Can the Gods Cry? by Allan Cameron

With one exception, these short stories were written for this collection, and they tentatively look at different themes such as compassion, passivity and their opposites, which are not, of course, original themes, as none exist. The stories are told in different keys, and some characters appear in more than one story. The subject matter also shifts from the social to the political, and the tone becomes increasingly pessimistic.

An Algerian immigrant worker in Italy invents a novel way to redistribute wealth, a female academic finds the path to success to be less difficult than she expected, a high-flyer in the financial markets perceives the glories of a selfish existence, a dying writer considers how he abandoned relationships to follow his art, a dead man rejects the tediousness of heaven, a thug is haunted by his selfish instincts, an essayist pronounces and an authors kills off his character. The plot in one short story distinguishes it from all the others: “A Dream of Justice” is the scenario for a one-state solution in Israel-Palestine, and examines how this might play out. This, it is suggested, is not just a “least worst” solution; it is also the only one in which people can go through the process of rediscovering their common humanity, albeit a process that is long and generational. The Middle East also appears in the form of guest workers and the “Secret War” in Oman.

Reviews

“One of Cameron's key concerns is the moral apathy, abetted by passivity, which seems to be currently growing in Western society. [One character] captures the state of confusion this often produces when he remarks that what he likes about his age is "that it doesn't believe in anything very much, and what I hate about it is that it believes in nothing with such a passion." This statement typifies the sardonic high-flown wit which emerges repeatedly and alleviates the collection's increasing pessimism. ... Cameron's stance is simultaneously distanced, flyting and engaged, his authorial eyes often turns on himself, debunking and wry. His dozen stories are bracingly different, weaving changes in tone and format, and in varieties of language, ranging from street-smart to the quasi-academic. ... For the reader there is much work to be done, ... Since Cameron's scrupulousness in everything he writes is undeniable, one wonders why this is so. By persevering, the reader's reward is often to hear the distant rumble of the gods of rational discourse - crying out, inciting passion and sometimes laughing as they go.” – The Scotsman

"Other stories illustrate what is best and worst in the human condition: the selfishness of the wealthy man in 'The Difficulty Snails Encounter in Mating', the brutality of the soldier sent to crush an anti-colonial rebellion in Oman in 'The Sad Passing of Chris Cary'. On the other hand there is the small-scale compassion of an Algerian immigrant worker who evolves a scheme to charge each customer according to their needs.The most extensive of the short stories, 'A Dream of Justice', is set in a future secular Palestinian state where two elderly fighters from the Israeli and Palestinian sides respectively reflect on their past (which is our present). It is a plausible if disturbing picture that Cameron paints - and his injunction to 'dream sensibly' with which the story ends seems to suggest the conflicts and hatreds of now will continue into the future." – The Herald