This is Watt's second
collection, swiftly re-released as a paperback, after that of his
first, 'An Emporium of Automata.' (Eibonvale Press, 2013). His friend
Daniel Corrick wrote in the introduction to that release how “given
his taste for visual flair, it is not surprising that the
intermingling between sensation and narrative plays a consderable
part in some of the stories.”
Here, this is literally
foregrounded with far greater use of accompanying photographs –
both personal and 'found' – which directly, and indirectly, evoke
some part of a story's narrative. In an interview for
Weird Fiction Review, Watt reveals himself – far from
unconventional sources - as part of the generation growing away from
Arkham-style Americana toward Europe's own Gothic.
“Influences can be
hard to follow but I’d say my interests are more in the realm of
the European fantastic rather than the Lovecraftian ‘Weird’
tradition — Hoffmann, Kafka and Huysmans and the strange tales
of Aickman are very important to me, as are the works of Grabinski,
Schulz and Walser. Where they all live on the weird fiction spectrum
I’m not certain, but the breadth of a work ... just goes
to show what a wonderful tradition this kind of fiction embraces.” In my own repudiation
of conventional horror, I'm with him there.
“I see fiction as
an environment of exploration and experiment, where the reader and
writer can use the imagination to examine modes of consciousness and
creativity. If fiction were simply the replication of the world then
it becomes nothing more than a dull map of a bland terrain, if it can
colour the hills purple and the sky green it allows thought some
liberation from an obligation to repeat and become confined by
routine. It’s also great fun!” Again, who would
disagree?
Less welcome is the book's accompanying intellectual
contrivance. I'm not entirely convinced by Watt's voicing his
updated philosophy on Kant's 'categorical imperative,' whose history
is sketched by Eugene Thacker in an afterword. Fine in an interview
or personal website but, ultimately, the tales must stand alone,
apart from, and unencumbered by, any thin support from a
philosophical foundation.
As his admiration for
Schulz and Huysman's shows, he adheres to the more disturbing end of
the uncanny. Then, as with a writer like Mark Samuels, he is most
successful when hope or personal will isn't entirely absent or
abandoned.
Some of Watt's titles
are overly pretentious and not exactly enticing to the novice of the 'weird.' (He'd already offerred us 'Pulvis
Lunaris, or, The Coagulation of Wood' in the previous release...).
Here, the boat is well and truly pushed out, so it helps to be familiar
with the influences. By contrast, Watt's website is beautifully
sparse – bare of much text at all – reflecting his preference
for pictorial evocation. I wish I could feel as warm toward the text
here. Yet, three examples highlight his contrasting range.
E.T.A. Hoffmann's
more vintage metaphysical approach is clear and present in the title
tale. One atypically uplifting and conventionally told. Taken by a
Kafka-esque poster advertising an upcoming magic show by a troupe of
travelling players leads the protaganist to a meeting with their MC,
who reveals the transformative power of their secret. A good opener.
'The Ten Dictates of
Alfred Tesseller,' appears, according to Watt, 'either loved or
loathed.' Whether it's a fit for this collection is arguable, but
his journey of a soul vicariously inhabitating a progression of
bodies works surprisingly well considering it is – by Watt's own
admission – the most experimental.
'...he was water
before he was fire...' is a real gem. Embarking alone upon a summer
camping trip to the coast, our protaganist spies a feral man who
barely speaks in monosyllables, yet appears seasoned amongst a group
of wild swans. Like some outcast Bear Grylls, he shows our man how he
perceives nature, leading to an epiphany that also reveals (to him
anyway) the true nature of the swans. The only real fear factor in
this tale is the unsettling behaviour and unknowable identity of the
homo ferus. Yet this is the tale's strength.
Watt's third
collection will find first release next year. Shawn of the lily-gilding philosophy, a voice could reveal itself some way ahead of his
contemporaries.
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