Theresa42
Well-known member
Last town can't hide from ravages of flu, loss of humanity
Sunday, September 17, 2006
NICOLE CHVATAL
The 1918 influenza pandemic was enormously devastating, killing at least 20 million people worldwide. In Thomas Mullen's debut novel, "The Last Town on Earth," the healthy residents of tiny Commonwealth, Wash., quarantine themselves in hopes of avoiding the deadly flu that has stricken the towns surrounding them.
Set in the dense woods near Everett, the fictional Commonwealth is home to about 500 residents. It's an unconventional place without a sheriff, bank, tavern, phones or movie theater. At its center is a lumber mill run by Charles Worthy, once heir to a lucrative mill in Everett. Charles and his suffragist wife, Rebecca, founded Commonwealth as an alternative community after witnessing a massacre between his family's mill and angry union members. For nearly two years, the "new hybrid of socialist haven and capitalist enterprise" is moderately successful and is open to anyone willing to work for good wages. With wood in high demand for World War I, the hamlet is idyllic . . . until the flu arrives.
To make sure no one enters or leaves the town, Graham, a respected millworker, and Philip, Charles' adopted son, take one of the first guard shifts. On their watch, a soldier appears, looking for shelter. They turn him away but he's persistent, and after repeated warnings Graham has no choice but to shoot and kill him.
At this point, Mullen's novel hits its stride. Mullen is a terrific, clear writer, and the story moves at a rapid pace. While neither Philip, Graham nor the mysterious soldier appear to be sick, people in Commonwealth come down with the flu anyway, resulting in an implosion of the community's "love thy brother" values. Panic ensues, fingers are pointed, the general store is robbed, the community garden is ransacked.
The flu is ghastly, and Mullen spares no detail. Men and women become too sick to move, their heads and joints aching as if repeatedly bludgeoned. Weakened by the disease, they often contract pneumonia and die a quick, painful death, many turning blue due to lack of oxygen. It's no wonder friends no longer want to help each other out:
"Mientkiewicz's sick."
"Him too?"
"I just saw him. He was walking to the mill but coughing up a storm. I passed him and we looked at each other -- just looked. I knew it and he knew it. I guess he was hoping maybe he wasn't so bad, you know? That maybe he'd be okay if he just tried to keep going."
"So what happened?"
"He was about two blocks away when I saw him, and he had this guilty look in his eyes. Then he just started coughing and coughing, all doubled over and everything, so I walked away. Didn't want to be too near him, you know?"
Mullen carefully balances the tensions and events of this historic time and the result is a gripping story that poses a worst-case scenario. When faced with fear and a life-or-death situation, the residents of Commonwealth ultimately see the nasty underbelly of human behavior up close. And unfortunately, it's as contagious as the flu.
Mullen reads from "The Last Town on Earth" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.
Nicole Chvatal recently reviewed "Alentejo Blue" by Monica Ali for The Oregonian.
http://www.oregonlive.com/O/artsandbooks/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1158098114193150.xml&coll=7
Sunday, September 17, 2006
NICOLE CHVATAL
The 1918 influenza pandemic was enormously devastating, killing at least 20 million people worldwide. In Thomas Mullen's debut novel, "The Last Town on Earth," the healthy residents of tiny Commonwealth, Wash., quarantine themselves in hopes of avoiding the deadly flu that has stricken the towns surrounding them.
Set in the dense woods near Everett, the fictional Commonwealth is home to about 500 residents. It's an unconventional place without a sheriff, bank, tavern, phones or movie theater. At its center is a lumber mill run by Charles Worthy, once heir to a lucrative mill in Everett. Charles and his suffragist wife, Rebecca, founded Commonwealth as an alternative community after witnessing a massacre between his family's mill and angry union members. For nearly two years, the "new hybrid of socialist haven and capitalist enterprise" is moderately successful and is open to anyone willing to work for good wages. With wood in high demand for World War I, the hamlet is idyllic . . . until the flu arrives.
To make sure no one enters or leaves the town, Graham, a respected millworker, and Philip, Charles' adopted son, take one of the first guard shifts. On their watch, a soldier appears, looking for shelter. They turn him away but he's persistent, and after repeated warnings Graham has no choice but to shoot and kill him.
At this point, Mullen's novel hits its stride. Mullen is a terrific, clear writer, and the story moves at a rapid pace. While neither Philip, Graham nor the mysterious soldier appear to be sick, people in Commonwealth come down with the flu anyway, resulting in an implosion of the community's "love thy brother" values. Panic ensues, fingers are pointed, the general store is robbed, the community garden is ransacked.
The flu is ghastly, and Mullen spares no detail. Men and women become too sick to move, their heads and joints aching as if repeatedly bludgeoned. Weakened by the disease, they often contract pneumonia and die a quick, painful death, many turning blue due to lack of oxygen. It's no wonder friends no longer want to help each other out:
"Mientkiewicz's sick."
"Him too?"
"I just saw him. He was walking to the mill but coughing up a storm. I passed him and we looked at each other -- just looked. I knew it and he knew it. I guess he was hoping maybe he wasn't so bad, you know? That maybe he'd be okay if he just tried to keep going."
"So what happened?"
"He was about two blocks away when I saw him, and he had this guilty look in his eyes. Then he just started coughing and coughing, all doubled over and everything, so I walked away. Didn't want to be too near him, you know?"
Mullen carefully balances the tensions and events of this historic time and the result is a gripping story that poses a worst-case scenario. When faced with fear and a life-or-death situation, the residents of Commonwealth ultimately see the nasty underbelly of human behavior up close. And unfortunately, it's as contagious as the flu.
Mullen reads from "The Last Town on Earth" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.
Nicole Chvatal recently reviewed "Alentejo Blue" by Monica Ali for The Oregonian.
http://www.oregonlive.com/O/artsandbooks/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1158098114193150.xml&coll=7
