Imagine My Surprise.

Surprise? About what?

Well, The Longevity Thesis has been out for round about two months now, some people have read it and have been giving me their thoughts and impressions of the novel.

Some people have hit the nail on the head.

Some people have left me startled. These people felt disappointed that the story did not meet their expectations of what they thought it would be about. Thus, I feel I must blog.

The Longevity Thesis is NOT (or ever intended to be):

1) A story about how youngish women have to struggle against their families to find a good marriage.
2) About a Fountain of Youth.
3) About my former Ph.D. supervisors.
4) A story with a single "linear" plot and no subplots.
5) Erotica.
6) Tolkien.
7) Not accurately described on the back cover.
8) Wallowing in endless depression with no hope of redemption.
9) A Christmas story.
10) Tongue-in-cheek.

The Longevity Thesis IS:

1) Intended to examine the ability of the characters to accurately perceive themselves, the other characters, and the situations they find themselves in.
2) Supposed to mess with the notion of first impressions and the natural inclination to pass judgment after a cursory glance.
3) An illustration of the debilitating effect of low self-esteem (ties in to the examination of accurate perception of self).
4) An exploration the possibility of escaping fear through forced growth.
5) A presentation of the notion that love is weird, and can come to a person in a myriad of unexpected ways.
6) Intended to loosely parallel fragments of Dante's Inferno.
7) Intended to loosely embrace selected Buddhist concepts.
8) An exploration how far a character can go in the direction of using evil to fight evil, and still be a good person.
9) A presentation of the notion that controlling people and restricting their freedom is one of the worst forms of cruelty.
10) An examination of how inaccurate perception of self can really mess up a person's life.

I'll comment further on the plot and how it was charted in a later post.