Book Review: The Story of B

Daniel Quinn is one of the most intriguing authors I know. He has a strong writing style, and makes his stories interesting, so that you want to turn the page and see what is going to happen next. Yet, it is not the stories that often really capture your imagination, as much as his ideas, many of which are truly astonishing and eye openers. The way that he presents them almost makes you want to slap your forehead and cry out, "Of course!", as if it were obvious. He makes it look obvious, and it is hard to refute the power of his logic and thinking overall. Quinn is an author where it feels like the story is simply the backdrop for the ideas being expressed – and that is fine by me! His ideas are amazing and provocative!

 I first read this particular book, The Story of B, maybe a couple of years ago. It has a series of essays, or perhaps you can call it one long essay, at the back of the book, and I saved this for last both times that I read it.

But I will get to the essay part later, although that is indeed my favorite part of the book. But since it comes right at the end (though you are encouraged to turn to it by none other than Daniel Quinn himself throughout the book), I will stick with a review that stays true to the chronological order, for the sake of organization and simplicity.

First, the story.

It is about a once promising young Laurentian priest, Father Jared Osborne, who is called upon for what amounts, essentially, to a spying opportunity, so to speak. He is to monitor one Charles Atterley, who is in central Europe, in Germany, and apparently getting a steady following that this priest's religious order finds threatening.

So Father Jared Osborne goes to Europe and, after a few hiccups early on, finds Charles Atterley, who is known simply as "B". The ideas that B throws challenges everything that Jared has been led to believe throughout his life, and he struggles with his own inclination to become a follow and disciple, or to remain steadfast in line with the opposition of his established faith, of which he is a committed member and believer – although his faith is now rapidly slipping and fading.

In the meantime, Friar Lulfre, an accomplished archaeologist and paleonthologist, who is the one that has sent Jared to Europe to gather information on Charles Atterley and to report if this man poses a possible real threat to the faith, has been working behind the scenes all along, as Jared soon finds out. When Jared finds Atterly dead one day on a moving train, he begins to suspect who is really behind the order for this killing.

It is then that we learn why Atterley has been referred to as "B". For though Charles Atterley has died, "B" has not, and so the story, and the teachings, go on. And as they go on, the process of Jared losing his faith is finally completed. Now Jared, far from simply reporting on the teachings like he has been doing, suddenly finds himself targeted by the same church that he used to devote his life to.

Jared's understanding of the teachings, and his subsequent loss of traditional faith, is a painstaking process. He loses his faith because of B's teachings, but it is also helped along by a couple of other factors, including his feelings of attraction for a woman that is among B's inner circle, as well as the exposure of the sinister actions of his Church, particularly of Friar Lulfre, and the lengths that they are willing to go to in order to protect the wellbeing of the faith. Even if that means killing a peaceful man teaching a controversial message. Even if that means killing this man's message, which might be the last great hope for our civilization.

Of course, "B" has evolved into someone else than Charles Atterley, and we learn that it is not the individual that is as important as the message. Jared confronts his now former faith himself, he says as much, and claims that he himself is now "B", in a very real sense.

When the powers that be understand the truth of this, he once again pursues assassination attempts against "B" and Jared, and the book essentially ends with them on the run.

Now, I normally would not reveal the entirety of the plot in a review, since the reader may just want to read the book.  But as I have said before, this book seems not so much to be about the work of fiction on the surface, as it is about the message found everywhere within, and which Quinn encapsulates brilliantly at the end with some truly thought provoking essays. I am a history major, yet his interpretation of history in this essay was a real eye opener! His command of the subject matter, for that matter, is truly impressive, and the logic is hard to argue against.

The ideas in this book are not strictly relegated to the essay in the back of the book, although the most direct aspects of his ideas (meaning, those that are not really a part of the fictional story in the book) are all in the back, yet the ideas presented to the fictional priest that narrates this are in evidence throughout, and often quite beautifully worded prior to "The Public Teachings" section.

This entry concentrated on the fictional aspect of the book, which was enjoyable and well-written. Yet, I believe it is the ideas in "The Story of B" that are the most impressive aspects, and so I will dedicate a blog entirely towards those very teachings, both the essay part in the back, and the teachings packaged within the framework of the fictional story itself.