J.M. DeMatteis' second novella takes its title from the Bradbury quote which precedes the story: "My own belief is that the universe exists as a miracle and that we have been born here to witness and celebrate. We wonder at our purpose for living. Our purpose is to perceive the fantastic. Why have a universe if there is no audience?"
The protagonist, Jonah Blake, performs the function of 'witness' on multiple levels. For as long as Jonah can remember, he has wanted nothing more than to watch the classic films his parents raised him on. Their legacy to him is a struggling theater which finally collapses under the weight of the covid pandemic. This loss sends him into a downward spiral where he finds himself taking late night road trips for reasons he doesn't entirely understand.
And it is on one of his restless midnight drives that he is thrust into the role of witness yet again--this time to a horrific plane crash which kills 215 people.
When Jonah begins having intimate visions of people who died in the crash, he is driven to find what, if anything, the 215 departed souls are attempting to communicate. His obsessive quest to satisfy and silence them once and for all pushes his sanity--and his support system--to the breaking point.
I won't spoil where Jonah's journey of discovery takes him, suffice to say there are several exciting twists along the way.
The characters in the novella are wonderfully developed and I felt an instant emotional connection with all of them. Their hopes, dreams and terrors come alive in a way that's positively Bradburyian, which is to say they're authentic. I think most of us can relate to Jonah's attempt to build what's described as a cocoon around himself and his family, a sacred space where the world can't intrude, and his terror when that protective bubble bursts. Of course, it's a bit more complicated than that; for all his attempts to shut the world out, Jonah is also inexplicably drawn toward the larger universe by forces he cannot comprehend. DeMatteis, a student of paradox, digs deep into all of his characters' inherent contradictions.
As for the Serling influence, THE WITNESS is to the post-Columbine, post 9-11 and covid era what THE TWILIGHT ZONE was for the nuclear age. The fantastic premise is rooted in the collective trauma that we have all been carrying as senseless tragedies occur in such rapid succession that, as one character notes, they are nothing more than an asterisk to the media. THE WITNESS is, like Serling's Cold War parables, a wake-up call pointing to our true potential, individually and as a whole.
As to what that ultimately means for Jonah...well, you'll just have to read and bear witness yourself!
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2023
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Top reviews from other countries
- Arturo Reyes PosadaReviewed in Mexico on September 6, 2023
Another JM DeMatteis gem!
- BobHReviewed in Canada on October 24, 2023
Great thought provoking story with excellent illustrations
