Review: The Essence of a Human Soul Carried on a Molecule
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 3, 2012
This is a skillful piece of short fiction written in an effortless style, even though the author envisions the complex and agonizing journey of a certain biochemical molecule through a process of death to rebirth.Imagine a short story in which the viewpoint character is a biochemical molecule!Well, that's what this author did, and the result for most readers will be a compelling page-turner they'll gobble up in less than an hour of leisurely reading.One of the things I like about "The Old Soul" is that it defies genre. I can't decide: Is this science fiction, New Age spirituality or perhaps the ancient Vedic concept of reincarnation re-framed with the viewpoint of a modern-day molecular biologist?  But that's a side issue. It doesn't really matter because this is a work that stands on its own, and for what it is.While I found this an entertaining, insightful and provocative read, I dare say it will not be everyone's cup of tea, or I should say, not everyone's bowl of biochemical soup. Our heroic biological molecule will do battle with myxoviruses, rhinoviruses and icornaviruses -make a thrilling escape down the microbiological food chain - only to face absorption by a marauding entamoeba hystolica - which it cleverly outsmarts by blending unobtrusively into the amoeba's cytoplasm! And it's just getting started!How about that!A minor mystery for me is the identity of the author, which is listed as Joseph Wurtenbaugh. The copyright is under the name of Frank Dudley Berry, Jr. - and at the end, the author encourages us to check out his (her?) book, "Thursday's Child" which is published as Josephine Wurtenbaugh.Again, this is a side issue of little consequence. Whether it's by Frank, Joseph or Josephine, this is a fine piece of literature.