One sentence that says so much...

I was on a journey recently and to help the time pass on trains, buses and ferries I read Mark Twain's classic "Huckleberry Finn". I have known about the book since I was in primary school but had never before got round to reading it.

To read "Huckleberry Finn" in the era of a black president of the USA was a strangely disconcerting experience as I found this relatively recent history more than a little alarming. In those days it would seem that black people were not only slaves but not even regarded as human beings. They were property and only valued for their utility.

The story is about Huckleberry Finn, a young lad, probably aged about thirteen who lives on his wits on the fringe of society and his view of the world was at best unconventional. The portrait of the southern states of the USA was also very revealing. It is set in the mid-nineteenth century and black people are referred to as niggers throughout. Slavery was still normative then. Huck sometimes accepts that his companion Jim, a runaway slave, has feelings as he has, and at other times he regards him as one might regard a pet dog. 

The one extract that I remember and will stay with me for a long time exemplifies the attitudes of the time. It was a conversation  between Huck and Mrs Phelps when he was explaining his later than expected arrival by steam boat. The passage went like this

...We blowed out a cylinder-head"
"Good gracious! Was anybody hurt?"
"No mam. Killed a nigger."
"Well, it's lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt..."

What more can you say. 
With such attitudes only one hundred and fifty years ago, it becomes easier to understand contemporary American racial tensions.

Away with the Fairies

When you mention the literary genre fantasy fiction, you most usually think of dragons and dungeons in the neo-Gothic settings of other worlds. The novel "Some Kind of Fairy Tale" by  Graham Joyce is fantasy set in contemporary England describing the interface between the real world and the fairy realm. (Actually he never uses the word Fairy as he says they don't like this name!)

The plot centres on a young woman, Tara, who disappears in some enchanted woods at the age of 16 and then returns to her parents house twenty years later, not seeming to have aged and swearing she has been away only for six months. She claims to have been living with the fairies in a parallel universe. Tara's brother, parents, and teenage sweetheart find it difficult to accepting her return and the explanation of events she gives. It is this collision of belief and unbelief that drives the plot forward. It is basically a novel that explores themes of love and loss. The descriptions of the land where Tara went are beautifully evocative and the description of the dysfunctional relationships between Tara and her family, and Richie - the ex-boyfriend - are subtly nuanced and well written.

`Some Kind of Fairy Tale' is a contemporary take on the classic `abducted by fairies' tale and Joyce admits that he was inspired and influenced by many such stories from the past. Joyce creates a recognisable, comfortable middle class semi-rural suburbia then over paints this scene with shades of unreality. His fairies are not the sentimental version: they are not tiny and they don't have wings and wear pretty little dresses. They are not evil but dark and sinister with a very different morality and code of behaviour. It is a dark Faerie-land which is both a menacing and yet also a very beautiful place. 
The book occupies the hinterland between psychology and fantasy. Joyce's fiction is noted for its juxtaposition of the real and unreal, with an element of ambiguity regarding whether the supernatural element is truly supernatural or is in fact a metaphor, or psychological manifestation. Alongside the supernatural element of this story we are offered alternative explanations, possibilities and reactions through the narratives of the different characters. Tara tells her story to a psychiatrist and to her sister in law, a psychologist, and they both make their own diagnosis. There is much scepticism about Tara's story, and we see the attempts to test and disprove her account.

I enjoyed the book and found the use of many narrators to tell the story a masterful device to show that every story is seen differently through the eyes and experiences of each unique individual.

Click here to buy this book

 Image courtesy of dan/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Woman in Black

I have not seen the new film of "The Woman in Black" starring Harry Potter (I mean Daniel Ratcliffe) but I have just read the original novel by Susan Hill. Though it was only written in 1982 it could have dated from a century earlier.

After reading the novel, and finding it rather disappointing I looked at a website to read about the 2012 film and saw that it has been likened to a visit to haunted house ghost train at Disneyland in terms of shocks and scares. This a strong contrast with this slow, atmospheric, haunting novel. This is a proper old fashioned ghost story. In a lonely gothic setting a tormented protagonist becomes aware of an old a curse in the presence of a malevolent ghost! The slow and gradual build in tension works, building to an unexpected climax.

But it was not really scary unless you are the sort of person who is scared of walking around an old house in the dark and listening to the unidentified creaks and groans that old buildings make naturally. It contained some strange ideas and improbable happenings but the frights were in the experience of the main protagonist to the events he believed he witnessed. In many ways it is a formulaic Gothic novel rather than a horror novel.

The writing supurbly builds atmosphere using vivid descriptions. The musty air of the old house was brought to life in the strong prose and likewise the detailed descriptions of the countryside and marshland. The precise prose style is probably why the novel has become part of the syllabus for school students English courses.

The best part of the novel for me was Spider - the feisty wee dog that plays an important part in retaining Kipp's sanity in the long, dark, lonely nights he spent in the haunted house. The dog made the story for me! I recommend "The Woman in Black" for a quick Gothic read - it took me less than two hours.

Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net