, both of them are modernizations of "1984". Something many writers have been trying to rebirth--and cash in on--for years; but, it took the economic collapse after the housing bubble to create the right national mood for such a dystopian theme to hit home for so many. And, they were needed. Now, the younger generations have something to connect with. They portray the same important messages as "1984"--and give the current kids something to think about as they themselves grow older and take over all of the leadership positions in society.
I like that movie, "The Island", with Scarlett Johannsen--it's an update of another one of Huxley's books … title the same. And it's an issue we'll have to deal with soon, cloning. We're already making organs, and doctors know that they're not as good as they'd be if we were to say … grow a whole body. We could if we wanted to; but, should we.... Right now, there's a Russian doctor practicing head transplants. He's supposedly succeeded with dogs for up to five minutes, and he wants to eventually try humans. That raises all sorts of issues.
Recently a 60-something year old woman's uterus was transplanted into a 20-something's body, who then had a child! Doctors said, to their surprise--during the C-section--instead of finding an old uterus, it was extremely healthy and looked 40 years younger! As if, the younger body had rejuvenated it.
So … what would happen with a 60-year-old head on a 20-year-old body? Would it rejuvenate? How long would the new "being" live? Who would it be? And, is it moral? Wouldn't rich people then try to live longer by buying new bodies? A poor person with a healthy body would then be at risk, we already have a black market for parts.
These are the kind of things I strive for in my own writing. The novel I'm working on, "Skye Yellow: Finding Susie", is taking me a while because I keep thinking of new issues to add. I'm afraid that it may end up becoming too encoded. Then again, that'll just mean that people could still be deciphering it long after I'm gone. I don't want to just write a book that entertains, I want it to mean something. To stand for all of the truths that I've learned in my life.

M.