The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe
"The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories" is a collection of fourteen narratives that delve into themes of loneliness, isolation, and the power of imagination. The stories, originally published in the 1970s, include the title tale about a boy named Tackman, who navigates the complexities of his troubled family life on Settlers Island. In his journey, Tackman finds solace in pulp adventure stories and ultimately takes a courageous step to seek help for his mother, leading to a pivotal moment in his life.
The collection features a variety of characters, including a lonely adolescent on an artificial intelligence-run island, and a convicted murderer awakening from cryogenic sleep, both of whom embody the theme of human seclusion. Other stories, such as "Feather Tigers" and "The Hero as Werewolf," explore the intersection of fear and imagination, showcasing how these elements shape the characters' realities. The narratives often reflect on the human condition, inviting readers to consider the profound impact of loneliness and the potential for reinvention. Overall, this collection offers a thought-provoking exploration of the darker aspects of life intertwined with moments of hope and transformation.
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The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories
First published: 1980
Type of work: Stories
Type of plot: Science fiction—inner space
Time of work: Various
Locale: Various, on Earth and other planets
The Plot
This collection contains fourteen stories of varying length, first published in magazines and anthologies in the 1970s. In the title story, a lonely boy on Settlers Island finds consolation for his fathers absence and his divorced mothers neglect. In a brilliant pastiche of classic science-fiction adventure tales, pulp adventure stories provide escape for Tackman, who imagines the characters entering his own life. At the climax, he discovers his mothers friend, Dr. Black, giving her treatment for an overdose of amphetamines. He heroically walks to the home of a distant neighbor, whom he persuades to call the police. Knowing that his mother will be institutionalized and he will be placed in a foster home by the authorities, Tackman has acted to change his life. He discusses his future with Dr. Death, the villain of the pulp story. Dr. Death promises to become a tutelary companion for Tackman and reminds the boy that any story can be begun again from the beginning, suggesting that Tackman can start his life over. At the storys end, the reader concludes that the protagonist has become older and is reflecting on his boyhood experience.
Two other stories, “The Doctor of Death Island” and “The Death of Doctor Island,” continue the motif of an island as a metaphor for human loneliness and isolation from others. The first deals with a lonely adolescent sequestered on an island maintained by an artificial intelligence that attempts to provide therapy. The second deals with a lonely adult, a convicted murderer in a prison hospital who has been awakened from a cryogenic sleep.
Other stories also explore themes of loneliness and the importance of the imagination. In “Feather Tigers,” an expedition of aliens comes to Earth on a mission to research the vanished human culture. When one of the aliens uses genetic engineering to turn a species of small cats into tigers, a visiting alien psychologist discovers while walking in the jungle that fear can make yellow leaves appear to be actual tigers.
In “The Hero as Werewolf,” a lonely outlaw roams an urban wasteland of the future, where order and human amenities have broken down. The narrator is a man who has resorted to cannibalism in order to live. The cannibals loneliness parallels the isolation of the narrator in “Seven American Nights,” in which a series of notebook entries by a wealthy young Iranian record his visit to a moribund United States of the twenty-first century. During his seven days in the ruins of Washington, D.C., he becomes involved with an actress, Ardis Dahl, and with the actor who is probably her lover. He apparently murders her when he discovers that beneath the illusion of beauty she projects, she has mutated organs that he finds hideous.