It certainly does (“nearly” was the key word, more than “nothing”). Though Traylen lightens his humor and tries out settings none of Beckett’s novels had, to wrinkle the influence a little.
Welp, gotta admit I jumped the gun and missed reading "nearly" in there. I agree with your points of differentiation. Just wanted to point out the clear resonance, since there is an internet tendency to hyperbolically turn everything novel into shiny beacons of light due to how much swamp there is to wade through.
What a wonderful scene. So small, yet growing each new thought. The unsighted hero figures it out. Just as big as the world that all of us suffer in. And small enough to see the universal emotions of wonder. In the end the villain's evil is all that is left. Inspiring for any word crafter. Merci beaucoup!
I was not expecting that. But maybe water is failed light? To better maintain the parallelism?
But I quibble.
I found this allusive of many things, some of which you were probably not intentionally alluding to. Yeah, I’ll leave that preposition there. I’ve never really believed in that rule.
I am reminded a little bit of Thomas Ligotti, e.g. “the old nonsense and the new.”. (That’s praise.)
The business of sensory deprivation reminded me of a very old book I read years ago by John Hersey, called The Child Buyer.
Winston Smith is strapped to a chair while O’Brien works on him.
Harlan Ellison has a story called “I have no mouth and I must scream.“
And eyes without a face, the movie, which I have not seen, not so much the song by Billy Idol, which I have heard countless times.
The fleeting appearance of a woman asked on a date to a movie who fades out of sight again, and how is it even possible that she happened at all, even briefly, even as a potential? — That reminded me of Taxi Driver.
I don’t suppose there’s much hope of a happy ending here, where General LaSalle’s troops storm Toledo, and this man is caught the moment before he plunges into the abyss. That’s 19th century stuff. It was barely plausible in the 20th century, and this one? It’s only a quarter of the way over, and it’s already a complete shit show. At least there was Hollywood in the 20th century. I’m just not seeing happy endings where the guy’s already in the basement strapped to a chair. Not these days!
I could go on like this, especially if I read it again.
Perhaps it’s a matter of longstanding (and evil (often, mostly, or potentially)) contemporary external conditions, giving rise to shared interior states giving rise to a particular set of expressive statements or images, which implicitly connects with many others.
A glimpse of a brotherhood of man, at the further edge of all this?
Commentary is futile. And yet. There is nearly nothing like this monologue.
It's very good, but it reminds me of Beckett too.
It certainly does (“nearly” was the key word, more than “nothing”). Though Traylen lightens his humor and tries out settings none of Beckett’s novels had, to wrinkle the influence a little.
Welp, gotta admit I jumped the gun and missed reading "nearly" in there. I agree with your points of differentiation. Just wanted to point out the clear resonance, since there is an internet tendency to hyperbolically turn everything novel into shiny beacons of light due to how much swamp there is to wade through.
No worries at all - threading backward into influences is a great part of reading something great, I’m with you for sure.
What a wonderful scene. So small, yet growing each new thought. The unsighted hero figures it out. Just as big as the world that all of us suffer in. And small enough to see the universal emotions of wonder. In the end the villain's evil is all that is left. Inspiring for any word crafter. Merci beaucoup!
“Water is a failed sun.”
I was not expecting that. But maybe water is failed light? To better maintain the parallelism?
But I quibble.
I found this allusive of many things, some of which you were probably not intentionally alluding to. Yeah, I’ll leave that preposition there. I’ve never really believed in that rule.
I am reminded a little bit of Thomas Ligotti, e.g. “the old nonsense and the new.”. (That’s praise.)
The business of sensory deprivation reminded me of a very old book I read years ago by John Hersey, called The Child Buyer.
Winston Smith is strapped to a chair while O’Brien works on him.
Harlan Ellison has a story called “I have no mouth and I must scream.“
And eyes without a face, the movie, which I have not seen, not so much the song by Billy Idol, which I have heard countless times.
The fleeting appearance of a woman asked on a date to a movie who fades out of sight again, and how is it even possible that she happened at all, even briefly, even as a potential? — That reminded me of Taxi Driver.
I don’t suppose there’s much hope of a happy ending here, where General LaSalle’s troops storm Toledo, and this man is caught the moment before he plunges into the abyss. That’s 19th century stuff. It was barely plausible in the 20th century, and this one? It’s only a quarter of the way over, and it’s already a complete shit show. At least there was Hollywood in the 20th century. I’m just not seeing happy endings where the guy’s already in the basement strapped to a chair. Not these days!
I could go on like this, especially if I read it again.
Perhaps it’s a matter of longstanding (and evil (often, mostly, or potentially)) contemporary external conditions, giving rise to shared interior states giving rise to a particular set of expressive statements or images, which implicitly connects with many others.
A glimpse of a brotherhood of man, at the further edge of all this?
Maybe …
You’ve packed a lot in here, Traylen!
Traylen has tremendous talent. Read to the end to see where he took it.