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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
Collection of surreal and occasionally disturbing short stories, many of which are linked to a fictional book that deeply affects anyone who reads it. First half of the collection is decent, but it declines dramatically in the second half. The motif of the fictional book (and the titular 'king in yellow') is used quite sparingly in the novel which I think is a mistake as the opening story uses it to maximum-and creepy-effect.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
1) "We had profited well by the latest treaties with France and England; the exclusion of foreign-born Jews as a measure of self-preservation, the settlement of the new independent negro state of Suanee, the checking of immigration, the new laws concerning naturalization, and the gradual centralization of power in the executive all contributed to national calm and prosperity."
2) "'It is time,' he repeated. Then he took another ledger from the table and ran over the leaves rapidly. 'We are now in communication with ten thousand men,' he muttered. 'We can count on one hundred thousand within the first twenty-eight hours, and in forty-eight hours the state will rise en masse. The country follows the state, and the portion that will not, I mean California and the Northwest, might better never have been inhabited. I shall not send them the Yellow Sign.'
The blood rushed to my head, but I only answered, 'A new broom sweeps clean.'
'The ambition of Caesar and of Napoleon pales before that which could not rest until it had seized the minds of men and controlled even their unborn thoughts,' said Mr. Wilde.
'You are speaking of the King in Yellow," I groaned, with a shudder.
'He is a king whom emperors have served.'"
3) "The time had come, the people should know the son of Hastur, and the whole world bow to the black stars which hang in the sky over Carcosa."
4) "The people faded away, the arches, the vaulted roof vanished. I raised my seared eyes to the fathomless glare, and I saw the black stars hanging in the heavens: and the wet winds from the lake of Hali chilled my face."
5) "For some time I tossed about the bed trying to get the sound of his voice out of my ears, but could not. It filled my head, that muttering sound, like thick oily smoke from a fat-rendering vat or an odour of noisome decay. And as I lay and tossed about, the voice in my ears seemed more distinct, and I began to understand the words he had muttered. They came to me slowly as if I had forgotten them, and at last I could make some sense out of the sounds. It was this:
'Have you found the Yellow Sign?'
'Have you found the Yellow Sign?'
'Have you found the Yellow Sign?'"
6) "'Now you listen to me,' he muttered, through his clenched teeth. 'You are already a suspect and—I swear—I believe you are a paid spy! It isn't my business to detect such vermin, and I don't intend to denounce you, but understand this! Colette don't like you and I can't stand you, and if I catch you in this street again I'll make it somewhat unpleasant. Get out, you sleek Prussian!'"
7) "Trent swore silently for a moment and then drew out his watch. Seven o'clock. 'Sylvia will be anxious,' he thought, and hurried back to the river. The crowd still huddled shivering on the bridge, a sombre pitiful congregation, peering out into the night for the signals of the Army of the Loire: and their hearts beat time to the pounding of the guns, their eyes lighted with each flash from the bastions, and hope rose with the drifting rockets."
8) "He turned his eyes upon the secrets of his heart, and read an evil story,—the story of the past, and he covered his face for shame, while, keeping time to the dull pain throbbing in his head, his heart beat out the story for the future. Shame and disgrace."
9) "When midnight sounded from the belfry of St. Sulpice the gates of Paris were still choked with fragments of what had once been an army."
10) "The street is not fashionable, neither is it shabby. It is a pariah among streets—a street without a Quarter. It is generally understood to lie outside the pale of the aristocratic Avenue de l'Observatoire. The students of the Montparnasse Quarter consider it swell and will have none of it. The Latin Quarter, from the Luxembourg, its northern frontier, sneers at its respectability and regards with disfavour the correctly costumed students who haunt it. Few strangers go into it."
2) "'It is time,' he repeated. Then he took another ledger from the table and ran over the leaves rapidly. 'We are now in communication with ten thousand men,' he muttered. 'We can count on one hundred thousand within the first twenty-eight hours, and in forty-eight hours the state will rise en masse. The country follows the state, and the portion that will not, I mean California and the Northwest, might better never have been inhabited. I shall not send them the Yellow Sign.'
The blood rushed to my head, but I only answered, 'A new broom sweeps clean.'
'The ambition of Caesar and of Napoleon pales before that which could not rest until it had seized the minds of men and controlled even their unborn thoughts,' said Mr. Wilde.
'You are speaking of the King in Yellow," I groaned, with a shudder.
'He is a king whom emperors have served.'"
3) "The time had come, the people should know the son of Hastur, and the whole world bow to the black stars which hang in the sky over Carcosa."
4) "The people faded away, the arches, the vaulted roof vanished. I raised my seared eyes to the fathomless glare, and I saw the black stars hanging in the heavens: and the wet winds from the lake of Hali chilled my face."
5) "For some time I tossed about the bed trying to get the sound of his voice out of my ears, but could not. It filled my head, that muttering sound, like thick oily smoke from a fat-rendering vat or an odour of noisome decay. And as I lay and tossed about, the voice in my ears seemed more distinct, and I began to understand the words he had muttered. They came to me slowly as if I had forgotten them, and at last I could make some sense out of the sounds. It was this:
'Have you found the Yellow Sign?'
'Have you found the Yellow Sign?'
'Have you found the Yellow Sign?'"
6) "'Now you listen to me,' he muttered, through his clenched teeth. 'You are already a suspect and—I swear—I believe you are a paid spy! It isn't my business to detect such vermin, and I don't intend to denounce you, but understand this! Colette don't like you and I can't stand you, and if I catch you in this street again I'll make it somewhat unpleasant. Get out, you sleek Prussian!'"
7) "Trent swore silently for a moment and then drew out his watch. Seven o'clock. 'Sylvia will be anxious,' he thought, and hurried back to the river. The crowd still huddled shivering on the bridge, a sombre pitiful congregation, peering out into the night for the signals of the Army of the Loire: and their hearts beat time to the pounding of the guns, their eyes lighted with each flash from the bastions, and hope rose with the drifting rockets."
8) "He turned his eyes upon the secrets of his heart, and read an evil story,—the story of the past, and he covered his face for shame, while, keeping time to the dull pain throbbing in his head, his heart beat out the story for the future. Shame and disgrace."
9) "When midnight sounded from the belfry of St. Sulpice the gates of Paris were still choked with fragments of what had once been an army."
10) "The street is not fashionable, neither is it shabby. It is a pariah among streets—a street without a Quarter. It is generally understood to lie outside the pale of the aristocratic Avenue de l'Observatoire. The students of the Montparnasse Quarter consider it swell and will have none of it. The Latin Quarter, from the Luxembourg, its northern frontier, sneers at its respectability and regards with disfavour the correctly costumed students who haunt it. Few strangers go into it."
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Initially, I went into this with low expectations (it’s hard not to notice the low GR rating), and so maybe that was why I ended up enjoying this one more than I thought I would.
The King in Yellow is comprised of ten short stories. The first 5/6 of which mainly deal with the aforementioned: the titular “King in Yellow”— a play that, if read, drives the reader mad— as well as the dreaded “Yellow Sign”.
Each of these stories surprised me- they were macabre and quite unsettling. I should mention how creeped out I was by a few of them; even more-so than some of the genre fiction I’ve read in recent memory. That is truly a great feat for a book that was written 150+ years ago. Of the first six shorts, the two in particular I liked the most were “The Mask”— weird science and madness— and “The Demoiselle d'Ys”— a superbly crafted ghost story.
It was only when I began the last few stories that I became confused. Gone was The King in Yellow motif and the eerie themes of the previous shorts. The remaining stories, in fact, were more romantic in nature. There was one that dealt with the Paris Siege of 1870, though, which I found thrilling, and a few love stories that worked better than many modern romance novels... and Mr. Chambers mananged to do it all in half the pages. Each of these drifted between America and the demimonde of Paris, where artists and bohemians reigned, so the characters that populated it were romantics in-and-of themselves to begin with. It was a drastic shift in tone I wasn’t expecting, but enjoyed nonetheless.
So, on the whole, I liked more of the stories than I didn’t (I’d say 7/10). If anything, I’m pleasantly surprised to find this odd collection exceeded my expectations.
The King in Yellow is comprised of ten short stories. The first 5/6 of which mainly deal with the aforementioned: the titular “King in Yellow”— a play that, if read, drives the reader mad— as well as the dreaded “Yellow Sign”.
Each of these stories surprised me- they were macabre and quite unsettling. I should mention how creeped out I was by a few of them; even more-so than some of the genre fiction I’ve read in recent memory. That is truly a great feat for a book that was written 150+ years ago. Of the first six shorts, the two in particular I liked the most were “The Mask”— weird science and madness— and “The Demoiselle d'Ys”— a superbly crafted ghost story.
It was only when I began the last few stories that I became confused. Gone was The King in Yellow motif and the eerie themes of the previous shorts. The remaining stories, in fact, were more romantic in nature. There was one that dealt with the Paris Siege of 1870, though, which I found thrilling, and a few love stories that worked better than many modern romance novels... and Mr. Chambers mananged to do it all in half the pages. Each of these drifted between America and the demimonde of Paris, where artists and bohemians reigned, so the characters that populated it were romantics in-and-of themselves to begin with. It was a drastic shift in tone I wasn’t expecting, but enjoyed nonetheless.
So, on the whole, I liked more of the stories than I didn’t (I’d say 7/10). If anything, I’m pleasantly surprised to find this odd collection exceeded my expectations.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The start of this - the books around the King in Yellow of the title are mysterious, engaging and creepingly terrifying in a way that feels unnerving modern. I would read this collection for those alone.
The later half is just some unrelated work from Chambers that I found a little uninvolving.
The later half is just some unrelated work from Chambers that I found a little uninvolving.