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A review by jensbrede
The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
3.0
Similar to many others my interest in this book was evoked by the HBO show True Detective. Chambers' short story collection was mentioned in different context on various sites as a key toward a better understanding of the TV show.
To get this out of the way first, if a better understanding of the Yellow King in the TV show is your motivation for reading it, save yourself the trouble. There are endless resources such as this that will do a better job at it.
Do read the King in Yellow if you want to know why it is considered a masterpiece in horror literature and can be seen as a blue print for successful mystery novels to this very day (and is giving one a good understanding of how True Detective is set-up):
The first 4 stories in Chambers collection are loosely connected via the mysterious play called the King in Yellow which is believed to drive the reader insane. Chambers only hints toward the book/play, never shedding any substantial light on it's content, it's only a dark, controlling, and mysterious force in the background: the key ingredient for any mystery story. The moment you dare to unravel the mystery, you'll inevitably put an end to the tale. Consequently, Chambers knows better than to do so, instead he adds to the mystery. Particularly well done (and readily copied by the popular TV show) is the first story "The Repairer of Reputations". It is left to the reader to decide whether the entire story is just taking place in the protagonist mind after being driven to madness by reading the King in Yellow or whether it's situated in a fictional timeline and the story-concept as a whole is reminiscent Ambrose Bierce's An Inhabitant of Carcosa. The collections transitions with an intriguing ghost story and with prose collection, including my personal favorite The Jester into the final 4 stories situated in Paris. While the final 4 stories are generally lighter in tone than the first, they still reflect and echo many of themes touched upon in the first 4 stories.
.
To get this out of the way first, if a better understanding of the Yellow King in the TV show is your motivation for reading it, save yourself the trouble. There are endless resources such as this that will do a better job at it.
Do read the King in Yellow if you want to know why it is considered a masterpiece in horror literature and can be seen as a blue print for successful mystery novels to this very day (and is giving one a good understanding of how True Detective is set-up):
Spoiler
The first 4 stories in Chambers collection are loosely connected via the mysterious play called the King in Yellow which is believed to drive the reader insane. Chambers only hints toward the book/play, never shedding any substantial light on it's content, it's only a dark, controlling, and mysterious force in the background: the key ingredient for any mystery story. The moment you dare to unravel the mystery, you'll inevitably put an end to the tale. Consequently, Chambers knows better than to do so, instead he adds to the mystery. Particularly well done (and readily copied by the popular TV show) is the first story "The Repairer of Reputations". It is left to the reader to decide whether the entire story is just taking place in the protagonist mind after being driven to madness by reading the King in Yellow or whether it's situated in a fictional timeline and the story-concept as a whole is reminiscent Ambrose Bierce's An Inhabitant of Carcosa. The collections transitions with an intriguing ghost story and with prose collection, including my personal favorite The Jester into the final 4 stories situated in Paris. While the final 4 stories are generally lighter in tone than the first, they still reflect and echo many of themes touched upon in the first 4 stories.