I had forgotten to post my book jot for a book a read in May…here it is:

I finished reading Downward to the Earth (1970) by Robert Silverberg. It’s a novel set on a distant planet and feels like Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Burmese Days and Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, and A Burnt Out Case by Graham Greene were all passed through the mind of Silverberg, mixed with a bit of 60s psychedelia, and extruded in a tightly-written, very imaginative science fiction story.

The effects of colonialism is a strong theme throughout the novel. It feels like the novel was intentionally written in conversation with Heart of Darkness and Shooting an Elephant. However it explored other themes as well, including the individual’s relation to others, sin and redemption, and the nature of the soul. In large part, it is a spiritual quest with the aim of some sort of salvation and enlightenment as a goal.

I enjoyed Silverberg’s writing and found myself immersed in the narrative and curious about the weird but believable world he constructed.