An Office Conference Brings Everything Together. Global Weekly owner Bailey brings Steve and Buck into his office. Demands to know what’s going on. We learn: Nicolae has a plan. Todd-Cothran to become a U.N. figure. Botswanan Secretary-General to step down and head home with secret Israeli formula. United Nations to be relocated to Babylon. Jonathan Stonagal is the financier behind the multi-billion dollar renovation of Babylon.
Carpathia’s plan as Secretary-General
“He’s asking for resolutions supporting … the seven year peace treaty with Israel … the [United Nations headquarters] move to Babylon. The establishment of one religion for the world, probably headquartered in Italy … is going to help [the Jews] rebuild their temple during the years of the peace treaty …. Militarily, he wants a commitment to disarmement of member nations, the destruction of ninety percent of their weapons, and the donation of the other ten percent to the U.N.”
What about Eric Miller, the guy who fell off the Staten Island Ferry and drowned? Buck was “stunned to find he had written about the rebuilding and improvement in Babylon. The title of Miller’s series was ‘New Babylon, Stonagal’s Latest Dream.’”
What does Buck make of all of this? “If the rest of the U.N. went along with Nicolae’s conditions, he would become the most powerful leader in the world overnight.”
Eli & Moishe Live on CNN. Rayford watches their preaching knowing that he is witness to “the first of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists being converted to Christ before his eyes.”
Takeaway: Global religion, probably based in Italy? These people?
"the idea being that apocalyptic fiction is an extrapolation toward possible tomorrows -- an inversion of Candide's "best of all possible worlds" -- thinking of those tourist photo-ops with the cutout faces, envisioning yourself in a dystopian future...."
Showing posts with label American End Times Lunacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American End Times Lunacy. Show all posts
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter Eighteen
Moishe & Eli in the news: Sinister hooded assassins, armed with Israeli military equipment wend their way through the crowd to the prophets. Broadcast of assassins being slain on approach, live from the Wailing Wall. M & E still proselytize immenent return of Christ the Messiah.
Hattie in New York: Despite initial misgivings, Buck agrees to introduce her to Carpathia. Carpathia gives Hattie his card, which Buck examines. The card gives Carpathia’s address as the Plaza! Has a handwritten number – a secret/private line at the Secretary General’s office in the U.N.! Buck realizes he has an inside scoop on Carpathia’s plan.
The guy briefly introduced in Chapter Sixteen, who dies in a ferry accident in Chapter Seventeen: Widow suspects unnatural causes. Reaches out to Buck & Steve for answers.
Ray and Chloe: still talking about Hattie and the adultery that didn’t happen. Waiting to meet Ms. Durham in the Pan Con club at the New York airport.
Steve Planck: spills to Buck about the Botswanan Secretary-General’s plan to step down and return to his country with the Israeli secret formula for desert florafication.
Hattie in New York: Despite initial misgivings, Buck agrees to introduce her to Carpathia. Carpathia gives Hattie his card, which Buck examines. The card gives Carpathia’s address as the Plaza! Has a handwritten number – a secret/private line at the Secretary General’s office in the U.N.! Buck realizes he has an inside scoop on Carpathia’s plan.
The guy briefly introduced in Chapter Sixteen, who dies in a ferry accident in Chapter Seventeen: Widow suspects unnatural causes. Reaches out to Buck & Steve for answers.
Ray and Chloe: still talking about Hattie and the adultery that didn’t happen. Waiting to meet Ms. Durham in the Pan Con club at the New York airport.
Steve Planck: spills to Buck about the Botswanan Secretary-General’s plan to step down and return to his country with the Israeli secret formula for desert florafication.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter Twelve
The good son:
Buck Cameron, having survived an attempted assassination in London, calls his father to let him know he's alive. From a payphone. In the lobby of his hotel. In Frankfurt. Where he has checked in under the assumed identity under which he intends to return to New York. Also calls Global editor Steve Plank. Uses voice disguising precaution (complimentary washcloth?).
The rebellious daughter:
Chloe, still resistant, abjures her father's exhortation to watch the Rapture video.
The good father:
Ray watches the tape. Learns that Paul's letter to the Corinthians predicted the Rapture, the ensuing chaos, probable martial law, and the coming of a "deceiver [who] will promise strength and peace and security, but ... will speak out against the Most High .... [and try] to take over the world during this terrible time of chaos and confusion. This person is known in the Bible as the Antichrist." The tape concludes with "Nearly eight hundred years before Jesus came to earth the first time, Isaiah in the Old Testament prophesied that the kingdoms of nations will be in great conflict and their faces shall be as flames. To me, this portends World War III, a thermonuclear war that will wipe out millions. Bible prophecy is history written in advance .... You'll find that government and religion will change, war and inflation will erupt, there will be widespread death and destruction, martyrdom of saints, and even a devastating earthquake. Be prepared."
At New Hope Church:
Interim Pastor Barnes tends to his flock. Mass scenes of conversion. Bible sessions implemented. Ray is recruited to join "a core of people."
Aftermath:
"Chloe was eager to hear all about it .... and was embarrassed to say she had not watched the tape yet. 'But I will now, Dad .... You're really into this, aren't you? It sounds like something I want to check out, even if I don't do anything about it.'" Also, "Hattie Durham called for you several times. She sounded pretty agitated."
What to do?
Ray talks with Bruce Barnes, accepts his first assignment for that evening: "meeting with the disenchanted and skeptics." Then handles second assignment, calling Hattie Durham. Hattie informs him of Cameron William's death in England. Ray invites her to dinner with himself and Chloe.
Men at work:
"Buck arrived at JFK and immediately called Steve Plank. 'Stay right where you are Buck, you renegade. Do you know who wants to talk with you? .... Nicolae Carpathia himself .... and he's got your old friend Chaim Rosenzweig with him .... So I'll come get you ... we'll get you undead, and you can have that great interview you've been looking for.'" Buck, utilizing the superior skills of mind that have seen him through this far thinks "[i]f there's one guy who's above these international terrorists and bullies ... it will be this Carpathia. If Rosenzweig likes him, he's got to be all right."
Pondering aloud
I've heard of the bible prophesying all manner of death and destruction. This is the first time I've heard of a biblical prophecy of inflation.
Previous posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11
Next post: [Coming soon]
Next post: [Coming soon]
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter Eleven
The action
Ray leaves the house! Ray and Chloe drive to New Hope church and meet with acting pastor Bruce Barnes.
Dramatis Personae, novum:
Loretta: As per the enlightened tradition of the Left Behind Series, Loretta needs no surname. It is enough to know she's "an older woman" who looks "sunken eyed and disheveled, as if she'd come through a war .... She's the only person in her whole clan who is still here .... They're all gone, every one of them."
The chivalrous impulse
Pastor Barnes, making small talk with Ray and Chloe, tells them "[f]olks, Loretta there looks like I feel."
The litany of complaint
Bruce Barnes relates his tale of sub par Christianity, replete with confessions of having "read things I shouldn't have read, looked at magazines that fed my lusts."
Bruce lays it all out
"There is no doubt in my mind that we have witnessed the Rapture .... I had heard people say that when the church was raptured, [g]od's [s]pirit would be gone from the earth. The logic was that when Jesus went to heaven after his resurrection, the holy spirit that god gave to the church was embodied in believers. So when they were taken, the spirit would be gone, and there would be no more hope for anyone left."
But Bruce, is there hope? Is there any reason for this series to continue for 16 more volumes?
"[S]omebody remembered Pastor's Rapture tape .... You can't know [my] relief when Pastor's tape showed me otherwise .... Our senior pastor loved to preach about the coming of Christ to rapture his church, to take believers, dead and alive, to heaven before a period of tribulation on the earth .... the pastor used that sermon and ... videotaped [himself] ... speaking directly to people who were left behind [and] put it in the church library with instructions to get it out and play it if most everyone seemed to have disappeared."
Will Ray and Chloe make the leap of faith?
"'No?' Bruce was clearly surprised. 'Need more time?' .... '[L]et me leave you with one little reminder of urgency ... people die every day in ... plane crashes -- oh, sorry, I'm sure you're a good pilot.'"
Ray "appreciate[s] your time and ... will watch the tape."
The takeaway
I am pretty disappointed in the quality of salvation denying sinning thus far. End of times riots of passion shouldn't be about pudgy pastors sweatily thumbing through dirty magazines. My imagination wants this.
Previous posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10
Next post: [Coming soon]
Ray leaves the house! Ray and Chloe drive to New Hope church and meet with acting pastor Bruce Barnes.
Dramatis Personae, novum:
Loretta: As per the enlightened tradition of the Left Behind Series, Loretta needs no surname. It is enough to know she's "an older woman" who looks "sunken eyed and disheveled, as if she'd come through a war .... She's the only person in her whole clan who is still here .... They're all gone, every one of them."
The chivalrous impulse
Pastor Barnes, making small talk with Ray and Chloe, tells them "[f]olks, Loretta there looks like I feel."
The litany of complaint
Bruce Barnes relates his tale of sub par Christianity, replete with confessions of having "read things I shouldn't have read, looked at magazines that fed my lusts."
Bruce lays it all out
"There is no doubt in my mind that we have witnessed the Rapture .... I had heard people say that when the church was raptured, [g]od's [s]pirit would be gone from the earth. The logic was that when Jesus went to heaven after his resurrection, the holy spirit that god gave to the church was embodied in believers. So when they were taken, the spirit would be gone, and there would be no more hope for anyone left."
But Bruce, is there hope? Is there any reason for this series to continue for 16 more volumes?
"[S]omebody remembered Pastor's Rapture tape .... You can't know [my] relief when Pastor's tape showed me otherwise .... Our senior pastor loved to preach about the coming of Christ to rapture his church, to take believers, dead and alive, to heaven before a period of tribulation on the earth .... the pastor used that sermon and ... videotaped [himself] ... speaking directly to people who were left behind [and] put it in the church library with instructions to get it out and play it if most everyone seemed to have disappeared."
Will Ray and Chloe make the leap of faith?
"'No?' Bruce was clearly surprised. 'Need more time?' .... '[L]et me leave you with one little reminder of urgency ... people die every day in ... plane crashes -- oh, sorry, I'm sure you're a good pilot.'"
Ray "appreciate[s] your time and ... will watch the tape."
The takeaway
I am pretty disappointed in the quality of salvation denying sinning thus far. End of times riots of passion shouldn't be about pudgy pastors sweatily thumbing through dirty magazines. My imagination wants this.
Previous posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10
Next post: [Coming soon]
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter Ten
Dramatis Personae, novae
Bruce Barnes the "visitation pastor" at New Hope Village Church in Mount Prospect, Illinois. Former parish of Irene, location of the post-Rapture explanation video tape. Barnes promises a discussion of the tape. Rayford "[tells] him he and perhaps Chloe would come by that afternoon."
Alan Tompkins "a midlevel operative at Scotland Yard. Puts to lie my theory that characters with first and last names are important to the story, unless there's a need for a resurrected and thoroughly inept "midlevel operative" in the army of the saved in Volume 16.
What passes for action
Buck, "phony passport" in hand, flies from LaGuardia to Heathrow. Meets Tompkins at Scotland Yard. They "[drive] quickly to a dark pub a few miles away." Tompkins proceeds to tell Buck that Dirk's death has to be a suicide (right handed self inflicted gun shot wound on a left handed man), then further relates a harrowing encounter in the offices of Brit puppet-master and Dirk Burton conspiracy fixation Todd-Cothran, wherein: Tompkins is permitted to eavesdrop on a conversation between Todd-Cothran and Tompkins's Scotland Yard supervisor (Sullivan), wherein: he learns that his supervisor will have him killed if he pursues the matter of Dirk Burton's death any further.
Naturally, when a waitress at the pub informs Tompkins (in the midst of relating the foregoing to internationally renowned journalist Cameron "Buck" Williams) that he appears to have left the dome light on in his car, he assumes that he must be "[g]ettin' daft in my old age" and leaves the pub to turn it off. The ensuing explosion draws Buck's attention. Despite having quickly downed his pint, and, noticing that Alan hadn't touched his pint "switched his empty mug for Alan's full one and downed it too," Buck "[knew] his limit" and had ordered a soda. Which doubtless gave him the presence of mind to chuck his real passport into the flaming wreckage in the hopes of faking his death. I'm not an apologist for Scotland Yard but I reckon they should be able to suss out that: (1) that there's only one corpse in the wreckage; and (2) it's one of their employees. Buck manages to escape to Heathrow airport and flies back to the U.S. (via Germany) under the assumed identity of a Polish businessman. And leaves behind all of his notes. Which may be an important plot element that makes him a target of gathering dark forces, or may be a pointlessly wasted detail.
Thinking about events thus far
Time moves either freakishly fast or freakishly slow in this novel. In the amount of time it's taken for Buck to fly to New York, fly to Heathrow, fake his death, fly to Frankfurt, and fly back to New York, Ray has merely managed to think about the Rapture, and make a call to his wife's church. Without leaving his house. I'm starting to think the bottle disposal episode was a dream sequence, and Ray is gripped by a Faulknerian fit of alcohol driven reverie.
Previous posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9
Next post: Chapter 11
Bruce Barnes the "visitation pastor" at New Hope Village Church in Mount Prospect, Illinois. Former parish of Irene, location of the post-Rapture explanation video tape. Barnes promises a discussion of the tape. Rayford "[tells] him he and perhaps Chloe would come by that afternoon."
Alan Tompkins "a midlevel operative at Scotland Yard. Puts to lie my theory that characters with first and last names are important to the story, unless there's a need for a resurrected and thoroughly inept "midlevel operative" in the army of the saved in Volume 16.
What passes for action
Buck, "phony passport" in hand, flies from LaGuardia to Heathrow. Meets Tompkins at Scotland Yard. They "[drive] quickly to a dark pub a few miles away." Tompkins proceeds to tell Buck that Dirk's death has to be a suicide (right handed self inflicted gun shot wound on a left handed man), then further relates a harrowing encounter in the offices of Brit puppet-master and Dirk Burton conspiracy fixation Todd-Cothran, wherein: Tompkins is permitted to eavesdrop on a conversation between Todd-Cothran and Tompkins's Scotland Yard supervisor (Sullivan), wherein: he learns that his supervisor will have him killed if he pursues the matter of Dirk Burton's death any further.
Naturally, when a waitress at the pub informs Tompkins (in the midst of relating the foregoing to internationally renowned journalist Cameron "Buck" Williams) that he appears to have left the dome light on in his car, he assumes that he must be "[g]ettin' daft in my old age" and leaves the pub to turn it off. The ensuing explosion draws Buck's attention. Despite having quickly downed his pint, and, noticing that Alan hadn't touched his pint "switched his empty mug for Alan's full one and downed it too," Buck "[knew] his limit" and had ordered a soda. Which doubtless gave him the presence of mind to chuck his real passport into the flaming wreckage in the hopes of faking his death. I'm not an apologist for Scotland Yard but I reckon they should be able to suss out that: (1) that there's only one corpse in the wreckage; and (2) it's one of their employees. Buck manages to escape to Heathrow airport and flies back to the U.S. (via Germany) under the assumed identity of a Polish businessman. And leaves behind all of his notes. Which may be an important plot element that makes him a target of gathering dark forces, or may be a pointlessly wasted detail.
Thinking about events thus far
Time moves either freakishly fast or freakishly slow in this novel. In the amount of time it's taken for Buck to fly to New York, fly to Heathrow, fake his death, fly to Frankfurt, and fly back to New York, Ray has merely managed to think about the Rapture, and make a call to his wife's church. Without leaving his house. I'm starting to think the bottle disposal episode was a dream sequence, and Ray is gripped by a Faulknerian fit of alcohol driven reverie.
Previous posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9
Next post: Chapter 11
Left Behind: Chapter Nine
The state of the world, 2 days after the event
"[A]mazing progress [had] been made at clearing the roadways ... [b]ut the landscape would appear tacky for months."
What about the Jews?
Back at the offices of the Global Weekly, we learn that "Jewish Nationalists ... are warming to one world government .... [This] idea is so revolutionary. Most Israeli Nationalists think the Holy Land has gone too far with its bounty already." Jonathan "Diamond John" Stonegal also is involved.
What about Chloe?
Returns home. Father and Daughter have heart-to-heart about the Rapture. Chloe mentions that "in California they're actually buying into the space invasion theory." Ray remembers that as a teenager, "Chloe had come home from more than one party drunk enough to spend the night vomiting."
Thoughts turn to missing Wife/Mother Son/Brother
Ray: "You want to know where I think they are? I believe they are in heaven ... if the Christians are gone and everyone else is left, I don't think anyone is a Christian."
Chloe: "Daddy, what does that make [g]od? Some sick, sadistic dictator?" "Who wants to go to heaven with a [g]od like that?"
End times A/V Club to the rescue
Fortunately Irene's Church has a tape. "Dad! A tape for those left behind? Please!" Ray and Chloe make plans to pick up the tape the next day.
What about Dirk?
Still unable to get through, Buck tries Dirk's office. Speaks with Dirk's supervisor, Nigel Leonard, who informs Buck that "Mr. Burton .... suffered a bullet wound to the head .... suicide has been determined." Convinced that it was not a suicide, Buck books a flight to Heathrow out of LaGuardia.
Coincidentally?
Carpathia will be flying into LaGuardia that same day.
The wrap
Diamond John and the Jews are meeting in New York and may have plans for a new world order. Carpathia is flying to New York to address the United Nations. Buck is flying to England to uncover the truth about Dirk's putative suicide. Ray is turning to true Christianity, and is determined to take his skeptical daughter with him. The landscape will appear tacky for months.
Clearest sign yet that the end times have arrived
LaGuardia has international service
"[A]mazing progress [had] been made at clearing the roadways ... [b]ut the landscape would appear tacky for months."
What about the Jews?
Back at the offices of the Global Weekly, we learn that "Jewish Nationalists ... are warming to one world government .... [This] idea is so revolutionary. Most Israeli Nationalists think the Holy Land has gone too far with its bounty already." Jonathan "Diamond John" Stonegal also is involved.
What about Chloe?
Returns home. Father and Daughter have heart-to-heart about the Rapture. Chloe mentions that "in California they're actually buying into the space invasion theory." Ray remembers that as a teenager, "Chloe had come home from more than one party drunk enough to spend the night vomiting."
Thoughts turn to missing Wife/Mother Son/Brother
Ray: "You want to know where I think they are? I believe they are in heaven ... if the Christians are gone and everyone else is left, I don't think anyone is a Christian."
Chloe: "Daddy, what does that make [g]od? Some sick, sadistic dictator?" "Who wants to go to heaven with a [g]od like that?"
End times A/V Club to the rescue
Fortunately Irene's Church has a tape. "Dad! A tape for those left behind? Please!" Ray and Chloe make plans to pick up the tape the next day.
What about Dirk?
Still unable to get through, Buck tries Dirk's office. Speaks with Dirk's supervisor, Nigel Leonard, who informs Buck that "Mr. Burton .... suffered a bullet wound to the head .... suicide has been determined." Convinced that it was not a suicide, Buck books a flight to Heathrow out of LaGuardia.
Coincidentally?
Carpathia will be flying into LaGuardia that same day.
The wrap
Diamond John and the Jews are meeting in New York and may have plans for a new world order. Carpathia is flying to New York to address the United Nations. Buck is flying to England to uncover the truth about Dirk's putative suicide. Ray is turning to true Christianity, and is determined to take his skeptical daughter with him. The landscape will appear tacky for months.
Clearest sign yet that the end times have arrived
LaGuardia has international service
Previous posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8
Next post: Chapter 10
Next post: Chapter 10
Monday, January 31, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter Eight
Romanian dirtnaps. Buck's cup runneth over with Jews.
Forward Motion: Planck discusses assignments with Buck
Buck, desperate to go to England and follow up on Dirk Burton's leads. Planck, desperate to have Buck cover the events fomenting in New York. "International monetarists setting the stage for one world currency .... Orthodox Jews from all over the world looking at rebuilding the temple ... Jewish Nationalist leaders interested in one world government ...." Buck notes "I'm being overrun by Jews." "Diamond John" sobriquet introduced for power behind the throne financier Jonathan Stonegal. We learn that Carpathia "was ruthless with his business competition .... [p]eople took dirt naps." Marge, unable to reach Dirk Burton, leaves him messages.
Spinning wheels
White knuckle drunk Rayford Steele reminisces on his alcohol fueled attempts at adultery 10 years prior to the events of the novel. Ruminates on his Hattie fixation. Totally disses Hattie when she calls, seeking comfort and support. (Ray to Hattie: "I really have to get off!") Dissed Hattie calls Buck, who provides distracted reassurances whilst, "rolling his eyes ... [pondering] how did he get into this lonely hearts club?"
Where were we?
Ray, still awaiting daughter Chloe's return. Buck, desperate to get some sleep before attending story assignment meeting. Marge, unable to reach Dirk in London. Buck, unable to reach Dirk in London. Hattie, unable to reach out to anyone who cares.
The takeaway:
Please, please take me away from these people. O sweet sweet Romanian dirtnap, envelop me in your musty embrace!
Forward Motion: Planck discusses assignments with Buck
Buck, desperate to go to England and follow up on Dirk Burton's leads. Planck, desperate to have Buck cover the events fomenting in New York. "International monetarists setting the stage for one world currency .... Orthodox Jews from all over the world looking at rebuilding the temple ... Jewish Nationalist leaders interested in one world government ...." Buck notes "I'm being overrun by Jews." "Diamond John" sobriquet introduced for power behind the throne financier Jonathan Stonegal. We learn that Carpathia "was ruthless with his business competition .... [p]eople took dirt naps." Marge, unable to reach Dirk Burton, leaves him messages.
Spinning wheels
White knuckle drunk Rayford Steele reminisces on his alcohol fueled attempts at adultery 10 years prior to the events of the novel. Ruminates on his Hattie fixation. Totally disses Hattie when she calls, seeking comfort and support. (Ray to Hattie: "I really have to get off!") Dissed Hattie calls Buck, who provides distracted reassurances whilst, "rolling his eyes ... [pondering] how did he get into this lonely hearts club?"
Where were we?
Ray, still awaiting daughter Chloe's return. Buck, desperate to get some sleep before attending story assignment meeting. Marge, unable to reach Dirk in London. Buck, unable to reach Dirk in London. Hattie, unable to reach out to anyone who cares.
The takeaway:
Please, please take me away from these people. O sweet sweet Romanian dirtnap, envelop me in your musty embrace!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter Seven
Dramatis Personae, novae
Ken Ritz: charter pilot who picks up Buck to fly him to New York City. Has first and last name, characterized as a no-nonsense type who gets things done. Doubtless will appear again, as he has a first and last name.
The action
Ken & Buck while away the flight speculating on a UFO theory behind the abductions. "[O]ur ideas of what space people would look like is [sic] way too simple .... if ... they're sophisticated and advanced enough ... they can do things to us we've never dreamed of .... They disappeared in an instant, so they had to be dematerialized. The question is ... could [they] be reassembled?"
Ray Steele, still at home, starts leafing through the Bible, hoping to figure out how he and Chloe can be saved. Sad ruminations by Ray on all the opportunities for salvation at the hands of Raymie & Irene that had been passed by. Determination to save self and Chloe if possible. Discovers Chloe has managed to fly out of Palo Alto, and should be in Springfield, Ill. soon. Buck makes it to the office, where he has a tearful reunion with Marge Potter (secretary) & Steve Plank (editor).
More descriptions of carnage emphasizing how horrible it all is
New York City: "Six trains were involved in head-ons with lots of deaths. Several trains ran up the back of other ones."
Flight center operator to Ray, regarding Chloe's eastward journey: "be grateful your daughter didn't get on [a flight] directly out of Palo Alto. The last one out of there went down last night. No survivors." "And this was after the disappearances?" "Just last night. Totally unrelated."
What next?
Tauran cosmonauts will appear at Rockefeller Plaza in anthropomorphized form, their haloed countenances exuding a radiant calm as they assure those left behind that they will soon be joining the missing in an extra-terran paradise where pain is but a rumor and death forgotten.
A thought on the preceding
I understand it's important to keep the readers guessing, but no one is buying the alien abduction angle.
Ken Ritz: charter pilot who picks up Buck to fly him to New York City. Has first and last name, characterized as a no-nonsense type who gets things done. Doubtless will appear again, as he has a first and last name.
The action
Ken & Buck while away the flight speculating on a UFO theory behind the abductions. "[O]ur ideas of what space people would look like is [sic] way too simple .... if ... they're sophisticated and advanced enough ... they can do things to us we've never dreamed of .... They disappeared in an instant, so they had to be dematerialized. The question is ... could [they] be reassembled?"
Ray Steele, still at home, starts leafing through the Bible, hoping to figure out how he and Chloe can be saved. Sad ruminations by Ray on all the opportunities for salvation at the hands of Raymie & Irene that had been passed by. Determination to save self and Chloe if possible. Discovers Chloe has managed to fly out of Palo Alto, and should be in Springfield, Ill. soon. Buck makes it to the office, where he has a tearful reunion with Marge Potter (secretary) & Steve Plank (editor).
More descriptions of carnage emphasizing how horrible it all is
New York City: "Six trains were involved in head-ons with lots of deaths. Several trains ran up the back of other ones."
Flight center operator to Ray, regarding Chloe's eastward journey: "be grateful your daughter didn't get on [a flight] directly out of Palo Alto. The last one out of there went down last night. No survivors." "And this was after the disappearances?" "Just last night. Totally unrelated."
What next?
Tauran cosmonauts will appear at Rockefeller Plaza in anthropomorphized form, their haloed countenances exuding a radiant calm as they assure those left behind that they will soon be joining the missing in an extra-terran paradise where pain is but a rumor and death forgotten.
A thought on the preceding
I understand it's important to keep the readers guessing, but no one is buying the alien abduction angle.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter Six
The Settings
Rayford Steele, evidencing a latent alcohol problem, wanders through his empty home reflecting on his children Ray Jr. (aka Raymie), Chloe, and his wife Irene
Buck Williams, in a flea bag motel outside Waukegan, awaiting a charter flight to New York, contacting his father
Internal monologues occur. Didactic points are made
"It had been ages since Rayford Steele had been drunk .... Irene ... had become a teetotaler during the last few years ....[and] insisted he hide any hard stuff if he had to have it in the house at all ... 'I'm just saying you don't have to make it obvious to your preteen son [Raymie] that you drink hard liquor.' .... He reached behind the empty cake cover in the highest cabinet over the sink and pulled down a half-finished fifth of whiskey .... He was already getting a buzz when he replaced the bottle, then thought better of it. He slipped it into the garbage under the sink. Would this be a nice memorial to Irene, giving up even the occasional hard drink?"
More thoughts on the raptured Raymie
"It was Raymie's age and innocence ... his spirit .... [h]e wasn't effeminate, but [he] had worried he might be a mama's boy -- too compassionate, too sensitive, too caring."
Chloe the Un-raptured, on the other hand "was competitive, a driver .... She took care of herself."
Ray comes to believe
Rayford decides "if there was still a way to find the truth and believe or accept what ... Irene said one was supposed to do, Rayford was going to find it."
Buck calls his Dad. Family issues made plain. "He had been resented by the family ever since he'd gone on to college, following his academic prowess to the Ivy League." On religious matters: "It was the lack of any connection between his family's church attendance and their daily lives that made him quite going to church."
Dirk calls on Buck
The American and English Puppet Masters have plans, "apparently something on a huge scale" for "a third party ... from Europe, probably Eastern Europe"
Moving along
Ray finds a copy of the preceding day's pre-Rapture newspaper. The "surprise move in Romania" item captures his attention
"Democratic elections became passe when ... a popular young businessman/politician assumed the role of president of the country. Nicolae Carpathia ... had ... taken the nation by storm with his popular, persuasive speaking ... sweep[ing] [him] to prominence and power."
Buck secures a charter flight that will get him "near" JFK
The action in brief
Ray, no longer drunk, determined to be born again. Buck, predictably complicated backstory, en route to en route to New York
A random thought on the preceding
You're throwing the bottle out with out having emptied it first Ray? Good luck with that.
Brief note on Raymie
Ray's son is described as his and Irene's "tagalong child" in Chapter 1. If Ray is 42, and Ray is 13, by my reckoning Irene was no older than 28 at the time of this pregnancy. Using the "surprise" pregnancy of a woman in her late 20s as part of a character's back story has got to be one of the strongest indictments of faith based sex ed this reader has ever seen. Also good to know Raymie/Ray Jr. is "compassionate," not "effeminate." Because we all know where those people go ...
Rayford Steele, evidencing a latent alcohol problem, wanders through his empty home reflecting on his children Ray Jr. (aka Raymie), Chloe, and his wife Irene
Buck Williams, in a flea bag motel outside Waukegan, awaiting a charter flight to New York, contacting his father
Internal monologues occur. Didactic points are made
"It had been ages since Rayford Steele had been drunk .... Irene ... had become a teetotaler during the last few years ....[and] insisted he hide any hard stuff if he had to have it in the house at all ... 'I'm just saying you don't have to make it obvious to your preteen son [Raymie] that you drink hard liquor.' .... He reached behind the empty cake cover in the highest cabinet over the sink and pulled down a half-finished fifth of whiskey .... He was already getting a buzz when he replaced the bottle, then thought better of it. He slipped it into the garbage under the sink. Would this be a nice memorial to Irene, giving up even the occasional hard drink?"
More thoughts on the raptured Raymie
"It was Raymie's age and innocence ... his spirit .... [h]e wasn't effeminate, but [he] had worried he might be a mama's boy -- too compassionate, too sensitive, too caring."
Chloe the Un-raptured, on the other hand "was competitive, a driver .... She took care of herself."
Ray comes to believe
Rayford decides "if there was still a way to find the truth and believe or accept what ... Irene said one was supposed to do, Rayford was going to find it."
Buck calls his Dad. Family issues made plain. "He had been resented by the family ever since he'd gone on to college, following his academic prowess to the Ivy League." On religious matters: "It was the lack of any connection between his family's church attendance and their daily lives that made him quite going to church."
Dirk calls on Buck
The American and English Puppet Masters have plans, "apparently something on a huge scale" for "a third party ... from Europe, probably Eastern Europe"
Moving along
Ray finds a copy of the preceding day's pre-Rapture newspaper. The "surprise move in Romania" item captures his attention
"Democratic elections became passe when ... a popular young businessman/politician assumed the role of president of the country. Nicolae Carpathia ... had ... taken the nation by storm with his popular, persuasive speaking ... sweep[ing] [him] to prominence and power."
Buck secures a charter flight that will get him "near" JFK
The action in brief
Ray, no longer drunk, determined to be born again. Buck, predictably complicated backstory, en route to en route to New York
A random thought on the preceding
You're throwing the bottle out with out having emptied it first Ray? Good luck with that.
Brief note on Raymie
Ray's son is described as his and Irene's "tagalong child" in Chapter 1. If Ray is 42, and Ray is 13, by my reckoning Irene was no older than 28 at the time of this pregnancy. Using the "surprise" pregnancy of a woman in her late 20s as part of a character's back story has got to be one of the strongest indictments of faith based sex ed this reader has ever seen. Also good to know Raymie/Ray Jr. is "compassionate," not "effeminate." Because we all know where those people go ...
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter Five
Buck: At the Pan-Continental Lounge. Hattie and Ray: at their respective homes
Introduced via the ruminations of Buck, as the authors explain his presence in Chicago and his flight to London
Dramatis Personae, novae:
Lucinda Washington: "a fifty-ish black woman," Global Weekly's Chicago Bureau chief. Angry at Cameron (who she refuses to call Buck) for scooping the Chicago office on a local football story. Lucinda: "Sports isn't even your gig, Cameron .... You Ivy League types aren't supposed to like anything but lacrosse and rugby, are you?" Proselytizes to Buck, telling him "[you] know you got your mind right when you saw what God did for Israel" and to "come to my church, and God'll getcha."
Buck admits to being a Deist, but rejoinds with the incontrovertibly reasonable observation that "[God has] already got me ... but Jesus is another thing. The Israelis hate Jesus, but look what God did for them." [Emphasis mine]
Calls Lucinda's home number when stranded at the airport and is told by her teenage son "Mama, Daddy, everybody else is gone .... you know where she is, too. She's in heaven."
Dirk Burton: the man Buck is going to see in England, "a former Princeton classmate, a Welshman who had been working in the London financial district since graduate school." "[A] reliable source in the past, tipping off Buck about secret high-level meetings among international financiers." Informs Buck of the machinations of a secret cabal of financiers who set the world's agenda behind the scenes. None of whom wear long coats to conceal their tails or have last names that end in -stein (yet).
Introduced via Buck's flashback conversation with Dirk
Jonathan Stonagal: "one of the richest men in the world and long known as an American power broker," integral to the U.N.'s integration of the global economy into the three currencies (dollar, mark & yen). "[N]ot only own[s] the biggest banks and financial institutions in the United States, but also owned or had huge interests in the same throughout the world .... the power behind the power .... The mightiest of the secret group of international money men."
Joshua Todd-Cothran: runs the London Exchange, was an eloquent exponent of the three currency reform. Apparently has a secretary who has a subordinate who is related to a friend of Burton's, and the source of Burton's secret knowledge about "the power behind the power."
The takeaway
Buck knows people who know things. And they know the world is converting to one global currency. Buck has also had a conversation with a black woman. Who speaks in awkwardly written dialect and mocks Buck's degree, despite being a major city bureau chief for a prestigious news weekly. And who may re-appear, because she has both a first and a last name, unlike "young woman" at the Pan-Continental Lounge counter, "middle aged" woman who gives Ray a ride home after the helicopter trip, and "older woman" who gives in to hysterics when her husband "Harold" disappears from the 747 en route to Heathrow. [note -- 2nd two women were omitted in the digests for those chapters, Harold was the owner of the glasses and hearing aid in Chapter 2. Disappeared husband, name. Grieving survivor wife, not so much].
What about Hattie & Ray?
Hattie calls Ray to make sure he's o.k., and to catch up on the head count of those left behind in each family. Ray has a spiritual awakening, realizing that "he certainly didn't much care what happened to her family any more than he cared when he heard about a remote tragedy on the news."
What to make of it all?
Buck, clearly not racist. "[S]ecret puppeteers," making decisions about the global economy, steering the world to "one [currency] inside a decade." Jonathan Stonagal and Joshua Todd-Cothran, powers behind the throne, but not necessarily Jewish.
Rayford Steele, clearly over Hattie.
Hattie Durham, pointlessly seeking solace in Steele (who must reject her on potential hussy Jezebel grounds), but has reassuring conversation with Buck who calls to tell her her mother and sisters are o.k.
Afterthought
Dirk Burton, Welshman?
Introduced via the ruminations of Buck, as the authors explain his presence in Chicago and his flight to London
Dramatis Personae, novae:
Lucinda Washington: "a fifty-ish black woman," Global Weekly's Chicago Bureau chief. Angry at Cameron (who she refuses to call Buck) for scooping the Chicago office on a local football story. Lucinda: "Sports isn't even your gig, Cameron .... You Ivy League types aren't supposed to like anything but lacrosse and rugby, are you?" Proselytizes to Buck, telling him "[you] know you got your mind right when you saw what God did for Israel" and to "come to my church, and God'll getcha."
Buck admits to being a Deist, but rejoinds with the incontrovertibly reasonable observation that "[God has] already got me ... but Jesus is another thing. The Israelis hate Jesus, but look what God did for them." [Emphasis mine]
Calls Lucinda's home number when stranded at the airport and is told by her teenage son "Mama, Daddy, everybody else is gone .... you know where she is, too. She's in heaven."
Dirk Burton: the man Buck is going to see in England, "a former Princeton classmate, a Welshman who had been working in the London financial district since graduate school." "[A] reliable source in the past, tipping off Buck about secret high-level meetings among international financiers." Informs Buck of the machinations of a secret cabal of financiers who set the world's agenda behind the scenes. None of whom wear long coats to conceal their tails or have last names that end in -stein (yet).
Introduced via Buck's flashback conversation with Dirk
Jonathan Stonagal: "one of the richest men in the world and long known as an American power broker," integral to the U.N.'s integration of the global economy into the three currencies (dollar, mark & yen). "[N]ot only own[s] the biggest banks and financial institutions in the United States, but also owned or had huge interests in the same throughout the world .... the power behind the power .... The mightiest of the secret group of international money men."
Joshua Todd-Cothran: runs the London Exchange, was an eloquent exponent of the three currency reform. Apparently has a secretary who has a subordinate who is related to a friend of Burton's, and the source of Burton's secret knowledge about "the power behind the power."
The takeaway
Buck knows people who know things. And they know the world is converting to one global currency. Buck has also had a conversation with a black woman. Who speaks in awkwardly written dialect and mocks Buck's degree, despite being a major city bureau chief for a prestigious news weekly. And who may re-appear, because she has both a first and a last name, unlike "young woman" at the Pan-Continental Lounge counter, "middle aged" woman who gives Ray a ride home after the helicopter trip, and "older woman" who gives in to hysterics when her husband "Harold" disappears from the 747 en route to Heathrow. [note -- 2nd two women were omitted in the digests for those chapters, Harold was the owner of the glasses and hearing aid in Chapter 2. Disappeared husband, name. Grieving survivor wife, not so much].
What about Hattie & Ray?
Hattie calls Ray to make sure he's o.k., and to catch up on the head count of those left behind in each family. Ray has a spiritual awakening, realizing that "he certainly didn't much care what happened to her family any more than he cared when he heard about a remote tragedy on the news."
What to make of it all?
Buck, clearly not racist. "[S]ecret puppeteers," making decisions about the global economy, steering the world to "one [currency] inside a decade." Jonathan Stonagal and Joshua Todd-Cothran, powers behind the throne, but not necessarily Jewish.
Rayford Steele, clearly over Hattie.
Hattie Durham, pointlessly seeking solace in Steele (who must reject her on potential hussy Jezebel grounds), but has reassuring conversation with Buck who calls to tell her her mother and sisters are o.k.
Afterthought
Dirk Burton, Welshman?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter Four
The state of things
Buck is on his laptop, in the Continental Lounge, bleeding from his head
Captain Steele and flight attendant Hattie have been dropped off in suburban Chicago and head to their respective homes
Awareness dawns
A doctor in the lounge who dresses Buck's head wound assures him "[he's] workin' free today. Call it a Rapture Special."
Ray Steele discovers that his wife Irene and son Ray Jr. (aka "Raymie) "had vanished from the face of the earth."
Dramatis Personae novae
Marge Potter, Steve Planck's "matronly" secretary
E-mails Buck with information regarding Hattie's family (Mom & sisters are o.k.!) Several staffers are gone, but "[e]verybody from the senior staff is accounted for .... Have you noticed it seems to have struck the innocents? Everyone we know who's gone is either a child or a very nice person."
Buck ponders theory
"Marge had referred to the innocents. The doctor had assumed it was the Rapture. Steve had pooh-poohed space aliens. But how could you rule out anything at this point? His mind was already whirring with ideas for the story behind the disappearances. Talk about the assignment of a lifetime!"
A thought gnaws at Buck whilst on line trying to line up a flight to New York
"[H]e tried to remember what it was Chaim Rosenzweig, the Newsmaker of the Year, had told him about the young Nicolae Carpathia of Romania .... Rosenzweig had been impressed with Carpathia, that was true. But why?"
From Buck's archived transcript of his interview with Rosenzweig, circa the "Russian Pearl Harbor" on the topic of Mr. Carpathia
"I found him most charming and humble .... a peacemaker and leading a movement toward disarmament .... Blonde and blue-eyed, like the original Romanians, who came from Rome, before the Mongols affected their race."
Foreshadowing?
"This man is about your age, by the way .... One day you must meet Carpathia. You would like each other ... he is a man of high ideals. If he should emerge, you will hear of him. And as you are emerging in your own orbit, he will likely hear of you."
Next steps
The Global Weekly's unlimited resources are primed to send Buck to New York. Per Buck's conversation with the "young woman" at Pan-Con's Lounge counter "I have to get to New York ... I know it's the worst place to try to get to right now. But you know people ... pilots who fly on the side, charter stuff .... Let's say I had unlimited resources and could pay whatever I needed to. Who would you send me to?"
The wrap
Some chapters have to happen so other stuff can happen. Carpathia seems like a nice guy. Chaim seems like a nice guy. Could things not be as they seem?
Thought of the day
Why are minor male characters given names in this novel, but minor female characters consigned to a gender and age description?
Afterthought of the day
The Mongols invaded Rome?
Buck is on his laptop, in the Continental Lounge, bleeding from his head
Captain Steele and flight attendant Hattie have been dropped off in suburban Chicago and head to their respective homes
Awareness dawns
A doctor in the lounge who dresses Buck's head wound assures him "[he's] workin' free today. Call it a Rapture Special."
Ray Steele discovers that his wife Irene and son Ray Jr. (aka "Raymie) "had vanished from the face of the earth."
Dramatis Personae novae
Marge Potter, Steve Planck's "matronly" secretary
E-mails Buck with information regarding Hattie's family (Mom & sisters are o.k.!) Several staffers are gone, but "[e]verybody from the senior staff is accounted for .... Have you noticed it seems to have struck the innocents? Everyone we know who's gone is either a child or a very nice person."
Buck ponders theory
"Marge had referred to the innocents. The doctor had assumed it was the Rapture. Steve had pooh-poohed space aliens. But how could you rule out anything at this point? His mind was already whirring with ideas for the story behind the disappearances. Talk about the assignment of a lifetime!"
A thought gnaws at Buck whilst on line trying to line up a flight to New York
"[H]e tried to remember what it was Chaim Rosenzweig, the Newsmaker of the Year, had told him about the young Nicolae Carpathia of Romania .... Rosenzweig had been impressed with Carpathia, that was true. But why?"
From Buck's archived transcript of his interview with Rosenzweig, circa the "Russian Pearl Harbor" on the topic of Mr. Carpathia
"I found him most charming and humble .... a peacemaker and leading a movement toward disarmament .... Blonde and blue-eyed, like the original Romanians, who came from Rome, before the Mongols affected their race."
Foreshadowing?
"This man is about your age, by the way .... One day you must meet Carpathia. You would like each other ... he is a man of high ideals. If he should emerge, you will hear of him. And as you are emerging in your own orbit, he will likely hear of you."
Next steps
The Global Weekly's unlimited resources are primed to send Buck to New York. Per Buck's conversation with the "young woman" at Pan-Con's Lounge counter "I have to get to New York ... I know it's the worst place to try to get to right now. But you know people ... pilots who fly on the side, charter stuff .... Let's say I had unlimited resources and could pay whatever I needed to. Who would you send me to?"
The wrap
Some chapters have to happen so other stuff can happen. Carpathia seems like a nice guy. Chaim seems like a nice guy. Could things not be as they seem?
Thought of the day
Why are minor male characters given names in this novel, but minor female characters consigned to a gender and age description?
Afterthought of the day
The Mongols invaded Rome?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter Three
On the tarmac at O'Hare
Evacuation via emergency chute. Buck is the first off the plane, injures his head, then runs off to the Pan Continental lounge to hook up his computer's modem and receive instructions from Steve Plank. Buses are provided for elderly, infirm and flight crews. Captain Steele and Hattie decline on principle. Flight Officer Chris has no such compunctions, displaying a terminal lack of character.
The action
Buck gives Hattie his card, "just in case I get through to your people before you do." Televised mayhem in the terminal, including a christian youth league soccer match suicide and a disturbing delivery room video (involves point of birth rapturing, and that's probably more information than good taste should permit). Rayford phones home -- no news of son Ray Jr., Wife Irene -- but hears voice mail message from daughter Chloe. Who is an undergrad at Stanford. Helicopter ride to the Chicago suburbs for Hattie and Rayford which provides Ray with an opportunity for multipoint full contact Hattie touching as space restrictions compel her to sit on his lap. "He wrapped his arms around her waist and clasped his wrists together. He thought how ironic it was that he had been dreaming of this for weeks, and now there was no joy, no excitement in it, nothing sensual whatever. He was miserable. Glad to be able to help her out, but miserable."
The one flight crew suicide is gossiped about on the helicopter ride. "Chris Smith, you know him? .... the rumor is he found out his boys had disappeared and his wife was killed in a wreck!" (Important to note that had he walked to the terminal, he probably would have had the composure to handle this news with dignity and grace.)
Buck manages to retrieve emails from Global Weekly in the Pan Continental Lounge. Instructed by Steve Plank to "[g]et to New York as soon as you can at any expense."
Dramatis Personae, novae:
Chloe: Captain Rayford Steele's unraptured daughter, student at Stanford. Presumably steeped in secular humanism and teetering on the brink of rug munching adventurism when the Rapture intervenes.
Nicolae Carpathia: (as per Steve Plank, Executive Editor with the Global Weekly) "guy from Romania who so impressed your friend Rosenzweig ... his international popularity reminds me a lot of Walesa or even Gorbachev."
These things are probably not coincidental
Big things for Buck to report on in New York, as per Steve Plank's confidential email:
"Political editor wants to cover a Jewish Nationalist conference in Manhattan that has something to do with a new world order government."
"Religion editor has something ... about a conference of Orthodox Jews also coming for a meeting .... editor thinks they're looking for help in rebuilding the temple .... other religious conference in town ... among leaders of all the major religions, from the standard ones to the New Agers, also talking about a one-world religious order."
"[T]he United Nations has that international monetarist confab coming up, trying to gauge how we're all doing with the three-currency thing ... I'm a little skittish about going to one currency...."
"[T]his Carpathia guy from Romania .... [has] been invited to speak at the U.N. in a couple weeks."
This also is probably not coincidental
My copy of "Left Behind," purchased for the reasonable price of a $2 donation to Washington D.C.'s Martin Luther King Library has no bar code on it.
Evacuation via emergency chute. Buck is the first off the plane, injures his head, then runs off to the Pan Continental lounge to hook up his computer's modem and receive instructions from Steve Plank. Buses are provided for elderly, infirm and flight crews. Captain Steele and Hattie decline on principle. Flight Officer Chris has no such compunctions, displaying a terminal lack of character.
The action
Buck gives Hattie his card, "just in case I get through to your people before you do." Televised mayhem in the terminal, including a christian youth league soccer match suicide and a disturbing delivery room video (involves point of birth rapturing, and that's probably more information than good taste should permit). Rayford phones home -- no news of son Ray Jr., Wife Irene -- but hears voice mail message from daughter Chloe. Who is an undergrad at Stanford. Helicopter ride to the Chicago suburbs for Hattie and Rayford which provides Ray with an opportunity for multipoint full contact Hattie touching as space restrictions compel her to sit on his lap. "He wrapped his arms around her waist and clasped his wrists together. He thought how ironic it was that he had been dreaming of this for weeks, and now there was no joy, no excitement in it, nothing sensual whatever. He was miserable. Glad to be able to help her out, but miserable."
The one flight crew suicide is gossiped about on the helicopter ride. "Chris Smith, you know him? .... the rumor is he found out his boys had disappeared and his wife was killed in a wreck!" (Important to note that had he walked to the terminal, he probably would have had the composure to handle this news with dignity and grace.)
Buck manages to retrieve emails from Global Weekly in the Pan Continental Lounge. Instructed by Steve Plank to "[g]et to New York as soon as you can at any expense."
Dramatis Personae, novae:
Chloe: Captain Rayford Steele's unraptured daughter, student at Stanford. Presumably steeped in secular humanism and teetering on the brink of rug munching adventurism when the Rapture intervenes.
Nicolae Carpathia: (as per Steve Plank, Executive Editor with the Global Weekly) "guy from Romania who so impressed your friend Rosenzweig ... his international popularity reminds me a lot of Walesa or even Gorbachev."
These things are probably not coincidental
Big things for Buck to report on in New York, as per Steve Plank's confidential email:
"Political editor wants to cover a Jewish Nationalist conference in Manhattan that has something to do with a new world order government."
"Religion editor has something ... about a conference of Orthodox Jews also coming for a meeting .... editor thinks they're looking for help in rebuilding the temple .... other religious conference in town ... among leaders of all the major religions, from the standard ones to the New Agers, also talking about a one-world religious order."
"[T]he United Nations has that international monetarist confab coming up, trying to gauge how we're all doing with the three-currency thing ... I'm a little skittish about going to one currency...."
"[T]his Carpathia guy from Romania .... [has] been invited to speak at the U.N. in a couple weeks."
This also is probably not coincidental
My copy of "Left Behind," purchased for the reasonable price of a $2 donation to Washington D.C.'s Martin Luther King Library has no bar code on it.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter Two
On a 747, once en route to Heathrow, returning to Chicago's O'Hare.
Captain Steele is directed to return to Chicago. [Unsure we knew they were flying from Chicago.] Unknown event, not yet referred to as "Rapture" causing chaos and mayhem globally. "Where it's daylight there are car pileups, chaos everywhere. Planes down at every major airport." Unpiloted whatevers crashing into unraptured otherthings everyplaces. Much shrieking in the airplane, stoical attempts to preserve calm as passengers learn that seatmates are missing. Calm preserved through filling out of now completely beside the point foreign entry cards. First Officer Chris introduced as flight officer Smith, performing a head count and sealing his doom. All children and babies are missing.
Fearsome images of a 747 half strewn with clothes laid out as worn ("[his] clothes were in a neat pile on his seat, his glasses and hearing aid on top. The pant legs still hung over the edge and led to his shoes and socks.").
Buck contrives to use his in-flight phone to contact Global Weekly and receive his next assignment. Hattie tries to intervene, but is smooth talked with assurances that if he gets through to his editors, he'll have them look into her family for her. Could this be character development? Might Buck be a macher with a soft spot, a heart of gold beneath the slick exterior? Has a first petal of romance unfurled?
In Chicago:
"Every civil service agency [is] on full emergency status, trying to handle the unending tragedies." "[S]o many cabbies had disappeared from the cab corral at O'Hare that volunteers were being brought in to move the cars that had been left running with the former drivers' clothes still on the seats." "The expressways that led to the airport looked like they had during the great Chicago blizzards, only without the snow."
The recap:
Captain Steele safely navigates the perils of O'Hare and takes whats left of his manifest to ground in the Midwest. Buck has called Hattie "gorgeous" while hacking the in-flight phone system. Captain Steele ponders the meaning of it all.
The big question:
The cabbies get raptured?
Captain Steele is directed to return to Chicago. [Unsure we knew they were flying from Chicago.] Unknown event, not yet referred to as "Rapture" causing chaos and mayhem globally. "Where it's daylight there are car pileups, chaos everywhere. Planes down at every major airport." Unpiloted whatevers crashing into unraptured otherthings everyplaces. Much shrieking in the airplane, stoical attempts to preserve calm as passengers learn that seatmates are missing. Calm preserved through filling out of now completely beside the point foreign entry cards. First Officer Chris introduced as flight officer Smith, performing a head count and sealing his doom. All children and babies are missing.
Fearsome images of a 747 half strewn with clothes laid out as worn ("[his] clothes were in a neat pile on his seat, his glasses and hearing aid on top. The pant legs still hung over the edge and led to his shoes and socks.").
Buck contrives to use his in-flight phone to contact Global Weekly and receive his next assignment. Hattie tries to intervene, but is smooth talked with assurances that if he gets through to his editors, he'll have them look into her family for her. Could this be character development? Might Buck be a macher with a soft spot, a heart of gold beneath the slick exterior? Has a first petal of romance unfurled?
In Chicago:
"Every civil service agency [is] on full emergency status, trying to handle the unending tragedies." "[S]o many cabbies had disappeared from the cab corral at O'Hare that volunteers were being brought in to move the cars that had been left running with the former drivers' clothes still on the seats." "The expressways that led to the airport looked like they had during the great Chicago blizzards, only without the snow."
The recap:
Captain Steele safely navigates the perils of O'Hare and takes whats left of his manifest to ground in the Midwest. Buck has called Hattie "gorgeous" while hacking the in-flight phone system. Captain Steele ponders the meaning of it all.
The big question:
The cabbies get raptured?
Friday, January 7, 2011
Left Behind: Chapter One
On a "fully loaded 747" crossing the Atlantic en route to Heathrow:
Dramatis Personae:
Captain Rayford Steele: Pilot who has "pushed from his mind thoughts of his family."
Hattie Durham: Senior Flight Attendant, "drop dead gorgeous" and "a toucher."
Irene: Rayford Steele's wife, who "has hooked up with a smaller congregation" and is into "weekly Bible studies and church every Sunday," making Rayford "uncomfortable." "Lately [has] been reading everything she could get her hands on about the Rapture of the Church."
Cameron "Buck" Williams: at thirty, the "youngest ever senior writer for the prestigious Global Weekly." "[They] called him Buck ... because he was always bucking tradition and authority."
First Officer Christopher: at one point "squint[s] and lick[s] his lips." Is not given a last name until he commits suicide in Chapter Three. Apparently exists so Rayford Steele can leave the flight deck to perhaps have an encounter with Hattie Durham which may involve hand touching. (If the mood permits and things escalate.)
Introduced via flashback during the ruminations of "Buck," reflecting on the greatest scoop of his career -- his live reportage from the Russo-Libyan-Ethiopian total nuclear assault on Israel:
Steve Plank, Executive Editor of Global Weekly: Appears briefly in an editorial meeting that sends Buck to Israel to interview Chaim Rosenzweig. Apparently exists so Buck can go places and have money to do stuff with.
Chaim Rosenzweig: "Chemist," Global Weekly (and Time's!) Man of the Year, transforms Israel into the most awesome greenhouse ever, with "zero unemployment," said transformation inspiring the Russians to throw their entire arsenal of ICBMS and "nuclear-equipped MIG fighter-bombers" at it, an assault that "became known as the Russian Pearl Harbor."
The action:
People disappear from the flight while it's in the air, crossing the Atlantic. "Their shoes, their socks, their clothes, everything was left behind. These people are gone!"
But what about Israel, after the Russo-Libyan-Ethiopian total nuclear assault?
Pretty o.k. "Miraculously, not one casualty was reported in all of Israel." "[T]he entire Russian air offensive seemed to destroy itself." As a bonus, "[a]mong the ruins, the Israelis found combustible material that would serve as fuel and preserve their natural resources for more than six years."
Recap:
Israel -- a verdant paradise, selling grain and flowers and heating its homes with leavings from spent nuclear munitions.
A fully loaded 747 -- hurtling toward the unknown, Capt. Steele realizing that "Irene had been right .... [h]e, and most of his passengers, had been left behind."
Dramatis Personae:
Captain Rayford Steele: Pilot who has "pushed from his mind thoughts of his family."
Hattie Durham: Senior Flight Attendant, "drop dead gorgeous" and "a toucher."
Irene: Rayford Steele's wife, who "has hooked up with a smaller congregation" and is into "weekly Bible studies and church every Sunday," making Rayford "uncomfortable." "Lately [has] been reading everything she could get her hands on about the Rapture of the Church."
Cameron "Buck" Williams: at thirty, the "youngest ever senior writer for the prestigious Global Weekly." "[They] called him Buck ... because he was always bucking tradition and authority."
First Officer Christopher: at one point "squint[s] and lick[s] his lips." Is not given a last name until he commits suicide in Chapter Three. Apparently exists so Rayford Steele can leave the flight deck to perhaps have an encounter with Hattie Durham which may involve hand touching. (If the mood permits and things escalate.)
Introduced via flashback during the ruminations of "Buck," reflecting on the greatest scoop of his career -- his live reportage from the Russo-Libyan-Ethiopian total nuclear assault on Israel:
Steve Plank, Executive Editor of Global Weekly: Appears briefly in an editorial meeting that sends Buck to Israel to interview Chaim Rosenzweig. Apparently exists so Buck can go places and have money to do stuff with.
Chaim Rosenzweig: "Chemist," Global Weekly (and Time's!) Man of the Year, transforms Israel into the most awesome greenhouse ever, with "zero unemployment," said transformation inspiring the Russians to throw their entire arsenal of ICBMS and "nuclear-equipped MIG fighter-bombers" at it, an assault that "became known as the Russian Pearl Harbor."
The action:
People disappear from the flight while it's in the air, crossing the Atlantic. "Their shoes, their socks, their clothes, everything was left behind. These people are gone!"
But what about Israel, after the Russo-Libyan-Ethiopian total nuclear assault?
Pretty o.k. "Miraculously, not one casualty was reported in all of Israel." "[T]he entire Russian air offensive seemed to destroy itself." As a bonus, "[a]mong the ruins, the Israelis found combustible material that would serve as fuel and preserve their natural resources for more than six years."
Recap:
Israel -- a verdant paradise, selling grain and flowers and heating its homes with leavings from spent nuclear munitions.
A fully loaded 747 -- hurtling toward the unknown, Capt. Steele realizing that "Irene had been right .... [h]e, and most of his passengers, had been left behind."
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Post-Apocalyptic Book Club Reads it for You: "Left Behind"
As a public service to our readers the Post-Apocalyptic Book Club (PABC) is serializing "Left Behind" in a manageably sarcastic, digestable format.
Why digested? Because as written, the work is nigh impossible to consume.
If it's that bad for you, why read it at all? Because it's apocalyptic fiction written for and read by the Christian right conservatives who make policy & occasionally have their finger on the nuclear trigger.
Which makes it the most disturbing book of them all.
Why digested? Because as written, the work is nigh impossible to consume.
If it's that bad for you, why read it at all? Because it's apocalyptic fiction written for and read by the Christian right conservatives who make policy & occasionally have their finger on the nuclear trigger.
Which makes it the most disturbing book of them all.
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