The beat poet, Kenneth Patchen, in his poem Street Corner College, wrote-

Final year was a year ago absolutely nothing much more.

We weren’t younger then nor older now.

We manage to have the look that young men have

We feel nothing behind our faces, a single way or other.

We shall almost certainly not be quite dead when we die.

This is the starting point, the main conceit, for the novel Generation by William Knight. An evil corporation (is there another kind?) is swimming in the gene pool with unforeseen results. An age old fear, beyond the fear of death, the fear of waking inside your coffin, is the basis of this novel. The dead in this function are not in coffins but in a forensic investigation facility exactly where they lounge about in the open, in different states and stages of decomposition and decay, for the benefit of science. A facility like the 1 described to great effect in the non-fiction function, Bones. The unfortunate semi dead reside in a strange limbo of component joy and element helpless remorse which Knight treats with sympathy and skill.

I admit to liking the lead character based on a prejudice. As a private detective I typically utilised pre-texting in my function. Pre-texting is generating think the world is one thing other than what it is. It is pretending to be blind so men and women you are talking to do not guard their actions in front of you. It is pretending to be something you happen to be not in order to disarm someone’s suspicions. Knight’s character does this and does it nicely.

I discovered myself unsure of wanting to read the parts about the close to dead. But in this book the reality of the dead and that of the majority or the living by no means really touched every other but there is more to come judging by the ending and I appear forward to reading it. The thought is compelling.

If the novel needs a weakness, I felt a weakness in the adore relationship. At least I was unconvinced by it. The actors seem to turn into fully distinct people when it came to sex. But at least it got them naked and vulnerable and… Nicely I don’t want to ruin this component for you. Here’s where it gets very good again.

It really is written in British English as opposed to American English. But in fairness, British English really should be known as merely, English. Be ready for factors like curb spelled with a ‘k’.

Read it, it’s fun. GENERATION.

Thanks for listening.