Chris Gooch’s “Under-Earth” (Top Shelf Productions, 2020)
Under-Earth is a story about human capital. In a world seemingly deep inside our own, there is a super prison shanty town made out of consumer waste and blood. Literally thrown in, on the first few pages we meet a new arrival – Reese Dixon – who has been charged with assault and witness tampering. Pushed from a moving helicopter by a faceless, masked guard, Dixon descends into darkness and falls deeper into a soft slime-mountain of waste. Delforge. A brutalist tower stands in the distance, but below, all around, men in striped jumpsuits cart bags of debris.
Chris Gooch’s “Under-Earth” (Top Shelf Productions, 2020)
Under-Earth is split into two competing, but deeply connected narratives. We follow Reese Dixon, who works in an even deeper pit collecting valuable waste, which he then exchanges for tokens to eat and sleep inside a building; and Ele, who is part of a two-person thief team, earning a living through small time heists. Ele’s world is toned yellow, which is an easy device to tell the two storylines apart but also an effective way to show character outlook and add another layer to a disgusting looking world. The art style is crudely intentional; heavy blacks and screentone shadows give the environment a sick feeling that does a lot of work to push the narrative along. You can feel the world is crowded and impoverished. You can feel the people walking around are at once a part of a large machine but also have their own despair. Bodies are hunched. Stall-sellers sit on the ground and negotiate high rates for nearly-broken, above-ground relics. The world is filled with collapsing things.
Chris Gooch’s “Under-Earth” (Top Shelf Productions, 2020)
While the social questions raised by how these characters are forced to exist and work set the backdrop, it’s also a narrative about people; about human connection and relationships. Reese makes a connection with another worker, Malcolm, who shows him how to survive in their environment. He buys him a meal, he shows him where to get a cheap room. Their relationship is slow and their friendship is tested, but most importantly their language is subtle. The deep feelings you interpret – in the silences and the time away from each other – adds emotional weight to their story. You can feel the choices being made. In an interview with Australian Broadcasting Company, Gooch said the characters speak to “what we want from each other and how we don’t often communicate it properly,” which I think is very clear in this relationship between Reese and Malcolm.
The story and the environment were interesting, but for me the book came together at page 117 (out of 560), when Malcolm is back in his room, with sheets for walls, and begins to read a discarded journal he found hidden in a wall of the pit where they collect valuable waste. “To whoever finds this – even if it’s just the maggots,” it begins. “I’ve started to recognize people out of the corner of my eye - people from above, people who have no business being down here. I yell at them – chase them down – but when I get there they’ve changed. It’s not them anymore. It’s just some guy I’ve never seen before.” This additional narrative - this anonymous journal entry - externalizes the quiet nature of personhood. The author begins to list the things they can remember from before they were sent to Delforge – “I remember the trees. I remember the sky. I remember how quiet it could be.” – and it’s devastating. Suddenly this fun crime and heist story has an emotional screw, and it’s turning deeper in.
Chris Gooch’s “Under-Earth” (Top Shelf Productions, 2020)
There’s a lot to say about the depth and viewpoint of the narrators. About nostalgia and being stuck in a place by force. Under-Earth is a quick and fascinating read at 560 pages. It sank into me and I had to finish it in two sittings. I dreamed about it. I woke up and made notes on its themes. I focused this review on one side of the narrative (and barely scratched the surface of what happens) because I want you to read it and be sucked in like I was. I connected more with Ele’s story, which should tell you a lot about why I chose to talk about Reese Dixon instead. There’s so much and Gooch’s style is so effective at delivering.
Under-Earth by Chris Gooch is published in the US by Top Shelf Productions and is out now.