In the novel, The Ghost on the Brooklyn Bridge, two heroines, Debby and Sue, dress up as men and embark on a Halloween night adventure they will never forget. It is a life-changing journey; not only for themselves, but also for those they meet and fight to save. As rational mathematicians with a deep spiritual faith, they face a world of hopeless lost souls longing to end their lives. Both women feel “the strongest human bonds are formed in the selfless service of others.”
With a comical theme throughout the book, we experience the manic eccentricities of Robert on a collision course with death, and a young misguided Princeton mathematician at the crossroads of life and death. Debby and Sue’s struggle to save the two lost souls from
self-destruction takes them into the dark lair of the Suicide
Club. In the club, run by remnants of the drug filled sixties, Debby and Sue meet a group who provide a path of self-destruction for misguided and jaded individuals lost in a sea of depression.
A primary theme throughout the book is losing one’s path in life and turning to mind-altering
drugs for clarity and answers. There are various references to sixties
rock stars who have
died from a drug
overdose. In the club, there is an emphasis on glorifying the deaths of rock stars while encouraging a nihilistic view of life.
The Suicide Club, operated like a Cult, reveals the sadistic pleasure of manipulating one’s emotional pain with mind-altering drugs. An intense brainwashing practice takes place. The novel shows the dark side of glorifying people who die from drug overdoses. There is a tendency to highlight a “liberal media” responsible for glorifying rock stars who have died from a drug overdose. Perhaps, one might consider whether there is a liberal media glorification of rock stars who have died of a drug overdose, but how individuals facing difficult circumstances in their lives, choose drugs as an escape, which triggers a glorification of nihilistic and self-destructive thoughts and behavior. In some instances, the media does highlight rock stars that have died of from a substance overdose, but one might contemplate whether there is an agenda in the media to put them on a pedestal for young people to emulate. For example, the film about the lead singer of the Doors shows the self-destructive behavior of the lead singer as he immersed himself in a world of drug addiction that led to his death.
There is a clear anti drug message in the book, but not in the form of a lecture, which is refreshing. Young people would gain much valuable insight reading this book. Although the concepts and ideas put forth in the sixties were positive, they were lost in an abyss of mind-altering self-destructive use of drugs. The story rejects drug use and promotes a path of clarity through self-reliance, imagination, creativity and a strong will to seek answers without mind-altering substances. It is a definite must read for young people and recommended for all readers.
Tracy Roberts
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