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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
Could a story drive people insane?
Odd. Weird. I will have to ponder how I feel about this more.
Odd. Weird. I will have to ponder how I feel about this more.
One star and that's just because The Yellow sign is a wonderful story.
The rest is unreadable, bad very indeed.
Heavy and under a fog that makes the mind slow, the suffering is noticeable.
Go only for the yellow sign and the rest don't even try.
The rest is unreadable, bad very indeed.
Heavy and under a fog that makes the mind slow, the suffering is noticeable.
Go only for the yellow sign and the rest don't even try.
dark
mysterious
reflective
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's a tough thing, to read a book from the 1800s. It's a fascinating book that I wanted to like, but ultimately it was just dragged down by its time. The proto-cosmic horror of it all was the best part of course, but it was just expanded on and done so well later, it's a tough recommend.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lovecraft inspiration was evident. Repairer of Reputations (+).
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh, no, everyone, I meant to read the short story collection The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers but I accidentally read the fictitious drama The King in Yellow upon which his short stories are based. Now I cannot forget Carcosa where black stars hang in the heavens, when the twin suns sink into the lake of Hali. What do I do? No mask?
Okay, seriously, though, this is an excellent semi-connected short story collection. The King in Yellow exists in the public consciousness today mostly because of its influence to Lovecraft and the later "weird fiction" genre and, in my case, HBO's True Detective. But the thing I don't think enough people talk about is how literary these stories are as well. These are written with such a gentle and subtle language, evocative prose without becoming overbearing, the right amount of detail, and a clear line of insight into the characters that allows the reader to touch upon their minds (and madness). A real pleasure of language. When fear is called for in the stories, fear is stirred by tone and by presence and by foreshadowing. But these are not one note stories, and they also call upon love and tenderness and wonder and kindness and friendship and longing.
Compare that to another well-known cosmic horror writer whose prose is purple, who bombards the reader with adverbs, and who tells the reader the characters are scared over and over and over until the reader says, "Okay, I get it, that barrel-shaped animal is very scary," rather than allowing the reader to understand why the characters are scared or even allowing the reader to believe the characters are scared. Robert Chambers does not stoop to such levels, his stories convince the reader to follow rather than attempt (in my opinion unsuccessfully) to drag the reader along. In other words, these strange and thrilling short stories by Robert Chambers are successful and beautiful stories in addition to being strange and thrilling rather than solely because of being strange and thrilling. The plot/concept of these stories is secondary to (or at least parallel to) the quality of the writing rather than the only reason the stories exist.
(Also, an aside: It's funny how the weird fiction genre has no clear definition and kind of relies on fuzzy edges and everyone is fine with that, even celebrates it, but then when we talk about literary fiction and how it's not fully definable and how you can't always tell exactly what counts as literary fiction suddenly everyone gets so mad about it and claims the entire concept of literary fiction should be abandoned and The New York Times and The Guardian both have major articles about getting rid of literary fiction as a category even though that would be bad for everyone. Well, I've got news, readers: The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers is both literary fiction and also weird fiction and that's okay and, in fact, it is a good thing.)
(Also, another aside: What's with the line in The Repairer of Reputations where the US has excluded "foreign-born Jews as a measure of self-preservation" exactly? That story is an alternate-US timeline that is a mix of utopian good (peace treaties and growth) and bad/weird (soldiers on the street, suicide booths). So is that one line meant to be Chambers imagining the good part of the alternate timeline or the bizarro-bad part of the timeline? You come here from Lovecraft and think "Well, at least it won't be rabidly and unaccountably racist," and then suddenly you read that line in the first story and think, "Uh oh." The good news is whatever that line intends, it's a blip and not the beginning of something.)
Okay, seriously, though, I have gone insane. No mask!
Okay, seriously, though, this is an excellent semi-connected short story collection. The King in Yellow exists in the public consciousness today mostly because of its influence to Lovecraft and the later "weird fiction" genre and, in my case, HBO's True Detective. But the thing I don't think enough people talk about is how literary these stories are as well. These are written with such a gentle and subtle language, evocative prose without becoming overbearing, the right amount of detail, and a clear line of insight into the characters that allows the reader to touch upon their minds (and madness). A real pleasure of language. When fear is called for in the stories, fear is stirred by tone and by presence and by foreshadowing. But these are not one note stories, and they also call upon love and tenderness and wonder and kindness and friendship and longing.
Compare that to another well-known cosmic horror writer whose prose is purple, who bombards the reader with adverbs, and who tells the reader the characters are scared over and over and over until the reader says, "Okay, I get it, that barrel-shaped animal is very scary," rather than allowing the reader to understand why the characters are scared or even allowing the reader to believe the characters are scared. Robert Chambers does not stoop to such levels, his stories convince the reader to follow rather than attempt (in my opinion unsuccessfully) to drag the reader along. In other words, these strange and thrilling short stories by Robert Chambers are successful and beautiful stories in addition to being strange and thrilling rather than solely because of being strange and thrilling. The plot/concept of these stories is secondary to (or at least parallel to) the quality of the writing rather than the only reason the stories exist.
(Also, an aside: It's funny how the weird fiction genre has no clear definition and kind of relies on fuzzy edges and everyone is fine with that, even celebrates it, but then when we talk about literary fiction and how it's not fully definable and how you can't always tell exactly what counts as literary fiction suddenly everyone gets so mad about it and claims the entire concept of literary fiction should be abandoned and The New York Times and The Guardian both have major articles about getting rid of literary fiction as a category even though that would be bad for everyone. Well, I've got news, readers: The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers is both literary fiction and also weird fiction and that's okay and, in fact, it is a good thing.)
(Also, another aside: What's with the line in The Repairer of Reputations where the US has excluded "foreign-born Jews as a measure of self-preservation" exactly? That story is an alternate-US timeline that is a mix of utopian good (peace treaties and growth) and bad/weird (soldiers on the street, suicide booths). So is that one line meant to be Chambers imagining the good part of the alternate timeline or the bizarro-bad part of the timeline? You come here from Lovecraft and think "Well, at least it won't be rabidly and unaccountably racist," and then suddenly you read that line in the first story and think, "Uh oh." The good news is whatever that line intends, it's a blip and not the beginning of something.)
Okay, seriously, though, I have gone insane. No mask!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A