WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
Currently Reading
A Carnival of Snackery is still shelved for the time being, but I’m hoping to pick it back up again soon.
Since last week I finished the first story in The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers, “The Repairer of Reputations”, which turned out pretty all right despite my initial bristling. Something that became increasingly notable about this story was just how unreliable its narrator turned out to be, which wasn’t all that apparent at first. It was quite deftly done, because I don’t feel like I can dismiss everything as the invention of a deluded mind, so I have to wonder how much was really at stake. It wasn’t quite as much of a horror story as I was hoping, but it was definitely weird. I read something describing it as an “anti-story” which I find interesting too, because there really are a lot of elements you’d expect to mean something to the overall narrative, but they just don’t factor in. All the same, it somehow adds to the deluded aspects of the narrator.
I’ve only gotten a little further into Pet Sematary by Stephen King, though I’m really enjoying how much it is having Louis stew in his situation. Knowing the premise of the story, it’s easy to think to oneself “I simply wouldn’t bury my dead son in the evil resurrection graveyard,” but King is actually doing a great job of having Louis agonize over the situation. Pretty much every argument for why it’s a bad idea is running through his head, but it has taken on an aspect of a mad compulsion. Part of him knows it is a terrible idea, yet all the same he knows that he will do it. I suppose it must be a magnetic and seductive power of that place, bewitching those with promises that won’t be delivered.
Recently Finished
On Halloween night I read through Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoët, which I really enjoyed. Though it wasn’t firmly a horror story, it explores so much that is dark, cruel, and/or uncaring that it definitely felt appropriate for the occasion. Essentially, the story is about a population of pixies who suddenly must flee their home, finding themselves in the wilderness of our world. They are only about the size of mice, give or take, and the world grants them no special treatment. It was a captivating story of a type of creatures often romanticized in our folklore succumbing to their worst impulses as they struggle to survive after being displaced. Coupled starkly with a cute watercolour art style, what I found most haunting about this story was how matter of fact its horrible moments are, demonstrating that in nature, death is just a part of life, and in societies of people, some of the cruelest acts are performed not as elaborate dramas but as straightforwardly self-interested actions.
Reading Next
For the time being, I don’t really have a plan on what I will read next. Right now, I just want to focus on getting what I’m currently reading done.
Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.
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