Review: Bow to the Machine -- or else
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 11, 2014
It would seem that Ballard has achieved some good things in life: a wife whom he had loved from their school days, and a position as supervisor in his sector. Outside, however, the Maelstrom rages incessantly, and inside, all life -- social, work, religion -- revolves around the Machine. Ballard's wife has for some time treated him with biting contempt and disparagement, and he has not had the career success that he had expected. With little to bring joy to him amidst the sounds and smells of the Machine, Ballard's thoughts turn to a gift that his deceased father has left to him, a forbidden gift that is about to change everything for him, and expose him to the much less protective side of the society of the Machine.Although this is a quick read, Keith Deininger has packed in a lot of dark, disturbing atmosphere and images into this novella. He gives us brief back stories and dialogue that delineate the characters very well, particularly that of Ballard; we get a clear sense of his mentality and the breaking point that he has reached. Deininger describes the Machine environment in a way that makes you almost hear and smell it, and it is an ever-oppressive backdrop to the tortured mind of Ballard.