[Marxism] D.H. Melhem reviews needed

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

> I am looking for someone to review two political fantasy novels by D. H. 
> Melhem which are published in one volume for Socialism and Democracy. I 
> will attach plot summaries of the two novels if anyone is interested. I 
> would ad that the plot summaries do not give a sense of the quality of 
> the writing in these two novels which is excellent. If anyone is 
> interested in reviewing these two short novels, they should contact me 
> at snedekerg@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:snedekerg@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>  
> D. H. Melhem is the author of seven books of poetry, an earlier fantasy 
> novel called Blight and a critical study of Gwendolyn Brooks.
>  
> George Snedeker
> 

George, Marxmail does not allow attachments but I am sending the text 
with your email.

D. H. Melhem:  STIGMA:  Brief Description

STIGMA is a dark political satire set in the not-too distant future. 
Civil unrest, unemployment, and a chronic state of war pervade the land. 
  Books are considered obsolete and superfluous, fit for recycling into 
toilet paper.  Families are conscripted by lottery for the honor of 
war-work.  The selected adults serve in a bizarre, underground bomb 
factory, run by a general and an arms manufacturer.  Youths are sent 
into military service, the children to orphanages.  STIGMA relates one 
family’s struggle to survive in and then to escape this world of 
perversity and horror.



SYNOPSIS

When Joseph and Serafina, an ordinary couple, “win” in the lottery, they 
are sent to the Service Camp, a strange, underground munitions factory 
run by a general and an arms manufacturer.  Their older son is sent into 
Military Service; their younger to a government-run orphanage.  Joseph 
believes it is their duty, Serafina feels only dread.

Joseph and Serafina must work in the regimented Service Camp for four 
years, producing  biologic weapons.  If they perform well, they will 
earn Privileges.  One Privilege is admittance to the Love Room, a 
gymnasium transformed weekly into a recreational haven of sexual 
license.  Another Privilege is the Game Room, where “criminals” who have 
broken Service Camp rules are used for target practice.  A special 
Privilege is admittance to the Yard to view formal executions.

Joseph and Serafina do not easily adapt to the Service Camp.  Their 
sector is ruled by a warped, ambitious man who collects eyeballs in 
formaldehyde.  Through error and perverse design, Joseph and Serafina 
have each been assigned sleeping quarters with the spouse of another 
couple.  Staid Joseph rooms with raunchy Moira, while ingenuous Serafina 
rooms with Moira’s rough-hewn husband, Dozie.

Joseph and Serafina struggle to be reunited.  Their failure, mounted 
against microbial horror, perversity, and concern for their children, 
impels their attempt to escape—with all of its consequences.

THE CAVE



SYNOPSIS

Set in a small town, The Cave describes a motley group of people 
frantically seeking  shelter from a nuclear attack.  They attempt to 
survive in the town’s abandoned Cave. The plot unfolds through these 
characters:

Burns, an intense, surly man, friend and minion to Duke.

Duke, a mysteriously wealthy man of some sophistication.

Jeremiah, an itinerant preacher.  Having grown up in an orphanage with 
Martha and John, his assistants, he faces a crisis of faith.

Martha, adores Jeremiah, while John, longs for Martha, but is conflicted 
by loyalty to Jeremiah.

Flora, restless, unfulfilled, is married to Constant, a diligent, 
dependable insurance salesman.  They are childless.

Mary, Flora’s sister, is a widow, mother of teenagers Maybelle and Roy. 
  She thinks (dreams) of Constant as a surrogate father to her children.

Abby, mother of the two sisters, favors Mary.  Husband Charles, a 
conservative, disapproves of Constant’s seemingly “radical” views.

Roy and Maybelle are visiting the Nature Trail with friends Julia and 
Jack.  When they find out about the war and they try to join the others.

The family of the Cave’s Guard search for him.

Inside the Cave, viciousness, division, cowardice, and heroic gestures 
transform life into a war.  Sexuality, assaults from within and without, 
and murder, move toward the cataclysmic finale, which allows a token of 
hope.




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