Polly
By Stephen Goldin
Published by Parsina Press
eBook ISBN 13: 9781452469591; Kindle ASIN B004HZYGPO, $4.99
Paperback ISBN 13: 9781456336394
Polly was a highly unusual read. After his wife leaves him, Herodotus finds himself in trouble with the IRS over past due taxes, as if all this isn’t bad enough his bookstore – above which he lives – catches fire in the middle of the night. Rod, as Herodotus is known, escapes with his life but little else. Beaten down he decides to head for his brother’s ranch in Nevada to lick his wounds and hide away from the world for a while – preferably while huddled in bed in the fetal position, but life has other plans for Rod.
Whilst on his way to Nevada, Rod’s car breaks down in front of the only residence for miles. Approaching the mansion, Rod notices what looks like a snowman standing in the heat, but this is only the first of several surprises in store for our erstwhile traveler when he meets the mansion’s owner, Polly.
Polly is an enigma. The more Rod, who is now called Hero, tries to figure her out the less he understands her. She tries to teach him some truths about the universe, but can he learn the most important of those lessons?
Polly made me think deeply about many things and realize some truths I already knew, but hadn’t verbalized. At the same time there was one philosophical point in Polly I disagreed with – there being no afterlife. I don’t know what that afterlife might look like, but I believe there is one. On most other points I was in agreement with what Goldin postulated through his imaginary character.
On the surface Polly is a lighthearted, fun read, but it is also a philosophical primer of sorts which teaches that in the end, hope, and our ability to act upon it is our most powerful tool. It is what truly distinguishes from all other life on the planet. We have the choice to damage, or to contribute. To aid the inevitability of entropy or to slow it through our positive actions.
Polly is interesting, insightful, irreverent and thought provoking. I would recommend it most to philosophers, those who wonder about the deeper meaning of life and people in search of a hopeful and lighthearted, but relevant read.
