Wisdom

<p>Two novellas by John Fraser described by the Whitbread Award winning poet John Fuller as 'the most original novelist of our time'.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Stardust</strong> examines the adventures of the journalist Hadar. At sea he and the odious Pietro a banker cum sailor are marooned by the shipboard scientists whose expedition has lost contact with land. Hadar's lover Doctor Chin is the principal in an experiment into the conversion of humans into marine creatures. The mission is desperate the participants self-destructive in their wish to make world-saving discoveries. The story explores two connected themes - Hadar's many unsuccessful relationships under the shadow of Pietro banks and cashiers and his memories of following the experiment of a fusion reactor - the attempt to build a star on earth.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Wisdom</strong> is something many people seek though what it is remains uncertain. Raul a common man is pledged to seek wisdom though his life is one of happenstance rebounding from archaeological expeditions to politics a grooming for leadership which seems more like a prison interrogation without purpose but with threats and finally transformation as a literary and sexual subject. Along his haphazard way he finds himself in extreme situations where the meaning of 'wisdom' should become more evident. Life and wisdom seem incompatible - but in the end with an old associate he continues his quest - in control but in a landscape of increasing hardship and isolation.</p><p><br></p>