Every creature with a backbone releases endorphins in response to stress. The existence of this self-made morphine has been considered a way of identifying animals – until recently, mostly just mammals – capable of experiencing pleasure and pain. In fact, RSPCA scientists argue that having such neurotransmitters constitutes one form of evidence for sentience. We understand creatures that produce their own morphine to relieve pain are creatures capable of experiencing pleasure and pain, able to suffer and for this reason – the thinking goes – entitled to not be abused or treated in such a way as to cause unnecessary pain.
For all the ballyhoo about the total solar eclipse this past April, the event didn’t stir up much in the way of conspiracy thinking. The same cannot be said of the comet that flies across Ruby Todd’s debut novel, “Bright Objects.” Todd’s comet, named St. John, is a fictionalized version of Comet Hale-Bopp, which visited our solar system in 1997 and played a role in the mass suicide of the Heaven’s Gate cult members outside San Diego. “Bright Objects” takes place on the other side of the world, in a mining outpost turned exurb north of Todd’s current home in Melbourne, Australia.
Although some have called this book a collection of stories, it is more a gathering of prose and occasional prose poetry that does not fit into any rigid genre category. These are language pieces that access realms beyond that of most fiction.
While the ending is a little neat, The Silence in Between is a haunting and compassionate account of war’s legacy, the atrocities inflicted on ordinary German women and their extraordinary resilience.