Overload by Arthur Hailey
Yesterday,
the 5th April, 2020 India switched off the lights for nine minutes
from 2100 to 2109 to show solidarity in the fight against the COVID-19 virus. There
were a lot of rumours about load shedding will lead to grid shut down etc. But
people forgot that major industries are not running and hence the demand for
power has drastically reduced even in day time and nothing has happened. But
still the rumour went around in all social media and forced the government
authorities to assure nothing will happen. This reminded me the incidents
narrated by Arthur Hailey in his great novel Overload. I read this novel in 1984
while I was living for a short time in Triplicane area in a lodge.
Ten
to five was my office timings in those days. I will reach Triplicane by 1730
and will go the library in Big Street. I will read books up to 1850 because the
library will be closed at 1900 hours. Then I will go to a lending library,
where I will sit in a stool and read novel. He will close at 2000 hours. Then I
will conceal the novel there itself so that I can come and continue the reading
the next day.
Overload
is a novel by Arthur Hailey, written in 1979 concerning the electricity
production industry in California and the activities of the employees and
others involved with Golden State Power and Light, a fictional California
public service company. The plot follows many of the issues of the day,
including race relations, corporate politics, business ethics, terrorism and
journalism.
The
story
The novel is described from the point
of view of vice-president of Golden State Power and Light, Nimrod
"Nim" Goldman, who, despite being married, tends to be somewhat of a
Lothario and has many extramarital affairs. The geographic area of service of
the fictional electric utility, Golden State Power and Light, matches the
actual Northern California footprint of the real-life Pacific Gas and Electric
Company.
{Lothario comes from The
Fair Penitent (1703), a tragedy by Nicholas Rowe. In the play, Lothario is a
notorious seducer, extremely attractive but beneath his charming exterior a
haughty and unfeeling scoundrel. He seduces Calista, an unfaithful wife and
later the fair penitent of the title. After the play was published, the
character of Lothario became a stock figure in English literature. For example,
Samuel Richardson modeled the character of Lovelace on Lothario in his 1748
novel Clarissa. As the character became well known, his name became
progressively more generic, and since the 18th century the word lothario has
been used for a foppish, unscrupulous rake.}
Golden
State Power and Light is a public utility, supplying two-thirds of California's
electric power. During a hot summer, GSP&L as it is called, loses a major
part of its capacity to supply power due to a terrorist attack on its
largest oil-fired power plant, called
Big Lil. There is a board meeting about the incident. The chairman of
GSP&L, Eric Humphrey, leaves the matter in the hands of Nim Goldman, one of
the utility's many vice-presidents, and head of security Ray Paulsen. After the
explosion at Big Lil, which killed chief engineer Walter Talbot, Nim visits
Ardythe, Walter's widow, and Wally, his son. After some time, Nim and Ardythe
have sex.
Back in home, Nim notices some
customers were marked for emergency restoration (because they depend on
electric power for survival, such as iron lung users and certain disabled persons),
utility billing supervisor Teresa Van Buren convinces Nim go visit one of these
emergency restoration customers, Karen Sloan, a quadriplegic who uses a
portable respirator on her wheelchair, whom he instantly befriends, angering
Ruth, his wife and his children Leah and Benjamin. Later, Nim and Harry London,
property protection president, go to Brookside, to catch power thieves. And
surprisingly, they catch many. Nim later learns that the terrorist attacks were
by a group called "Friends of Freedom". Later the leader of the
group, Georgos Archambault, mails letter bombs and kills five people including
utility president Fraser Fenton. Because of this, Nim forms a group with
utility General Counsel Oscar O'Brien, Teresa Van Buren and Harry London.
Laura Bo Carmichael, chairman of
environmental group Sequoia Clubs (a thinly veiled reference to the real-life
Sierra Club) meets with Nim to protest the building of three power plants
running on coal, at Tunipah, Fincastle valley and Devil's Gate, fearing the
environmental damage. Not having much experience with coal, Nim decides to take
a trip to Colorado and visit a power plant operated by Public Service Company
of Colorado (now known as Xcel Energy). Noticing that a worker on the furnace
feed conveyor was in danger, Nim instinctively runs down to the plant floor and
saves the man from otherwise certain death. A comely young lady who is part of
the group saw what happened and decides she wants to invite herself into Nim's
bed and offer him sex as a thank you for what he did. When Nim is back in his
bedroom a woman slips in, and he discovers it's not the lady who propositioned
him, it's the wife of one of the executives of the Colorado electric company
where he is staying, who asks Nim to impregnate her so she can have a child
(the other executive had privately admitted to Nim that he is "shooting
blanks", i.e. infertile and unable to get his wife pregnant.) Then, later,
the lady who originally wanted to bed Nim arrives, and is able to get Nim to
have sex with her as well.
Returning to California after his
trip, Nim decides the benefits of coal power is more in spite of the
environmental risks, but also decides to continue the startup of other power
plants. As a result a geothermal plant at Fincastle and a hydro at Devil's Gate
are launched. At Devil's Gate, Nim and the press end up seeing a gruesome
electrocution of a plant employee after he tries to save a technician's child
(similar to the successful effort of Nim in saving a worker at the Colorado
coal plant). A California Examiner (the local newspaper for San Francisco)
reporter, Nancy Molineaux, reports Nim to be selfish when she sees him arrive
in a utility-owned helicopter. David Birdsong, leader of Power and Light for
People, and the Sequoia Club, hold a trial against GSP&L. Birdsong and
Georgos later plan to destroy the power workers, including Nim Goldman who
would meet for a conference at a hotel. Unknown to Georgos, Yvette, his
mistress, knows of his plans and betrays him to Nancy Molineaux, who reports it
to the police thirty-six minutes before the bombs go off. In an attempt to
secure the last remaining bomb, Art Romeo, London's assistant, is blown to
pieces when the bomb goes off.
The think group, using coded incoming
mail, finally arrest David Birdsong and expose Georgos. Georgos attempts to
bomb Big Lil, but he is killed by the pump's turbine blades. The plant manager,
noticing that someone had gotten into the reservoir, realizes that if the plant
is bombed while it is operating, the damage would put the plant out of
operation for months, but a bomb when the plant is shut down would only cause
minor damage, chooses to shut the plant down, causing a major power shortage.
Georgio's corpse floats up after the turbines stop, essentially confirming the
manager's concern. This shut down, however, causes a major blackout throughout
the region. Karen Sloan dies after her respirator fails due to this power
outage. Nim discovers his wife is dying of cancer, and the novel ends as Nim
finally befriends Nancy Molineaux and visits her at her house as she offers Nim
a one-time opportunity to be her lover.
This is a 40 years old book, but still
relevant to present situation. Hailey described the protests against the power
plants and the politics around it very nicely. When you read this portion of
the novel you will remember the protests in Tamilnadu against various projects.
Hailey is explaining the various technologies involved in the Power sector.
When he describes about the environmental problems of a coal powered electric
plant, I remember the days of my work in Chennai Port Trust when it was
handling the coal. The entire area to the east of Chennai port will experience
a coating of fine coal dust due to sea breeze.
The
book is very good book. But it is meant for adults only. It has lot of unwanted
scenes which can be edited and still the story will not get spoiled.
