Entry 138: "The Worm Ouroboros" Pt. 2 End

Dear Internet,

                Well, I suspect that you most likely think I am dead or close to it by now.  I am not sorry to disappoint you.  I am well enough alive, as far as I can tell.  I have been busy with various things.  "What?" you ask?  None of your darn business is what.  Just know that even this entry does not mean that I can begin any sort of regular posting any time soon.  So, do not get any sort of ideas stuck in a loop.  All I am here to do is to finish up my review of "The Worm Ouroborous."

                The last thing that I talked about concerning the novel was the book's language.  The book can be broken down into three different types of English language that I am sure someone can define better than I can.  The most modern type of prose comes in the book's narration, which sounds the most of what we hear today.  The second is the spoken language that the characters use when communicating between themselves.  This is filled with "thee"s, "thou"s, and "thine"s.  The third type appears when the book's characters communicate through written word.  I would liken it to somewhere between Middle English and the second type I described above.  I mention all this because with each format, a modern reader would have some deal of difficulty in reading these segments.  The third format is especially difficult to get through due to the multitude of obsolete or archaic spellings of some words.  It is not impossible by any means, but it does slow down the novel, which is one of the hurdles that the book tries to overcome.

                "The Worm Ouroborous" is a thick book, but it is below that of what you could call a doorstopper.  It, however, does not move very quickly or smoothly.  There are times that the story progresses at a rather quick pace, such as the battles and the wrestling match, but at other times, it feels like the plot grinds to a halt.  These moments, usually when focusing specifically on the Witchlanders, move slow enough that I wanted to just skim over the text.  Of course, these segments are made to add exposition to the various characters.  The novel does this in strides, making sure that every character is given at least a wading pool level of depth.  The problem is that there are too many characters that just plain do not matter yet are brought up time and time again.  I think someone even got killed in their sleep at some point, but I could not even care because they were so unimportant.  Then there are a dozen or more military figures on both sides that show up at the end of the novel for the climactic battle but are either killed off or barely given any sort of information.  The point of them being there is just to make the world seem more alive.

                This is not a bad thing completely, but it causes the book to be read more like a history novel that is trying to make sure that future historians and genealogists can use it as a primary source of information rather than a piece of fiction that is trying to amuse and beguile away a number of hours.  I am reminded of T.H. White's "The Once and Future King" and how it remembered not to boggle the reader down.  During one of the last segments White's novel, he would barely go into detail about the various knights that were about to draw upon one another, citing "Le Morte d'Arthur" if the reader wanted to know everyone's names.  It was not that the names of the knights were unimportant.  It was that going into such a length of detail would have detracted from the scene, causing it to slowdown.  "The Worm Ouroborous" does what it does because it wants to world build more than anything.

                In this respect, the book delivers on all accounts.  The book goes to great lengths to ensure that all the "t"s are crossed and the "i"s are dotted when it comes to making a world that not only functions well but is also believable.  The world in the book is one that the reader can lose themselves in very easily if they wish to.  The landscape and the history within the world are fleshed out to the point that subsequent novels could have expanded upon small segments and still be folded within this novel.  Take the matter of the kings of Witchland.  We are told of at least four kings that all share the name Gorice.  That still leaves another eight or so that can be expounded upon.  These holes made evident do not detract from the plot that is progressing within the story.  Instead they show evidence of a much larger spectrum that is at play.  While the mechanics of the magic appearing in the book is usually glossed over to the point of requesting the reader to ignore plausibility, the book knows that it is not all that important, instead using that time to set up the scene.  Compare this to "Tale of the Abyss" which would constantly spend lengths of time ensuring that the mechanics of magic are so extensively detailed and plausible that it caused any scene that even mentions "fonons" to grind to a stop so it can be explained twice over.  It is alright that magic does not get explained as long as you do not contradict yourself later on.

                Then there is of course the ending of the novel that needs to be addressed.  You can just skip reading this if you do not want to spoil yourself.  At the very end, the demons wish that they could have someone to fight against since they are for all intents and purposes bored of peace time.  Their wishes are heard by the gods who turn back the world to the beginning of the novel so the war can begin all over.  This illustrates the bloodthirsty nature of the main characters who care not for their kingdom's well being but instead for their own amusements.  In the end, the only thing that separates the demons from the Witchlanders is a sense of aristocratic pride and elitist elegance.  Both of these are characteristics that you will be hard pressed to sympathize over by the end of the story.  The demon lords care not that hundreds, nay thousands, of men and women have died in the war just fought and will die again in the one coming soon.  They are a self interest lot that are more in tune with certain beheaded heads of state than the warrior kings that the book spent depicting.  I am not sure if Eddison, the writer, wanted to depict aristocracy as being so petty or if he wanted to make a criticism of the icon of the fighting hero.  In the end, it makes for an anti-resolution ending that failed to wind me back up again as it does for the characters it contains.

                In the end, "The Worm Ouroborous" is one of those books that I like when I am done with them.  It is not that I am happy because that it is over, as one could say about a kidney stone.  Instead, the novel is one that shines best as a whole rather than in parts.  The problem with me, at least, was just slogging through it.  I just wonder if the story could have been condensed a little to save on unneeded plot elements that fell a bit like padding.  Then there are the number of characters whose names all swirl around because they are similar in spelling. I could recommend the book, but make sure you bring a notebook to make a few family tree diagrams.

Yours in digital,

BeepBoop

Entry 137: "The Worm Ouroboros" Pt. 1

Dear Internet,

                Now, I am as much of a fan of fantasy stories as the next person down the line.  Stories of exiled and kidnapped kings, elven folk parading across the forest, dwarves smelting alloys lost to the knowledge of man, and magic being used at the risk of the life, or very soul, of the user are tales that capture not only my own imagination but also those of many others.  There is something wonderful about a narrative that goes far into the depths of human wonder while going far off into the realms of the impossible.  A fantasy story, specifically the kind that need to create another world to be told, must remember not to weigh the reader's thoughts down but also remember to allow for some imagination to occur naturally from the information put forth.  But what does this have to do with "The Worm Ouroboros" you ask?  Well, I may be getting ahead of myself.

                I came across this book in the most shameful way possible.  I was pulled in by a praising quote printed on the cover.  I know, I know.  Being taken in by one of the cheapest tricks out there is a terribly pathetic excuse to reading a book.  For this, I should perhaps lose my critic license.  Thankfully, my critic license is already overdue for a renewal after having not blasted any piece of work as being "a detriment to society" for some time, so it does not matter much.  The only thing that I can offer in my defense is that the cover quote is from J.R.R. Tolkien, and he says "[T]he greatest and most convincing writer of 'invented worlds' that I have read."  Hopefully, Internet, you can understand why my curiosity was piqued from such a quote.  It did not help my curiosity at all that the back cover had even less to say about the book's content, instead chronicling more of the book's influences than its actual plot.  With that being said, let me try and fill in some of the holes that the cover leaves open like potholes in a back-street.

                "The Worm Ouroboros" tells of the four lords of Demonland and the kingdoms around them.  The lords Juss, Goldry Bluszco, Spitfire, and Brandoch Daha rule their kingdom of men peacefully after having finally put the final sword to the Ghouls, a race that had razed the land time and time before.  During the celebration of the birthday of Lord Juss, an ambassador from Witchland requests an audience with the court.  The lords allow the audience and welcome the ambassador in.  Once in, he delivers a message from the king of Witchland, Gorice XI.  The message dictates that the lords of Demonland swear allegiance to Gorice XI before the world and that the realm of Demonland belongs to Gorice XI.  Naturally, the rulers of Demonland are furious at this proclamation of subjugation.  They in turn give a message to the ambassador.  They challenge Gorice to a wrestling match with Lord Goldry being the representative of Demonland.  The winner would determine if a war should break out between the two kingdoms.  What occurs during the match and the events following lead to a conflict that splits the land apart.

                The book has got a few things going for itself right out of the introduction.  First and foremost is the book's language.  Having been written almost one hundred years ago, the novel is going to instantly separate itself away from modern works or even modern speech.  A good number of the words contained here are no longer spelled in the same manner.  The use of "wrastling" made me do a few double takes at first and made me wonder if the book was written a few years ago in Alabama rather than in England in 1922.  Written tics aside, there is still an eloquent use of language here.  The manners that the individuals speak reflect the fantastical setting that the book sets forth.  But the book takes one step more than just interjecting a few "doth"s and "thine"s.  A number of lyrical breaks made by the characters reciting poetry or song are written more in the manner of Chaucer than in Shakespeare.  It can be a bit subtle, but the impact is there with the much older spellings and usage.

                The language of the novel goes further with the settings and their descriptions.  The halls of kings are not the straw huts that house peasants.  Flawless marble, amethyst, jasper, pearl, and many other materials decorate the walls and ceilings.  Pillars of stone seem to make the ceiling as high as the sky while stone sculptures hold aloft support beams upon their backs.  The clothes that decorate the characters are not of low leather or tin melt plates.  They are elaborate gold stitch works that reflect the person's standing within the kingdom.  The book is not afraid to describe such rarities or even let them be.  Too many works, even fantasy genre ones, attempt to paint a drab picture where the ruling class have no wealth, no color, no beauty, and are as dirty as goats.  While I do not wish to attempt to discredit such a view, which is best left to historians to squabble about like stockbrokers, I will say one thing about such a written portrayal.  It is drab.  It is the kind of drab where the lack of luster ends up affecting any sort of extravagance that the plot wishes to showcase.  If you make a drab world with no glimmer of glamour, you make a drab story.  It is perhaps one of those Modernist inventions that try and trick the reader into thinking they enjoyed the work when they clearly did not.

                I shall leave you with this small letter for now, Internet.  I hope to write to you again, soon.

Yours in digital,

BeepBoop

Entry 136: "Four Faultless Felons"

Dear Internet,

                Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a writer of paradoxes.  The various novellas, novels, and short stories he penned are filled with them.  Just about anything that you pick up by the man has a paradox at its core.  Not to be confused with the oxymoron which is more a contradiction in the purest form, Chesterton's paradoxes require the two things that they present to be both true yet seem like they contradict one another.  For example, the courage of a soldier when caught behind enemy lines can only save his life by throwing away his concern for his life and risking death.  If he stays still, he will surely die, but if he risks his life, he may save it.  Another example would be Chesterton's arguments for the smallness of man against God yet hugeness to that of the rest of the universe.  But I will not go on and on since you are most likely wondering what any of this has to do with "Four Faultless Felons."  The title of the book probably holds a clue.

                "Four Faultless Felons" is a collection of four novellas or shorter tales telling of four individuals who are more than mere criminals.    Each of the four men tells his tale to reporter Asa Lee Pinion, an American reporter gone to England to find a story on Count Raoul de Marillac.  Pinion goes to London hoping to learn about the extravagant lifestyle of the count.  In one way, he is not dissapointed.  The count frequently eats expensive dishes and goes out to see the newest bawdiest plays that are being produced.  It is only when the reporter is left alone with the four men that he learns the truth.  The count is in fact living a rather penitent lifestyle.  All the dishes he eats are counter to his tastes, and he goes to the plays because they are boring and uninteresting.  The men that tell Pinion this truth about the count have each committed a crime of sorts, but there is obviously more to each tale.  The crimes committed are murder, fraud, theft, and treason.  Like the count, each man is counter to what he originally appears.  Together, the men form the "Club of Men Misunderstood."

                The stories are told in a classic detective manner with the catch that there is usually no crime being committed.  The reader is privy to this understanding just from reading the title of the book.  It is understood right from the beginning that there is going to be mysteries that go beyond the immediate ones being told, but that does not mean that those mysteries are going to be easy to solve.  I do not wish to even go into the details of each story since doing so will end up giving away a clue or two.  So, you will just have to take my word that the tales are each riveting and play out well.

                The book is less like a detective novel than I might be leading on.  A normal detective story flows in a rather strict formula.  The various characters are presented, giving each just enough of a presentation that the audience can understand them in an instant.  The setting is likewise given such treatment.  Afterwards, the crime is committed.  The clues are presented either at this point or in the following moments.  Depending on the length of the story, a number of false accusations and incorrect attempts to the solution are presented.  Eventually, the mystery is solved with the truth being presented to the audience at least and the various characters at most.  In "Four Faultless Felons," just one of these elements is skewed.  The crime itself is given scrutiny.  The crime itself is called into question.  The crime itself is brought forward to testify in the witness chair.  If anything, the book is more of a vanishing act.  The crimes, not the criminals, pull escape acts.

                I have already done a review of Chesterton's more famous mystery stories, the Father Brown books.  It would be probably best to compare this book with those stories since the Father Brown stories are more widely recognized.  In the same way that the Father Brown stories center around the criminal rather than the crime, "Four Faultless Felons" center on why the individuals act in the manner that they do rather than merely figuring out how they pulled off their actions.  It is not enough to know how the action is committed but to figure out why it is committed in the first place.  The motive is what lays down the groundwork for each tale.  Without motive or intent, a crime is usually just an accident.

                Unlike the Father Brown stories, which are usually less than twenty pages, the stories here average near the forty five page mark.  Also, the four stories are broken into subsequent chapters.  This means that each of the stories is given a wide birth to be built, examined, and solved.  This of course leads to a number of notable characteristics.  With the lengthening of the story, there is much wider chance for the audience to solve the mystery before the solution is revealed.  Yet at the same time, the story can become much more intertwined and complicated.  Chesterton walks right down the middle without leaving the reader ensnared in the thicket of connecting lines.  The added lengths do not make the stories convoluted.  They allow the stories greater depth and life, but they also allow Chesterton a greater ability to explore a specific theme.  In the Father Brown stories, most of the themes would end up being a short speech delivered out by the amateur sleuth at the end each story.  They were very much "and the moral of the story is" type of deliveries.  This was due to the brevity of the various stories.  Here, Chesterton is able to dig into the themes well before the solution is presented.  He is able to have the characters expand their positions well before the curtain is going to set.  The antagonistic characters are even able to express themselves without being curtly cut off or summarized.  

                "Four Faultless Felons" is a great small collection of mystery stories.  The only thing that I wonder is why it went out of printing for so long.  The most immediate answer in my mind is that it is so similar to another book by Chesterton.  "Manalive" is right next to this book in how it handles crime mysteries.  Unlike this book, "Manalive" attributes all the crimes to a single individual instead of four.  "Four Faultless Felons" can be considered a continuation of the same themes, but the breaking up of the crimes allows a small variety of settings and characters to be created.

Yours in digital,

BeepBoop

P.S. Next week is "The Worm Ouroboros."

Entry 106: "The Ball and the Cross"

Dear Internet,

                Well, I am back.  Did you miss me?  No?  Yeah, I did not think so.  Looking at the difference of page views shows that straight enough.  But hey, what should I expect.  I said I was going to be gone for two weeks.  Why would anyone look for new content when there plainly was going to be none?  I do not know.  Maybe I am getting traffic considering that I have over 100 of these entries now?  Well, more or less with the see-saw leaning on the "less" side considerably.  But that is neither here nor there.  Right now, I want to talk about "The Ball and the Cross."  

                The last time I was away from the Backlog I grabbed all of G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories, short one or two mind you.  This time, I only grabbed a single novel.  This is mostly due to the fact that this time I knew I would have less available time reading than I did last time.  That is not to say that I did nothing in particular or accomplished little.  I accomplished a lot, but none of it weighing heavily upon the Backlog, so I will not talk about it here.  "The Ball and the Cross" is one of Chesterton's less known novels.  I base this on one single fact.  The All Knowing Wiki does not even dedicate an article for the book but instead just has a digital version of the whole book on the commons site.  So, there goes my "go to" crutch, but that is for the best.

                "The Ball and the Cross" follows the adventure of two individuals who are trying to kill one another but are prevented from doing so by a plethora of outside influences among other reasons.  There is the Catholic, Evan MacIan, and the atheist, James Turnbull.  While walking down the street, MacIan reads an article written by Turnbull hanging in the window.  The article is a denouncement of the Virgin Mary, saying that she is either fictitious or an elaborate lie.  MacIan thrashes at Turnbull's window into a dozen or more broken pieces in response.  The two men brawl and are brought before a court.  MacIan pays the fine and covers the cost of the broken window.  However, the two men's quarrel is far from over.  They insist on a duel.  The one fights for the honor of Mary while the other fights against the cross.  As they attempt their duel, they are prevented by the police and chased through the streets of London.  The book continues as the pair try time and time again to go through their duel of ideas and ideals.

                Now, of course, seeing as this is a book by Chesterton, do not expect it to be a straight forward adventure story.  One might think this considering that the novel opens up with a short scene concerning a fling ship sailing over St. Paul's Cathedral, but I will ignore that aspect for an analysis entry some other time.  Chesterton's works are filled with the battling of ideals and ideals.  As the two men run over the breath of England, they find themselves and the duel between them to be examined from a number of different angles and philosophies.  A Tolstoian tells them that they should not fight because fighting does not solve a thing and will soon go out of fashion.  This only spurs the two men to fight with renewed vigor.  An English practitioner of some Pacific tribal religion tells them to kill one another for his own amusement and that of his pagan god.  This makes the two men in turn want to throw down their swords.  So on and so on, the two men and their fight are examined and reexamined while they avoid the police.  What they inevitably are caught by turns out to be much more sinister.

                The book is a good read to say the least, even if the wording is a bit heavy at times.  You can easily take the book for the plot that it presents to the reader, but that would discount it a considerable amount.  The plot is filled with suspense in regards to the matter of the duel and the escape from the police, but there is more.  For every character that the two come across on or are interrupted by, the plot reacts accordingly while maintaining the suspense of the duel.  The matter of which of the two men will win the fight constantly keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.  MacIan and Turnbull are not only being chased by the police but also chasing the truth of their conflict.  There are times that Chesterton delves deeply into the book's philosophical and theological nature, which slows down the flow of the book, but it is an important slowdown.

                The book's philosophy is one that examines less the philosophies of the two men and more the ones held by the populace.  "The Ball and the Cross" is a social commentary book that still rings true 103 years after it was published.  The reactions of the secondary individuals are the same that would spout forth today.  Take the nature of how the general view upon religion is that it should be kept within the confines of a place of worship instead of being within the hearts and minds of people as they interact with one another.  This view is the same that is addressed in "The Ball and the Cross" concerning English attitudes of the time.  It is a silly notion that holds no weight and only goes to show the hypocritical notion of the society that holds such a notion to be true.  If the English society of the time and that of the modern one truly held this notion to be true, they would not allow the atheist to display his thoughts and beliefs in a shop window.  Instead, they only care when a Christian belief is brought into the public realm.  Then all hell breaks loose.  The book goes one by one through various attacks upon the two men from outside themselves.  It is astounding how many of these attacks are still occurring today.

                "The Ball and the Cross" does a lot of things right.  It presents a story first and a philosophy second.  It is entertaining and thought provoking, and it provokes in the right direction.  The book pushes the reader to the end to find the conclusion instead of going in circles for hours on end with no direction, spouting blatant lies and muddled insults while masquerading as intellectual prophetism.  If you are familiar with my postings, you can figure out who and what I am talking about.  Instead, Chesterton does what a normal person would do.  He examines the arguments and plays them out to the logical conclusions.  It is sad that the illogical is often considered legitimate sometimes.  

Yours in digital,

BeepBoop

P.S. Next is "Sonic and the Secret Rings."  The stream will most likely not happen due to a technological difficulty that I am not going to correct any time soon.