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I know the other day I was thinking that it would take me awhile before finishing “Season of the Witch”, but I finished it up this morning and I didn’t even read in the car yesterday! Apparently my reading snippets are longer than I supposed they were. Anyhow, having been up since 7:30 and not being able to do anything ’til noon gave me plenty of time to finish up the 150 pages I had left in the book from yesterday afternoon.
I loved it. I really really loved it and it wasn’t as creepy as I thought it might become. To pinpoint what exactly I loved about this book….
1. ‘Remote Viewing’ is an interesting concept. Even more interesting is that the author based it off of the US’s STARGATE program, which I’ll have to look into a bit more. But the idea that there are some people there that can enter into someone else’s mind space is…cool and creepy at the same time. I’m not gung ho about thinking that someone can see my personal thoughts, but the ways in which they (allegedly) use it is interesting.
2. Alchemy. Alchemy in and of itself is just such an interesting topic. I love how the sisters used it for several different purposes. They used it to make perfumes, lotions, body wash, teas, wines, etc… But they also used it to explore the deeper regions of the mind, specifically where it comes into play with memory.
3. Strengthening the brain as a muscle. The sisters were also interested in expanding the useage of their minds to its fullest potential through use of ‘high magic’ and alchemy; they were referenced as ’solar witches’.
4. How one can be addicted to knowledge, the ride/rush of being powerful over someone else. You see it in Gabriel (the main character) when he ’slams rides’ and within the sisters’ game which they play with Robbie. That sense of ownership over someone else and how it can take you from a purely curious/learning perspective to something more sinister.
Even though towards the end as Gabriel was just starting to figure out the whodunnit part of the book, I was 98% sure I knew who the ‘murderess’ was, it was still written well and I didn’t feel letdown by already knowing. I definitely recommend this book!
Since I finished up my last book I’ve kind of been between two different books. One, recommended by my MIL is “Paris to the Moon” by Adam Gopnik; the other is one I picked up on a whim at the library, “Season of the Witch” by Natasha Mostert. I find “Paris to the Moon” interesting enough, but I am also compelled to take notes so I can keep a clear view of what’s going on. It seems to me that in my pregnant state I shouldn’t really be reading any kind of book that requires me to bear in mind any political unrest happenings while also trying to understand their (slight) obsession with being Parisian.
“Season of the Witch” has been far more engaging by far. I think what’s caught me is the theory of alchemy that the sisters are dabbling with and how they are going about it is being revealed bit by bit. It’s appealing to me that we are reading the bulk of the story from Gabriel’s (main character) point of view but almost every other chapter there is a snippet from one of the sister’s diaries; it’s always kept short and relevant to the events occuring within the previous chapter. It might take me a little longer to read this one as my reading time has been reduced to an hour in the afternoons and maybe twenty minutes in the evening. But I hope that our short weekend trip will allow me some quality book time 
I 100% absolutely LOVED this book. The author was funny and I was able to read through the gross descriptions of eating live people without blinking an eye (or gagging). So…a few more notes I jotted down before hopping into a mini synopsis.
1. At the end of Chapter 34 Rita’s heart begins to beat; weird, right?
2. “Something inside me has changed…Something instinctual. I can feel it growing, wanting to take over. And I can feel myself succumbing, seduced by this new feeling.” pg. 194. Two thoughts. 1) With the first line I got “Defying Gravity” stuck in my head and now that’s the only thing I can think of when I read it. 2) Reminds me of vampires; more specifically Police Girl in the anime “Hellsing” who, after becoming a vampire, can’t bring herself to drink the packets of blood sent to her room because she’s afraid that she’ll lose the human part of herself to the darker side of what she’s become.
3. Andy’s dad wants to drop him off at a Zombie Zoo to recoup the thousands of dollars he’s lost in wine consumed. At this juncture Andy finally reveals to his parents that he’s regained his ability to speak and unveils it in one simple phrase “Fuck you dad”. pg. 201
4. A few pages later Andy’s heart begins to beat; something strange is definitely going on here
5. Chapter 41, Ray is ‘arrested’ for eating Breathers. How did they find out?
6. Andy’s capture by SPCA sparks a national interest in his story and he becomes a celebrity practically overnight. “…not every savior is holy. Not every saint is a paragon of virtue.” pg. 259
7. “Zombies are just the latest in a long line of those who’ve been oppressed by the ruling elite.” pg. 263. I was wondering when they were goingn to bring this up. In previous paragraphs he pointed out that African-Americans were first oppressed, then women weren’t allowed to vote, we put Japanese Americans in ‘camps’, and etc…
8. My biggest WTF thought came on pg. 267 when Rita announces that she’s pregnant. Really? Another flashback memory to “Angel” when he impregnated Darla; it shouldn’t happen and yet it did.
9. “Now we’ve alerted everyone to our presence…they’re not happy about it…they’re annoyed we had the audacity to speak up.” pg. 278
10. Sigma Chi, the same fraternity responsible for Tom losing his arm have now immolated Rita & their unborn baby. Group is coming to exact revenge.
11. I found a Chuck Palahniuk-likeness in the book and it didn’t really hit me ’til last night. Every so often (maybe once a chapter? Less often?) the phrase “If you’ve never….then you wouldn’t understand” which while repetitive, repetitive in a funny way. Not in the same way it was annoying in “Choke”.
The basic premise of the book is that Andy has reanimated from the dead and become a zombie. He discovers that zombies are looked down upon with complete disdain and fear. All people know of zombies are that they are rabid flesh-eating monsters from George Romano movies. Multiple times in the beginning of the book Andy insists that the ‘real’ kind of zombie does not eat humans, indeed eating in itself has become more out of habit than any natural instinct. He finds the irony in how a bus filled with Breathers could be afraid of one single zombie minding his own business but when darkness falls there’s no holding back. Filled with the courage of alcohol and the cover of darkness people destroy that which they don’t (or care to) understand. Inspired by Helen’s messages of how to deal with being a zombie in a Breather world, Andy intends to ‘fight’ for his right to have basic human rights. But by doing so he has to ponder what exactly it means to be ‘human’ or a ‘citizen’. After all, as a reanimated corpse you are not even counted as ‘on the grid’; your social security number is taken away and everything about your former life is no longer available. His protests land him at the pound a handful of times which only causes more friction between his non-understanding father and himself. From the get-go you can tell that it will be Andy’s dad that invites his inevitable destruction.
When Andy and a few other members of Undead Anonymous meet Ray, you can feel a shift of how things are going to be. They innately know that there’s something about that venison that revs their engines, but at this point they aren’t going to analyze it too much; as Andy later ruminates, either because they were scared to admit what they were doing or they knew and just didn’t care. After consuming so many jars of Ray’s ‘venison’, everyone begins to notice a change. Most noticeably Andy who before was unable to speak and is now croaking out words and healing in places that should stay broken. Helen, the leader of Undead Anonymous, is not oblivious to this and announces to the group that they only way this could possibly happen is if they’d been eating Breathers. She advises them to stop eating the Breather venison because someone will begin to notice and that will not be good for their reputation. Ironically everyone turns up at Ray’s granary including Helen. Whether or not she was looking for venison isn’t clear, but I can’t imagine what else she’d be doing there.
With the slaughter of Andy’s parents the members of Undead Anonymous go on a Breather feeding frenzy. They have a BBQ and pot lucks and bring Breather snacks to meetings. Every time Andy sees a Breather all he can imagine is how they would taste. By the end of the book this leads Andy to the ultimate realization that you can suppress your natural instincts, but once you get a taste for it, you cannot ignore it. So maybe zombie movies got it right; zombies do like to eat people.
A lot of things in this book come full circle at the end which I liked. I really enjoyed the ending itself and didn’t feel as if anything was left hanging. So for a completely goofy and silly and funny read, you should definitely go and get this book.
Here are a few notes I jotted down while reading. Some of them have been clarified, but interesting nonetheless.
1. I like how the ‘technical’ term for zombies is “spontaneous resurrection”. Also the descriptions of each member of Andy’s Zombie’s Anonymous group is comical.
2. “Still I think we need to come up with a name other than Undead Anonymous. After all, when you’re undead, you’re about as anonmous as a transvestite with a 5 o’clock shadow.” pg. 8
3. Interesting that the main character notes that it makes a difference whether or not you were embalmed before/after being reanimated. Although it does make sense because you would decompose a bit slower.
4. I was sad that unclaimed zombies were left at ‘detention centers’ like lost pets. Even sadder still was that zombies often end up homeless or some kind of shelters.
5. “But one of the major drawbacks of being a zombie, aside from the decomposing flesh and the absence of civil rights and the children who scream at the sight of you, is that food has lost most of its flavor.” pg. 23 I find it hilarious that he goes through this long description of all the *other* things that suck about being a zombie and then ends with the loss of taste of food.
6. There are actually Undead Commandments
7. “Except even in undeath, when faced with your potential demise, there’s a self-preservation instinct that kicks in…” pg. 34
8. “…aggression by zombies against humans is considered grounds for immediate destruction. Even if it’s in self-defense.” pg. 35 How many times has this rule been applied to different classes/races of people?
9. “…as Rita sits there in her Playboy Bunny costume holding the venison out to me, I’m reminded of Even holding the apple out to Adam…we’ve already been kicked out so I take the apple.” pg. 53 Interesting observation by the main character
10. At this point in the book I was already predicting that Ray becomes the one to influence the others to start eating humans/Breathers; he was a hunter in his human life and has this bad-ass feel to him that whatever you want, you should be able to take it (reminded me exactly of Faith when she was first introduced in Buffy)
11. After eating the venison and experiencing feelings of restlessness and being caught roaming the streets, the main character begins to question what the definition of ‘citizen’ or ‘person’ really is according to any laws/constitution
12. “[Breathers] They don’t want to have to confront the unpleasant realities of their nature beneath the glaring light of the sun. They’d rather deal with them after dark, where they’re harder to see and easier to ignore.” pg. 89 Very apt realization
13. “But sitting here by the fire, shoveling perserved deer meat between my lips with the juices running down my chin, I feel almost primal.” pg. 105 I saw this line as huge foreshadowing for what’s to come
14. Tom tells Ray he’s a vegetarian and so Ray hands him a jar of ‘tuna’; it really isn’t, it’s the same stuff everyone else is eating.
15. Andy feels an adrenaline rush for the first time pg. 114 and a few days after eating the venison again is beginning to regain his speech pg. 118
16. I found it hilarious that Andy was getting make-up lessons from his mom on how to look ‘more human’
17. Ray is “…kind of like a zombie preacher. A messiah for the undead.” pg. 128
18. Helen’s friend Ian is using cosmetics to fool the world that he isn’t a zombie; is he eating Breathers too?
19. “I need to challenge the institution that has relegated me to the status of nonhuman. After all, what do I have to lose by standing up for myself? If being a rotting corpse with no rights and no future isn’t the worst thing…can’t be that much further to rock-bottom.” pg. 149. I like how Andy eating the venison is prompting him to question his station in a world that refuses to recognize zombies as anything more than creatures and that as a zombie he can still have these philosophical thoughts about rights.
I’m really enjoying the humor in this book and also the now ‘morality’ question of whether or not the members of the group who have been eating the ‘venison’ will continue to do so now that they know it’s actually a Breather. Will they give up this strange regeneration to become fastly decomposing corpses again or forge ahead and push for a semblance of equality? I also like that Helen’s epithets are truly gaining meaning only after Andy’s been eating the ‘venison’ and now she’s asking them to stop.
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