Title:
The Road to Mars
Subtitle:
A Post-modem Novel
Author:
Eric Idle
Publisher:
Pantheon Books, 1999
ISBN
0-375-40340-X

There are certain things that computer geeks like me seem to have in common with other computer geeks. First and formost among these is, of course, our quirky sense of humor, which leads us to extoll the virtues of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or "Monty Python's Flying Circus" to our bewildered and probably slightly worried audiences. "Monty Python," in particular, may be an enigma to many who are not from the U.K. A friend, who is from across the Old Briney, once commented to me that he didn't understand why any USAns could find "Monty Python's Flying Circus" even remotely amusing.

However, whether I am a computer geek, whether I'm just plain unusual, or whether my taste isn't nearly as unique as I think it is, the fact remains that the names of the lads from "Monty Python's Flying Circus" are certain to attract my attention when they appear on bookshelves in libraries or book stores. I picked up Eric Idle's The Road to Mars anticipating the Pythonesque humor of such memorable works as "Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail," or maybe a science fiction story with the playful sense of fun of the original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Well, I wasn't exactly disappointed, but my high hopes certainly weren't anywhere near met.

Idle's story is a pastiche of autobiographical musings, philosophizing on the nature of humor, and story telling. There is an actual science fiction in there, fairly well done, but it vanishes amidst the other priorities that seem to guide Idle's train of thought.

Alex and Lewis are a couple of comedians, trying to eke out a living by performing in the solar system's versions of the Last Chance Saloon. When they manage to land an audition to perform on board a glitzy space liner, they dare not get their hopes up. In the event, they do seem to get lucky this time, and their adventure starts, tossing them together with old and new lovers, a daughter, and a pack of murderous terrorists.

Accompanying this really quite interesting yarn are constant interruptions from a separate story, regarding a historian in the future who intends to steal the life work of Carlton, Alex and Lewis's robotic Man Friday. This amounts to little more than a short story's worth. Idle's third objective of the book, an examination of humor, is the main spring that drives these interruptions, and really serves to draw more than due attention to them.

The book does have its funny spots. Eric Idle is, after all, an accomplished writer of comic material. However, because of Idle's secondary plot line and its associated demands, the funny spots often end up being jokes where Idle explains the punch line. More often than not an otherwise well done scene ends up entirely ruined by this boorish intrusion of the narrator.

The story reminded me a bit of Douglas Adams in tone, and of John Varley's The Golden Globe, whose plot and ideas Idle manages to parallel in places. The narrative style is vaguely reminiscent of Richard Brautigan's train of consciousness writing. But the anticipated fun of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" never materialized.

In the end the esoteric nature of Idle's ideas, and the fragmentation of the story detract rather more from the story than they add. If you're curious about Eric Idle, the crucified man who wrote and sang "Always look on the bright side of life" in "Monty Python's Life of Brian" and his ideas on humor, you may want to give the book a try. If you're hoping for plain old science fiction the way mother used to write it (which clearly was not Idle's intent), you're fairly sure to be disappointed.