The White Mountains

Chicago, Illinois
Mr. McCann, my eighth-grade teacher, held a reading contest every year and the student who read the most books won a prize. His reading list included the science fiction book “The White Mountains” which is about three-legged machines called Tripods that control the earth by controlling human thought. Each human is given a “cap” in a coming-of-age celebration similar to a quinceanera, bar mitzvah or sweet sixteen. These “caps” prevent free thinking, a lobotomy of sorts that ensures the humans will obey the machines.

Whenever I see tall transmission towers they remind me of the Tripods and this book. There’s something haunting about them don’t you think?