| Title | : | Night of the Jabberwock |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0688031501 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780688031503 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 202 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1950 |
Night of the Jabberwock Reviews
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What a strange book
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: December 26, 2016
Publisher: Endeavour Venture
Language: English
ASIN: B01N1WIER0
What a strange book even for Fredric Brown. Not sci-fi but one of his crime novels, the action from about page 83 to the end is almost a fairly normal crime story with an involved, twisted plot to keep the reader on the edge of his seat. But the first 83 pages read almost as if they are part of a different book. After complaining about owning a small town weekly newspaper for 23 years and never having a real story, events dump a plethora of stories in Doc's lap all in one night. Then the last part of the book makes everything which went before seem almost ordinary. Doc gets his wish for a real story in spades.
If you don't know why Yehudi Smith is such a humorous and hard to believe name, I didn't either so I looked it up:
"The most common story ties it to the Pepsodent-sponsored Bob Hope radio show on NBC, which started in 1938. There was a running gag on the show, a catchphrase of supporting player Jerry Colonna, who would regularly ask: “Who’s Yehudi?”. This became extremely popular and provoked a song in 1941. (These were simpler days.)
The earliest example I found of Yehudi used in print as a sense of something that isn’t there, is from the Science News Letter of September 1940: “The machine has not received a nickname as yet. Since it deals with imaginary numbers, it may answer to the name of ‘Yehudi’.” In 1942, a film entitled Crazy Cruise featured an invisible battleship, the SS Yehudi. The following year, one of the very earliest US military stealth projects was called Project Yehudi.
I haven’t been able to find any earlier references, so the word really may have its origin in Jerry Colonna’s catchphrase. If it does, then there may well be a connection with violinist Yehudi Menuhin. The story claims that Menuhin was engaged to play on one of the early shows, but that Jerry Colonna didn’t know who he was, and went around asking the cast. This is supposed to have led to the running gag of his trying to identify Yehudi.
Part of the popularity of Yehudi as a term for an invisible entity may lie in a linkage in people’s minds with a rhyme by Hughes Mearns that was set to music as The Little Man Who Wasn’t There in 1939 — just when the Colonna catchphrase was becoming known. - From a post on World Wide Words.
Even though I thoroughly enjoyed this strange Fredric Brown book, I gave it only four stars because events are so unbelievable and the book is a little disjointed. I downloaded this through Kindle Unlimited.
Review updated and edited 12/20/20 -
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!
When I think of Fredric Brown I think of fantastical SF with quirky characters and wild happenings, so I didn't hesitate any when I saw this one up for grabs in Netgalley. Imagine my surprise when I actually acquired a mystery/thriller instead!
Though, to be honest, I didn't quite realize it at first because I was just reading it solely because I like the author and the way it began, with a heavy-drinking newspaperman who's absolutely in love with Lewis Carroll's better fiction and the theory that Caroll (the real man behind the pseudonym, the mathematician) hadn't written his works so much as he had proved and visited those realms in reality and he was just reporting the facts.
Our favorite drunkard begins his quest to find the Jabberwocky. :)
It starts out like a great adventure tale where the hero is super blitzed and yet tries so hard to succeed in this damnably difficult quest, driving around (mind you, this is 1950,) breaking into places, picking up weird Carroll friends, and generally freaking himself out with all the strange coincidences cropping up all over the place.
I admit that it took me a bit to get into the book, but by the midpoint, I was totally hooked and kinda freaked about the social weirdness of THIS MUCH HARD LIQUOR. :)
The second half of the novel keeps him quite as blitzed as the first, but this time he's embroiled in murders and he's apparently the prime perp. Again, I'm amazed he's survived this long even when he was just roaming the countryside looking for an imaginary beasty, and yet it gets better.
Because Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was, after all, a great mathematician, and was able to do some pretty wild stuff with his wild maths, it turns out that his number-one-fan is able to intuitively grasp the weird-ass plot against him and solve the case. (Also while drunk.) :)
What can I say? I'm pretty stoked. This novel snuck up on me and I lost my head snickity-snack. :) Vorpal blade! :) -
El norteamericano Fredric Brown (1906-1972) fue un brillante escritor de novelas y relatos de ciencia ficción y policíacas. De estas últimas, la más destacada, y ya un clásico, es ‘Noche a través del espejo’ (Night of the Jabberwock, 1950), claro homenaje a Lewis Carroll, ya que hace referencia al poema incluido en ‘A través del espejo’, la secuela de ‘Alicia en el País de las Maravillas’.
‘Noche a través del espejo’ es una novela de género negro, en la que priman los misterios, el humor y las claves metaliterarias. Doc Stoeger, protagonista y narrador de la historia, es el dueño y editor del periódico local de un pequeño pueblo, Carmel City. Doc es un buen tipo, con principios, bebedor, no muy valiente y fanático de Lewis Carroll, que se verá envuelto en la mayor de las pesadillas en el transcurso de una noche. El desencadenante será la visita de un extraño personaje, con una invitación todavía más insólita. Es mejor no contar nada más y que el futuro lector descubra las claves por sí mismo.
Fredric Brown domina el tempo narrativo perfectamente, manteniendo la tensión, los misterios y los giros inesperados en todo momento. La acción es trepidante y no puedes dejar de leer. La historia funciona como un mecanismo de relojería, en la que todo queda explicado a satisfacción del lector. En cuanto a las referencias literarias relacionadas con Lewis Carroll, Brown las dosifica con maestría y no es necesario ser un erudito en la materia para disfrutarlas.
Así, entre trago de whisky y trago de whisky, se va sucediendo una trama detectivesca y de misterio vertiginosa y deslumbrante. -
Night of the Jabberwock is a mystery novel that was first published in 1950. It's a fast-paced and very complex story, with a lot of humor and a lot of references to Lewis Carroll's works. The hero is the editor of a small town paper who leads a very quiet and sedentary existence and wishes for some excitement. He gets far more than he could have ever imagined on a single night, the night of the Jabberwock. Great for mystery readers and Alice fans! Get ready for a Brown study!
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Review: NIGHT OF THE JABBERWOCK by Fredric Brown
An excitingly twisted, convoluted, puzzle, a mystery wrapped in an enigma, NIGHT OF THE JABBERWOCK
is a true reading delight. This is the first of Fredric Brown's writing I'd read, and it's set me on a path to seeking out more. If you love Lewis Carroll, chess, or almost-unsolvable mysteries, get rolling. If you enjoy a feckless protagonist who is almost his own worst enemy, let me introduce you to the endearing Doc Stoeger, small town newspaper owner, alcoholic, and a stalwart friend. Doc just needs that "one big story" to put his weekly newspaper "to bed," but no matter how diligent he is, the stories just keep eluding him, or mutating--until the grizzled journalist finds himself starring in his own real-life story. -
Probably best known for his story, The Fabulous Clipjoint which garnered an Edgar Award for outstanding first mystery novel, Fredric Brown was a prolific author of hundreds of pulp short stories and several novels. He considered his best work to be in the science fiction arena, but a good two-thirds of his work were mysteries/thrillers. His story quality is high and attention to plotting is very unique.
The Night of the Jabberwock is exactly what the title indicates--the story of one Thursday night in the small town of Carmel City. Doc Stoeger, the editor of the city's newspaper, the Clarion, has just put the Friday edition to bed and is on his way to his favorite bar. He is wishing that something, anything, more interesting than the lead story's church rummage sale would happen to make his newspaper more exciting to read. Little does he know that the night ahead holds the answer to his wish. And you know what they say: Be careful what you wish for....you just might get it. Before the night is over a couple of big-time mobsters will roll into town, the bank will be robbed, and a lunatic will escape from the local asylum. By the time morning has come, four people will be dead. Stoeger is also a Lewis Carroll fan and while he is trying to cope with the night's madness he finds himself dealing with an odd little man who claims he can take Stoeger through the looking glass. But "beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!" And the most disturbing thing of all--Stoeger will find that none of the events of the night are printable.
I remember this mystery as an incredibly bizarre--but wonderfully so--story of murder. There is an odd feeling of being in the middle of a Lewis Carroll dream world, but Brown brings it all together with an ingenious wrap-up and fine writing. Highly recommended. -
Of late I have been reading so many new, very highly-touted novels, and coming away wondering what the hell all the shouting was about. So I decided to take something down from my shelves that I loved in the past and reread it. I chose Night of the Jabberwock by Fredric Brown, one of my all-time favorite authors, because I remember being blown away by it twenty-five or thirty years ago. My copy was so old the cover broke off, but I read it anyway. I have to say that the distance of twenty-five or thirty years has changed my perspective (obviously, the book itself didn't change), and what I remembered loving about it now reads a little more complex. But that doesn't change the fact that it is a fascinating, bizarre, very-well-written pulp feast by a grand master of the genre. What I finding lacking in a lot of contemporary novels--great characters, unique voice and POV, and the ability to startle and amuse with every page--is all here, even if can't exactly be called true-to-life. In fact, it is outre in the extreme, but you forgive it, because it's a great story. A wacky, story, but a great story. Night of the Jabberwock is from an earlier era of mystery writing, when postwar realism was fine for films, but was almost rebelled against in fiction, and when authors like Brown really cared about little more than delivering a dynamite story. And he does.
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Novela negra narrada en primera persona por un periodista de una pequeña ciudad, propietario de un semanario. La acción transcurre toda durante una sola noche, la previa a la edición del periódico.
Con todas las noticias cerradas, empiezan a suceder cosas, de forma continuada, cada una de las cuáles implica alcanzar su sueño: publicar una exclusiva.
Las situaciones son casi surrealistas, narradas con sentido del humor, con personajes estrambóticos y continuas referencias y guiños al libro "Alicia a través del espejo" de Lewis Carroll. Cabe destacar la ironía con la que critica la política y el propio oficio de periodista. -
Complex, Literate, and Engaging
While Fredric Brown is mostly celebrated as an important, if now largely forgotten, contributor to the golden age of science fiction, he also made his mark in the crime and detection field. This book, which came out in 1950, is widely considered to be one of his finest efforts.
We follow Doc Stoeger through just one eventful night. Doc puts his weekly little local paper to bed every Thursday night, for printing on Friday morning. Early on he wishes that something would happen on a Thursday night that would let him print big, breaking news. Well, a whole lifetime's worth of newsworthy things happen on this particular Thursday night, including murders, robberies, mobsters, scandals, and the like. Of more importance, Doc gets involved in a weird setup that might have supernatural overtones, and he finds himself drifting into a frame for a heinous crime.
The book starts slowly, with all of the relevant characters being set in place, then each narrative thread laid down. As the threads twist and tighten, and as the stakes get higher and the action heats up, Doc keeps drinking and thinking out loud, trying to find the angle that puts everything into place. Often the book feels like Cornell Woolrich, and even more often it feels like a Harry Keeler webwork mystery. In the 20's, Keeler described a webwork plot. To quote Wikipedia paraphrasing Keeler, a webwork is "...a plot that includes many strands or threads (each thread representing a character or significant object), which intersect in complex causal interactions. A webwork novel typically ends with a surprise revelation that clarifies these interactions retrospectively." That's pretty much what you get here.
But, lots of webwork plots are just complex for the sake of being complex, and border on the random or silly. Here, (and this is his genius), Brown keeps everything under tight control, and lets us follow Doc's logical and compelling reasoning. Even better, Doc is a literate man and a lover of all things Lewis Carroll. So, the big setup and much of the action reflects or specifically relates to the events and scenes in "Alice in Wonderland", which is what takes the book way beyond just some webwork plotted effort.
So, bottom line, if you like mysteries, Brown is a writer to know. If you like the idea of "literate hard-boiled", this is a book to try. Heck, if you just think of yourself as a bit old-school in your mystery tastes, or if you like an articulate, engaging and distinctive narrative voice, this could be worth a try. A nice find for me. (Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.) -
Enjoyable and eccentric mystery tale with a Lewis Carroll spin. As a fan of the Alice takes, I was totally sucked in and was kept curious throughout. Delightful way to spend some time, particularly if you like your mysteries with a side of madness.
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Publicado en
http://lecturaylocura.com/la-noche-a-...
“La noche a través del espejo” de Fredric Brown. La ficción como (el mejor) reflejo de la realidad.
Es difícil escribir algo sobre “La noche a través del espejo” de Fredric Brown en la preciosa edición de “Reino de cordelia” sin caer en el entusiasmo fácil y en los lugares comunes: Obra maestra, imprescindible, mecanismo de relojería, adictivo, se lee en un santiamén, etc…
Pero quizá es necesario recurrir a ellos de vez en cuando para que, en este caso, todo el mundo se entere de que es un Must-Read, sin comentarios crípticos que la emborronen.
Hacía ya varios años (desde 1987) de la edición de la maravillosa colección de Etiqueta Negra de Júcar y era prácticamente inencontrable. Reino de Cordelia nos trae una nueva traducción de la obra (fantástica por cierto) de Susana Carral y una edición exquisita para que podamos disfrutar como se merece este clásico.
En el prólogo de Juan Salvador (sí, de la librería Estudio en Escarlata) tenemos una condensación de las diversas virtudes por las que se ha hecho célebre:
“La noche a través del espejo” es una novela redonda, de embriagadora precisión. Por eso es complicado decir qué me gusta más de ella. La trama llena de giros y sorpresas, los tragos de whisky, la crítica a la política y al periodismo, los personajes cercanos y creíbles, el bar de Smiley, la atmósfera nocturna y onírica, el despliegue de humor y paradojas, o el juego de espejos y distorsiones con Alicia en el país de las maravillas y A través del Espejo y lo que Alicia encontró allí, de Lewis Carroll.”
Leer estas razones una vez acabado realza aún más las sensaciones que tuve, ese indefinible halo de felicidad que surge cuando te encuentras una lectura tan plena.
Doc Stoeger, el periodista dueño del Clarion, es el narrador; el espacio temporal es la noche y parte de la madrugada de un día; el espacio físico es la ciudad en la que vive, el bar de Smiley, un pequeño grupo de localizaciones que se envuelven en un sueño; nuestro protagonista, como Fredric, ama la literatura:
“Pero me conformo, todas las noches, con mis libros. Recubren por completo dos paredes enteras de mi salón y desbordan las librerías del dormitorio; incluso tengo una estantería en el baño. ¿Cómo que incluso? Creo que un baño sin una estantería está tan incompleto como lo estaría sin retrete.
Además, son buenos libros. No, no me sentiría solo, ni aunque Al Grainger faltara a nuestra partida de ajedrez. ¿Cómo iba a sentirme solo si llevaba una botella en el bolsillo y me esperaba tan buena compañía? Leer un libro es casi como escuchar al hombre que lo escribió dirigiéndose a ti. En cierto modo es mejor, porque no te obliga a ser amable con él. Puedes cerrarlo y hacerlo callar en el momento en que te apetezca y dedicar tu tiempo a otro. Puedes descalzarte y apoyar los pies en la mesa. Puedes beber y leer hasta olvidarte de todo, excepto de aquello que lees y de que llevas encima la cruz de un periódico que te pesa día y noche, hasta que llegas al refugio de tu hogar, donde olvidas.”
Hacía tiempo que no me encontraba una definición tan redonda como esta de leer un libro: “escuchar al hombre que lo escribió dirigiéndose a ti” pero sin la obligación de sentirte amable con él, la lectura como afición libre, sin obligaciones, y que te ayuda a “olvidar” cuando te sumerges en él.
Su único sueño como periodista es conseguir tener una exclusiva en portada, todas las posibilidades de hacer algo diferente se le truncan, una tras otra; parece que todo está en contra y su único refugio es tomar una copa en el bar de Smiley (el sonriente!!) caracterizado por un humor difícil de entender a pesar de reírse cada dos por tres.
A esa noche sin pena ni gloria se le añade el contrapunto de conocer, en su propia casa, al enigmático y extraño Yehudi Smith, que viene a turbar su ánimo dándole la vuelta a todo en lo que creía, resaltando la fantasía, la ficción, como la mejor manera de reflejar la realidad:
“-Doctor ¿alguna vez se le ha ocurrido pensar que las fantasías de Lewis Carroll pueden no ser fantasías?
-¿Se refiere a que la fantasía suele estar más cerca de la verdad esencial que la ficción que quiere parecer real? –pregunté.
-No. Me refiero a que son literal y realmente ciertas. A que no son ficción, que son reportajes.”
No solo le da vuelta a sus creencias sino a su propia existencia:
“-Que hay otro plano de existencia, además de aquel en el que vivimos. Que podemos tener acceso a él y que, en ocasiones, lo tenemos.
-Pero ¿qué clase de plano? ¿Un plano de fantasía “a través del espejo”? ¿Un plano onírico?
-Exacto, doctor. Un plano onírico. No es una explicación totalmente precisa pero, de momento, no puedo ampliársela más.”
Y le invita a una reunión de “fanáticos” de Lewis Carroll y, en particular de sus dos obras de Alicia. En su desesperación acepta y a partir de ahí nada será igual, los hechos extraños y aparentemente imposibles van desencadenándose, produciendo una atmósfera donde lo aparentemente real se yuxtapone con la materia de los sueños, llevándole a una situación en la que se empieza a dudar de su propia cordura:
“¿Por qué no? Formaba parte del patrón. Tenía que haberlo imaginado. No por el tipo de letra, casi todos los talleres tienen la garamond ocho, sino porque la botella del “bébeme” contenía veneno y Yehudi no iba a estar allí cuando Hank fuese a buscarlo. Seguía un patrón y yo ya sabía cuál era: el patrón de la locura.”
No voy a contar más, porque precisamente la trama es uno de los grandes puntos fuertes, engranaje a engranaje se irá ensamblando y lo único que nos quedará es asentir, levantar la cabeza y sonreír satisfechos.
Como bien dice Juan Salvador, bebamos una copa a la salud de Fredric Brown y degustemos el libro como se merece, sorbo a sorbo, sueño a sueño.
Los textos vienen de la traducción del inglés de Susana Carral de “La noche a través del espejo” de Fredric Brown en Reino de Cordelia -
La noche a través del espejo, la noche del Galimatazo, o de cómo un hombre es arrastrado por la locura, propia o ajena, hacia un galimatías más allá del tablero de ajedrez.
Al principio tenía miedo de qué me depararía esta novela. Se me pasó por la cabeza que podría ser una mala prolongación de Alicia, una cutrez de País de las Maravillas. Obviamente, esto lo pensé después de comprarlo.
Pero no ha pasado nada de eso, no. Sino que la primera página me agarró bien del cuello, y así pasé a la segunda, y a la tercera, y a la cuarta, hasta que la última se hartó de mí y me dijo: "ya te puedes ir". Pero yo no quería irme, igual que el hombrecillo que no estaba allí. Yo quería quedarme bajo la escalera, observando. Quería caer en el agujero una y otra vez. Quería probar la botella que dice "bébeme", a pesar de las consecuencias. Y esconderme y huir de nuevo, horadando en la mente de Doc.
No es una obra policíaca de un caso de fanatismo, no asesinan en nombre de Carroll, ni las pistas están basadas en sus novelas. Quita, quita. Se trata de la historia de un hombre que, por unas cosas u otras, no puede tomarse un trago a gusto. Un hombre que lo único que busca en su vida es una noticia con la que sorprender. Un hombre que duda de su cordura a pesar de no dudar de ella. Un hombre que habla solo, pero que en realidad no lo hace. El hombrecillo que no estaba allí, pero que siempre estuvo, actuando a través del pentelleo, cuando los escurrosos tovos aspeaban la matambecida. -
Qué libro tan bien escrito y tan divertido ha escrito Brown. Una mezcla de policial disparatado, bajo el signo de Alicia, donde el protagonista (editor de un diario) debe dejar pasar una serie de noticias que podrían darle sentido a su carrera periodística, mientras se ve envuelto en una serie de rarísimos asesinatos. Luego de leerlo, subo en mi lista los títulos de ciencia ficción de Brown que no he leído aún.
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Magnífico Fredric Brown. Esta novela policíaca fantástica destila a la par ingenio, humor y todo un toque de Alicia a través del espejo. La jornada que vive el protagonista es memorable y trepidante dejando un gusto de irrealidad que poco a poco avanza hacia la naturaleza policíaca de la novela.
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Interessante la commistione fra genere fantastico e giallo, specie se poi alla fine il dipanamento e la soluzione dell'enigma sono perfettamente logici e umani. Un ottimo ritmo narrativo per un autore che non conoscevo.
Ottimo Bassotto. -
Il giallo è un genere notoriamente versatile, che si adatta alle più diverse stilistiche e finalità, tanto che molti famosi autori vi immisero elementi appartenenti a forme letterarie differenti: il mystery può fondersi benissimo con una storia d'amore, spesso causa scatenante dei più sordidi crimini, come dimostra Agatha Christie in molte sue opere; può abbinarsi benissimo con una narrazione storica, unendo all'enigma il fascino del passato, come ha mostrato ad esempio Paul Harding, specializzatosi in storie ambientate nel Medioevo, nell'antico Egitto o nella Roma imperiale; altri ancora hanno provato a mescolare all'alone misterioso che pervade il giallo classico elementi bizzarri, gotici o assurdi, fondendo il realismo tipico del genere con l' inventiva propria della fantascienza.
In quest'ultima categoria rientra un grande romanziere, una delle menti più creative nel panorama letterario del Novecento: Fredric Brown.
Fredric William Brown nasce a Cincinnati nel 1906. Figlio unico di un giornalista, rimane orfano in giovane età. Si iscrive all'età di venti anni all'Università della città e all'Hanover College nell'Indiana, senza arrivare a conseguire la laurea. Nel 1929 si sposa con Helen Brown, da cui avrà due figli. I tempi erano duri e Brown, per sbarcare il lunario, dovette svolgere diversi incarichi, dal lavapiatti, al lavoro in un luna park, al fattorino. Si trasferì poi a Milwaukee dove lavorò come correttore di bozze per il giornale locale. Alla metà degli anni '30 risale la pubblicazione del suo primo racconto poliziesco. Da quell'istante si dedicò costantemente alla scrittura, producendo un gran numero di opere, tendenzialmente racconti lunghi o molto brevi, le cosiddette "short short stories" , in cui univa, in poche righe, inventiva e umorismo. Si fece notare anche come autore di fantascienza, grazie alla stesura di opere che furono poi giudicate tra le migliori mai scritte in tale campo. Il suo esordio come romanziere si ebbe solo nel 1947, con "The Fabulous Clipjoint", primo di sette gialli con protagonisti i due detective dilettanti Ed e Am Hunter. Fu un autore molto prolifico, originale e creativo, tanto che ideava trame complesse a partire da semplici eventi cui assisteva. Nel 1948 divorzia e si risposa con Elizabeth Charlier, trasferendosi per motivi di salute prima a Taos, in New Mexico, poi a Los Angeles. Le sue opere ebbero un successo tale che alcune di esse furono adattate per il grande schermo e anche per la televisione, per la serie diretta da Alfred Hitchcock. Morì a Tucson nel 1972.
Fredric Brown è un autore interessante, di cui avevo già letto due racconti: "Il macellaio sghignazzante", gotico e inquietante, e "Mistero all'obitorio", un originale corto con una camera chiusa davvero ingegnosa. Non avevo ancora provato nessun suo romanzo e ho deciso allora di cominciare con "Il visitatore che non c'era" ("Night of the Jabberwock", 1951), la cui trama straniante e onirica mi tentava parecchio.
"Il visitatore che non c'era" è un romanzo coinvolgente e accattivante, che mescola in modo piacevole giallo classico, elementi da thriller psicologico e il filone bizzarro e onirico.
Riassumere la trama dell'opera è alquanto difficile, essendo costellata di continue peripezie e colpi di scena fondamentali per la comprensione dello schema generale, e si rischierebbe di snaturarne la reale essenza. Per cui mi limiterò ad un sunto parziale per non rovinare la peculiare narrazione.
Il protagonista, nonché narratore del romanzo è Doc Stoeger, direttore di mezz'età dell'unico giornale locale, il Carmel City Clarion. La sua è una vita piatta e monotona, sia nel privato che nell'ambito lavorativo: lo dimostra la sera di quel giovedì in cui inizia la storia, quando Doc sta concludendo l'impaginazione del suo settimanale, che uscirà la mattina seguente. Nessuna notizia degna di nota, ma solo avvisi di feste, piccoli fatterelli che non interesserebbero nessuno se ci fosse mai stato qualche evento rilevante nella cittadina. In attesa di una notizia bomba, Doc era giunto alle soglie della vecchiaia e ancora non aveva mai pubblicato nulla degno della benché minima attenzione. Del resto non era colpa sua se a Carmel City vi era una perpetua calma piatta. Dunque non si stupisce del fatto che ancora una volta lui e il socio Pete, addetto alla stampa, abbiano concluso il loro lavoro prima del solito. Chiusa la bottega, Doc se ne va nel pub antistante, da Smiley, per farsi qualche bicchierino. Se il destino del protagonista era già di per sé sfortunato, quel giorno il fato sembra essersela presa con lui con maggior veemenza del solito: la pesca di beneficienza era stata annullata e dunque Doc doveva togliere anche quella colonna che gli era servita per coprire un buco (dei tanti con cui doveva quotidianamente riempire per mancanza di notizie) in prima pagina. Poco male, ci è abituato. Se ne torna poi a casa, si allunga scompostamente sulla poltrona e prende alcuni libri per godersi quelle ore di ozio. Infatti Doc è un grande amante della letteratura e un vero esperto di Lewis Carroll, le cui opere conosce a menadito. Pensa di trascorrere una sera come tante altre, ma non sa che di lì a poco avrebbe vissuto gli attimi più eccitanti e assieme più pericolosi della sua vita. E tutto ciò inizia con la visita improvvisa di uno strano tipo, Yehudi Smith, che si presenta come membro delle "Spade di Zarcum", associazione di appassionati di Lewis Carroll. Questi lo informa che, conoscendo la sua passione in materia, vuole che partecipi ad una riunione di questo gruppo tesa a dimostrare come le stramberie presenti in "Alice nel paese delle meraviglie" non siano in realtà così fantasiose. Un discorso del genere avrebbe convinto chiunque che quell'individuo fosse un po' suonato e sarebbe stato subito cacciato via di casa. Ma questo non accade con Doc che, stufo di stare solo, trova piacere nel parlare con un altro estimatore di Carroll. Ma quella semplice chiacchierata si trasformerà nel più grosso errore della sua vita: un errore che costerà ben 3 vite umane e una notte da incubo per il giornalista, il quale più volte metterà in dubbio la sua sanità mentale. Perché se prima pensava che Alice, il Cianciaroccio e la Regina di Cuori appartenessero alla fantasia letteraria, ora è costretto a ricredersi, in quanto vivrà avventure che sembrano essere uscite direttamente dalla folle mente di Lewis Carroll. E capirà come le favole, a volte, possano essere peggio degli incubi...
"Il visitatore che non c'era" è un romanzo scorrevole e piacevolissimo, che dimostra le doti di Brown come scrittore, la sua originalità e il suo eclettismo.
La struttura dell'opera ricalca un po' quella di un thriller, con una nutrita presenza di scene d'azione, sebbene ironiche in quanto fulcro delle varie avventure è un anti-eroe per eccellenza, Doc Stoeger, uomo pavido e goffo, il quale tenta di trarsi d'impaccio in più occasioni ma finisce alla fine solo per peggiorare le sue condizioni. Infatti l'opera si può definire una "tragicommedia gialla della beffa", giocata tutta sull'accumularsi di sventure del protagonista, le quali capovolgono la sua situazione di iniziale quiete. Queste vicende sono rese più gradevoli dallo stile fresco, energico e umoristico dell'autore, il quale riesce a tenere costantemente avvinto il lettore, senza punti di stanca, attraverso l'impiego di continui colpi di scena, posti principalmente in chiusura di capitolo, in modo da indurre a proseguire nella narrazione. Il ritmo perciò è incalzante, sempre frenetico, tanto da allargare relativisticamente il tempo del racconto, che in realtà è concentrato in una singola notte.
Oltre all'elemento avventuroso e alla presenza di scene ad alta tensione, nelle quali incombe un alone di sciagura e di morte, Brown riesce a mescolare nella trama anche temi assurdi senza rendere ridicolo o strampalato il corso degli eventi: ossessiva è la ricorrenza dei versi di Carroll, che fungono sia da motivo focale da cui scaturisce la vicenda gialla, sia come pista per giungere alla verità. La follia dei versi di "Alice nel paese delle meraviglie" si riversa nella realtà di Doc, che deve riuscire a discernere ciò che è reale e ciò è finto nel piano di un omicida diabolico e perverso. E scoprirà che forse era meglio credere all'incredibile che alla verità.
Il punto di forza del romanzo è però lo stile dell'autore unito all'eccellente caratterizzazione di Doc. Brown ha una scrittura coinvolgente, mai contorta o stancante e riesce ad unire riflessioni interessanti a momenti davvero ironici.
Il protagonista è il solito uomo sfortunato che deve patire mille avventure per cacciarsi fuori dai guai, ma l'autore non crea una figura utopistica, di uomo che diviene all'improvviso coraggioso grazie ad una serie di circostanze. Doc rimane un uomo pigro, ironico ma goffo.
Egli rappresenta anche una realtà sociale di quegli anni e forse anche una sorta di alter ego dell'autore: l'uomo di modeste condizioni economiche che vive in uno stato di piatta mediocrità pur nutrendo ambizioni future. È il ritratto dell'americano medio della metà del XX secolo, incarna il disorientamento del periodo e la delusione per la realtà sociale che non offre spunti di crescita e riscatto.
Se l'opera appare estremamente godibile per stile e struttura, l'enigma è abbastanza trasparente. A mano a mano che si prosegue nel racconto delle disavventure del protagonista, comincia ad intravedersi lo schema, sia pur labile, dietro la totalità degli eventi. È dunque facile scorgere l'assassino, anche se non ci sono indizi materiali che lo provino.
Pur non avendo una grande misdirection, il romanzo è ottimo, prova dell'abilità dello scrittore nel tenere desti l'attenzione e l'interesse dei lettori.
Dunque, "Il visitatore che non c'era" è un gran bel romanzo, molto scorrevole e ironico, ma con una trama gialla semplice e prevedibile. -
Una gozada bastante loca con todos los alicientes de la novela negra y mucho humor.
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Como me costó elegir un sólo libro de Fredric Brown. En la primera selección habían quedado no menos de cuatro, luego lo bajé a dos -el increíble Universo de Locos y este- y por fin me decanté por la que debe ser su obra policial maestra, aquella donde logró combinar mejor que nunca el ambiente surrealista, delirante e incluso fantasmagórico con una trama cercana al thriller. Conocida también cómo “Noche de Brujas” se nos cuenta aquí la historia de Doc Stoeger, el narrador de este relato, editor del periódico local de Camel City -fanático lector de Carroll, justamente- quién se verá envuelvo en la mayor de las pesadillas a lo largo de una interminable noche a partir de la visita de un extraño personaje, quien desata una serie de sucesos que terminarán por volverse una agotadora persecución. ¿Estoy siendo poco claro con la sinopsis? Puede ser, pero es que Noche de Brujas se trata de uno de esos relatos que conviene descubrir por uno mismo sin demasiada preparación para poder disfrutarlo plenamente. Sólo decir que la prosa de Brown está afilada cómo nunca, el balance entre tensión, delirio y humor es simplemente perfecto y es imposible no devorar el libro de una sola sentada. Serio candidato para competir por mi escritor favorito, nada de lo que escribió Fredric Brown me resulta jamás indiferente.
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Smart, fast paced writing? Check
Tight plot with twists and turns? Check
Heavy dose of Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland references? Check
I love this book!
"Any man who is both literate and imaginative is an admirer of Lewis Carroll." -
8,5/10
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"Doc" Stoeser is the owner and editor of the Carmel City Clarion and this is the story of the events which befell him between 6.30 on a Thursday evening and 12.30 in the afternoon of the following day, in fact between putting the paper to bed and printing the final copy.
What happens is fantastic, in several senses of that word. There are three murders, a bank robbery, other deaths, corruption, duplicity, Chicago gangsters, and a lot of drinking. The works Lewis Carroll play a huge part, as may be gathered from the title, and, as in the stories and poems, what seems on the surface not to make sense, does.
The novel is tightly-plotted, and, although the reader lacks a vital piece of information which provides motive, the murderer can be worked out.
This was a lot of fun, and so engagingly written as to be almost unputdownable. The characters are interestingly-odd and the dialogue both erudite and entertaining.
Do read it.
4.5 stars. -
Uno de los libros más surrealistas que he leído, pero con un ritmo ágil de lectura y una trama muy entretenida. La mezcla de novela negra, humor y surrealismo me ha parecido muy curiosa e interesante. Una grata sorpresa esta lectura.
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review of
Fredric Brown's Night of the Jabberwock
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - July 10, 2018
There's a Facebook group called "Phlegm's corner" & the founder of the group, John Arnold, likes to post a diversity of images that appeal to him. At one point, it was bk covers. One of the bk covers was for Frederic Brown's The Case of the Dancing Sandwiches. I liked this title so much that I looked him up online & read that he had a good sense of humor. I decided to try to find things by him to read. This was the 1st. I loved it & I've loved the 2 I've read since this as much if not more. A new favorite author has been found!
The basic idea is that a small-town newspaper editor who's also a Lewis Carroll enthusiast gets embroiled in various murders & other crimes. He also drinks alot. ALOT. Alotof alcohol, i.e..
"He said, "Glad you got here early, Doc. It's damn dull this evening."
""It's dull every evening in Carmel City," I told him. "And most of the time I like it. But Lord, if only something would happen just once on a Thursday evening, I'd love it. Just once in my long career. I'd like to have one hot story to break to a panting public."
""Hell, Doc, nobody looks for hot news in a country weekly."
""I know," I said. "That's why I'd like to fool them just once. I've been running the Clarion twenty-three years. One hot story. Is that much to ask?"" - p 6
Of course, he's about to get his wish at a level he's veeerrrrrrryyyyyyy unprepared for. This bk was 1st published in 1951, 2 yrs before I was born. It's interesting to see a calculating procedure used that's the same one I was taught. Is anyone taught this way anymore or is it all about using common electronic devices?
"I figured it myself. "Fifty times twenty-three is—one thousand one hundred fifty; twice twenty-three more makes eleven ninety-six. Pete, eleven hundred and ninety six times have I put that paper to bed on a Thursday night and never once as there a really big hot news story in it."" - p 9
& the main character is 'getting old'. One of my mottos is Live Fast, Die Old but that doesn't mean prolonging one's life simply for the sake of it. In other words, I'd accept death if I didn't have so many better things to do than die. Still, 'getting old' is mainly fun if you've got a good memory, wch I do, but how long will that last? Otherwise, 'getting old' is NO FUN b/c, in my case, all the women in their middle 30s that I want to fuck my brains out w/ are having none of it. Since when do people in their mid 30s have good sense? It's disgusting. So, yeah, for me, reading about a character who's 'getting old' is a hoot.
"I looked at myself in the mirror back of Smiley's bar and wondered how old Al Grainger thought I was. "Hope I can do the same thing when I'm your age," indeed. Sounded as though he thought I was eighty, at least. I'll be fifty-three my next birthday.
"But I had to admit that I looked that old, and that my hair was turning white. I watched myself in the mirror and that whiteness scared me just a little. No, I wasn't old yet, but I was getting that way. And, much as I crab about it, I like living. I don't want to get old and I don't want to die. Especially as I can't look forward, as a good many of my fellow townsmen do, to an eternity of harp playing and picking bird-lice out of my wings. Nor, for that matter, an eternity of shoveling coal, although that would probably be the more likely of the two in my case." - p 15
Don't worry about picking the lice, people in Hell are allowed temporary green cards to do that & if they so much as complain about what a bum deal they're getting they get sent straight back.
Doc has already been drinking at the bar but then he goes home & is joined by an unexpected guest so they drink some more.
"He inclined his head with solemnity equal to my own, then tilted it back and downed his drink. I was a little late in downing mine because of my surprise at, and admiration for, his manner of drinking. I'd never seen anything quite like it. The glass had stopped, quite suddenly,a good three inches from his mouth. And the whiskey had kept on going and not a drop of it had been lost. I've seen people toss down a shot before, but never with such casual precision and from so great a distance." - p 23
Doc & the stanger-w/-the-impressive-drinking-style discuss Lewis Carroll:
"["]There ought to be a law against the printing of volumes of The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll. He should be remembered for the great things he wrote, and the bad ones interred with his bones. Although I'll admit that even the bad things have occasional touches of brilliance. There are moments in Sylvie and Bruno that are almost worth reading through the thousands of dull words to reach.["]" - p 24
Touché! Actually, I have a Complete Works of Lewis Carroll (Vintage Books Edition, May 1976; originally published by The Modern Library, 1936), 1294pp, that might even be the edition Doc's objecting to here. It has Sylvie and Bruno in it, I read it, I don't remember it, I vaguely remember finding it sub-par. Like most or all 'complete' works, it isn't really, it doesn't have Symbolic Logic in it, e.g.. Still, I'm glad it exists, I'd have to raid Carroll's grave to recover teh rejected works if Doc's suggestion had been followed. I even have an edition of Alice in Wonderland in Latin: Alicia in Terra Mirabili. When I die, if the wrong people get to my aRCHIVE that'll be one of the things to go straight to the trash 'cause it's in a furrin language.
"I said, "Now, wait a minute. If I understand you correctly your thesis is that Lewis Carroll—leaving aside the question of what or who he really was—worked out through mathematics abd expressed in fantasy the fact that—what?"
""That there is another plane of existence besides the one we are now living in. That we can have—and sometimes do have—access to it."" - p 34
This is crime fiction but Brown wrote SF too & he lets the 2 genres seep together a bit. I like that. Since I've read this bk, I've read 2 more of his mysteries & I just bought 4 of his SF bks. Stay tuned. In the meantime, Doc is getting more than his fair share of the newsworthy night that he wished for.
"I think it must have been the reaction from the cowardice I'd shown and felt only a minute before. I must have been a bit punch drunk from Jabberwocks and Vorpal Blades and homicidal maniacs with lyncanthropy and bank bandits and a bank burglar—or maybe I thought I'd suddenly been promoted to the Roman candle department." - p 42
& that's only page 42. Doc keeps postponing calling the cops even tho he runs against one dangerous criminal situation after another. In 'real life' this isn't very likely but it's one of those things like when the teenagers separate into small search parties in the horror movie. You just know things are going to get worse.
"I decided that I'd better wait until I was somewhere else, before I called to report either Bat Masters' passing through or about the escaped maniac at my own house. It wouldn't be sfae to risk making the call from here, and a few more minutes wouldn't matter a lot." - p 44
Doc's been drinking alcohol continuously for more than 4 hrs. I was beginning to suspect some "Poultrygeist" action here where only the most drunk person survives.
"It was almost half past-twelve when we finished. There was just time for a stirrup cup, and we had one. With food in my stomach, it tasted much better and went down much more smoothly than the last one had. It tasted so good, in fact, that I decided to take the bottle—we'd started the second one by then—along with us. We might, after all, run into a blizzard." - p 77
"In a glass coffee mug, stir together whiskey, hazelnut liqueur, and Irish cream; top with coffee. Garnish cocktail with whipped cream and serve immediately." -
https://www.marthastewart.com/333908/...
"I got out of the car and—I don't know why; or do I?—I took the bottle with me. It was so dark outside that I couldn't see the bottle in front of my eyes as I tilted it upward." - p 78
"I had three quick ones while Smiley read the headlines.
"The room began to waver a little and I realized I'd better get to bed quickly. I said, "Good night, Smiley. 'Sbeen wonnerful knowing you. I gotta—..."" - p 140
Just reading about all the drinking going on is practically enuf to make me sick. Perhaps the most unrealistic aspect of this story is that Doc doesn't just vomit out his stomach lining & die as a result after he's survived more adventures in one night than are likely for even the most hardened detective.
"He lifted the bottle and said, "To Lewis Carroll."
"Since that was the toast, I said, "Wait!" and got the cork quickly out of the bottle of whiskey I was still carrying, and raised it, too. There wasn't any reason why I couldn't or shouldn't get in on that toast as long as my lips, as a neophyte's, didn't defile whatever sacred elixir the "DRINK ME" bottle held.
"He clinked the little bottle lightly against the big one I held, and tossed it off—I could see from the corner of my eye as I tilted my bottle—in that strange conjuring trick again, the bottle stopping inches away from his lips and the drink keeping on going without the loss of a drop." - p 83
Alas, the outcome was different than in the Carroll story. He shd've lost all the drops this time. Maybe the little bottle was full of bees knees. I've always wondered about those.
"This wasn't the car in which Yehudi Smith had driven me here. The gear shift knob was hard rubber with a ridge around it, not the smooth onyx ball I'd noticed on the gear shift lever of his car. It was like the one on my car, which was back home in the garage with two flat tires that I hadn't gotten around to fixing." - p 86
That's what he thinks. What do you think? -
Intriguingly bizarre
The narrator should be dead from the 15-20 shots of whiskey he drinks in as many hours, and at times the story reads like a bizarre dream, but it all makes sense in the end. If the circumstances are unlikely when put together, that's okay. The coincidences add humor. -
What a weird, intriguing, enjoyable little book. I had never heard of it and knew nothing about it until it was picked for book club. I didn't particularly like the sound of the jacket but always enjoy book club so I figured I'd give it a go. Right from the start, I liked the tone and Doc's witty nature. It was light-hearted with a smidge of a dark side and, a lot of the time, very silly, and it was a very quick read.
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Para muchos veteranos aficionados a la novela negra "La noche a través del espejo" no es un clásico más, sino que forma parte de la mitología del género y de sus más placenteros recuerdos lectores; así lo cuenta en su introducción Juan Salvador, dueño de "Estudio en Escarlata", la estupenda librería madrileña especializada en literatura de género. Sin embargo, para un lector nuevo, como lo soy yo de esta novela, la experiencia no resulta tan satisfactoria. Reconozco que mezclar a Lewis Carroll y su Alicia en una trama de novela negra tiene su mérito y, a primera vista, bastante atractivo también. Lo que pasa es que para conseguirlo, Fredric Brown sacrificó una pieza muy importante del juego de la ficción, la verosimilitud. Pasan tantas cosas en una sola noche y tan “increíbles” que no hay estructura literaria, por ingeniosa que sea, capaz de sostener la verosimilitud del relato. Tampoco hay que olvidar que Brown no era un genio de la literatura, sino un buen artesano, y queda claro que en este caso le faltaron herramientas para llevar su idea al mejor puerto.
Dicho todo lo anterior, hay que reconocer también que “La noche a través del espejo” rezuma ambiente de novela negra por los cuatro costados y que sus protagonistas sí que son muy auténticos, especialmente el dueño del bar, uno de esos personajes que no resultan fáciles de olvidar. Además, la edición de Reino de Cordelia está muy cuidada desde la traducción de Susana Corral al diseño de la portada y sobrecubierta, pasando por la ya mencionada introducción de Juan Salvador. Así que, teniendo en cuenta todo esto y que “La noche a través del espejo” es un título que forma parte de la historia de la novela negra, yo recomendaría su lectura. -
autore di fantascienza. Sicuramente tutti avrete letto, magari sull’antologia delle medie, il suo racconto più noto, il brevissimo e incisivo La sentinella e se non l’avete fatto correte a farlo. Qui parleremo invece del suo romanzo Il visitatore che non c’era.
Il protagonista è Doc Steiger, un giovane simpatico e benestante che vive in una cittadina della sonnolenta provincia americana, dove possiede e dirige un giornale, che non pubblica mai niente di importante perché appunto lì, a Carmel City, non succede mai niente, e coltiva alcune innocenti passioni: gli scacchi, i buoni liquori, la letteratura (Lewis Carroll in particolare). Ma una sera, riceve la visita di un certo Yehudi Smith, membro di una società di appassionati di Carroll, che lo invita a un’esperienza incredibile, una riunione di gruppo che inizia come se il mondo bizzarro e insensato di Carroll fosse reale, ma finirà con un omicidio, del quale l’ovvio sospettato sarà proprio il nostro Doc.
Ma non sarà l’unica cosa che succederà quella notte, e nemmeno l’unico morto, come se le notizie che Doc cercava disperatamente per dare un senso al suo lavoro di giornalista ed editore si fossero date appuntamento a Carmel City proprio quella notte. Sospeso fra follia e realtà, alla trama gialla classica (chi ha “incastrato” Doc?) si unisce una parte d’azione, entrambe raccontate benissimo e ottimamente fuse fra loro con un bel finale, forse un po’ prevedibile per gli esperti ma raccontato così bene che lo si gusta come una piccola e preziosa gemma che dà lustro alla nostra collezione.
