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A review by screamdogreads
The Fisherman by John Langan
4.0
"The ocean is everywhere. Not only does it stretch to the horizon in all directions, it's under everything as well. I don't mean underground, I mean - it's fundamental, you might say. If what's around us is a picture, then this is what it's drawn on."
Cited often as Lovecraftian, The Fisherman, is, rather loosely, a sea based cosmic horror story - perhaps in the same vein that Moby Dick is about a whale. What starts as an intensely melancholy tale exploring grief through the lens of fishing takes a slow descent into a maddening, disturbing monster horror story adorned in gothic charm. Beautifully written is the Fisherman, it's honestly exquisite. Langan has somehow managed to so brilliantly translate the sheer emptiness and desperation that loss brings about, he's created a deeply authentic novel, one that's so wholly affecting, and disgustingly brutal.
For lack of a better term, grief horror is my current niche obsession. I desire the books that create unbearable feelings, I long for impactful stories. The Fisherman left behind some deeply personal emotions and forced me to face some uncomfortable truths, and when it comes to reading, that, I believe, is the whole point. Told much more like a non-fiction account of how one man healed through fishing, this is an interesting one. Yes, it's a story about fishing but it's also so much more than that. It's just so devastating. This is literary horror, it's a slow and sedated burn but, never has a pay-off been so worth it. The quiet, sorrowful story eventually charges headfirst into the waters of redemption, seeking to swallow us whole.
Cited often as Lovecraftian, The Fisherman, is, rather loosely, a sea based cosmic horror story - perhaps in the same vein that Moby Dick is about a whale. What starts as an intensely melancholy tale exploring grief through the lens of fishing takes a slow descent into a maddening, disturbing monster horror story adorned in gothic charm. Beautifully written is the Fisherman, it's honestly exquisite. Langan has somehow managed to so brilliantly translate the sheer emptiness and desperation that loss brings about, he's created a deeply authentic novel, one that's so wholly affecting, and disgustingly brutal.
For lack of a better term, grief horror is my current niche obsession. I desire the books that create unbearable feelings, I long for impactful stories. The Fisherman left behind some deeply personal emotions and forced me to face some uncomfortable truths, and when it comes to reading, that, I believe, is the whole point. Told much more like a non-fiction account of how one man healed through fishing, this is an interesting one. Yes, it's a story about fishing but it's also so much more than that. It's just so devastating. This is literary horror, it's a slow and sedated burn but, never has a pay-off been so worth it. The quiet, sorrowful story eventually charges headfirst into the waters of redemption, seeking to swallow us whole.
"Dutchman's Creek runs deep, much deeper than it could or should, and I don't like to think what it's full of. I've walked the woods around it to a place you won't find on your map, on any map you'd buy in the gas-station or sporting-goods store. I've stood on the shore of an ocean whose waves were as black as the ink trailing from the tip of this pen. I've watched a woman with skin pale as moonlight open her mouth, and open it, and open it, into a cavern set with rows of serrated teeth that would have been at home in a shark's jaws. I've held an old knife out in front of me in one, madly trembling hand, while a trio of refugees from a nightmare drew ever-closer."
This is, certainly, a novel to approach blind. It's a story about fishing, that's all you need to know. It's better to let this book work its magic, and suffocate and engulf you. The almost sickening portrayal of grief is paired with such a poignant and observant description of the natural world. Broken into 3 parts, The Fisherman is a story within a story that delicately places a myriad of disgusting imagery in front all those who dare to explore it. The Fisherman is as much about loss as it is the frailty of humanity, of the magic of storytelling and folklore. And sure, maybe these are things that have been done before, but these elements have stood the test of time, and in The Fisherman, have been crafted into something extremely refreshing.
"When I'm sitting at that intersection, watching the light go through its cycles, I think of other - other possibilities. Maybe whoever, or whatever, is running the show isn't so nice. Maybe he's evil, or mad, or bored, disinterested. Maybe we've got everything completely wrong, everything, and if we could look through the mask, what we'd see would destroy us."