Star Trek Primer Vol. 3

Alright, I've tried to write this primer for Star Trek: The Next Generation several times now and its really fucking hard because it's deceptively complex show. To borrow a phrase "It's shallow where you expect it to be deep and deep where you expect it to be shallow." One reviewer referred to it as "young Republicans in space" and there is certainly some truth to it, but at other times the characters are socialist hedonists just going around making peace, doing science experiments, and finding out what the local genitalia looks like... most especially with Riker who replaced Kirk as the all-American skirt-chaser on the new Enterprise-D.

Regan Era TV/Brain Programing

Now I'm going to have to pull you back in time to 1987. It was a very different world than the world of 1966 when the original series debuted. The Regan administration had pushed for wholesome values in television. TV could be a whole lot preachier (but on the other hand, it was far less disgustiing). Furthermore, the movement to teach morality to the young wasn't just dominated by the right wing. Many children of the sixties were now working in entertainment for young people. For every GI Joe "and knowing is half the battle" there was a Captain Planet eco-message (technically Bush era, but still).

Science fiction was still considered entertainment for children (as opposed to now when entertainment treats adults like children), but like the previous Star Trek, it dealt with complex themes, usually ethical in nature. Picking up on ideas from the original series, The Next Generation really defined the philosophy of Starfleet by constantly talking about the Prime Directive. Referred to by Star Wars fans as "that thing that keeps them from kicking ass," the Prime Directive is a blunt and often cruel moral imperative which says you should never interfere in the development of an alien culture! Even with the best of intentions, the possibility of causing lasting, long-term damage is too great. Essentially, Roddenberry was imagining a United Nations with a truly anti-colonial policy... something which, in my opinion, has yet to be realized.

But at times, the show feels a little bit like when parents go to an elementary school open house. Characters often explain things in the simplest of terms which can either be very wise, very patronizing, or overly simplistic, depending on your point of view. A lot of the dialog, particularly in the early episode, is written to explain certain adult concepts to children like why people do drugs, how people can destroy their own environment, or even how boys are different from girls, but at its best, the intellectual content of the show is extremely philosophical, usually utilizing Socratic dialectic to synthesize two conflicting views.

An Atheist Socialist Utopia

Most interesting to me is the subtext of the show. Again present in the original series and consistant with Gene Roddenberry's vision, never does this show make any mention to human religion or religious holidays. Many alien races like the Vulcans and the Klingons have religions and the humans, overwhelmingly, respect their beliefs, but still the depiction is clearly of an atheist future.

In addition, this is a future which has no money. The motivation in life comes from (believe it or not) living well. Consistently, it is taught, the value of life is in self-improvement and in the improvement of others. Greed is no longer a motivating factor. The needs of all the people are given priority over any individual. Some people think this is an impossible fantasy. Usually those are the same people who believe that a utopia awaits them in the next life as long as they don't let people enjoy themselves in this one.

The Cast/Crew

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart)

A huge change from the daring young lothario of Kirk, the new USS Enterprise is commanded by a bald Frenchman with an English accent. In my opinion, this show wouldn't have made it three seasons without Patrick Stewart. One thing Picard made clear in the first episode is that he doesn't get along well with children, but to a child with a decent imagination, he was a great role model and surrogate father figure. He added so much confidence and believability to even the most outlandish situation. Never did Mr. Stewart give a mediocre performance whether the material was good or not. Not that he doesn't have some competition, but he may have been the greatest actor to grace this series.

Lt. Cmd. Data (Brent Spiner)

If any other actor deserves credit for making this show incredible, its Brent Spiner. He took the idea of a science fiction Pinnochio and gave it a level of humanity that I doubt the creators ever expected. Data was a one of a kind android with physical and mental capabilities far surpassing any organic being, but because he was unable to experience emotion, he desperately wanted to become human. It was basically a backward look at the Spock paradigm. Where Spock suppressed his humanity, Data actively tried to develop his by practicing art, music, acting, playing games... even having sex. In watching him try to find his humanity, it forces us to question what it means to be human.

Again, I have to stress that Brent Spiner is brilliant in his portrayal. You would think watching an emotionless being would be boring, but because Data is trying to be human, he is constantly making mistakes. At the same time, as an outsider to the human condition, he can often be far wiser and more objective than his emotionally charged companions. The result is like a child genius with the strength of a truck and a sense of morality as consistent and selfless as the Prime Directive itself.

Cmd. William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes)

Fearing that Picard would not be appreciated by fans, Roddenberry placed a more familiar, brash, and seductive young man in the secondary position on the ship. Roddenberry himself said that when he saw Frakes, he hired him because he has the eyes of a megalomaniac, which Roddenberry appreciated because he did as well. Riker was always insistent that he lead away missions, believing that the captain should be in command of the ship at all times. This set the stage for a much more responsible ship than Kirk's lazaise faire style. As an homage to the original series pilot, Picard often referred to Riker as "Number One."

Lt. Cmd. Deanna Troi (Mirina Sirtis)

On the bridge, next to the captain's chair sat two other smaller chairs. On the left was the first officer's; on the right sat (believe it or not), the ship's counsellor's. As someone once pointed out, only in the eighties. Deanna Troi was named in reference to Helen of Troy and the script often treated her the same, but the character was so annoying, overacting every emotion she felt.

Troi had previously had a very intense relationship with Riker and the story carried a "will they/won't they" tension that ultimately fizzled out. This was a common theme in the post-Cheers era of Sam and Diane. I might have enjoyed their story arc a lot more if they had gotten together earlier because the two make a lot of sense as a couple.

Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden)

Far from the folksy Dr. McCoy, Dr. Beverly Crusher was the mother figure to Picard's father figure. As such, there was another "will they/won't they" relationship between the two. Because the captain was best friends with the doctor's late husband, he never follows through on his feelings. Her son, who lives on the ship, is a constant reminder of their unusual situation. Ultimately, nothing ever came of this which again is a shame because they had really good chemistry.

Sidenote: The show was criticized by some for having the two main female characters in more "maternal" roles. While I think this is a fair critique of the show in general, I don't believe this was intentional. In fact, the show originally featured a woman in charge of security on the Enterprise, but more on that later.

Lt. Cmd. Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton)

Many children gravitated to this series because of LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow. La Forge was blind from birth and given a visor which allowed him to see a wide range in the energy field, but does not give him the ability to see the way others can see. Unfortunately, the character, while likeable, is pretty bland. He is so bland that any time he gets bored, he plays music. The computer asks him what kind, he thinks, and chooses something latin. Its a painful routine to watch. Additionally, La Forge is a complete failure with the ladies. It is truly embarrassing at times. He makes a good engineer, but he isn't nearly as interesting as Scotty.

Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn)

At the last minute, a Klingon was added to the bridge of the Enterprise. His name was Worf, he had bad hair, and he was angry. An orphan raised by humans in Russia, Worf tried to explore his roots from afar making him a much more serious, orthodox Klingon than most, but his loyalty was to the Federation. Worf defines himself by his sense of honor. Once Worf accuses Picard of manipulating him by his honor, Picard retorts that his problem is that he really is an honorable man and Picard is just reminding him what's right. Worf is the Wolverine of the Star Trek world: the honorable, savage badass.

The Rest

Unlike the original series, Next Generation lasted seven seasons so naturally more characters were introduced and brought back repetedly. What follows are some of the more notable ones.

Wesley Crusher (Will Wheaton)

Oh, Wes, Wes, Wes. Wesley Crusher was (and still is) hated by most of the fans. It's a shame because this character was so personal to creator Gene Wesley Roddenberry. Essentially, he was inserting himself into the narrative, but as a child prodigy. Originally, the intention was for Wesley to be the illegitimate son of Picard and Dr. Crusher, but since this would make unseemly suggestions of Picard, the idea was abandoned. Personally, I think Next Generation held the stories back too often instead of really letting the characters tell their own stories, but fortunately good acting can often compensate for that. Wesley was known for coming up with the non-sensical plot device which saves the day, ultimately making the older characters look foolish, so when the character was eventually sent to Starfleet Academy, fans were much happier.

Lt. Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby)

Before Worf took her job, Tasha Yar was the tough as nails head of security who cames from a harsh world where she was rescued by Starfleet. She was close friends with the much more feminine Troi. Interestingly, the two actresses originally auditioned for each other's roles and were swapped in the casting process. Consequently, I like to wonder how things would have been. However, Yar was killed in the first season, although the writer's found clever ways to bring the actress back for future episodes. Little known fact, Denise Crosby is the granddaughter of the great crooner Bing Crosby.

Dr. Katherine Pulanski (Diana Muldaur)

In season two, Gates McFadden left the show and was replaced by the older and more arrogant Dr. Katherine Pulanski. Pulanski was basically an attempt to do a female version of McCoy. Pulanski was often treating Data like an normal machine which didn't help her reputation amongst fans who adored Data. In season three, Dr. Crusher returned and Dr. Pulanski was quickly forgotten.

Chief Petty Officer Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney)

Another of the best actors to grace Star Trek was initially given one of its smallest roles, but he consistantly delivered such a great performance that they kept writing him into scripts. Miles O'Brien is one of very, very few enlisted men ever mentioned in Starfleet and he is in charge of the transporters. It is a small role, but like Patrick Stewart, Colm Meaney refuses to phone it in. You may recognize him from just about any Irish movie ever. O'Brien is another of Star Trek's few known racists. O'Brien enlisted to help fight the war with the Cardassians and the experience deeply scarred him. O'Brien is the everyman on a ship of ideal people, but in many ways represents the noblest of us.

Guinan (Whoopie Goldberg)

In the second season, the show received a huge boost from the addition of Whoopie Goldberg at the height of her career after winning an Academy Award for her performance in The Color Purple. Goldberg plays Guinan, the enigmatic bartender who plays host in the ship's lounge, Ten-Forward. Here we see the crew relax and let their guard down as Guinan guides them through their problems. In my opinion, this show represents some of her best work.

Q (John DeLancie)

Like Superman's Mr. Mxyzptlk or Fred Flintstone's the Great Gazoo, the Enterprise had it's own all-powerful, mischevous imp and his name is Q. John DeLancie throws himself into the role with playful abandon acting mostly as a pest, but often demonstrating a degree of friendship like he just came by to play with his friends. The great thing about Q is that, as a comedic and almost magical creature, there is no telling what he is going to say or do at any moment.

The Episodes

As I said before, the original series lasted only three seasons while Next Generation lasted for seven, setting the record for a science fiction series (although that record was soon smashed by The X-Files). As a result, it is more difficult to pick out a few great episodes because there were far too many... but I'll try to keep it under twenty.

The Naked Now

Taking a page from the original series, The Next Generation's second episode features the Enterprise-D encountering the same virus that struck the original Enterprise in The Naked Time. As result, we get to see the new crew drunk from Wesley taking over the ship to Picard and Dr. Crusher flirting and Tasha Yar getting it on with Data. A great introduction episode.

Elementary, Dear Data

The biggest addition to the new Enterprise was the Holodeck, a room which could generate complex holograms with sound, texture, and even scent and taste. Basically, you can create any fantasy environment and live in fictional stories. The device replaced some of the more rediculous time travel-ish stories from the original series. In this episode, Data takes on the role of Sherlock Holmes, but due to a programming error, his opponent, Dr. Moriarty becomes a sentient being with intellect to rival Data's. When Moriarty takes over the ship, Picard must travel to the holographic 19th century London to negotiate with the fictional villain.

The Measure of a Man

When an engineer comes to the Enterprise to dismantle Data in an attempt to recreate him, the question arises of what are his rights. This is the perfect Star Trek morality tale that not only asks what the meaning of human is, but looks at the criteria by which we establish rights. Star Trek, at its core, is a show which acts as a philosophical mirror by questioning our preconceived notions. The ending of the episode is even more poignant with the wisdom of Data which reminds us what we have to learn from those who are different from us.

Q Who?

After the initial villains of the series, the Ferengi, failed to interest the fans, a new villain was introduced with the return of Q who flings the Enterprise to the far side of the galaxy to show them what is waiting for them out there. It is there that they encounter the Borg, cybernetic lifeforms which wipe out entire planets, races, and societies and add them to their collective, like a computer virus with a mechanical component. They can't be reasoned with and they are so advanced that you can never attack them with the same weapon twice. They will develop a defense.

Deja Q

Q returns, as the title clearly indicates, but this time he claims to be human after being punished by his own kind for his arrogance. The crew refuse to believe him, thinking this is all another trick, but Data, approaching the matter objectively, treats Q as if it is true and teaches him all he has learned about being human. Q's distain for humanit counters well with Data's admiration and this episode is worth watching for the ending alone which is very... infectuous.

Yesterday's Enterprise

Similar to the original series episode Mirror Mirror, the narrative finds itself in an alternate universe when the Enterprise-D encounters its predessor, the long-lost Enterprise-C, believed to have been destroyed protecting a damaged Klingon ships from the Romulans. Pulled from its appropriate time, history has changed making the Enterprise a warship at war with the Klingon Empire. Denise Crosby returns to her role as Tasha Yar delivering a special treat for the fans.

Hollow Pursuits

My favorite character in TNG appears in only a handful of episodes. His name is Lt. Barclay and he just doesn't know how to fit in. He spends most of his time in the holodeck, he's late for work all the time, never volunteers, and can't socialize... but once you get past that, he is a great, intelligent guy who has a lot of trouble expressing himself. This is one of many episodes that show that even a utopia would have plenty of problems for us to overcome.

Sarek

Reprising his role from the original series, Mark Lenard arrives as Vulcan Ambassador Sarek with his latest wife, also a human. It is soon revealed that Sarek possesses a debilitating Vulcan disease which inhibits his ability to suppress his emotions, which are far more powerful than the average human's. In order to help Sarek gain the stability he needs in upcoming peace talks, Picard agrees to a mind-meld, taking upon the full weight of Sarek's emotions and tying him very personally to the character.

The Best of Both Worlds

The Borg finally arrive at the end of season three as a single Borg ship quickly heads toward the Earth. Not only are the Enterprise's attempts to stop it futile, but the Borg capture an assimilate Picard making him their voice and using his knowledge of Federation tactics against the Federation. The single cube manages to take out nearly the entire Federation fleet. Desperately, the Enterprise, under Riker's command, engages in a rescue operation which holds the key to defeating the Borg. This was TNG's turning point toward greatness.

Family

Directly following Best of Both World, the Enterprise returns to Earth for refit and the crew takes the opportunity to visit their family. Picard returns to his father's vineyard in France to spend time with his arrogant, bully of a brother and the nephew he hardly knows. Of all the episodes of this series, this was my favorite performance by Patrick Stewart and it really reveals the way a man of his character faces an overwhelming trauma.

Darmok

This episode is used in linguistic classes to illustrate the difficulty of talking to people with a different language and culture. Picard is stranded on a planet with an alien he can't communicate with that same to want to have a duel of honor with him. Picard refuses and the two must find a way to overcome their language barrier. The title of the episode is "comrad" backwards suggesting the difficulty of communicating across the Iron Curtain.

Unification

Following the death of Sarek, Picard must investigate the defection of his son, Spock, to the Romulan Empire. After investigating, they come to discover Spock fascilitating talks to unify the Vulcan and Romulan people into one while avoiding the totalitarian Romulan government. This episode places Picard, Spock, and Data together and they make an interesting combination, as similar as they are different.

The Outcast

The closest TNG comes to an episode about being gay is this one. The Enterprise meets a hermaphroditic species who have a cultural taboo against gender. Soren, one of the native scientists, is fascinated by gender and tries to learn what she can. In time, Soren reveals to Riker that it considers itself female and in there culture, this is considered a brain disorder that must be fixed. She and Riker soon find themselves in a romantic relationship, exposing her gender identification to her people. After her trial, she is corrected and the episode ends on an uncommon negative note.

The Inner Light

Picard lives an entire life as a humble scientist in a small alien village in this episode. It's hard to describe the appeal, but we see the Picard who could have been. Despite his attitude toward children, Picard was often defined by his sense of family and the importance of having a family legacy. This not only gave him a chance to do that, but also to live as part of a simpler alien culture. The life that could have been.

Chain of Command

The episode that won awards for its realistic portrayal of prisoner torture, this is one episode more people should probably watch right about now. Picard is sent on a secret mission where he is tricked and abducted for military information. We see Picard struggle to hold on to his sanity when subjected to cruel humiliation along with food and sleep deprivation.

Tapestry

In this episode, Q gives us a glimpse into Picard's past when he was a cocky, womanizing cadet by giving him a chance to save his own life by undoing an old mistake that left him with an artificial heart. In a way, Q plays Clarence in Picard's It's A Wonderful Life and Picard learns a lesson about accepting and even embracing his flaws.

The Chase

Finally, TNG gives us an explanation on why their aliens all look so similar when Picard races against the other major aliens on an archeological discovery of great importance. Its appropriate that in a series that questioned what it means to be human, we finally learn what it means to be sentient in the Star Trek universe.

The Movies

Immediately follow the success of the show, the cast went into production on a series of films starting with Star Trek: Generations. In my opinion, none of them were truly great. While the previous Star Trek films got to look back and analyze the original content from a fresh perspective, the creators on most of these films were the same as in the show and most of what worked didn't seem to translate well to the blockbuster anticipation.

Star Trek: Generations

Rather than making a carefully thought out film expressing the strongest themes of the series, the producers of this film seem to have taken the plot of a fanfic and thrown Malcolm McDowell in the role of the villain. In this film, we see Captain Kirk meet Captain Picard through a very awkward time-travel device. Some of the film's B-plots are far better like Data's use of an emotion chip which enables him to experience emotions for the first time. In this movie, we see the destruction of the Enterprise-D enabling them to make a brand new ship for the next film. Also, Kirk dies, but I like to imagine that he died in a dignified story instead.

Star Trek: First Contact

First Contact is by far the fan favorite of the TNG movies because it sees the return of the Borg who travel back in time to stop humans from inventing warp drive and making first contact with an alien race, the first step in forming the Federation. The Enterprise travels back in time to stop them, but they arrive to discover the damage has already been done. As an Away Team beams down to keep history on track, the Borg beam aboard the Enterprise and begin to assimilate the ship. Picard starts to be consumed by his need for revenge on the Borg while Data is literally seduced by the pleasures of the flesh and sensations to match his new emotions.

Star Trek: Insurrection

Personally, this is my favorite of the TNG movies, although its not without its flaws. On a planet with a few small colonies of peaceful indigenous people, Data gets damaged and attacks the Starfleet observers studying the planet. The Enterprise goes to investigate only to discover the planet is a natural fountain of youth and elements within Starfleet are seeking to discretely relocate the natives to harness its power. Essentially, it is similar to Western expansion and the belief that the superior white man could utilize the lands that the natives were "wasting." This episode also provides some fun moments as we see the crew embracing their youth.

Star Trek: Nemesis

This is the other Star Trek movie I don't own and cannot bring myself to buy. It may be the worst movie I have ever seen, next to Batman & Robin. It is a clumsy story that fails on pretty much every level. The plot revolves around Shinzon, a clone of Picard created by Romulans, who manages to take over the Romulan Empire in a coup d'etat. Unfortunately, all the clone inherits from him is his accent and his baldness, both of which makes no sense. Character depictions ignore pretty much all of established continuity just as the action ignores most of physics. The series tries to give a message that its moving forward, but half of the statements they make are undermined by the usual "play it safe," "have your cake and eat it too" mentality. At one point, even the Picard starts tearing apart the scenery like starships are made of cardboard. It was sad that while the original series went out with a bang, Next Generation went out with a whimper.

Next

The ideals of the Star Trek world are challenged to the breaking point when a new crew stops flying around the galaxy and sets roots in the middle of a long-term conflict at the hostile end of space. If the original series was a wagon train to the stars, Deep Space Nine was an outpost on the frontier.

Bonus!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Enjoy.

Star Trek Primer Vol. 2

In 1973, Star Trek had a comeback, of sorts, with the cartoon company Filmation. The original cast returned, minus Walter Koenig, to reprise their roles. Even Gene Roddenberry returned to write the bulk of the episodes. Despite this, they are not considered part of the official continuity... if there ever is such a thing.

Although the animation style is very primitive and most of the actors are phoning it in, the show is interesting in that it shows much stranger aliens and alien landscapes since animation allows you to do these effects much easier.

But in 1979, Star Trek fans were treated to the ultimate reward for any fanboy: a high-budget, feature length film.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

After the success of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, science fiction was seen by Hollywood as the new blockbuster formula so, like superheroes today, the studios dusted off an old sci-fi show with a large fan following for the big screen treatment.

Unfortunately, for inspiration, this film reached to 2001: A Space Odyssey which made the film drag on through an uninspired plot about a giant energy cloud called V'ger traveling toward Earth. The movie is mostly memorable for hot bald chick Ilia, the first appearance of a mustachioed Scotty, and (my personal favorite) Dr. McCoy with a big, old seventies beard.

All in all, it's a boring film, as most fans will attest to. The only reason to watch it is just to say you did. As a sidenote, in a very brief scene at the beginning, we see the first appearance of a Klingon with a prosthetic head speaking in subtitled Klingon. These nonsense phrases were eventually made into actual Klingon language by a talented linguist hired to translate dialog in the third film.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

The second Star Trek movie was far more successful and the reason is director Nicholas Meyer. I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Meyer, mainly because he had respect and insight into the source material without being beholden to aspects that didn't work. Meyer saw the influence of colonial sailing novels (particularly Horatio Hornblower) on the original series and set about reflecting more contemporary naval elements of tradition, made most evident by the new red uniforms. He also supplied the theme for both this and future films by emphasizing the fact that Kirk was now a middle-aged admiral training cadets.

But as the title indicates, this film features the return of Ricardo Montelban as Khan. For years, fans believed that Montelban wore a strange prosthetic chest for the role, but those massive pectorals actually belonged to the man himself. This film also included the introduction of Kirk's illegitimate son, David.

Now, if you don't like spoilers, you may as well skip to the fifth movie because you can't talk about the next two films without spoiling the end of this one.


One thing that all of these movies have in common is that, for various reasons, every one of them was produced with the idea that this might be the last film. Sometimes it was low box office receipts, other times the actors were just looking a bit too old. The nice part about this is that it gave them freedom to do what they want and not worry about the franchise. For this reason, Star Trek II ends with the death of Spock who sacrifices himself to save the ship and crew. The final moments of the episode feature Spock's burial in space over the birth of a new planet.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

After the original movies had been released, Star Trek fans developed a rule that said, "All the even numbered movies are good and all the odd ones are bad," but to me, I always felt this one broke that rule.

The essential plot is that the Enterprise returns from the battle with Khan horribly damaged and ready to be decommissioned. The crew is being broken up (even as they are reeling from the death of Spock) and McCoy seems to be going mad. They soon discover that Spock used a Vulcan mind meld to transfer his essence into Dr. McCoy causing him to behave like a schizophrenic. In order to give both Spock and McCoy peace, Kirk must travel to the experimental, artificial planet Genesis where Spock's body was laid to rest, but Starfleet refuses to give him a ship to travel into a restricted area on the basis of Vulcan mysticism.

Meanwhile, the Klingon Commander Kurge (Christopher Lloyd) has discovered about the existence of Genesis, a probe that when hitting a planet's surface, spreads across the planet creating new life. Kurge sees it as the ultimate weapon, not only capable of destroying a planet, but also terraforming it for colonization.

Interestingly, this is the first film to be directed by a cast member, Leonard Nimoy, who went on to direct the next film as well. While the producers were very wary of having comedian Christopher Lloyd playing the role of a serious villain, to which Nimoy responded, "I'm the last person to talk to about typecasting."

Personally, I think Lloyd does an excellent job in role that really set the standard for Klingons in the new Star Trek, but the best thing about this film is the way it adds depth to the supporting cast. Everyone gets at least one moment to showcase their personality and skill as they steal the Enterprise and head illegally for Planet Genesis. Personally, I've always felt that this was Nimoy's contribution as he wanted to give each of his long-term coworkers something substantial to do.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

This is my second favorite of the Star Trek films for its very Star Trekian premise. The plot centers around the crew's return to Earth to answer for charges of treason. On the way, they find Earth on the brink of annhilation due to the effects of an alien probe sent hundreds of years ago. After analyzing the transmissions, Spock determines it to be a response to the humpback whale, long since extinct. Like several episodes of the original series, Kirk's solution is to travel backward in time to the mid-1980s to recover a pair of humpback whales to respond to the probe and repopulate the species.

As a result, we get to see the crew fumble through the 20th century as they try to figure out money, swearing, and modern technology. Like the previous film, this one really gives opportunities to the other actors to define their characters and make them much more three-dimensional that they were in the series.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

After The Voyage Home, things returned to status quo. The old crew returned to the Enterprise with Kirk as captain leaving the plot wide open for the next creative team. For this journey into the unknown, Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, took the helm as director driving this film straight into the ground. By the time Uhura gets to her naked fan dance, you'll be thinking "It can't get any worse than this." You'll be right, but it doesn't get any better either.

This is often referred to by fans as "Star Trek V: The Search for God." The plot involves Spock's previously unmentioned half brother hijacking the Enterprise in a search for God... literally. It is remembered for Kirk pointing at the giant plot hole and saying, "Why does God need a starship?"

This is one of only two Star Trek movies I will not buy. When I realized that the only reason to buy it is to own a complete set, I realized that there are limits to my geekishness... and it felt good.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

This is my favorite Star Trek movie of all. Nicholas Meyer returned and worked on the script with Leonard Nimoy. It is the final voyage of the USS Enterprise with its senior staff scheduled to retire... all except for Captain Spock and Captain Sulu. The Enterprise is sent to meet the Klingon high chancellor to open peace negotiations with the Klingon Empire, but when the chancellor is assassinated, Kirk and McCoy are charged with the crime. Spock takes command of the ship leading both the investigation and a rescue mission.

Keep an eye out for the completely gratuitous cameo appearance by Christian Slater.

Christopher Plummer gives a great performance as the vaguely Asian Klingon warlord Chang and the great David Warner delivers a wonderful performance as Klingon High Chancellor Gorkon (his name a combination between Gorbachev and Lincoln, the first to identify him with an alien enemy and the second to connect him with an assassinated hero from our own culture).

It is a complex story rich with action, intelligence, humanism, and political intrigue. What more could you want?


Next

By this time, Star Trek's torch had already been passed to a new generation. The new television series was setting records for science fiction on television, and there I was, not even aware that any of this stuff came before, watching it with my dad as millions of kids my age did the exact same thing.

Star Trek Primer Vol. 1

With the new movie nearing release, I thought some people might be interested in seeing it, but don't want to go in as complete newbie so here is my primer for the world of Star Trek. Like the X-Men primer I'm writing, the goal is to be as brief as possible to provide an appreciation for a very complex and long running series that's had as many great elements as horrible ones.

Now to present my credentials... I own every single DVD of Star Trek: The Original Series, The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine. I own eight out of ten movies, all special edition, and I have seen every episode of Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise as well as those two movies I don't have (and there is good reason for that).

Now, in order to restore some measure of dignity, I will also undermine my Trek cred: I've never been to a Star Trek convention. I've never worn Vulcan ears. I've never been to the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas. My height is roughly proportionate to my weight. I've had sex.

Everyone ready? Great, here we go.

Star Trek (AKA Star Trek: The Original Series AKA Star Trek: TOS)

Gene Roddenberry

Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry, an aeronautical engineer and pilot during World War II where he flew a B-17 Flying Fortress and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal for his service. After the war, Roddenberry became a pilot for Pan Am and received a Civil Aeronautics commendation for his rescue efforts following a June 1947 plane crash in the Syrian desert, as this excerpt from StarTrek.com explains:

It was on a flight from Calcutta that his plane lost two engines and caught fire in mid-air, crashing at night in the Syrian desert. As the senior surviving officer, Roddenberry sent two Englishmen swimming across the Euphrates River in quest of the source of a light he had observed just prior to the crash. Meanwhile, he parleyed with nomads who had come to loot the dead. The Englishmen reached a Syrian military outpost, which sent a small plane to investigate. Roddenberry returned with the small plane to the outpost, where he broadcast a message that was relayed to Pan Am, which sent a stretcher plane to the rescue.

After seeing television for the first time, Roddenberry left for Hollywood, but found television still in its infancy so he followed his footsteps to become a police officer, but still he continued to write for television, his credits including Goodyear Theatre, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour, Four Star Theater, Dragnet, The Jane Wyman Theater and Naked City, at which point he became established as a freelance writer, turned in his badge, and became head writer on the popular Western Have Gun Will Travel followed by The Lieutenant, a show about a young man training in the Marine Corp which Roddenberry created and produced.

As early as 1960, before and during his work on the afforementioned shows, Roddenberry was had been working on a science fiction show which he publicly marketed as a "Wagon Train to the stars" (Wagon Train being a popular series at the time), but privately to his friends, he expressed a desire to model the show after Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels where each episode would seek to appeal to the audience on two levels: first as a suspenseful adventure serial and second as a moral parable.

Although I cannot find any evidence to confirm this, I strongly believe that the concept of Star Trek was inspired, in large part, by John F. Kennedy's inaugural address. If you haven't listened to this address, you are missing out on one of the greatest speeches in human history. Commonly, it is known as the "Ask not what you're country can do for you..." speech, but that is actually the least impressive part of it. Amongst other things, the president expresses the importance of space exploration, proposes the Peace Corp, and advocates peace and understanding between the United States and the Soviet Union. He paints a vision for the future of America that Roddenberry seems to entirely subscribe to.

A three-year deal was made with Desilu Studios, the production studio started by I Love Lucy's Desi Arnez and Lucille Ball. The pilot episode of Star Trek was titled The Cage and featured a captain by the name of Christopher Pike, played by Jeffery Hunter. Second-in-command was an emotionless woman by the simple name of Number One and after her came a very emotional Mr. Spock, but the studio executives decided that a female second-in-command was unbelievable and had the character eliminated. The role of second-in-command and emotionless counterpoint went to Leonard Nimoy's Spock. CBS turned down the show, but NBC picked it even though the executive thought it was "too cerebral."

Crew of the Enterprise/Cast of Star Trek

Both the cast and crew of the series were designed to reflect racial and cultural diversity suggesting a future where problems of bigotry and petty cultural conflicts had been eliminated. In order of appearance, they are:

Spock (Leonard Nimoy)

The stoic half-alien, half-human Spock was originally conceived as having red skin and being from Mars, but the studios determined that the red would make him look too much like a demon and Roddenberry was afraid that humans might land on Mars during the course of the show and didn't want to contradict contemporary scientific reality. Instead, they went with "oriental yellow" and gave the Vulcan's a somewhat eastern sensibility. Still, in later episodes, Vulcan is shown to resemble the lifeless red deserts of Mars.

Roddenberry has remarked several times that he is a great believer in logic, so this trait was made central to the Vulcan character. Consequently, the character is always trying to maintain the dignity and strength of Vulcan logic while he is often tempted by human emotions and passions. This has become a central theme for the series, even in the spin-offs where there are no Vulcans.

Spock also was the first in a reoccurring theme in Star Trek to have one character so fundamentally different from the rest of the crew that they are always struggling to understand one another.

Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner)

In the trendy Star Trek homage film Free Enterprise, William Shatner refers to Kirk as a "John F. Kennedy lothario" and it's hard for me to look at the character without seeing the former president. His cocky, self-assured smile, friendly leadership style, and famously strong sexual appetite clearly rings of JFK, however most people don't know that William Shatner was already an accomplished and respected actor by this point with film role in Yul Brenner's The Brothers Karamazov, Roger Corman's The Intruder, Stanley Kramer's Judgement at Nuremberg, and two episodes of The Twilight Zone to his credit.

Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley)

DeForest Kelley was probably my favorite actor in the original series. There really is no other character that balances his folksy southern charm, his acerbic wit, and his sense of moral outrage. Strangely, even though he seems like he belongs in a Mark Twain novel, he always seems like the guy most comfortable with being in the future. Spock is doing his experiments, Kirk is thinking about how cool he is, but McCoy is always in his sickbay either operating, performing tests, or doing paperwork. He grumbles about it, but he also loves it. There is something very identifiable and noble about his character.

He's also the only clearly racist character on the show, constantly pointing out the differences in Spock's physiology or accusing him as having no appreciation for the value of life. But Spock gives as good as he gets, pointing out the irrational, violent nature of humanity. Often Kirk stands between them, enjoying the arguement and occasionally fueling it when possible.


Together, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy make the conceptual trinity of Star Trek. Aside from being the best actors in the cast, these three represented primary, perhaps even Freudian drives. Kirk, you might say, is ID, driven by his lusts, both for life and... other things. Spock, with his dependence on logic and overrelience on reason, could be seen as the Ego, while McCoy, with his doctors compassion and humanity would represent the Superego. Or you can simply think of Kirk's role in command as the synthesis between reason (Spock) and emotion (McCoy).

Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan)

When given the role of the engineer of the Enterprise, James Doohan was given the freedom to choose his nationality. According to Doohan (a veteran of World War II), Scotsmen always made the best engineers and so Scotty was born.

Interesting sidenote, Doohan landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. He was shot four times in the leg, once in the chest (the bullet hit a cigarette case given to him by his brother, saving his life), and once in the right hand, severing his middle finger. Star Trek directors generally did everything possible to hide the missing digit, presumably because lost limbs (especially finger) can be replaced in the future.

Hikaru Sulu (George Takei)

George Takei is gay. This is probably the most interesting thing about Sulu... even though Sulu has never shown as anything but straight. George himself didn't come out of the closet until just a few years ago, although the knowledge of this makes watching the show far more interesting... particularly his shirtless sword-fight in Naked Time or his evil duplicate's "attempted rape" of Uhura in Mirror, Mirror. I'm hoping that they out Sulu in the upcoming film. As of yet, there are no gay characters in Star Trek; one bisexual, but I will get to that much, much later.

Uhura (Nichelle Nichols)

What was the role of the one black person and one woman on the main cast of Star Trek? Communications officer. She was basically the operator on the Enterprise constantly patching people in to the captain. Nowadays, this seems very insulting, but it was pushing the boundaries at the time. According to Nichelle, she was going to quit the show before she had a chance encounter with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shortly before his death. Mr. King encouraged her to stay with the show, telling her that seeing a black woman in space is very inspiring for young people. This turned out to be the case as reported by a young Whoopie Goldberg who said that when she saw Uhura, she ran to her mom and yelled, "Look, there's a black lady on TV and she ain't no maid!"

Sidenote: The name "Uhura" comes from the Swahili word "uhuru" meaning freedom. Years after Star Trek was cancelled, a fan suggested to her the first name "Nyota" which is Swahili for "star." It has since become the characters official name, although she is generally just referred to as Uhura.

Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig)

In the second season, Walter Koenig joined the regular cast as young Ensign Pavel Chekov. Star Trek was competing with Beatles immitators The Monkees, so it was believed that the show needed a sexy young man to compete with Davy Jones and bring over more female viewers. The often hot-headed Chekov, like Sulu, didn't have a regular position in the original series, but in the movies, Sulu was retroactively made the Enterprise helmsman while Chekov would be the tactical officer. However, in the original series, they seem to share these functions.

Nurse Chapel (Majel Barrett)

While this would comprise the bulk of the cast, I feel compelled to mention Majel Barrett. Originally, she was cast as Number One in the pilot, making her second-in-command, but as I said, the studio didn't think it was believable, so she was recast as Nurse Chapel, a passionate, intelligent woman deeply in love with Spock, who is unable to return her affections. After the series was cancelled, she married Gene Roddenberry and eventually returned to Star Trek as the voice of the computer in all later incarnations of the series.

The Episodes

While the majority of the series is bad, it's bad in the way of all old sci-fi. The effects are laughable and you can tell that they rarely have any intellectual intentions. To make matters worse, they worked on such a poor budget that many episodes center around a bunch of props taken from other television shows or films. Consequently, there are a lot of episodes that have historical themes such as western, ancient Rome, Nazi, or gangster planets. But it's the exceptions that make the series work, whether it is a genuinely well-written script (like "City on the Edge of Forever") or a playful embrace of camp ("A Piece of the Action"). Listed below are the best episodes of Star Trek in chronological order.

Sidenote: You may be wondering why this show looks incredibly gaudy and why there is a heavy reliance on primary colors. Keep in mind, this show debuted in 1967. The color television was still a relatively new invention, much like HD today, and like when the Wizard of Oz debuted to highlight the capability of color film, a lot of television shows had a gaudy use of color to please people who invested in a color TV. But at the same time, most people still had black and white televisions so they still had to make sure that it looked good in black and white, which meant you couldn't rely on subtle color contrast to be recognized in black and white so you needed sharp contrasts between darkness levels. The effect looks really strange and child-like to those of us who didn't grow up with just black-and-white film and television. Think about it. (Trekkie + Film major + Digital video support technician = Synthesis)

Another thing worth noting is that, in addition to The Monkees, Batman was in competition with Star Trek for ratings, so they were also in something of a competition to out camp one another. What can I say? It was the style of the time.

The Naked Time

It's a shame that we had to start with such a campy episode, but what better way to get to know a new cast than to get them all drunk? This was the fourth episode of the series where they encounter a strange illness on another planet that makes people act out their inhibitions or essentially become intoxicated. It's an opportunity for every actor on set to ham it up and by god do they ever! Toke it if you got it, because when you get half a dozen hammy Shakespearean actors playing cultural stereotypes drunk in a rainbow colored spaceship, you are in for a good time! Sulu does some half-naked swashbuckling, Spock gets angry and then has a good cry, and Kirk confesses that, despite how much intergalactic tail he's gotten, his one true love is the Enterprise.

Strange sidenote: This episode ends with the crew accidently discovering how to travel through time. This is used in a few episodes later on, despite all of the ethical and conceptual flaws involved in having characters who can time travel.

The Menagerie

In an effort to use footage from the much different pilot, a clever framing device is used to tell the story of the Enterprise's former captain, Christopher Pike. Presumably because they are using a larger pilot budget, the effects in this episode are pretty good. It's a story about living a perfect illusion as a captive or a difficult life of freedom and it addresses these themes well. I also enjoy seeing all of the changes in cast and costume from the original pilot.

Balance of Terror

This was the episode that determined how Star Trek would handle ship-to-ship conflicts. This episode was largely inspired by the submarine film Run Silent, Run Deep. Unlike Star Wars, Star Trek has a Naval rather than Air Force based approach to space combat. The difference is the same as between samurai and martial arts films. In martial arts films, there is a focus on quick, visceral action. In samurai films, you spend a lot of time anticipating a few short manuvers. Some people say its less exciting. I think the fact that it feels more real makes it more exciting.

The Enterprise is called to the Romulan neutral zone where they engage an enemy that they were at war with one hundred years ago. Because the Romulans are deeply mistrustful, the crew doesn't even know what a Romulan looks like, but they soon find out that it looks just like a Vulcan. This spreads racial tension through the crew. Meanwhile, the Romulan ship has a cloaking device which makes it invisible to other ships, but it also cannot see other ships. This makes the battle even more like submarines.

I don't want to spoil the ending, but Mark Lenard delivers an incredible performance as the Romulan commander, clearly using depictions of Roman leaders as his inspiration. The effect is like placing Captain Kirk in a chess match with Julius Caesar. This is one of my very favorite episodes.

Space Seed

This is one of the most influential Star Trek episodes because it introduced us to Khan Noonien Singh. When the Enterprise discovers a ship hundreds of years old containing a few dozen cryogenically frozen people, they soon realize that they are genetically engineered refugees from the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s led by the tyrrant Khan. Ricardo Montelban plays the charismatic ruler that dares to pit his intellect and, more importantly, his ego against Kirk's. Probably the reason this story worked so well is because they are so much alike. They are both megalomaniacs.

Errand of Mercy

This is the episode that introduced the Klingons. Klingon leader, Kor, was played by John Colicos who, like other actors before him, was given the opportunity to make decisions which would have major implications in Star Trek's future. In this case, he determined that Kor should have a Mongolian look which has since dominated the Klingon aesthetic. Even though the original Klingons lacked the signature brow ridges they eventually acquired, Kor's eyebrows and facial hair set the standard which would later be adopted by TNG's Worf. John Colicos is also known to period sci-fi afficionados as Gaius Baltar, the Judas of the original Battlestar: Galactica.

The story is essentially a Cold War analogy where two powerful militaries arrive on a primative, peaceful planet on the border of the Klingon Empire and United Federation of Planets. Kirk asks the planet to accept Federation protection against Klingon aggression. The people refuse his assistance, but Kirk is certain that the Klingons will destroy the planet if he leaves, so he and Spock stay in secret, disguised as natives, as the Klingon occupation begins. Playing the role of a native political upstart, Kirk pits his intellect against Kor's as he engages in a guerrilla campaign, much to the displeasure of the local government, even when people start dying.

City on the Edge of Forever

On just about every list, City on the Edge of Forever is regarded as the best episode of Star Trek. Ironic, then, that's it's creator disowned it... or perhaps its appropriate in this case. Sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison is one of the best in the business, and he is beloved amongst fans for voicing his honest opinion, and his honest opinion was that the producers butchered his script on City on the Edge of Forever. True or not, it still ends up one of the series best.

After McCoy goes insane from a strange illness, he accidentally travels through time to the 1930s and changes history destroying the Federation. Kirk and Spock travel back to find him. On the way, Kirk falls in love with the pascifist activist and social worker Edith Keeler (played by Joan Collins) while Spock tries to get clues based on information from an altered future. Kirk is shocked to discover that the reason for the change is because Edith Keeler began a massive pascifist movement which made the country unprepared for World War II essentially resulting in the destruction of human history as they know it. I'll spare the spoilers, but the script is great, the acting is great, and it has little of the camp so abundant in other episodes.

Amok Time

In the second season premier, we are shown the planet Vulcan when Spock experiences Pon Farr, a Vulcan mating instinct accompanied by maniacal emotionality happening once every seven years in the Vulcan life cycle. In this case, Spock must return home to T'Pring to whom he has been betrothed. Kirk and McCoy accompany Spock at his request when T'Pring suddenly chooses Kirk as her mate. The only way for this to be settled is for Kirk to fight Spock to the death. Unfortunately, Vulcan's have ten times the strength and stamina of a human being and Spock is pretty much insane.

Mirror, Mirror

Another legendary episode best remembered for Spock's goatee. Due to a transporter accident, Kirk, McCoy, Uhura, and Scotty find themselves in a universe where the Enterprise is a warship from a vast intergalactic empire. Attempts on his life are common place, as assassination is considered a legitimate form of promotion. As they figure out how to get back home, Kirk has to come up with excuses to spare a peaceful race from extinction for refusing to hand over valuable fuel. His uncharacteristic mercy makes the other suspicious, particularly the very logically cruel Spock.

Journey to Babel

In this episode, we first meet Spock's parents Sarek and Amanda. Sarek is played by Mark Lenard who had previously played the Romulan commander in Balance of Terror. He reprises the role of Sarek in several movies and a few episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Sarek has arrived at the Vulcan ambassador to a peace conference taking place aboard the Enterprise. An assassin on board places Spock in a difficult position when Kirk and his father are both in sickbay. His father needs a blood transfusion from the only other Vulcan on the ship, but his duties require him to protect the conference.

This is also the first we would see of the Andorians (blue-skinned antenna aliens) and the Orion Syndicate, both of which would feature prominently in Enterprise.

The Trouble With Tribbles

In probably the most famous episode of Star Trek, the Enterprise is called to protect a grain shipment from a possible Klingon threat. While there, they see little sign of a threat, but his crew manages to take shore leave at the local station where Uhura buys a cute, purring ball of fluff called a tribble which, they soon find out, is born pregnant. Before long, the Enterprise has to contend with an infestation of cuteness meanwhile Starfleet and Klingon officers are having a bar brawl on the station.

A Piece of the Action

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to a primative alien planet only to find it to be an exact duplicate of 1920s Chicago. It turns out, the planet's dominant species are incredibly immitative, so when a human left a book called Chicago Mobs of the 1920s on the planet one hundred years ago, they naturally based their entire society on it. It's another good fish out of water story as the ideal, peaceful Kirk plays gangster to try to keep him and his crew alive.

The Enterprise Incident

One of the few great episodes of the third season, The Enterprise Incident begins with Shatner chewing the scenery as he goes crazy and flies the Enterprise into the Romulan neutral zone where it is quickly contained by three enemy vessels. Spock relieves the captain of command and surrenders the Enterprise to the Romulans. Kirk is outraged and attacks Spock, forcing him to use the Vulcan death-grip. This is soon revealed to be a ploy as Kirk is revived and altered to look like a Romulan while he and Spock work on a calculated plan to steal a Romulan cloaking device.

Watch 'em

So if you are planning on seeing the new movie, you might want to check out an episode or two of the original series. There is no need to see them in order. If any of the ones I just mentioned sound interesting, go to YouTube and you can watch the full episode for free.

Next

Due to low-ratings, Star Trek was canceled after only three seasons, but it quickly became popular with the next generation through reruns. Ten years later, Star Trek returned as a motion picture.

Reading list

I came up with a reading list last night. It is a rough list of all the books I should read in order of publication. Some of them aren't books so much as poems, plays, essays, or even writers, but the general idea is the same. Of course, this isn't a comprehensive list and doesn't include the more personal choices. Some of them I don't even want to read, I just feel like I should. A few I actually have read, but I left them in there just so I could see them in relation to other works being published at the time. Strangely, now that I have made a list, it doesn't seem quite so impossible.

Gilgamesh
Code of Hammurabi
Egyptian Book of the Dead
Gatha Avestan text by Zoroaster
I Ching
Bramanas
Older Torah
Iliad
Odyssey
Sappho
Aesop's Fables
Newer Torah
Classic of History
Tao Te Ching
The Art of War
The Upanishads
Sophocles
Euripides
Aristophanes
Confucius
Mahabharata and Ramayana
Plato
Aristotle
Book of Job
Vendidad (Zoroastrian)
Cicero
New Testament
Metamorphosis (Ovid)
Beowulf
One Thousand and One Nights
Dante's Divine Comedy
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
Pico's Oration on the Dignity of Man
Machiavelli
Thomas More's Utopia
Shakespeare
Don Quixote
Discourse on the Method (Descartes)
Two New Sciences (Galileo)
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy (Margaret Cavendish)
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Locke)
Robinson Crusoe
Gulliver's Travels
Micromegas (Voltaire)
A Modest Proposal (Jonathan Swift)
Candide (Voltair)
Marquis de Sade
Immanuel Kant
Faust (Goethe)
Jane Austen
The Brothers Grimm
Rob Roy
Frankenstein
Ivanhoe
The Last of the Mohicans
Charles Dickens
Charles Darwin
Edgar Allan Poe
Hans Christian Andersen
Alexander Dumas
The Scarlet Letter
Moby Dick
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Les Miserables
Journey to the Center of the Earth (Verne)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Crime and Punishment
Little Women
War and Peace
The Idiot
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Verne)
Venus in Furs (Sacher-Masoch)
Nietzsche
Mark Twain
Gilbert and Sullivan
Treasure Island
King Solomon's Mines
Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde
Sherlock Holmes
The Man Who Would Be King (Kipling)
Oscar Wilde
The Jungle Books (Kipling)
The Time Machine (Welles)
Dracula
War of the Worlds
The Wizard of Oz
Jack London
The Jungle (Upton Sinclair)
The Wind in the Willows
Tarzan
Metamorphosis (Kafka)
James Joyce
TS Eliot
F Scott Fitzgerald
Hermann Hesse
Hemmingway
Faulkner
The Maltese Falcon (Hammett)
Brave New World (Huxley)
Steinbeck
The Big Sleep (Chandler)
Daphne de Maurier
The Once and Future King (TS White)
Sartre
Camus
Ayn Rand
1984 (Orwell)
CS Lewis
Ray Bradbury
Catcher in the Rye
Waiting for Godot
Casino Royale
Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Rings
Lolita
On The Road
Naked Lunch (Burroughs)
The Magic Christian
To Kill A Mockingbird
Catch-22
Stranger in a Strange Land
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Thomas Pynchon
Kurt Konnegut
Marshall McLuhan
Roald Dahl
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Carlos Castenada
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The Celestine Prophecy

Right now I'm reading The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. It's simple, but good. I recommend it.