Author: Dean Koontz
Forever Odd, the second installment in what Dean Koontz promises will be an ongoing epic, is one of his best stories to date. It chronicles the life of Odd Thomas, a short-order cook with extraordinary abilities who lives in the Southern California town of Pico Mundo on the edge of the Mojave Desert. As his name implies, Odd is not your usual cook—or usual human being, for that matter. He possesses an unusual gift: the ability to see the dead walking among us. These walking specters are drawn to him because of this gift. He can talk to them, but they can only respond through gestures, facial expressions and body language. Odd believes that they cling to this world in a state of limbo, stuck as if to a spider’s web, because of strong emotions—anger, sorrow, despair—that are always connected to their untimely death. He also believes that they cannot leave until some form of reconciliation occurs. It’s not a new concept in supernatural literature, this idea that the dead cannot leave due to the strength of emotions attached to their death. But Koontz uses this concept as a backdrop to develop some of his most vibrant and endearing characters.
The strength of Koontz’s storytelling usually centers on his unique ability to create interesting characters. Odd Thomas is supported and sometimes guided in his adventures by a supporting cast that includes Chief Wyatt Porter, Pico Mundo’s grizzled, veteran police chief; Terri Stambaugh, Odd’s boss at the grill who is a fast talking, die-hard Elvis Presley fan; P. Oswald Boone, an author and Odd’s best friend, who is also a four-hundred pound mystery novelist with a clairvoyant cat; and the ghost of The King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley himself.
The story opens with Odd awakening to find the spirit of a man he knows well, Dr. Wilbur Jessup, standing beside his bed. He rises to investigate and discovers the doctor’s body bludgeoned to death and his son missing. The son is Danny, Odd’s close friend who suffers from ontogenesis imperfecta, a crippling brittle bone disease. He suspects that Danny has been kidnapped from his home, possibly by his birth father, who was recently released from prison. We are immediately drawn into the adventure as Odd sets off in pursuit of Danny’s kidnappers.
We find that Odd’s special powers also stretch into other realms of the psychic. His “psychic magnetism” allows him to find people or unseen places by focusing on a mental image of them. He follows the psychic trail of Danny down into an underground, labyrinthine drainage system, and eventually emerges again far out in the desert. Standing on the edge of the desert, Odd places a call to Sheriff Porter, a father figure to Odd who possesses a firm but still uncertain belief in the young man’s extraordinary abilities. Odd has helped the sheriff solve cases before and found answers when none seemed evident using conventional police tactics. After Odd briefly updates the sheriff regarding the case, their conversation turns to the current mission in the desert. The following is a piece of this conversation recounted through Odd’s narrative:
Lying to him would be harder than lying to myself. “I’m being pulled, sir.”
“Pulled where?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m still on the move.”
“Where are you now?”
“I’d rather not say, sir.”
“You’re not gonna Lone Ranger this,” he worried.
“If that seems best.”
“No Tonto, no Silver – that’s not smart. Use your head, son.”
“Sometimes you’ve got to trust your heart.”
“No point in me arguing with you, is there?”
When events or timing lead us down to the heart-and-soul life, I believe that we are all faced with this choice at some time during our quest for eternal truth. We find ourselves compelled to follow some abstract feeling or uncertain belief out into the desert of our own souls, and we can only go there alone. We cannot always explain, even to those closest to us, why we believe so firmly that we must go. I think it is in this place and only here that we find God. But it isn’t an easy choice, and nothing at the time seems concrete, not even our own thoughts.
Whether it is Koontz’s intention or not, the character of Odd Thomas is on a constant faith journey. He is forever drawn away from the potential of a comfortable life and asked to follow spirits and feelings toward an unknown end. He simply must take a leap and follow his heart. The life of a Christian is not easy, and rarely do we have any or all of the answers to the questions of our future. We simply must trust in God and the belief that his plan at the end of our desert-journey is worth the risk of following such uncertainty. At his core, Odd has an unshakable faith in what he is called to do. This latest story by Dean Koontz, the mass-market, supernatural thriller king, deeply inspired my own often-shakable faith.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Coldplay: Viva La Vida
I can’t say I have always loved Coldplay, mainly because I went through a phase where everyone seemed to like them and I didn’t listen, just to be different. Fortunately for me, my old friend sat me down and forced me to listen to them and I haven’t looked back since.
Chris Martin and the rest of the band have always been very artistically and musically gifted in my opinion, but their newest release, Viva La Vida, covers a lot of new territory and blows the doors off of their first three albums. The record as a whole is much more epic, more experimental and quite brilliant in a lot of ways.
The intro song “Life in Technicolor” is simply instrumental with a few “whoa-oh’s” in the background, but it is very reminiscent of older U2 classics like “Where the Streets Have No Name,” and it segues beautifully into the haunting “Cemeteries of London.” It is a song about the ghosts of England’s past, creeping through at night. The next track “Lost!” with its backbeat and accompanying organ is a rousing song with many possible meanings. It has already been interpreted by some as a message about salvation, but it seems to me to be more about being down but not out. As 2 Corinthians 4:9 says we are “…persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”
Track 4, “42,” another ghost-themed song, seems depressing and longing, but includes such lyrics as “Time is so short and I’m sure there must be something more.” I like the musical changeup in this song, but the repetition wears a little bit after a first or second listen. The gorgeous melodies of “Lover in Japan/ Reign of Love” included with tons of religious imagery make this one of my favorite listens on the album. Even though I have never heard anyone from Coldplay profess any Christian beliefs, it is still nice to hear lyrics like “Lovers, keep on the road you’re on, runners, until the race is run,” or “Reign of love by the church we’re waiting, Reign of love, my knees go praying.” They are still very inspirational and perhaps a seed has been planted already in frontman Chris Martin’s brain somewhere in his past. “Yes” is a different track sung mostly in a very low key for Martin who is most well know for his amazing falsetto. It is a song about facing temptation and fighting against loneliness and contains some beautiful violin arrangements and an extended ending which sounds more hopeful than the rest of the song.
Next comes the title track, “Viva La Vida.” In my opinion this is one of the greatest songs written in the last couple of years. You’ve probably heard a clip of it on the iTunes commercial already but nothing prepared me for hearing this song in its entirety. The lyrics may seem a little grandiose or pompous on paper (“that is when I ruled the world,”) but the musical arrangement and accompanying vocals are so epic and spectacular that it connects everything seamlessly to produce a modern classic. I honestly still get chills listening to this song at high volume in my car! “Violet Hill” turns the tide a little more and reminds me of a few songs from the Beatles later years. “Strawberry Swing” has a lot of pretty background music, but doesn’t compare with the grandeur of the last track “Death and All His Friends.” It is very instrumentally diverse, and ends with a two minute outro, leaving the listener wanting more.
Some versions will come with a bonus version of “Lost” stripped down to just Martin and his piano, and I almost prefer it to the original. There is a beautiful simplicity to it, but an underlying power and it is a great way to bring the album to a close. This CD is a wonderful reminder of what people can do with the talent God gives to them. It is far superior to so much of what is released every week in the music world and gives me hope in the direction music seems to be going.
Chris Martin and the rest of the band have always been very artistically and musically gifted in my opinion, but their newest release, Viva La Vida, covers a lot of new territory and blows the doors off of their first three albums. The record as a whole is much more epic, more experimental and quite brilliant in a lot of ways.
The intro song “Life in Technicolor” is simply instrumental with a few “whoa-oh’s” in the background, but it is very reminiscent of older U2 classics like “Where the Streets Have No Name,” and it segues beautifully into the haunting “Cemeteries of London.” It is a song about the ghosts of England’s past, creeping through at night. The next track “Lost!” with its backbeat and accompanying organ is a rousing song with many possible meanings. It has already been interpreted by some as a message about salvation, but it seems to me to be more about being down but not out. As 2 Corinthians 4:9 says we are “…persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”
Track 4, “42,” another ghost-themed song, seems depressing and longing, but includes such lyrics as “Time is so short and I’m sure there must be something more.” I like the musical changeup in this song, but the repetition wears a little bit after a first or second listen. The gorgeous melodies of “Lover in Japan/ Reign of Love” included with tons of religious imagery make this one of my favorite listens on the album. Even though I have never heard anyone from Coldplay profess any Christian beliefs, it is still nice to hear lyrics like “Lovers, keep on the road you’re on, runners, until the race is run,” or “Reign of love by the church we’re waiting, Reign of love, my knees go praying.” They are still very inspirational and perhaps a seed has been planted already in frontman Chris Martin’s brain somewhere in his past. “Yes” is a different track sung mostly in a very low key for Martin who is most well know for his amazing falsetto. It is a song about facing temptation and fighting against loneliness and contains some beautiful violin arrangements and an extended ending which sounds more hopeful than the rest of the song.
Next comes the title track, “Viva La Vida.” In my opinion this is one of the greatest songs written in the last couple of years. You’ve probably heard a clip of it on the iTunes commercial already but nothing prepared me for hearing this song in its entirety. The lyrics may seem a little grandiose or pompous on paper (“that is when I ruled the world,”) but the musical arrangement and accompanying vocals are so epic and spectacular that it connects everything seamlessly to produce a modern classic. I honestly still get chills listening to this song at high volume in my car! “Violet Hill” turns the tide a little more and reminds me of a few songs from the Beatles later years. “Strawberry Swing” has a lot of pretty background music, but doesn’t compare with the grandeur of the last track “Death and All His Friends.” It is very instrumentally diverse, and ends with a two minute outro, leaving the listener wanting more.
Some versions will come with a bonus version of “Lost” stripped down to just Martin and his piano, and I almost prefer it to the original. There is a beautiful simplicity to it, but an underlying power and it is a great way to bring the album to a close. This CD is a wonderful reminder of what people can do with the talent God gives to them. It is far superior to so much of what is released every week in the music world and gives me hope in the direction music seems to be going.
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