The setting is southern California.
The time is now, but events are off.
There seems to be a violent discontent within the population. Bomb threats cause panic and shut down
streets, stores, and restaurants. Some
bomb threats are followed by actual bombings.
Riots and racial killings seem to happen for no specific reason. War against some unspecified adversary is
threatening.
Della is right in the thick of things. She calls in bomb threats. And then some other group carries out the
bombings. She attends the funeral for
the slain black boys and ends up in the riot.
And then she plans the bombing of a local Walmart on a back-to-school
sale day. She buys a one-way plane
ticket to Hondorus so that she can get away to a better place. But, at the same time, she worries about the
innocent children who might be killed.
Della is clearly unhappy.
But it is not clear what exactly she is unhappy about or what can make
her happier. Her involvement with the
bombings seems to have no purpose. She
seems adrift. Perhaps Veselka states it
best in the Acknowledgements: “Della was
afraid that the world was full of sadness and that everything beautiful just
got hurt.” I should have understood this
by the second chapter.
Veselka’s writing does appeal. Picture this:
“Britta turned into a blowfish and floated towards Astrid spiny and
offended.” And then a few paragraphs later: “The blowfish, Britta, floated away from the
sink.” Great images. It’s worth reading Zazen for the metaphors.
--Sue
