The Holly by Daniel Quinn.I was and is greatly impressed with Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Hence, I am trying hard to find the same greatness in his other books by comparing them to Ishmael. I understand, though, that every work must be judged by itself and not as a clone of something else. Still, it seems to me, that all of the Daniel’s books, I have read, do touch the similar subjects and talk about the same messages. Surprisingly, each time, the author finds very different angles to deliver the messages, which is very entertaining.
The Holy did not impress me as something exceptional. It did not provide the comprehensive picture of the environment and did not even hinted into the direction of how the environment can be explained. The notion of “them” vs “us” is an old one and is well popularized by Matrix movies. But Matrix does show how this separation came about, why it was possible, and where it would lead. I failed to grasp that reading The Holy. The book, of course, is well written and reminded me of Master and Margarita by Bulgakov. Still I found myself waiting for something more until the very end of the book. In my opinion, the last few chapters of the book contained the important things, which were not really explored during the rest of the book.