OUTFIT AND BOOK OF THE DAY (LORD OF LIGHT, A NOVEL BY ROGER ZELAZNY)

Hello dear readers! How's February treating you so far? Today I'll share a casual styling with you. I don't wear jeans on everyday basis, but sometimes nothing feels better than a pair of jeans. Jeans are a timeless classic for a reason. Jeans never get old, perhaps because there are endless ways to wear them. If you're looking for some denim outfit inspiration, you can have a look at my visual guide for wearing jeans for autumn and winter.  Jeans paired with heeled boots are one of my favourite outfit formulas for autumn and winter. I wore this outfit for a stroll in lovely Jelsa village on island Hvar. 

HOW I WORE IT BEFORE? 

As always, I try to be more sustainable in my fashion choices and wear my clothes as much a possible. That is one of the reasons why I link up my old outfits. The other reason is to find some fashion inspiration. One of the perks of having a blog is that it is a bit like having a digital closet. 

THE LILAC SWEATER 

You can see how I styled it previously here, here, here , here and here. 

THE STRAIGHT CUT BLUE JEANS

You can see how I wore them previously here, here, here, here and here. 

THE AVIATOR JACKET

I borrowed this jacket from my husband. I once wore it with hand painted pants here. 

THE BLACK BAG WITH STUDS

This bag was an anniversary gift, but since then I have worn it so many times! See here, here, here , here, here and here. 

THE CARAMEL HEELED BOOTS

See several different ways to style these caramel boots here. 

Lord of Light is one of my all time favourite novels. I think I have already spoke about it on my blog, but as far as I can remember I haven't uploaded a full review of it yet.  I do have a copy of this book at home and I reread it regularly. However, when I found a copy of this SF classic in library in Jelsa, I couldn't resist the temptation- I just had to read it again. This novel is basically a story of a human colonization of an unknown planet. A spaceship filled with human crew arrives to an untouched planed. The crew conquered the planet, labeling the intelligent life forms demons and establishing themselves as sole rulers. Their technology soon enables them to live forever and they model themselves after gods in Hinduism. Only one man stands in opposition and that man is one of the original crew. 

“His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the Maha- and the -atman, however, and called himself Sam. He never claimed to be a god, but then he never claimed not to be a god.”

 Who is Sam? He is one of the original crew, a man who didn't want to be a god but managed to become one anyway. The first chapter opens with Sam being 'rescued' from nirvana (well, a sort of nirvana), but soon the story will digress to tell us more of the past. The novel isn't exactly told in linear fashion and this could be confusing to some. If you have just started this novel, please don't give up. Things become clear enough soon enough. When novels opens up, the gods have already defeated Sam once but with the help of his friends he is about to stage another revolution. 

From what I read about Roger Zelazny, he liked his mythology. From what I read from Roger Zelazny, he had not only an excellent understanding of mythology but an almost magical power to effortlessly weave it into a story. This was reflected in almost all of his writing, where Zelazny not only tapped into various mythologies, but breathed immense life and force into them. Zelazny created wonderful mythological worlds of his own fulled by the brilliant of his imagination. Lord of Light, a novel he won a Hugo award for is an excellent example of that. It tells a tale of future human society where a group of individuals has achieved immortality and a god like status. Through the use of technology, this group has achieved god like powers. All of these gods were once humans, a crew that found a planet inhabited by beings they learned to control and simply took the planet from them. These 'gods' model themselves on Hindu gods. While in different bodies, during their many lives, they gave birth to many who in turn gave birth to more, and at the time of this novel the planet is well populated. These fake gods rule over all these people, controlling the reincarnation process and basically holding the ultimate power. Until, one of them decides to rebel. Now why would one of them choose to do so? Perhaps because he never truly became one of them. He never accepted the god status. A bitter sweet kind of hero, Sam makes for a fascinating protagonist. If you're familiar with other Zelazny's hero, you're surely see some similarities in his Byronic ways. Sam is flawed, wonderfully eloquent and more sincere than he wishes to admit. I said that this planet is ruled by a group of individuals, most of them part of the original crew that discovered the planet. They imitate Hindu gods and are worshiped by planet's inhabitants whom they occasionally visit. The start of the novel is a bit confusing. If this is a Hindu world, how come Sam reached nirvana? , the protagonist of the novel was challenging the Hindu gods by introducing Buddhism to their people. Nirvana was his punishment, instead of killing him, the gods have found a way to transport Sam's mind into a state of bliss, this turning his religion of choice against him. The gods are definitely not stupid, they are more than worthy opponents to Sam and his few allies. "Who are you, man?" "I? I am nothing," replied the other. "A leaf caught in a whirlpool. A feather in the wind..." "Too bad," said Yama, "for there are leaves and feathers enough in the world for me to have labored so long only to increase their number. I wanted me a man, one who might continue a war interrupted by his absence-a man of power who could oppose with that power the will of gods. I thought you were he." "I am"-he sqinted again-"Sam. I am Sam. Once- long ago... I did fight, didn't I? Many times..." "You were the Great-Souled Sam, the Budda. Do you remember?" "Maybe I was.." a slow fire was kindled in his eyes. "Yes," he said then. "Yes, I was. Humblest of the proud, proudest of the humble. I fought. I taught the Way for a time. I fought again, taught again, tried politics, magic, poison.. I fought one great battle so terrible the sun itself hid its face from the slaughter-with men and gods, with animals and demons, with spirits of the earth and air, of fire and water, with slizzards and horses, swords and chariots-" "And you lost," said Yama. "Yes, I did, didn't I? But it was quite a showing we gave them, wasn't it? You, deathgod, were my charioteer. It all comes back to me now. We were taken prisoner and the Lords of Karma were to be our judges. You escaped them by the will-death and the Way of the Black Wheel. I could not.” At the start of novel, Sam is rescued from nirvana by his friends. Why Buddhism and not some other religion? That's an interesting question, isn't it? Sam said that it was because he didn't care for being put on a cross, but I think that is not all. It is perhaps because of the way Buddhism grew from Hinduism. It is perhaps a more smooth philosophical transition for the planet's inhabitants. Because it is a subtle religion, it is harder to fight it. If all this sounds like this novel is full of theological questions, it is because it is. Lord of Light is a philosophical kind of science fiction. It mixed technology with religion in a fascinating way. It is an intelligent and an inspired piece of writing. Never has a novel been more worthy of a Hugo award. This is science fiction at its best. “Call themselves?" asked Yama. "You are wrong, Sam, Godhood is more than a name. It is a condition of being. One does not achieve it merely by being immortal, for even the lowliest laborer in the fields may achieve continuity of existence. Is it then the conditioning of an Aspect? No. Any competent hypnotist can play games with the self-image. Is it the raising up of an Attribute? Of course not. I can design machines more powerful and more accurate than any faculty a man may cultivate. Being a god is the quality of being able to be yourself to such an extent that your passions correspond with the forces of the universe, so that those who look upon you know this without hearing your name spoken. Some ancient poet said that the world is full of echoes and correspondences. Another wrote a long poem of an inferno, wherein each man suffered a torture which coincided in nature with those forces which had ruled his life. Being a god is being able to recognize within one's self these things that are important, and then to strike the single note that brings them into alignment with everything else that exists. Then, beyond morals or logic or aesthetics, one is wind or fire, the sea, the mountains, rain, the sun or the stars, the flight of an arrow, the end of a day, the clasp of love. One rules through one's ruling passions. Those who look upon gods then say, without even knowing their names, 'He is Fire. She is Dance. He is Destruction. She is Love.' So, to reply to your statement, they do not call themselves gods. Everyone else does, though, everyone who beholds them." "So they play that on their fascist banjos, eh?" "You choose the wrong adjective." "You've already used up all the others.” Sam is the opposition, but who are the gods? They are a mixed lot. There is a love triangle of sorts, between Sam, the god of death and a lady who changes her deity during the course of the novel. She is quite a woman. Sam and she go way back. “But I recall the springtime of the world as though it were yesterday—those days when we rode together to battle, and those nights when we shook the stars loose from the fresh-painted skies!” Sam and the god of death have a relationship that is just at interesting. Once they were enemies, but the god of death not only comes to Sam's aid, he wakes him up from nirvana. As I said, the novel's narrative isn't linear, but somehow that seems very appropriate as well. It gives a different view of characters...and what characters they are! Highly recommended reading! I'm not even sure how many times I have reread this book and if you ask me that's the best recommendation any reader can give. I will probably read this novel again at some point.

 As always, thank you for reading and commenting. Do you like to wear jeans? How do you style them? Have you read any interesting books or novels lately? Have a nice day!