The New Death and Others
By James Hutchings
Let me start by saying that I loved this book, but it’s hard
to describe exactly what it is because it doesn’t really fit neatly into your
standard fiction genres. But please, don’t let that dissuade you from checking
it out. I’m mortally afraid that I’ll turn potential readers off by reviewing
it and my poor attempts at trying to describe exactly what it is. But imagine,
if you will, that Saki (H. H. Munro) didn’t die in WWI and decided to rewrite
Ovid’s Metamorphosis and a few Lovecraftian short stories. Many of the stories
and poems in this collection had Saki’s sly, often acerbic and dark, wit and a
definite mythological/phantasmagorical slant. The book is a fascinating
collection of short stories, poems, and tiny vignettes, each small fantasy
ending with a Saki-esque twist. There is, quite literally, something for
everyone, as long as you have a rather mordant and morbid sense of humor.
The author describes it as dark fantasy and it is that.
There is definitely a Greek myth feeing to the stories, but they tend to be
much more amusing that the typical myths. And it isn’t all fantasy. Or rather,
I guess it is, but my favorite story in the collection was The Adventure of
the Murdered Philanthropist that literally had me laughing out loud. I was
reading it in bed and my husband thought I had lost my mind. When I picked up
the book the next night to continue, he looked at me, sighed, and said, “You’re
not reading that again, are you?” I was clearly disturbing his fifth reading of
one of his books on the Civil War. Or else he was aggravated that he wasn’t
having as much fun reading his book as I was reading this one. Get over it.
Anyway, The Adventure of the Murdered Philanthropist was a
new Sherlock Holmes-type story, except a lot more fun, complete with murder and
a brilliant consulting detective. Just to give you a taste, there is one point
in the story where one of the characters is described as the sort who makes
large contributions to the RSPCA. Then there was a footnote defining the RSPCA
as The Royal Society for the Practice of Cruelty to Atheists. That footnote
induced one of the moments that disturbed my husband so much: I broke out
laughing. Okay, maybe you had to be there, though I’m glad you weren’t because
our bed isn’t quite that large.
So there were stories like The Adventure of the Murdered
Philanthropist (I would have bought the book just to get that story—it was that
good) which continues the Sherlock Holmes tradition; Under the Pyramids, based
on an H.P. Lovecraft story; The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune, based on a story by
Robert E. Howard; The Garden of Adompha, based on a story by Clark Ashton
Smith; and many, many others.
As I said, there is quite literally, something for everyone
who has a sense of humor. It is difficult to convey just how much I enjoyed the
various stories. I’m not much for poetry, but I did enjoy a few pieces just
because of the wry humor.
I loved this book. I just wish I could convey a better feel
for this collection. If you enjoyed stories like Saki’s The Open Door or The
Great God Pan, then you will adore The New Death and Others. I hope I’ve
convinced you to give it a try.
Just don’t read it in a setting where they’re likely to call
the men with the long-sleeved, white jackets if you start laughing insanely in
public.
Where can you get it?
The New Death and Others is available for the Kindle at: http://www.amazon.com/New-Death-others-ebook/dp/B005Q8Q8DY/
Happy Reading!
2 comments:
Thanks for the review! Helped!
You're quite welcome. I enjoyed it.
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