May 29, 2020
Sheltering-in-place gives food for thought
When it comes to sheltering-in-place at home, my sister and I have a fairly boring routine most days.
There’s cooking (instead of eating out), baking (to pass the time), house cleaning (an ever-present chore), and laundry (always a necessity). But when it comes to relaxation, nothing beats a good book. Given our enforced isolation during the pandemic, both of us have gone through a number of books now, both good and not-so-good.
One of my favorite authors is James Rollins, who writes thrillers that combine action and adventure with cutting-edge science and historical mystery. It’s amazing how he can talk about issues relevant to life today by connecting them with events, people and places in the past.
Rollins’ ability to craft complex stories that are entertaining and educational are front and center in his warning about endangering the environment in “Amazonia,” or the need to balance technological advances in artificial intelligence with ethical issues in “Crucible.”
The heroes of most of his books are members of Sigma Force, a team of scientist-soldiers recruited to act as field agents for DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (a real-life Department of Defense agency responsible for developing technologies for national security).
“The Last Odyssey” by James Rollins. Cover courtesy of William Morrow.
Unfortunately, his latest work falls short of those earlier novels. In “The Last Odyssey” (William Morrow, $28.99), Rollins looks at the mythology in Homer’s “The Iliad” and “Odyssey” tales of monsters, curses and miracles, linking them to a modern-day search for weapons from the Bronze Age that could bring about the End of Days.
While conspiracy theories are always in vogue, using Homer’s work as the basis for a trail of clues to ancient weapons was, well… boring. Rollins’ books are usually page turners, but this one took me nearly six weeks to read.
The only sentence that stood out in the book was an old quote often attributed to Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke — “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Truth always has a way of grabbing our attention.
Despite (or perhaps because of) the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the best reads on my nightstand is Richard Preston’s “The Hot Zone” (Anchor Books, $8.99). If you saw the National Geographic mini-series based on the book, which aired a year ago this week, you know the story.
In 1989, a deadly infectious virus from central Africa suddenly appeared on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. With no cure, 90 percent of its victims died.
Meeting Dr. Nancy Jaax, the U.S. Army veterinary pathologist whose work was on the forefront of research on the Ebola Reston virus, is fascinating. Reading about the power struggle between experts at the C.D.C. and the Army for management control of the situation is a reminder that human nature often determines what scientific facts are actually revealed to people.
Preston’s vivid descriptions of the horrible symptoms that resulted from the virus’s infection are enough to make you want to wash your hands every hour on the hour. If the pain and suffering felt by COVID-19 patients today were given the spotlight — instead of partisan grabs for the limelight — would a young party-goer have been as cavalier in telling a reporter over the Memorial Day weekend, “If you don’t want to catch it, stay home”?
The author notes that the emergence of many viruses seems to be a consequence of damaging the environment. “The emerging viruses are surfacing from ecologically damaged parts of the earth,” writes Preston, who adds that many come from the tattered edges of tropical rain forest, or topical savanna being rapidly settled by people. “In a sense, the earth is mounting an immune response against the human species.”
Perhaps viruses are Mother Nature’s way of saying, “Stop – look at how you’re living your life. Do you value each other? Do you value me?”
Something to think about these days… whether you’re sheltering-in-place, or not.
Dinah Eng 