A Review of Existing Literature: The Archive of Alternate Endings by Lindsey Drager

 With the kids settling into a routine, I have been able to read novels again.

This has been my best find in 2020.

Listed on Guardian's best of Sci-fi and Fantasy for 2019, the book is neither.

The novel revolves around the story of Hansel and Gretel, the oral telling and the ossification that comes with publication.

It is made up of multiple narratives that are not connected by plot but rather by the theme of sibling love.

There is also a framing device of Haley's comet which circles back every roughly 75 years, and we keep circling back to the potent bond of siblings.

It starts with the Grimm brothers recording an unusual version of Hansel and Gretel in which the siblings were not led into the woods due to poverty but because of moral reasons.

The author then explores gay/queer themes, acceptance and rejections, and how difficult it is to be human, a parent, a sibling.

"It is easy to forget, but stories need not always have a purpose. We are quick to say that folktales have a moral or a lesson or a creed. But most of the stories that have survived the ages are told for one purpose only, and that purpose is to say this: 'Being human is difficult. Here is some evidence.'"

Lindsey Drager's writing is simply exquisite, on par with Alessandro Baricco's Ocean Sea. 

Maybe this book resonated so much with me because as a single child I will never understand the ties between brothers and sisters. Maybe it's because I have twins and I pray they will learn the importance of familial ties and cherish each other.

Speaking of best finds, my wife recently pointed me towards another short story, Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom by Ted Chiang the GOAT. It has parallels with Alastair Reynolds' Signal to Noise, but unlike Signal to Noise, this one explored the philosophical conundrums with being able to communicate with a parallel self in an alternate universe.

"But the question was, given that we know about other branches, whether making good choices is worth doing. I think it absolutely is. None of us are saints, but we can all try to be better. Each time you do something generous, you’re shaping yourself into someone who’s more likely to be generous next time, and that matters. 

“And it’s not just your behavior in this branch that you’re changing: you’re inoculating all the versions of you that split off in the future. By becoming a better person, you’re ensuring that more and more of the branches that split off from this point forward are populated by better versions of you."

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