By Richard Matheson
Barnes & Noble link
Imagine my surprise when I happened upon a random slice of information one late February day: Richard Matheson, the man who brought the world What Dreams May Come and one of the most popular Twilight Zone episodes (also a short story), had released a new book. New book. In 2011. You bet I ordered it before you could say "Bob's your uncle and he makes cheese of the finest variety". Too bad it was a sore disappointment.
Trigger warning: the novel does have descriptions of rape/sexual assault and war-related violence. Reader discretion is advised.
The story is about Alex White (also known as the horror writer Arthur Black), who has "written" the book, and a particular moment in his life. As a young infantryman during the harrowing times of WWI, Alex is dealing with an abusive childhood and fear of of failing his beloved sister. He befriends a young man named Harold and they become close friends. Before Harold dies from war-related wounds, he gives Alex a lump of gold and a recommendation: go to Gatford (an English village) and to avoid "the middle-" (he dies before finishing it, how convenient). When the war ends, Alex makes good on Harold's words and moves to Gatford. While there, he meets a beautiful woman named Magda who warns him of faeries that roam the forest near Gatford. Which means that a faerie encounter is inevitable... and there is this rumor around the town that Magda is a witch.
Sounds good, right? Yeah... there are some major problems.
Alex White/Arthur Black (how sad to realize the last name irony just NOW) has to be the worst at breaking the fourth wall ever. Alex is "writing" the book and makes constant references to the fact that his author alter ego makes these terrible puns like having words that begin with the same first letter run together (like "altering apparitions" or some jazz like that) or pointing out cheesy rhymes (like "drew the brew", which was in the book, by the way.). The worst part is that he does this so many times that it became pathetic.
Matheson is no stranger to having narrators break the fourth wall (see What Dreams May Come and Somewhere in Time), but Chris and Richard (respectfully) were not this freaking annoying about it. I get a heavy helping of sarcasm about the puns and rhymes:
Happy birthday, Mr. Black! Long may you engrave! Which he did. Twenty-seven of the damn atrocities [novels].
-from page 304 of the book
But dude. Seriously... once was enough. Just tell the story. I get it. Thank you.
The story itself had some problems too. The first half wasn't that interesting and could've easily been cut down considerably. It didn't get interesting until the faeries showed up, which was at least halfway through the book. Alex learns the way of the faeries and is intrigued by their politics, taking away some interesting points (or platitudes, depending on how you feel) along the way:
Sleep, in fact, Garal told me, is a reflection of death. I no longer give credence to the word. We do not die. We pass on. Sleep has been--aptly--called the "twin brother" of death. While our physical body sleeps, our spiritual body remains awake. The body we use after we pass on.
-from page 249 of the book
Even when the faeries showed up, it was hurried. I felt that I barely got to know some of the faerie folks. Most of the subplot about Arthur Black could've been taken out, never to be missed. In fact, I'm not even too sure how it was supposed to tie into the major plot.
I didn't jump into this book with high expectations. Frankly, when I read its synopsis, my mood remained nonplussed until I began reading. And that is when the disappointment immediately set in.
Matheson has written great novels. This isn't one of them.
COPYRIGHT NOTE: all bold quotes are from the novel and were written by the author himself. Those words are not my own.
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