Ever tasted…blue?
When I first read the book The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester, I was mesmerized. It is one of the early science-fiction classics, and was published in the 1950s. Yet forty years later it is still a novel that rings of modernity. Essentially, it is The Count of Monte Cristo set in space. When I read it, I was amazed at the morals it imparted, the engaging storyline, and the innovative writing style that opened my eyes to how life-changing books can truly be.
The main character, Gully Foyle, is not the typical perfect, strong, and admirable character present in so many science-fiction works. He is dark. He is jaded. He is filled with hate. Gully is stranded on a deserted spaceship, and vows revenge against a ship that passes him by and leaves him to almost certain death. Originally, Gully has few desires or ambitions; he simply exists. Yet when revenge becomes his all-consuming desire, he begins to evolve and become more intelligent—and more dangerous. He escapes from prison and escapes a “jaunting” (teleportation) instructor, holds her captive, and brutally rapes her during his quest for vengeance. Even though he is a monster, the reader identifies with him, and begins to sympathize with him, though not condone his actions.
Gully shows that revenge changes someone. Gully becomes intelligent and physically strong, but he is still flawed. He has invested all of his energy in something so fragile—revenge. Gully is the living embodiment of revenge, and he is terrifying. Alfred Bester shows the reader rather than telling him that revenge is a useless venture. He shows that it changed you into an animalistic creature, and now matter how intelligent and physically strong you make yourself become, you are still a beast.
Another reason The Stars My Destination is one of my favorite books is the innovating writing style. The main scene that completely enthralled me was a scene near the end where Gully is hit on the head and suffers synesthesia. His senses become confused; sight becomes sound, sound becomes taste, taste becomes touch. I had never read anything so unique and amazing. Bester even included illustrations and different-sized text. The scene was immediate; I felt like my senses were actually confused.
This book made me want to become an author. My dream is to someday write something as deep and moving as The Stars my Destination. I am already moving towards my dream by writing both a short science-fiction story, as well as working on a fiction novel that will loosely be based on a re-telling of Snow White. This book also turned me into a voracious reader; I now read at least one hundred pages a day and usually two to three books a week, of all genres. I currently attend California State University East Bay and am double-majoring in English with a Creative Writing option and Communications with a Journalism option. I would love to change someone’s life like Bester changed mine.
Here is a drawing I made of the synethesia scene:
