Doomsday

Albertine was an exciting read with Byzantines twists and a strange familiarity to the Book of Revelation. I loved  the parallels between Kevin’s “calling”/assignment and John’s calling to record a prophetic revelation. Of course there are some stark differences: Kevin was called by a drug lord with an abusive past, he consumes  harmful addictive substances and  focuses largely upon memories and the distant past. John on the other hand was summoned by God(a moral authority not the only authority as presented  by the character of  Cortez) and looks towards a “bright” future. Whether or not he was experiencing a drug induced vision, its not for me to judge but both men have other worldly experiences. Their assignments were very different but very similar on a fundamental level- a quest for truth.

On a side note the portrayal of women is also quite similar to that of Revelation. The image of the whore/prostitute,  Jezebel/deceiver appears in this seemingly secular rendition of the Apocalypse in New York City. I wonder if this was a result of the author’s prior social conditioning to the apocalyptic culture of the United States  and their protrayal of women? Or was this intentional on his part? I know we are not supposed to analyze literature based upon what the author might have intended but it would make a difference if he did this for example deliberately as opposed to occurring simply by accident.