Our Ecstatic Days [Hardcover]

"Our Ecstatic Days" is not a novel for the uninitiated. Steve Erickson fans will love it and will consider it the best thing they have read since the last Steve Erickson novel. The uninitiated will probably find it confusing since there are numerous references to previous novels. Steve Erickson's detractors will hate this novel as much as all his rest.

Like his previous novels, this is a story of obsession that takes place in a parallel universe to our own. To say it is weird would be an understatement. Fans of David Lynch and Salvador Dali will probably like this, as will people with bizarre and fantastic dreams. Read this novel and you will be haunted.

Compared to his other novels, Erickson is writing with more confidence than ever. This is a fearless author who is not afraid to take chances. His writing has an arrogant swagger of someone who knows what he wants to say and how he wants to say it.

Steve Erickson's novels are not for everyone. They are not for the squeamish. There are concepts that will challenge your imagination as well as graphic sexuality. I have heard it described once as "science fiction without the science."

It's been 20 years since the first Steve Erickson novel, "Days Between Stations." If you have never read a Steve Erickson novel before, that is where I suggest you start. If you like it, you will like all his novels. "Our Ecstatic Days" is his latest masterpiece and will be cherished by his fans because there is nothing else like it out there.

"Our Ecstatic Days" is such an unusual novel, it perhaps makes the most sense to discuss what it is not first. It is not a traditional novel in the sense that one character or group of characters progress through a chronologically coherent, or at least internally consistent timeline, to a definite conclusion. Moreover, it does not follow the traditional arrangement of text, or the general way one expects a story to unfurl. So, if you're not looking for something experimental, you've been warned, but I would encourage you to dismiss any preconceptions of what a novel should be and read on as this novel's content should surpass its structure for all but the most stubborn reader.

All that said, "Our Ecstatic Days" is one of the most powerful, remarkable novels I have encountered in quite some time. Layering discussions of parenthood in general, motherhood specifically, chaos, empathy, and hope, this is the type of novel that will read differently to any two people. However, both would have to agree that author Steve Erickson's use of unique mishmash of genres and styles, and even his avant garde structures somehow has produced a novel that is not only interesting, but absolutely gripping.

Trying to sketch out a plot would be next to impossible, but the general progression of the story involves one young mother Kristin's almost maniacal desire to see her son Kirk protected from an uncertain world. As a lake slowly submerges Los Angeles, she attempts to sacrifice herself in order to save him, but in the process unleashes a string of fractured and alternate realities that somehow are all interconnected, and only one of which is "real" in the most totalistic sense of the word. There are a host of critical interconnections between these realities, but the most compelling is the single line of italicized text that runs through the final two hundred thirty pages of the book, only to connect seamlessly with the conclusion of the alternate streams. This stream of consciousness should be read in its entirety prior to picking up the rest of the narrative thread, and quite effectively captures how an entire lifetime can unfurl in the blink of an eye. Moreover, it is a highly effective literal representation of the malleability of one's destiny, and perhaps one's past, that is central to Erickson's message.

To offer much more wouldn't so much spoil the plot as distract from it and corrupt the progression Erickson has set forth. Suffice it to say that he makes impressive ninety degree turns in both timeline and voice that would be distracting if they weren't so effective and linking together events that are otherwise seemingly unrelated. As he ties in the iconic figure of the man in front of the tanks at Tiananmen Square and the iconic image of 9/11 the novel progresses in increasingly fractured timelines across eighty years, American revolutions, the rise of cults and a other events to numerous to recount. Hence do seemingly inconsequential interconnections lead more and more forcefully to a dualistic philosophy of logic/love/hope devolving into chaos only to give birth to the same.

At the core of this emerging dichotomy is parenthood, and it is in Kristin and Kirk's relationship that Erickson offers his most powerful imagery. He displays a remarkable ability to express the wonder that parents see in their children, and further captures the edge placed on that wonder by the literally heartbreaking possibility of their loss. In this knife's edge of love and devastation, Erickson explores the deal-making with God that every parent goes through; trading their happiness for their child's. What no one can anticipate is what impact that very deal may have on the child, and can the consequences ever be reversed.

To place "Our Ecstatic Days" in context, it is a sort of a hybrid between "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter Miller and "House of Leaves" by mark Danielewski. While not as overtly religious as the former, it nonetheless plays with post-apocalyptic themes, and more importantly how the vagaries of time can twist the course of history into unexpected dimensions. At the same time, while not quite as experimental as the latter, it nonetheless explores the power of the inner world and the nature of truth in a similar fashion. Furthermore, it is in many ways thematically similar to Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon" as both explore in depth the mystery of the female cycle; in particular, Kristin's relationship with the lake strongly echoes Morgaine's relationship with water in Bradley's work. There's definitely an element of modern paganism, which is somehow grounded in our modern day realism that infuses "Our Ecstatic Days" and strongly echoes Arthurian traditions.

It is likely that many will dismiss this novel for its structure without ever analyzing its content which would be unfortunate in the case of any novel, but particularly so in this instance. Steve Erickson has produced in "Our Ecstatic Days" a powerful, moving look at parenthood and finds in it a love so powerful it just might be able to save the world, or at least or souls. Almost certain to stand as one of the best novels of 2005, it is a unique, utterly absorbing creation that begs to be read.

Jake Mohlman

"Our Ecstatic Days" is the latest in a career of fantastic books. Like the others, it is a delicious, delirious reading experience.

As another (very positive) reviewer mentions, those who've read Erickson's earlier novels will recognize characters they've met before. The reviewer is correct, but this shouldn't make anyone feel obliged to "study up" before approaching his newest work. In fact, I would suggest that the less you bring to it the better. If you're really encountering this book on the terms it demands of you, you'll find yourself letting go of most of what you know about the world -- time, space, natural science, etc -- as it progresses.

I loved the book and that's really my point here. One further point, and the main reason I've posted this review (the first time I've ever been moved to do so), is offered up in response to a previous post.

If we're going to lump Erickson's new book into the "genre" of "experimental fiction" and then (go with me for a moment as I grapple with this logical fallacy) determine that it must therefore be just one more standardized piece of product like all others from this "genre," what sort of literary production are we to champion? I don't even mind calling experimental fiction a genre, though it's not the term I would use and seems inaccurate in describing Erickson's work, but once we do so there still has to be room in that genre -- as in all others -- for original voices and pioneering visions.

Erickson's is a truly original voice. A voice that's poetic, hypnotic and authentic. One gets the sense that he knows he's not Tom Clancy and doesn't aspire to that mass appeal, instead simply writing the best, truest books he can generate. There is no claim to empire and one's attire, or lack thereof, seems completely irrelevant.