MONDAY MORNING

MONDAY MORNING

BREAKFAST BOOK (4): WHAT WOULD SOCRATES SAY, edited by Alexander George

At first I thought I was a victim of bait and switch. This is not a book of contemporary questions answered by quotes from classical philosophers. And I would have quickly figured that out if I had taken even a minute or so to thumb through it. But it was cheap on a remainder table and it looked like fun,

Socrates remains silent for the most part, although he and other big guns may be occasionally referenced by one of the twenty-two academics who answer reader inquiries on the website AskPhilosophers.org. They all teach at respected institutions, with Amherst College, home base of editor Alexander George, well represented. And this contemporary line up of philosophers probably have more to say and can speak more directly to the issues posed by the questioners than quotes pulled from The Critique of Pure Reason or The Nichomachean Ethics. For instance, I cannot image that Socrates would be very enlightening on the Santa Claus issue -- when to tell, how to break the news, and specifically is it morally wrong to let kids believe in St. Nick at all. On the other hand, Mark Crimmins, who teaches at Stanford, and Louise Antony from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, offer lively, contrasting views. I am curious to know how many parents will be convinced to follow Ms. Antony's tough love approach.

The book is divided into chapters with titles like, "What Can I Know," "What is a Man," and, "What Ought I to Do." (On that last one, yes, you should probably visit your mother for Christmas even if you don't particularly want to.) The question of relativity comes up often, in the moral rather than the Einsteinan sense. If lions eat meat why shouldn't I? Why are moral codes opposed to evolutionary codes? 

In some cases the inquirer might get more than he or she bargained for, but the responders are not above telling the questioners not to quibble so on some issues. When asked why philosophers so seldom agree, Nicholas J. Smith of Lewis and Clark in Portland, Oregon, is very to the point, "It is our job to disagree."

MONDAY MORNING

SOME MONSTERS (9): GAKI, The Hungry Ghosts

Gaki are a form of undead created when a person, having lived a life of selfishness or dishonor dies and is cursed to an existance in Gaki-do, the realm of the hungry dead. Also called hungry ghosts, they are spirits in agony from a constant need which they seek to satisfy--though they never can. The hunger drives them mad.

Their forms are ephemeral and ghost like. Moonlight makes them glow softly. There are many specific kinds of gaki which had been categorized, though quite often unique gaki are encountered. Exposed to the taint of Jigoku (the Japanese Hell) due to the proximity of the two realms, many gaki suffer horrible mutations often resulting in strange insectoid characteristics. The Gaki have no true forms in their own realm, so they borrow their forms from the closest Spirit Realm, Chikushudo, taking these insectoid aspect. 

The gaki are vampires who prey on the sleeping bodies of the living. They easily move through solid objects, and only are affected by jade and crystal weapons, or Spirit Ward Magic. Dogs, horses, cats, Nezumi, and Sodan-senzo can aIways see the gaki.

(Adapted from the Legend of the Five Rings Wiki. Searching Gaki in Google Books turns up an excellent discussion by Lafcadiio Hearn, which cannot be copied and pasted.

(Follow the monster label to encounter other monsters.)

A typically unpleasant day in Jigoku

MONDAY MORNING

MANGA MANIA: ULTRA GASH INFERNO by Suehiro Maruo

If your own nightmares have not been up to par of late, I recommend you take a look at this book. Suehiro Maruo (B. 1956) is the master of ero-guro (erotic grotesque) manga. I first read his book-length work Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show. It was an outrageous grand guignol of misery, weirdness, and degradation. But compared to Ultra Gash Infrerno, it was Saturday matinee material.

This volume contains nine stories from the 1980's to 1993. Possibly they have been chosen for English translation to give the uninitiated an extreme immersion into Maruo's world. Or they may be typical. Titles like "Putrid Night," "Shit Soup", and "Voyeur in the Attic" let you know what you are getting in for. I doubt that characters like Spiderman and The Hulk need fear being replaced by Sewer Boy or The Great Masturbator in the hearts of the American reading public. 

 Maruo's work is elegantly drawn and according to commentators has its roots in everything from 1930's Japanese children's books to atrocity prints of the 19th century. I'll have to take their word for it. He excels in gore, sex, and combinations of the two. Female characters endure sex acts that leave them bloodied and injured, but they are capable of graphic revenge. Typical plot points include eyes gouged out, limbs lopped off, and wounds opened for reasons I will leave to your imagination. For me the scatology and coprophilia were the most disturbing elements. Moments of "Sewer Boy" struck me as merely disgusting. But maybe that is because it is the second story in the book and I hadn't yet been mentally whipped into submission. The essentially plotless "Shit Soup," on the other hand, was a beautifully rendered nightmare of degrading, repulsive images. Often with this sort of material, when I have encountered it in films, anime, or books, I have asked myself, "Is this trip really necessary?" I think to say something like, "Maruo's elegance and economy of style elevates his material to the realm of poetry," risks making one sound ridiculous. But I never felt he was asking me to wallow in filthy junk. I never felt like some teenager getting a thrill from watching Faces of Death.

"Non-Resistance City" (1993) is the longest story in the book. It take place during the Americanoccupation, a time Maruo did not experience first hand but he would have known from the films of Shohei Imamura, Nagisa Oshima, and the photography of Daido Moriyama. Maruo's story chronicles rape, social degradation, and ultimately cannibalism. It also contains an evil dwarf, a type of character he used often. 

Maruo's is a dark grotesque that reminds me of when Joel Peter Witkin first seemed like he was going to be a serious artist. Witkin isn't holding up over time. I am curious to see more of Maruo.