Shades of Doppelgänger: Dislike Revisited

Some things are unbelievable coincidences. Others are deliberate incidences. I’m still stuck between the two on this new conundrum: Have you ever read two books by two different authors that read like they were written by the same author? As for my former review of Fifty Shades of Gray, I suppose I should’ve aimed it at the book’s less popular, older sibling.

• Annabel Joseph’s Comfort Object, 2009
• E.L. James’s Fifty Shades of Gray, 2011

Both stories by these two different authors follow a rather disturbing and substantially similar pattern in which an obscure, desperate, “nobody” woman plays a protagonist who’s propositioned to become the slave of a wealthy, secretive, psychopath man who goes by the name of “Gray.” James’s leading hot psycho is Christian Gray; Joseph’s, Jeremy Gray.

Through the use of stalking and pretense both men manage to persuade young women into signing confidentiality agreements that stipulate they want to own the woman, treat her like a slave behind closed doors, and she must isolate herself to keep his deranged fetish a secret.

Is it a coincidence that these different authors follow the exact same path toward the destruction of female freedom and identity—or is there a formula unto which authors of this over the top genre subscribe?

There are other possibilities that possibly explain this phenomenon. It so happens that genre fiction is repetitive. Its endless tirade of new authors shamelessly revisits the same subject matter over and over again to make a buck. However, using the supernatural romance genre as an example, Laurell K. Hamilton’s vampires do not—overtly or covertly—share any of the names or psycho-social archetypes of Anne Rice’s vampires. Neither of these author’s books share anything on the verge of plagiarism with the Twilight series, either; all three merely happen to be about vampires and/or werewolves. It’s all innocent buck-making.

The only stories throughout history to share archetypes—and rarely, names of similar meaning—in such a way have been religious stories passed down through time; myths. This is how we’ve deduced the exact same thing happened to Jesus as did to Osiris as did to Mithras, and so forth: All their births were foretold and visited by wise men, all were born in December, all began their ministries around age thirty, all died and were resurrected within three days. These stories share archetypal symbolism and only differ where their respective cultures are concerned.

The similarities between Comfort Object and Shades of Gray, then, are disturbingly parallel with the similarities between these religious myths: The plots are synonymous, reverent of and cloistered around the same 2D character—the hot wealthy psychopath who singles out women to abuse for pleasure. And in both books the women comply for reasons that cut the species socially and psychologically down to consumerist, self-hating whores: They only want hot guys and lots of cash and to be yanked around on Prada brand leashes; their only power is seduction, and even that is monitored and dispensed as their hot maniac sees fit. Either this is mythos for some underground sexual cult, or one of these authors owes the other an explanation.

Will there be more books that follow the “Gray” doctrine in the future? Were there other “Gray” siblings released in 2010, in 2008, 2007, 2006? Given the parallel storylines, why did James’s book make the New York Times bestseller list while Joseph’s did not; was mainstream unprepared for it in 2009 but ready in 2011? For that matter, what’s up with the twisted Pretty Woman rip-offs being done again and again—kinky publishers or a systematic mockery of strong women?

The fact that both these books were published somewhat closely may have a deeper meaning for new writers who would make a profit. If there’s any formula it’s this: Clichéd scenarios which induce corrosive values in readers across the board—lucrative; original stylized scenarios that induce enlightenment and personal growth—burdens for which the author is scrutinized and must continually reiterate altruistic motives. Bizarro.

earth’s forbidden secrets

Another book review. Back to basics.
Have you ever started a new book expecting to be hooked given its description, and wound up tossing it; or, started a new book expecting to be disappointed, given its description, and wound up enthusiastic about it even after you’d finished? Maxwell Igan’s Earth’s Forbidden Secrets, Part One, an examination of “canonized” history versus physical evidence, definitely falls under the latter.

I do confess to having an abnormal obsession with ancient world history, which also means I have the proverbial collection of articles, movies, documentaries, and of course, books. However, once you read a dozen books that all share nearly the same information you stop expecting any of them to present an original, creative, enlightening point-of-view. But one day, after fruitless searches for something new at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, eBay, you stumble onto something free, and its content is on the nose.

Since I’m in the business of writing I’m always looking for fallacies in established fact, or unconventional theories to lay the foundation for a new piece of fiction. That said, this book is probably not for mainstream archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians, all of whom subscribe to mainstream ideas. Igan makes this point, citing that closed minds have been bolted shut before all of this information for years, and the difference between having a doctorate in the field and not having one is the difference between being taken seriously or being laughed out of town.

Seemingly small facts such as the origin of the banana will interest any who didn’t previously know the world’s most widespread and nutritious “herb” does not make seeds, despite that all vegetables, fruits, and herbs with the exception of those that have been genetically modified, do indeed make seeds; that is how they are grown, from seeds. Thus, how did the banana get here, how did it thrive for thousands of years without any intervention until humans came along and learned to cultivate its root? The storyteller in me is sprinting on its hamster wheel, spinning possible scenarios that can answer those questions, which is why I liked this book. The “out-of-place artifacts” Igan mentions, too, are interesting. These “Ooparts”, such as the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull, raise valid questions and theories and certainly inspire a great deal of fantasy and action-adventure titles like Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones.

Fascinating fodder for fiction aside, if you’re interested in ancient history, if certain “facts” or artifacts bug you and raise more questions, then this book is a good starting place. The author encourages readers to research all the topics he brings to light, and doing so will start you on a long endeavor that I haven’t quite recovered from yet.

Some of the author’s points have been raised before of course, such as information on the Antikythera device found in Greek waters, and on the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek, and plenty on the Mayans—therefore, little in the book can be considered mind-blowing. Nevertheless Igan toiled to rally readership into reopening old investigations, and aims at new audiences to take up curiosity now that we have the techno-social means to seek answers, i.e., the Internet and social media.

Despite the grandiose claims of his text including “secrets”—which it does not if you have been interested in these topics for awhile—the author has a healthy skepticism exercised by his unwillingness to use the word conspiracy as an accusation, or jump to cartoon-like conclusions, which he does point out is the recipe for sounding crazy. However, one is encouraged to question the shunning of certain ideas by scholars, professors, and historians, especially where physical evidence points to the truth, rather than blindly believing what is widely taught and accepted. Some quick examples:

• Brain surgery was performed with evident success during the Neolithic era, as evidenced by ancient skulls found with finely prepared animal bones surgically installed. The bodies had accepted the “donor” bone fragments as further evidenced by a regrowth of human bone tissue over the animal bone. This insinuates the patients lived for quite some time after the surgery. According to the textbooks we read in our modern surgery class (and our professor), trepanning, or cranial surgery, had never been performed until the medieval era, and every attempt was basically manslaughter. Yet physical evidence exists that one should think would encourage revisions to medical history.
• A fossilized human shoeprint—shoe, not foot—from over 300 million years ago was found, insinuating that cavemen had some pretty modern-looking shoes, or there's some other, weirder explanation. . . .

The editing of Earth’s Forbidden Secrets isn’t spotless, which should be expected—and accepted—for writers releasing works independent of publishing houses with paid editors. If one can surmount this, then it’s an enveloping read. The matter is among my most-loved, that history is rewritten as it’s written, and that substantial evidence is often shunned by the very people who disseminate the facts. Maxwell Igan throws nearly everything in the fridge into the soup and bridges events and phenomena without ranting or being patronizing that the majority of us are more concerned with the present instead of yada, yada, yada. But there’s a lesson in that too: Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.

This book, therefore, is a call to pay attention to what is taught, but also to resist believing that what is taught is showing you the whole picture. There are mysteries all around us, namely us, and we choose to close our eyes, cover the ears and duck when anything fantastically unheard of that requires the use of imagination crosses our path; that is, whenever strange evidence stares us straight in the eye as indisputable fact.

Igan writes with an optimistic spirit that relies heavily on scholars to take their education for what it was worth—an initiation into a clique of thought that allows them to constantly pursue more knowledge. Igan encourages us to not settle into what we’ve learned and rave madly that it is fact for all eternity. If nothing more or less, Earth’s Forbidden Secrets, Part One is a call to join the discussion rather than storm against it or ignore it.