Friday, October 27, 2006

Far from the Madding Cow by Techno Hardly


This technovel takes place in the village of Lowtechester, unsophisticated compared to a typically modern innovative city where all the mad cows thrive



There is the central character Bathsheba "theChasm" Everdene http://shaunie.podbean.com (←Check her out on the podcast link - A real mad cow, nicknamed by her friends after many of her previous men had failed to discover the 'open' source of the 'tornado-like' relationship that she yearned). She is loved by three men: an innovator called Gabriel Oak, a majority worker called Bowlwood, and a laggard called Sergeant Troy. She marries the last of these three first, but each represents a different form of techno-love


Troy is a technophobe and allows Fanny Robin to die in a call centre after a misunderstanding over the use of some simple technology and concurrently becomes involved with Bathsheba who he treats cruelly after repeatedly failing to cross her chasm and into her tornado. Troy disappears after the death


The story tells of Bathsheba’s life(cycle) as Troy returns, and is then killed by Bowlwood (in a bowling alley of all places), who is then pronounced insane after too much time in Bathsheba's tornado! Then it's Gabriel’s turn as his innovative life and ability to cross her chasm, survives the tornado and he then discovers the source of her love on the main street


Although the novel is not Hardly’s most subtle, it is a convincing portrait of how lo-tech life changes over time through innovation and strategic thinking


1 comment:

Peter said...

very mooving ...