One of my favorite stories by Roger Zelazny (one of my favorite authors) is “This Immortal” or “…And Call Me Conrad”.

The story was originally published as a two-parter entitled “…And Call Me Conrad” in some magazine.
Another publisher asked Zelazny to repackage the story as a novel. When the book was published the name was changed to “This Immortal”.

The title “This Immortal” points out that the hero is awfully long-lived.
The title “…And Call Me Conrad” comes from a line in the story. Conrad is talking to Hassan who he had worked with 50 years earlier when Conrad was a major historical figure known as Konstantin Karaghiosis. Hassan kept calling Conrad Karagee and Conrad wanted Hassan to stop.

The setting is on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Most of what’s survived has mutations of one form or another. Our hero, Conrad, has as couple of his own, not the least of which is that he’s a couple of hundred years old but has the appearance and health of a 35 year old. In fact, Conrad is a lot healthier than most 35 year olds.

Some of Zelazny’s best story-telling techniques are in this. From “This Immortal”: “I was detained at a birthday party for a lady aged seven, at the home of an old friend”. The friend, young lady, and party were never mentioned again. The seemingly throwaway line was used to establish that Conrad was the kind of man who’d make a priority of a friend’s daughter’s birthday party.

Some critics use this kind of example to show that Zelazny’s style is similar to Hemingway’s. I disagree, mainly because I don’t like reading Hemingway.

Another favorite scene was where Conrad goes to a hotel where he’d stayed back when he was making history. A plaque on the door said that the suite had been the headquarters used by Konstantin Karaghiosis. Another plaque said that he’d slept in this bed. “Konstantin Karaghiosis sat in this chair” insisted another. From the book: “I was really afraid to go into the bathroom”.

More than this is Zelazny’s prose. I find myself reading a passage and I’m distracted by just how much I’m enjoying myself by reading this book. If I haven’t read this story for a few years, I’ll be aware that I enjoyed it but I won’t recall just how much pleasure i got from reading it. When I start reading it again, it all comes flooding back.

Excuse me. I gotta go read it again.