Terrorism today, and the word itself, is in a very heightened state. People all over the country cringe at the very word, and others suspect strangers everywhere of committing vile and inhumane acts. Thanks to certain events that we won’t name here, it’s almost as if the world expects more to come.
Torsten Krol’s new book Callisto portrays terrorism in a brand new light. The book is narrated through the eyes of Odell Deefus, a man who doesn’t have much in the way of wits. Krol even mentions that Deefus, “ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he sure do tell a good story.”
The book is a very satirical narrative that follows Deefus through a strange series of occurrences in which he is finally withheld and “questioned” for acts of terrorism. Jokes and snide comments appear everywhere, and sometimes many things will be missed by the reader as they forget Deefus is nearly illiterate.
The reader eventually learns to sympathize with Deefus before he enters his more bitter tones at the end of the novel.
“I was not tortured, I was closely questioned. Thank you, thank you thank you thank you,” comes directly from Deefus after he is withheld and tortured for information.
As you can see it holds its silly, and yet serious, moments. Callisto is definitely worth a read, as much as Huckleberry Finn was, and helps readers understand in much the same context.
If you want to take a trip to a more daft world, you should pick up Callisto. It will entertain you at the very least.
