The Package And Other Stories

Here are some of my reviews of "The Package" by WILLIAM ANGLE. I've spent a fair amount of time looking at this book, and have even created a concordance of its contents.

This book is a collection of various humorous, bizarre and strange works. It includes a brief vignette called "The Package" as an introduction to the book, and contains a group of highly readable and interesting tales that will make you ponder. All these stories are good -- I can't call any one of them my favorite since they all are deserving of extensive commentary. I've included below a few of my notes on some of the stories, which I may add to over time:

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The Package

This is the first story in the collection at it sets a tone for the rest of the book. Its a strange, brief, and fascinating vignette that is much shorter than any of the other stories. On first reading, it leaves you with a sense of strange foreboding -- the teller of this tale is obviously neurotic (perhaps totally insane?) On second reading, its pretty obvious (at least to me) that this is pretty much a policy statement regarding the rest of the book. Angle seems to clearly state the futility of meeting expectations of others. He asks the question -- how far should we go to please someone? The remainder of the book -- each of the tales that follow -- are an answer to this question.

Circles

This may be Angle's most immediately engaging story. The tale revolves around a champion player of some future sport, and his doubts about how he will do at the "big game". It is a story about self image and self questioning. The champion player -- never defeated -- faces the questions regarding possible defeat. As a super star, in a future obsessed with media and entertainment, the champion comes to the conclusion that his chosen sport is "idiotic". He seems to resign himself to defeat -- Yet, in spite of all his internal reflections, sufferings, and self doubt -- of course he will win. After all, he's the champion player. Who can beat him?

The Cure

This is a beautiful story that works on many different levels. It asks the basic question about what happiness is, and at what cost we are willing to seek happiness. The story has a strange and beautiful twist at the end that is very subtle. Those that bring happiness to others can also be predators.

The Cave And Peter Targa

This is the second of two Peter Targa stories in the book. These are classic science fiction stories of time travel, with heavy emphasis on underlying quantum theory. In the story, Peter Targa is asked what is reality, and what is unreal. Is the universe where you win the real one, or the universe where you lose? He quotes the alternate universe hypothesis: "both universes are real". I am struck by the eerie setting of this story, and the rock solid quantum mechanics theory upon which this story is set. Even the reference to "Cave" in the name of this story leaves you with a sense of unexplorable darkness. I read this story shortly after reading the February 2005 issue of Scientific American, which featured a great article: "100 Years of Quantum Mysteries". In that article, it discusses Hugh Everett's "Many Worlds" postulate, which seems the basis for this story. The conclusion: because the story might possibly be true, it therefore MUST BE TRUE -- at least in some universe that we (presumably) do not have access to -- Peter Targa exists.

The Dive

Although I earlier disclaimed any favorite stories in this anthology, this might qualify as the most read. I studied this story (which might have a better place in "The New Yorker" magazine rather than a book of science fiction stories) reading it over several times. It seems to me to be a statement of what is "cool" and what is "uncool". The story is filled with casual banter between characters, but the conversations have a subtext that leaves the reader wondering exactly what happened in the story, and what the motivations of the central character actually are. You can ponder this story at length, and still wonder exactly what Angle's final message is. That a message exists is not in question -- what the message is can be debated by everyone who reads this story.

Golden Years

Like "The Dive", the meaning behind this story is highly debatable, and provides several answers to the initial questions posed in the first story of the book. One interpretation is that the meaning of life is simply to walk among the glaciers, trust in the universal plan, and appreciate the post-apocalyptic ruins of society. This story is a perfect ending to the collection of stories -- an upbeat assessment of what our individual futures hold for each of us. With a correct attitude, one finds a golden age -- even in the shattered remains of an eco-catastrophy. We get from life no more than what we expect from ourselves and not from the expectation of others.

See Also: "The Package" Concordance