The Making of Oedipus: An Introduction

The book that saved my life and nearly destroyed it

It's Oedipus. Or maybe Torn Pages Oedipus. Or maybe just Oedipus. As the tag of this article suggests, this is a book that can be viewed from two angles: hope or absolute despair. Is Oedipus just another footstep in the long journey of Torn Pages? Or is it the end of everything? We've achieved such madness as a civilization, such topsy-turvy, through-the-looking-glass insanity that the Oedipus story could well be seen as a story of hope now instead of the ultimate bleak story of destruction. Sit back. Relax. It's all going to happen anyway. We might as well throw our open arms around fate no matter how horrible it may be.

A horrible embrace is a theme that threads through the book. Eurydice's death at the python coils. Oedipus's final fate. Orpheus's rush towards Eurydice. We long to hold our loved ones even if it will kill us. Even if it seals our doom. Nina Simone sang, "with your kiss, my life begins", in this film, it's "with your kiss, I die forever". And the book is about embracing that.

I like how it's a slasher story and a zombie story meshed together. First half slasher. Latter half zombie. It's a "coming-of-age" story in the darkest way possible. It's an act of either absolute hope or absolute cynicism. You decide.