Desert Errata

(Conceived in the sands of the Middle East, with apologies to Max Ehrmann)

Meander your way through the world and make mistakes. Hurry less along the paths you know and tread slowly some unknown ones. Look around you and above you often. Learn from the sky, for even when heavy with threatening clouds it still has beauty. Recognise that you never truly own anything and therefore hold lightly to your possessions: they are not really yours. Let go. Fall in love more than once and relive that feeling every single day. Lash yourself tightly to the mast of positive belief, for in life’s storms this will be all that prevents your being washed overboard. Hear what people say not what you think they say, and be ready to give even the lowest person the benefit of any doubt. You will learn more things of value from fools than from wise men anyway. Do not dwell on the disappointments of the past or concern yourself unduly with the uncertainties of the future, for all is flux and things of darkness melt away in their time. Know that guilt is a futile emotion; and therefore put right any wrongs you have done as best you can and continue on your way. Above all be kind and practise compassion as if our very existence depended on it. For it surely does.

JD's Review of 'The Far Out Cafe' by Stuart Chambers

Stuart Chambers' 'The Far Out Cafe' comes at you like a sustained burst of machine-gun fire.

The book has two parts to it; the first is set in the Vietnam War, while the second deals with its immediate aftermath for the survivors.

Chambers' description of the insanity of the conflict and the dehumanising of those affected is gripping, the writing intense and staccato in places. Many books have been written about that particular conflict, but only a few (at least for me) capture the psychotic unreality of individuals who have lost their moral compass. This book has that ring of authenticity to it, with throwaway descriptions of tactics and weaponry and almost casually-described slaughter.

The second half of 'The Far Out Cafe' chronicles the shifting alliances and damaged lives of the remaining protagonists, including Daniel the main character who develops an Ahab-like obsession with a man-eating shark. The narrative has a number of twists and turns which keeps it fresh.

This Indie novel would benefit from some objective editing and a little pruning in the second half where the pace slows a little. None of this, however, significantly detracts from what is essentially a visceral and ultimately a very human tale, and one that is well told.