Some interesting reading...

Posted by Sara Green (Marketing and Admin Assistant, Hoipolloi.)

The Hoipolloi office has just received a pile of exciting looking books from Bloomsbury, all with similarly intriguing illustrations on the front. With titles like “The Other Statue,”“The Object Lesson” and “The Iron Tonic” they can only be products of one author’s absurd imagination. Although some of the books are under strange names such as Ogdred Weary it is clear that American eccentric Edward Gorey is responsible for every title, his style detectable from a mile off.

Having only ever really read The Doubtful Guest I didn’t know what to expect from Gorey’s other work, but being fascinated by this sinister tale of mischief and confusion, I read on.

Edward Gorey certainly doesn’t disappoint. Each book that I read was more twisted than the last but each had me laughing to myself, and indeed out loud. My favourite was probably a book entitled “The Willowdale Handcar” or “The return of the black doll,” an alternative title, which, to me had no real relevance to the story. Filled with random drawings and descriptions the book follows Edna, Harry and Sam as they journey in a tiny Handcar to strange and seemingly unplanned destinations. There are a few recurring themes such as the missing Nellie Flim, however there seems to be no real plot and making sense of the book is something that I gave up on after the first few pages. But, like “The Doubtful Guest” it was still able to effect me with the last two lines “At sunset they entered a tunnel in the Iron Hills and did not come out the other end,” which I found quite chilling in fact.

Another sinister book that we were sent is “The Curious Sofa,” a self confessed “pornographic work” which relays the disturbing tale of Alice and the men who interfered with her. This is probably the strangest book I have ever come across, never actually stating the obvious but hinting at the most absurdly disgusting things. The accompanying scratchy illustrations add to the feel of this weird book and it is really something you have to see to appreciate how odd this writer was.

The more famous “The Gashlycrumb Tinies” is still disturbing, but hilarious at the same time. A rhyming alphabet of children’s deaths, this book follows in Gorey’s weird and fantastical style telling of “Hector done in by a thug.” I think it is definitely a good thing that Hoipolloi are staging The Doubtful Guest as opposed to this, as the idea of re-enacting 26 children’s murders is not a pleasant thought.

The other books range from an absurdly comic “The Haunted Tea Cosy” which is reminiscent of “A Christmas Carol,” an odd book called “The Unstrung Harp,” of which I cannot make any sense, and a hilarious rhyme “The Headless Bust.” This last book was perhaps the most illogical of them all. I will leave you with one of the more profound quotes from this book;

“To us it is very far from clear
The reasons for us being here.
We’d leave at once, but do not know
We’ve any place where we might go.”