(MENAFNEditorial)
Each generation a new novel comes along which breaks down the very limits of modern literature. In 1945 George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ inserted a political narrative into the sort of setting normally reserved for children’s bedtime stories. In 1981 Salmun Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’ merged Eastern fantasy with historical fiction. And in 2015 Joss Sheldon’s ‘Occupied’ tore up the rules of space and time to create a novel that echoed throughout the generations.
Two themes came to define Occupied. On the one hand everything stayed the same. On the other hand everything changed. It was the balance between these two seemingly incompatible strands which made Occupied a modern masterpiece.
Occupied begins in a halcyon past in which people are happy despite their lack of material wealth; comforted by their strong communities and a real sense of freedom. Then society begins to evolve. The first radio appears. It’s followed by the first television and the first mobile phone. Before too long these objects can be found in every home. As the book marches on into the future its pages fill with hover-cars hologram-machines and orgasm-gas. But as wealth increases freedoms disappear. Political power transfers from the people to the state. Economic power transfers from workers to international firms. Robotic checkpoints blockades and spying ants come to dominate society.
Within this backdrop of change the four main characters all remain the same. They face the same situations maintain the same worldviews and repeat the same mistakes. There’s Tamsin a refugee who always bends to her family’s will. Ellie a native whose rebellious acts never achieve results. Arun a settler who always conforms to societal pressures. And Charlie an economic migrant who works diligently without ever being rewarded.
As with ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Midnight’s Children’ such narratives help Occupied to tick along. But like those novels it’s the writing style which makes Occupied a classic. Each character has their own quirky mannerisms scenery is described with majestic prose and anecdotal sub-plots fill the pages. Papa Tamsin’s folkloric tales calm his family’s nerves the Humpbacked Priest hobbles along to serve any god that will pay the bills and the Mad Lady the only person who can see what is coming is ignored by everyone in town. There are invasions revolutions and evictions; births marriages and deaths; childhood games adolescent sex and adult tribulations.
Perhaps Occupied is a little too radical for mainstream acclaim; in many ways it’s decades ahead of its time. But it’s a great read for anyone who wants to be taken on a journey challenged and experience something truly unique. It’s not for the light-hearted but it certainly is one of a kind.
'Occupied' is available to buy from and .
About Joss Sheldon
Joss Sheldon is a scruffy nomad an unshaven layabout and a good for nothing hobo. Born in 1982 he was brought up in one of the anonymous suburbs which wrap themselves around London's beating heart. And then he escaped!
With a degree from the London School of Economics to his name Sheldon had spells selling falafel at music festivals being a ski-bum and failing to turn the English Midlands into a haven of rugby league.
Then in January 2013 he went to McLeod Ganj in India; a village which plays home to thousands of angry monkeys hundreds of Tibetan refugees and the Dalai Lama himself. It was there that Sheldon wrote 'Involution & Evolution'; a book about love in an era of hatred truth in an era of lies and peace in an era of war.
With several positive reviews to his name Sheldon had caught the writing bug. So he travelled around Palestine and Kurdistan before returning to McLeod Ganj where he wrote his second novel 'Occupied'; a dystopian 'masterpiece' unlike any other story you've ever read.
Contact
Author: Joss Sheldon
Book: Occupied
Email: press@joss-sheldon.com
Location: London UK
Website: www.joss-sheldon.com
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