Maunderings of a Cold War liberal on the edge of his obsolescence.
Nominally, this is a novel, with a straightforward plot. But really the story just seems to be an excuse for J. David Stern to put out his views on science, religion, and the meaning of life.
The story, such as it is, begins with the discovery of a freak by a careful newspaperman. Apparently, under false names, the same boy who has set the world record in the quarter mile is also the same one who beat chess masters at a New York club. The first couple chapters are set as a kind of mystery, and they almost work, though they are amateurish--Stern knows the newspaper business and brings these chapters to life, although much of it is an info dump and there are way too many characters introduced in a short span, most of whom are of no consequence. And then the mystery is solved before the book is even half done. The newspaper publisher--a thinly-veiled autobiographical character--wants this wunderkind unmasked: the story is supposed to be a hot one. It turns out he's a local college kid, who admits to his subterfuge. The publisher--Wade Powers (subtle!) sends out his best reporter, Sam Rayleigh--who is apparently well-known the world 'round for a story he did on hygiene (!!)--to meet with the prodigy's dad in Santa Monica. He's a psychiatrist. Several chapters are spent telling his life story, most of it unnecessary, as well as giving the background of his phenomenal son, Newt. turns out that Newt was conceived by the world's most amazing women--eidetic memory, prodigious mind, excellent athlete--parthenogenetically. (This is where the story's title come sin: she has an out-of-body experience an thinks of a line from Whitman that includes the word Eidolon.) Tragically, though, she commits suicide, leaving her husband to raise this superman.
With the mystery solved, the story switches to what seems to be its main function: a chance for the four main players--Sam, Wade, Newton, and his father Dan--to discourse on the state of American society. Given the book's structure, and the phase in which it was written in Stern's life--not long after he had been forced out of the newspaper business by strikes--it doesn't seem unfair to take these dialogues as his own thoughts--it is reminiscent of a Platonic or Galilean discourse, although these reek much more of the undergraduate dorm and a lot of marijuana. Turns out that the world's problems can be solved by religion and science uniting behind a program of eugenics: marriages should be arranged, children should be licenses (more or less), births regulated. Education will make all the races equal. Civil liberties should be curtailed to ensure that people do not move to places where they should not be. And the government should undertake massive infrastructure improvements to help the poor. (Full disclosure: the last one sounds like a good idea to me, the rest just Great White Savior complex.)
A couple of subplots bring the novel to its conclusion. Sam weds his long-time love, and allows her to continue his career. Newt is pursued by Wade's mistress, a European artist who despises America as immature; and Newt is also bowled over by poverty--not unlike the Buddha, he led a cloistered life and is surprised to see the realities of the world. And, not unlike Christ, he is killed by one of his converts, while he was trying to rebuild the Puerto Rican housing system in Harlem. The disciple was actually trying to kill the European artist for attempting to spirit Newton away, but got to him instead. Sam Rayleigh is left to tell the story to encourage the world to unite religion and science in the pursuit of Newton's vision.
In addition to the poor plotting, there are other problems with the story. Stern cannot handle females--they are virgins or whores, although he tries to make allowances for modern women and modern sexual mores. (Newton's mother commits suicide rather than sleep with Wade Powers, and she is supposed to be admirable.) But his handling of men isn't a whole lot better. Everyone is self-aware and a gifted conversationalist. They all understand their type, are comfortable with it, and can explicate their role in the social structure. (Sam knows he is supposed to offer the words of the common man during the discussion among the very smart; the women know they are women, and the limits of their sex.) Subtlety is not Stern's strong-suit, either: the connection between Newt and Isaac Newton is not left unstated. It is also a bit surprising to see eugenics so blithely promoted only seven years after World War II.
For all the manifest problems, though, the book is not without its charms. It's an easy enough read. And Stern is a smart guy--he won't let you forget that--so the book is studded with a multitude of references to obscure subjects in science as well as the arts. Rephrasing my introduction, I would say it's a period piece--forgotten for good reasons, but worth reading for a glimpse into the thoughts of a prominent, aging liberal in the early 1950s.
Nominally, this is a novel, with a straightforward plot. But really the story just seems to be an excuse for J. David Stern to put out his views on science, religion, and the meaning of life.
The story, such as it is, begins with the discovery of a freak by a careful newspaperman. Apparently, under false names, the same boy who has set the world record in the quarter mile is also the same one who beat chess masters at a New York club. The first couple chapters are set as a kind of mystery, and they almost work, though they are amateurish--Stern knows the newspaper business and brings these chapters to life, although much of it is an info dump and there are way too many characters introduced in a short span, most of whom are of no consequence. And then the mystery is solved before the book is even half done. The newspaper publisher--a thinly-veiled autobiographical character--wants this wunderkind unmasked: the story is supposed to be a hot one. It turns out he's a local college kid, who admits to his subterfuge. The publisher--Wade Powers (subtle!) sends out his best reporter, Sam Rayleigh--who is apparently well-known the world 'round for a story he did on hygiene (!!)--to meet with the prodigy's dad in Santa Monica. He's a psychiatrist. Several chapters are spent telling his life story, most of it unnecessary, as well as giving the background of his phenomenal son, Newt. turns out that Newt was conceived by the world's most amazing women--eidetic memory, prodigious mind, excellent athlete--parthenogenetically. (This is where the story's title come sin: she has an out-of-body experience an thinks of a line from Whitman that includes the word Eidolon.) Tragically, though, she commits suicide, leaving her husband to raise this superman.
With the mystery solved, the story switches to what seems to be its main function: a chance for the four main players--Sam, Wade, Newton, and his father Dan--to discourse on the state of American society. Given the book's structure, and the phase in which it was written in Stern's life--not long after he had been forced out of the newspaper business by strikes--it doesn't seem unfair to take these dialogues as his own thoughts--it is reminiscent of a Platonic or Galilean discourse, although these reek much more of the undergraduate dorm and a lot of marijuana. Turns out that the world's problems can be solved by religion and science uniting behind a program of eugenics: marriages should be arranged, children should be licenses (more or less), births regulated. Education will make all the races equal. Civil liberties should be curtailed to ensure that people do not move to places where they should not be. And the government should undertake massive infrastructure improvements to help the poor. (Full disclosure: the last one sounds like a good idea to me, the rest just Great White Savior complex.)
A couple of subplots bring the novel to its conclusion. Sam weds his long-time love, and allows her to continue his career. Newt is pursued by Wade's mistress, a European artist who despises America as immature; and Newt is also bowled over by poverty--not unlike the Buddha, he led a cloistered life and is surprised to see the realities of the world. And, not unlike Christ, he is killed by one of his converts, while he was trying to rebuild the Puerto Rican housing system in Harlem. The disciple was actually trying to kill the European artist for attempting to spirit Newton away, but got to him instead. Sam Rayleigh is left to tell the story to encourage the world to unite religion and science in the pursuit of Newton's vision.
In addition to the poor plotting, there are other problems with the story. Stern cannot handle females--they are virgins or whores, although he tries to make allowances for modern women and modern sexual mores. (Newton's mother commits suicide rather than sleep with Wade Powers, and she is supposed to be admirable.) But his handling of men isn't a whole lot better. Everyone is self-aware and a gifted conversationalist. They all understand their type, are comfortable with it, and can explicate their role in the social structure. (Sam knows he is supposed to offer the words of the common man during the discussion among the very smart; the women know they are women, and the limits of their sex.) Subtlety is not Stern's strong-suit, either: the connection between Newt and Isaac Newton is not left unstated. It is also a bit surprising to see eugenics so blithely promoted only seven years after World War II.
For all the manifest problems, though, the book is not without its charms. It's an easy enough read. And Stern is a smart guy--he won't let you forget that--so the book is studded with a multitude of references to obscure subjects in science as well as the arts. Rephrasing my introduction, I would say it's a period piece--forgotten for good reasons, but worth reading for a glimpse into the thoughts of a prominent, aging liberal in the early 1950s.
