About this product: Murder in the twelfth century is no different from murder today. There is still a dead body, though this time with an arrow through the heart instead of a bullet. There is still a need to bury the dead, to comfort the living - and to catch the murderer. When Brother Cadfael comes to a village in the Welsh hills, he finds himself doing all three of those things. And there is nothing simple about this death. The murdered man's daughter needs Cadfael's help in more ways than one. There are questions about the arrow. And the burial is the strangest thing of all ...
About this product: This book is Celtic Frost's official history written by the front-man, Thomas Gabriel Fischer, who describes his story as full of facts and anecdotes, some unflattering, many trashy, some embarassing, many senselessly funny but all putting right the band's reported notoriety.
About this product: 1889. Contents Book I. General Physiology: Of the General Relations between Mind and Body; Of the Nervous System and its Functions; Of Attention; Of Sensation; Of Perception and Instinct; Of Ideation and Ideo-Motor Action; Of the Emotions; Of Habit; Of the Will. Book II. Special Physiology: Of Memory; Of Common Sense; Of Imagination; Of Unconscious Cerebration; Of Reverie and Abstraction:-Electro-Biology; Of Sleep, Dreaming, and Somnambulism; Of Mesmerism and Spiritualism; Of Intoxication and Delirium; Of Insanity; Influence of Mental States on the Organic Functions; and Of Mind and Will in Nature. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
About this product: As with many books or stories that we get involve with, the characters and their relationships to others in the environment is an important as the mystery. Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter) strikes a balance between the characters, history and the mystery. Sprinkled throughout is faith, and a chance that they (the monks) may be correct in the explanation of saints and how the world works.
The external environment is the ongoing 11th century civil war between English King Stephen and his sister the Empress Maude. We also have references to the different societies as they travel to Wales. These become more relevant as the series progresses.
The inward struggle between faith and power is depicted as an individual monk is persuaded or wants to be persuaded to go on a mission to retrieve a neglected saint "St. Winifred." She lies in Wales and it happens that Brother Cadfael has a Welsh background, so he is charged with supporting the mission.
If you saw the movie you will immediately see the differences between it and he book. One main point is the fact that the monk was cured before the trip. The best difference is reviled with the detection and solution to the mystery.
About this product: When we consider how the scientific revolution came to medicine, we often think of the rise of the great laboratory disciplines of the nineteenth century. Often overlooked in these accounts, however, is the role of clinical medicine and its important early branch, pathology. Morbid Appearances traces the emergence in France and England of this important medical tradition. Dr. Maulitz shows how the pathology of tissues came to occupy a central position in the teaching and research of French medical luminaries such as Bichat, Bayle, and Laennec, and he describes how the new pathology helped shore up the fortunes of the Paris medical faculty and the medicine of the 'Paris Hospital'. The author also details the efforts of Thomas Hodgkin, Robert Carswell, and others to import the new science of pathology to Great Britain - and he shows how their efforts to assign a place for pathological anatomy in their own medical culture met with rather mixed success.
About this product: Now originality does not necessarily mean good. There are stories in this collection that are outstanding, some that are adequate, but all of them have a truly original voice. Mark Samuels ("The White Hands and Other Stories") wrote the foreword to this collection commenting on this originality, and he was not wrong. If nothing else, Crisp has found his voice very quickly and with very strong results. In most (not all) of these stories he has found something that touches the reader.
WARNING: MULTIPLE SPOILERS
"The Mermaid"
The protagonist is unnamed (perhaps I did not read closely enough), or at the very least is rarely named. This character was extremely layered, a facet and strength of many of the characters in Crisp's tales. I think when QSC fails it is because he failed to truly develop the character. He does not fail here. The protagonist is a man haunted by purpose. He begins the story in apparent consolation telling the reader that he has found his "story," and thus is now fulfilled. He begins the tale by explaining his two lifelong fascinations: magic and the erotic. By serendipity alone he finds a book about mermaids, and his fascination is peaked. He soon becomes an expert ("or as near as one can be an expert on something that doesn't exist") on mermaids. For example, he discovers everything he can on the hangyojin, the Japanese version of the mermaid with the exception that it is reversed (i.e., the lower half is human and the upper part is fish). He moves to a village by a beach that his studies have indicated were the location of mermaid sightings. He lives there, alone, isolated, waiting, believing in a belief that is not recognized by the world outside his home.
And one day he finds her. Gwendoline. He, in essence, kidnaps this mermaid. He is as honest with Gwendoline as he is to the reader about this. She accepts it. And their relationship starts to build. He can communicate with her, initially, only through a powder Gwendoline possesses in a box the narrator found previously in the story. Eventually, he learns her language and the powder is not critical to their communication. She tells him of her world, and through the powder, he can even experience it. It is in these passages that QSC writes brilliantly and powerfully. The descriptions of her world truly feel like being transported to a completely different reality. Only in Clark Ashton Smith have I seen a totally alien world described so clearly and poetically.
Eventually the subject between a man and a woman turns to sex. And Gwendoline and the narrator are no different. The narrator reminds the audience of his twin fascinations (magic and the erotic) and how they seem to merge into one in Gwendoline. The problem is they cannot consummate the relationship. But . . . Gwendoline tells of a way they can. It is through an ancient book from her people that possess certain rituals. In this book is a ritual to allow a mermaid to have sex with a human. The narrator performs this ritual and that is when the O. Henryesque ending occurs. Because throughout the latter part of the story, one gets the sense that something is not quite right. That there is something Gwendoline is holding back from the narrator, that there was a reason that she so readily acquiesced to her kidnapping, that she needed something from the narrator. At the end of the ritual, she becomes a hangyojin, the Japanese version of the mermaid with the lower half of a human and the upper half of a fish. The tale ends, as does Gwendoline.
"Far-Off Things"
This story concerns a man's reflections of when he was a boy in love with a girl named Leah. He watches her from afar, admiring her, falling in love with her. She learns (and through his eavesdropping, so does he) that she is dying. At this knowledge, she leans out her window, tears dropping on the flower below her and says, "If only I could live as long as one of those, I would be happy." She continues to get better. When the boy picks the flower and gives it to her on Christmas day, she wilts at her doorstep.
This was an interesting concept, but as I mentioned before, when QSC fails in a story it is usually because of inadequate character development. This is an instance of that.
"Cousin X"
This concerns both Sasha and her cousin, Cousin X. It begins when they are children. Cousin X's family comes over for the summer at Sasha's family's house. Cousin X is the black sheep of the family. Sasha begins to see why. He is just plain weird. But the focus is on the word "weird." The whole crux of the story seems to revolve around this exploration of the good side and bad side of the strange, weird, outré, odd, whatever you want to call it.
When Sasha and Cousin X first meet, Sasha faints at the sight of him. "Later in life, when she was to learn the meaning of the phrase déjà vu, it was this memory she referred to first." The fainting is not caused by outward fear, shock, or terror. No, there is something else, there is the contact with the truly strange. Their parents react the same way any parents would. Sasha's parents flip out and protect their daughter (both immediately by taking her away from Cousin X's presence after she faints and for the duration of the story by disapproving of her interacting with Cousin X). Cousin X's parents reprimand him. You kind of feel sorry for Cousin X during this reprimand. You get the sense that this is a reoccurring pattern in his life and also that he knows that people think he's strange, but he Just Does Not Know Why he's so strange.
After this incident, Sasha seems to have a strange attraction to Cousin X. This is when Cousin X shares his world with her and this is both a beautiful and tragic piece of prose QSC gives us. In short, Cousin X can see INTO things. He knows magic. "Magic shows you how things really are. And people are really naked, but they pretend they're not," he tells Sasha. The best way to summarize what Cousin X's perspective holds is in a short dialogue between him and Sasha at their first non-fainting interaction:
We find Sasha walking up to Cousin X who is dismantling a radio (one of his favorite activities):
"Why are you always taking things apart?"
"I want to know how they work," said Cousin X, as if this were self-evident.
"Why?"
"Because . . ." he began, twisting loose a tiny screw with one of his penknife blades, "because if you know how things work then you can control them. And if you start early you can get ahead of everyone else."
It is after this point that some of the most beautiful prose in all of weird literature (literature in general) is produced. Cousin X proceeds to show Sasha the world as he sees it, the "Unlived World." It is the world we all walk in, but never stop to reflect on. The world as a child, as a saint, as a spirit sees it. All the beauty, all the mystery and majesty that lies before us but we never stop to reflect upon. They share this world together and it is the happiest time of both their lives. But. Something is missing. Cousin X still wants to see how things work ("because is you know how things work, then you can control them"). This need betrays him suddenly and violently. One day, as their summer vacation nears its end, Sasha goes to find him, as she does every day. She screams. Their parents run to see what is happening and are horrified. Cousin X is covered in blood. It's not his. Before him lies the body of a dead kitten. "I just wanted to see how it works." He says through tears. For the first time he is lost, he does not know his way in this or his world.
The story cuts to many, many years later, when Sasha is in her late(?) thirties at her younger sisters wedding. She's sitting alone at a table reflecting on the emptiness of her life and how it could have passed her by so fast. In her contemplation, she notices a "disheveled" figure walk out of the wedding hall. Something seems familiar about him, so she follows. Eventually she finds him sitting alone in an office of the building. Cousin X knows it's her, and she knows it's him. They begin to catch up. Sasha doesn't have much to tell. Aspirations not met, goals not reached, life not lived as she thought it would have been. Cousin X tells his story. He has, for the majority of his life since last he saw Sasha, been institutionalized. But, he assures her he has worked through his problem and is cured. He shows her some of the things he did to himself as he rolls up his sleeves and shows her his self-inflicted scars, telling her it made him feel alive. He tells her his experiences of knowing he would never be understood and that he is "balanced." ("Happiness and balance are two very different things.") He tells us perhaps the saddest thing he could say, "I've been pushed through madness and come out the other side, and in the process the rags of my dreams have been stripped from me, and here I am, utterly naked."
Then she asks him, asks him why he killed the kitten. He is surprised, he always thought she knew. "I did it because I didn't want us to be separated. I thought if I could find the link between the body and soul, the most basic mystery of how the world works, then we could be together, truly together, and free, for ever and ever." He wanted them to be together forever and realizes he failed and has lived with that sadness his entire life. She never knew and she realizes it was all for her. Then he says what is perhaps the most chilling line of the story, "But it might work now. I'm sure it would if we try again." He asks her to lock the door. She does. He pulls out a penknife. She's happy, truly happy. As they look at each other, smiles on their faces, Cousin X says, "Trust me."
"A Lake"
This is, without a doubt, my favorite story from this book. To call it Lovecraftian would be both accurate and inadequate. It IS Lovecraftian, but the same way Ligotti is Lovecraftian. It is not an imitation or an "homage" (which is the same thing). It is an original and beautiful piece of horror literature.
The story begins with Stephen, a student studying in Japan, at a lake with his friend, Komakichi. The lake is dead. It is surrounded by life, mountains, trees, etc, but the lake, and all it touches are dead. The smell Stephen has is that of rotting fish carcases. This begins Stephen's infatuation and obsession with the lake. He finds out that it is connected with recent suicides (recent meaning over the past decades) and more distantly, with a type of Japanese suicide cult, the Mamushi cult who worshipped a great black serpent that was said to have lived in the lake. Now, this plot line is good enough to secure it a place as a truly original and brilliant piece of weird fiction. What separates it, and ultimately elevates it to a piece of genius and aesthetic perfection, is the way QSC truly takes us through the process of Stephen's infatuation with the lake and the discovery of its true power. This story is easily QSC's most powerful and gripping tale, and perhaps one of a dozen tales of weird fiction written in the last decade that will still be read fifty years from now. To give a sense of how incredibly good it is, one can take a line from the story, at the point where Stephen realizes the true nature of the lake, "The lake was many things according to perspective. Now Stephen saw once more that it was a dark mirror. The universe was a dead end, ending in a mirror; the universe only existed because it was reflected in that mirror." Beautiful.
"The Two-Timer"
I do not know if this story was intended to follow "A Lake," but I don't think any story could adequately follow the previous one. Either way, it really does not succeed as a good story. The premise of the story is that the protagonist can stop time. It's an interesting premise, but QSC did not seem to know what direction he wanted to go with the story. It is basically a humorous recount of the protagonists' adventures when he can stop time and his realization of how truly vulnerable human beings are when shed of their authority, social conventions, and pretenses. Good idea, but seemed like filler to me.
"The Tattooist"
Now he's back to form. This story was moving on so many levels. The story is told as the manuscript of a tattooist, Shane. The Tattooist, Shane, is not the main character of the story, but merely the Ishmael-like voice of the tale. This is about The Boy (the only name he is ever given). The Boy comes in one day to Shane's tattoo shop and asks for Death to be tattooed on his arm. He has a picture. It's a picture from a comic book, with Death looking like a cute, Goth girl. The Boy gets the tattoo and it is the best work Shane has done. He and his friends take the Boy out for drinks. Everyone seems to like him, even the racist, homophobic, aggressive, over-testosteroned Mark, who gives the Boy his switchblade as a gift. Shane sees the Boy intermittently over the next few months. When he sees the tattoo, it looks more and more real every time he sees it. It looked alive. This is pretty much the last time Shane sees the Boy, in his tattoo shop. The rest, as Shane says, is the "oral fossil of the event left behind." The events boil down to this: Mark and the Boy were having a few beers. Mark got upset, his homophobia taking over, and knifed the Boy. Mark went to jail. There was one inconsistency. The Boy's tattoo was gone, not due to the stabbing, but due to a self-inflicted removal. Years later, Shane is at the Boy's grave. Mark shows up. He gives Shane the knife he used to kill the Boy, except . . . the handle has the tattoo on it, the same flesh under a layer of varnish on the handle. This encounter contains more beauty than I can adequately put into words and it is truly an achievement by QSC; the power and naked vulnerability of the scene. After this, Mark becomes the local pariah, eventually being stomped to death by a gang of teenagers, while Shane begins to have "visions," even accidentally incorporating them into his tattoos. Shane's story ends with his contemplation of words the boy told him, "Sometimes getting what we want is painful." Shane's manuscript ends there, with the unnamed benefactor of the manuscript stating the Shane's body was found dead, covered in the most beautiful tattoos, stories covering his body like a modern day illustrated man. Tattoos done in Shane's inimitable style.
"Ageless"
This story, while terse and initially confusing, is filled with striking beauty. Unfortunately, it does not hit you until the O. Henryesque ending of the story. Which is why, sadly, I cannot relate the story without giving away the entire point of what QSC is trying to do. This may seem a tad bit hypocritical of me, as I've just previously spent seven stories telling you start to finish what happens in each story. However, I cannot emphasize enough that both the beauty of the story and the climax of it are intertwined. On the surface, it is about a man and a woman on a rooftop playing a game. But its deeper level is about love, about a connection, a moment, a perfectly tragic slice of time that can never be reproduced. This story frustrated me initially, as I was trying to understand QSC's "point" with this story, then realized that no point is necessary, only the perfection of the moment, whether that moment be triumph or tragedy, success or failure. Because such a moment is timeless, it will never age.
"Autumn Colours"
This story haunted (still haunts) me in the same way as Etchison's "You Can Go Now." The tale revolves around Andy and Adrienne. It begins when they are together, discussing life, love, and all the things true friends discuss. The discussion turns to betrayal. Adrienne talks about a previous betrayal by a lover, how it was like her fear of a Jack-in-the-box when she was a child. She was afraid of what would pop out of the box, and certain something would. She says true friendship never betrays, but that in the end, "you're the only one who can stay with you all the time, and sometimes that's hard to bear." The story is fast-forwarded to years later, where Andy is a teacher at a college (teaching the same subject as QSC, Higuchi Ichiyou, a Japanese poet). He has just taken a handful of pills. As he says, "time betrayed him," and in essence, life betrayed him. Dreams unfulfilled, life unlived, promises undelivered. Then we go to Adrienne. Receiving a letter, about (not from) Andy. "Verdict of suicide" blazes to her eyes, and the Jack-in-the-box pops out. Life continues on.
END OF SPOILERS
All these stories, particularly the last, are of the highest caliber. "Autumn Colours" best captures truly moving literature as anything I've seen any contemporary writer do. QSC has just begun his career, and I hope it continues onward, because though there are many imperfections throughout, the beauty far overshadows those missteps. A little like walking into a rose garden that has a few stray weeds among the flowers. I sincerely hope QSC continues his work, because if this is where he is starting, he has made an impressive debut indeed.
About this product: Deborah Leblanc is my new favorite author and Morbid Curiosity definitely does not disappoint! I loved it and can't wait for her next novel!
Morbid Curiosity
A House Divided
Grave Intent
Family Inheritance
Death can be a tricky business and you only have one chance to get it right—best do some research while you still have time! Gathered in these pages are some of the most (in)famous dead people that the world has ever known, including George Washington, Bette Davis, and Al Capone. The first section offers some of the witty epitaphs, while the second is packed with amusing quotations. Check these out: Alfred Hitchcock’s “I’m involved in a plot,” Jack Benny’s “Did you hear about my operation?,” and H.G. Wells’s “I told you so, damnit!” Another section honors memorable last words, both candid and thoughtful. It’s a rare look at celebrities’ most private moments, helpfully collated for your macabre amusement.
About this product: Are you one of the 58 million morbidly obese people in America today? Chances are, you've been on a diet after diet and failed miserably. But you should lay the blame where it belongs. You didn't fail the diet, nor did the diet fail you. Instead, look a little deeper and start to recognize that even if you could shed some excess pounds, the truth of the matter is that less than 1% of you will keep it off according to recent studies published by the National Institute of Health.
The theory that obesity is not your fault is not exactly new. Many morbidly obese people are not eating two, three or four times the amount of food for their bodies to grow and store "that much" excess fat. Genetic research is showing that the cause for obesity is not gluttony. Many morbidly obese people lead very active lives despite the physical limitations and challenges brought about by carrying an extra hundred pounds or more. Everything from Leptin to Dopamine receptors are being offered as real scientific evidence to show that obesity is not your fault. Many people have blamed themselves for so long that the thought that obesity may not be your fault is often dismissed. While you may not "eat right" or "exercise regularly", there are millions of normal size people who are not suffering with morbid obesity and they eat worse and their exercise habits are no better than that of many morbidly obese people. Everybody knows somebody who seems to “eat and not gain”.
Despite the closely held societal view that obesity is a matter of lack of self-control or lack of willpower, many people are beating themselves up for what is not their fault at all. In the newly published book on Weight Loss Surgery: Understanding & Overcoming Morbid Obesity, author and registered nurse Michelle Boasten offers a theory of obesity that helps the morbidly obese reader to understand and overcome morbid obesity through weight loss surgery.
Boasten explains that obesity may be the result of a broken down communication system in the body. Boasten also explains the painful reality of life in a morbidly obese body and walks the reader through developing their own philosophy of obesity and how to get out of the "prison" of a morbidly obese body.
At present, over 99% of all weight loss surgery patients are able to lose large amounts of excess weight and keep it off. Weight loss surgery isn't just the last hope; it is the only method of weight control that is documented to show a landslide victory when trying to overcome morbid obesity. Can anyone ignore such positive results?
Boasten explains the difference between the old "stomach stapling" and the weight loss surgery of today, which is gastric bypass surgery. "Many people are confused and don't understand how and why weight loss surgery works" says Boasten. "It's not just a matter of food intake, it's bypassing the part of the small intestine known as the duodenum that allows the person to keep the weight off." Reducing food alone will not result in a sustained weight loss for the genetically predisposed morbidly obese person.
About this product: Regina Blake believes her mother to be the victim of murder and conspiracy. Forgoing caution and propriety, she tries to uncover the truth and bring the culprits to justice. With every step, however, she uncovers more and more evidence of a secret world of danger, sensuality and sin. With the beautiful Victoria Ash as her guide, she peels back layer after layer of this benighted world, until the true horror of it all stands exposed.
Will discovering the truth be worth damning her soul?
BOOK
