THE CREATION CODE

Alternative theology that laments the rise of science and materialism in contemporary culture.

Written as a kind of philosophical soliloquy, Bahchevanov (The Parallel World, 2007) wastes no time introducing his paranormal world. For a three-year stretch, his neighbor was Mrs. G.P. Not your grandmother’s medium, Mrs. G.P. had achieved contact with no mere splash of ectoplasm, but extraterrestrial creature Mo. The veracity of Mrs. G.P. was never in question as Mo had an uncanny fluency with the personal details of its contactees–the entity even divulged certain information about a Football World Cup. Mo isn’t necessarily the wellspring of all of Bahchevanov’s ideas, but Mo and Poo (the name for an assortment of transcendental beings) are certainly big players in his cosmic scheme. It’s admittedly intriguing, but the book has an uncomfortable relationship with traditional science and argumentation that, at times, works against the author’s hypothesis. It’s apparent in several passages that Bahchevanov is not a native writer of English or perhaps just a creative one lacking an editor. His voice is powerful and obviously intelligent, so the book isn’t ruined by some unique lexical decisions. The problem is the rhetoric. When he dismisses the traditional historical interpretations of the Easter Island moai, it results in a denigration and co-option of the aesthetic and engineering achievements only the Rapanui artists and engineers rightfully claim. Burgling megalithic monuments from various civilizations only to buttress an encyclopedic pastiche of new-age spiritualism and fringe archaeology is both too banal to be interesting and too insulting to take seriously. The author consistently reminds us that the book is dedicated to “the Creator,” but the creators of the magisterial pre-Colombian civilizations are conveniently reduced to their myths–only scant glances are cast at their authentic archaeological and linguistic mysteries. Everything, of course, was built by aliens or gods. However, these problems of slipshod arguments don’t obscure the well-intentioned vision of a more peaceful, thoughtful existence for all humankind. It’s just the details aren’t that convincing.

A bewildering, sometimes brilliant work of alternative history, cosmology and religion.