The Changed Man

Author: Orson Scott Card
Genre: Horror (Sci Fi/Psychological)

Card introduces this book by saying how he wanted to try and colled his stories that deal in Dread... well, I'm not too sure about that, these stories are scary on the whole, but actually dread? I'm not sure, I think of them as disturbing. In fact, that's the word I think best sums up this entire book, disturbing. The stories don't make you feel good, I didn't even enjoy most of them. Then again maybe I'm not cut out for this kind of fiction. All I know is that Card has managed to give me nightmares with some of this stuff. I guess if that was what he wanted then he succeeded. Anyhow, read on...

Although I still don’t really know what an ‘eumenides’ is, I do know a fairly scary story when I read it. This tale of woe is about Howard, a man who is so good at conning people, at getting exactly what he wants by pulling strings that it has become a life’s obsession. But today is different. As Howard copes with the loss of his wife after his molestation of their daughter, he begins to see things. Well, more precisely one thing many times over. Howard is haunted by a small baby-like creature, this half baby half fish creature has it out for Howard and he ends up learning the hard way some very disturbing facts of life. This story is definitely not for everyone; to be honest it’s really not for me either. It’s too scary, and too disturbing to be enjoyable, and I was quite glad when it was over.

This is a very weird story. It is essentially a trip through the dying mind of a businessman, Mark Tapworth. Mark seems like a normal enough man, although, he keeps forgetting things, and as of late he doesn’t really have a very firm grip on reality. The story meanders back and forth, and we never really get a very clear picture of what actually is real until the end. I don’t want to say that this story was boring, it just didn’t really enthrall me. The story was fine for what it was, but doesn’t explain much of anything. It might have been more interesting if we understood the whys of it all a little bit more clearly.

This story operates on a simple little premise. It take the idea that people whoare linked together or are about to be linked together in peril begin to breathe at the same rate. Our protagonist notices this phenomenon just before his wife and son are killed in a car accident. The last thing he heard of them was their breathing in unison. And then after the funeral, he hears it again, at the airport. The plane goes down, and all the people breathing together die. Finally he ends up in a mental hospital, is it real does he just imagine it, what is the truth? A nice little story, but a bit of a one trick pony. The premise is shallow, that’s not really to say bad, but the story is definitely a simple one.

Fat Farm is a really interesting if not a little disturbing story about an eccentric and wealthy man Barth Anderson. More than that though, Barth is fat, really obscenely fat; and he loves it. He has a trick up his sleeve that effectively ensures him immortality. Every few years Barth, gets his body and mind cloned into a younger healthier version of himself and reassumes his life fit and vital again. This story, tells of what happens to Barth after he is cloned for the 8th time. Barth suddenly finds himself in a new position; what will he do now that his life has been passed onto a younger version of himself? Unfortunately it isn’t really as simple as living his remaining years out quietly; for Barth has unwittingly signed his life over to the Fat Farm that cloned him. He has no rights, in fact, he doesn’t even legally exist. Barth’s perils come to a head, as he realizes how futile and tragic his life truly is during his new life on a potato farm in Idaho. A great concept, if not for the disturbing nature of the story, I would highly recommend it. Good pacing and a clever narrative, lead us with Barth into a tortured personal hell, where questions are asked and truth must be faced.

It’s the future and the games of the social elite have taking a morbid turn. Orion, a wealthy socialite, has in his possession, a wonderful and dangerous time machine. With this gadget, the men and women of his lurid parties jump back in time to meet some poor unsuspecting sole, and get him to kill them. It is the ultimate thrill of experience, to literally die, then be yanked back to the future to live again. But what affect does this have on the poor trucker the partygoers keep throwing their bodies in front of. Well, it’s disturbing to say the least. Ethically, morally, and intellectually, Orion’s games are wrong; we know this but we can’t help but somehow sympathize with him. He may very well be a monster, or a devil, but who or what can stop him in this act? This was a decent story on a whole, short and intriguing, it tells a succinct little tale that sticks to it’s guns so to speak. I liked the premise, however in the end found the execution to be a little bit much for my tastes. Decent storytelling, but morally I was rather uncomfortable.

Stanly is a truly sick individual. He likes to play games on the freeway across Navada and Utah. You see, Stanly has a bit of an obsession with scaring the hell out of unsuspecting motorists by at first tailing them to the point of their sheer terror, and then by forcing them to drive off the road; thereby killing them. Stanly is a twisted individual who gets an erotic thrill out of this pastime, and I must say, I just didn’t get it. Oh I understand that Stanly has issues; but his motivations aren’t ever really explained, only his reactions. I suppose I don’t really care to know his mind that thoroughly though. Stanly is sick, and I don’t really care for him or this story. Not to say the story is written poorly, or I wasn’t provoked, because I definitely was. I just don’t like subject matter that is in such poor taste.

Once again Card has come through with a disturbing little tale of horrific content. Elaine, is a girl of fifteen, she lives in a rest home/hospital because after the car accident that killed her mother and father, she was left with no arms or legs and must be constantly looked after. The story is told from the perspective of her therapist who is more than a little concerned that Elaine is retreating into herself more and more. She has begun talking of a creature out in space that is contacting her, Anasa, a spaceship like entity, that sings to her as way of communication. Is Elaine going crazy? Have her imaginary friends gotten the best of her? Or could she actually possibly be telling the truth? Our protagonist explores himself, shallow and destructive that he is, and must come to terms with his failings as a therapist and as a friend. Not too bad a tale on the whole, but not too good either. I enjoyed the conflicting emotions, and the pretense of Elaine/Anasa. The characters have been drawn well, although I don’t really care for the situation, it was fairly effective. And we are left with some intriguing questions that make the story on the whole the time.

This is possibly the nicest and straightest story in the entire collection. Prior Restraint is an anecdote, told presumably by Card himself. He talks to us, of a teacher he had at University, one Doc Murphy. Doc may be the professor and friend of Card but he has a secret, a shadowy curse that betrays him whenever he wants to write anything. You see, Doc is one on the greatest writers in the world, but his work has been deemed irresponsible, and dangerous in the eyes of future history. So the Author’s guild of some 800 years in the future, has come back in time to censor him. Most men might think of censorship as a thing which has largely been overcome with time and wisdom, but the truth of the matter is that the greatest works of the greatest writer, have almost all been snuffed out of existence. A very sobering concept. Card relates this to us is anecdotal form, and as a tall tale it definitely serves it’s purpose. Card leaves us questioning himself… If he were really that good a writer, why hasn’t anyone been along to censor him yet?

This is the title story of the collection and I guess I can see why. It’s definitely the most involved of these tales, and probably the longest. The story itself is a little bit weird. Not in structure or theme, because the entire thing is lifted wholeheartedly from Oedipus. The weird thing is that Card would actually create something so bleak and disturbed, and have it not really be his own. Maybe that doesn’t make too much sense though if you haven’t read the story. Anyways, the story is about a family that is falling apart at the seems. The son, a brilliant young scolar is the storyteller; the father, a genetic scientist is the king controlling his world, and the mother is the heart of the tale, utterly shattered, destroyed. The story isn’t all that scary, well, at least as compared to the others in this collection. But it also didn’t really hold my interest. I just couldn’t get involved with such dysfunctional characters; I didn’t know how to relate to them. So in the end I was left with a feeling of, for the most part, plain boredom.

This is a story about suicide. It is a story about a couple whose lives are very different. This couple should definitely not be together, but instead of getting a divorce like sane people, the man kills himself instead. The story is told by this man, in the first person, the tricky part is that he’s telling it after he’s dead. Now I don’t mean he’s a ghost or anything. It’s just that he blew his head off with a shotgun, and then his decapitated body grabbed a pen and began writing this story out for us. It’s pretty weird to say the least; not but, but not good. The man is depressing, a weak and timid individual who didn’t have the strength to do what he should have done during life. I guess I just can’t understand the mentality of a person who’d commit suicide. Anyhow, the premise is interesting, the execution is a little clumsy, but at the end of the day it’s only like 10 pages long, so it’s ok for what it is.

This story scared me in a way more than any of the others printed in this book. The tale is told by Card as himself. It is an extremely personal accounting of how his eldest son Scotty was murdered. Along with a number of other local boys. That in itself is scary enough, I mean, the story is well wrtitten the plot is good, the thing is, it feels very very real. The story is structured in such a way that you are really lead to believe it. And only in an afterward to the story is it explained that the tale is in fact fiction. Card aparently received a lot of critisism about this one. How can he put himself in the position to assume he knows the feelings of a parent who has lost a child? He was labelled by some a monster. But the afterword is interesting, and a very necessary addition. Without it, I would probably be pretty outraged at the lie of this tale. But Card explains how this story isn’t really a lie, it’s not about his truly ficticious son Scotty, but about his very real third child Charles, who suffers from Cerebral Palsy. The story is one of hope, regret, suffering. Card does in fact have justification for the work. And the story is strong; tragic, and engaging. Card has done something very unique with this story and for that he deserves credit. Ethical? I can’t really say… but I accept his reasons for the stories creation.