Brendan Connell's The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black will be published by PS Publishing in August 2014.
Information about Brendan Connell:
Brendan Connell was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1970. He has had fiction published in numerous places, including McSweeney's, Adbusters, and the World Fantasy Award winning anthologies Leviathan 3 (The Ministry of Whimsy 2002), and Strange Tales (Tartarus Press 2003). His published books are: The Translation of Father Torturo (Prime Books, 2005), Dr. Black and the Guerrillia (Grafitisk Press, 2005), Metrophilias (Better Non Sequitur, 2010), Unpleasant Tales (Eibonvale Press, 2010), The Life of Polycrates and Other Stories for Antiquated Children (Chômu Press, 2011), The Architect (PS Publishing, 2012), Lives of Notorious Cooks (Chômu Press, 2012), Miss Homicide Plays the Flute (Eibonvale Press, 2013), The Cutest Girl in Class (co-written with Quentin S. Crisp and Justin Isis, Snuggly Books, 2013), The Galaxy Club (Chômu Press, 2014) and The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black (PS Publishing, 2014).
Click here to visit the author's official website.
Information about The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black:
WHAT TO MAKE OF DR. BLACK, NOT PARTICULARLY THE MOST orthodox of heroes or anti-heroes? As written by Brendan Connell, Dr. Black seems to have always existed and yet be utterly unique. He is simultaneously learned and, in certain environments, a bit of a fool. He has some tastes that are quite normal and others that are outrageous. There is always a bit of comedy as a sting in the tail of the more serious stories, and a seeming encyclopedic knowledge on the author's part of the comic pratfalls of yesteryear in others.
— From Jeff VanderMeer's intro
A REVIEW OF BRENDAN CONNELL'S THE METANATURAL ADVENTURES OF DR. BLACK
Brendan Connell's new collection, The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black, is a collection of stories about Dr. Black, his life and his fascinating and strange adventures in different places. It's a unique collection - a literary feast of talent, imagination and style - that deserves to be read and praised by the readers.
I was very impressed by The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black. In my honest opinion it's one of the best collections of the year. It's difficult not to praise it and its contents, because it's a perfect collection for all who enjoy reading quality stories that offer entertaining and thought-provoking scenes for readers.
Just like Brendan Connell's other novels, collections and stories, The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black defies easy categorization. It's almost impossible to categorize it properly, because it contains many different elements. The stories in this collection are entertaining, surreal and fantastical (they contain many different kind of elements that range from absurdism to speculative fiction).
Brendan Connell has his own unique and beautiful writing style that separates him from other authors. His prose is beautiful, lyrical, poetic and decadent. He's often a bit experimental, and he succeeds perfectly in creating nuanced stories that have depth, style, playfulness and also a bit of whimsiness in them.
If you've never read Brendan Connell, it may take a while to get used to his descriptive and extraordinary writing style, but once you get used to it, you'll love his stories. Each of the stories in this collection feature Brendan Connell's fine writing, witty humour and absurd elements. If you're like me and love beautifully written literary prose, lush descriptions, eccentric characters and nuanced storytelling, you're in for a treat when you read this collection. They're unique in every possible way - I can guarantee that you've never read anything like them before.
Here's the table of contents (this table of contents can also be found on the author's website):
- Introduction by Jeff VanderMeer (previously unpublished)
- A Season with Dr. Black (previously published in Leviathan 3, edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Forrest Aguirre, Ministry of Whimsy 2002)
- Fragment Group A (previously unpublished)
- Dr. Black and the Guerrilla (previously published by Grafitisk Press, 2005)
- Fragment Group B (previously unpublished)
- Dr. Black in Monte Carlo (previously unpublished)
- Red-Haired Man in a Sweater, From the Private Papers of Dr. Black (previously published in Heliotrope Magazine, edited by Jay Tomio, 2007)
- Fragment Group C (previously unpublished)
- Dr. Black and the Village of Stones (previously published in Electric Velocipede, edited by John Klima, 2007)
- Dr. Black, Thoughts and Patents (previously published in A New and Perfect Man, a Postscripts anthology, edited by Nick Gevers and Peter Crowther, 2011)
- Fragment (previously unpublished)
- Dr. Black in Rome (previously published in Album Zutique, edited by Jeff VanderMeer, Ministry of Whimsy 2003)
- Fragment Group D (previously unpublished)
- Dr. Black at Red Demon Temple (previously published in a Dutch translation in Wonderwaan, edited by Marcel Orie. This story appears here in English for the first time)
- Variety (previously unpublished)
Because Brendan Connell's stories are different kind of stories, it's a bit difficult to describe their contents to fellow readers, but I'll do my best so that all readers are able to see how versatile a writer Brendan Connell is and how well he writes literary fiction.
Here's a bit of information and my thoughts about the stories (I'll try to avoid writing spoilers):
A Season with Dr. Black:
- Dr. Black spends time at a manor with his servants, Mr. and Mrs. Clovis.
- A young woman's (Tandy) car breaks down and she spends time at the manor.
- A perfectly written piece of literary fiction (to be honest, this is literary fiction at its best).
Dr. Black and the Guerrilla:
- This novella was already familiar to me, because I had read it earlier. It was published earlier with a slightly different spelling as Dr. Black and the Guerrillia.
- An excellent novella about Dr. Black's attempts to locate the Yaroa tribe and investigate their practices regarding the deity Apozitz.
- The mummies at the end of this novella deserve to be mentioned, because they're quite a surreal sight.
Dr. Black in Monte Carlo:
- Dr. Black spends time in Monte Carlo and at the casino.
- Dr. Black meets an old acquaintance in this story, but he also meets new people.
- An excellent and well written story.
Red-Haired Man in a Sweater, From the Private Papers of Dr. Black:
- In this story a man believes to have been painted by Lucian Freud.
- This was an interesting piece of literary fiction.
Dr. Black and the Village of Stones:
- Dr. Black meets an enthusiastic student who's excited at a chance to do investigations with him. Together they visit a village where people are backward and they witness fascinating and strange things.
- The relationship between Dr. Black and Wilhelm is interesting, and so are their observations.
- This is one of the best and most intriguing stories in this collection.
Dr. Black, Thoughts and Patents:
- Dr. Black meets the committee of McRivers Foundation.
- The readers have a chance to read about Dr. Blacks' laboratory and his patents in this story.
- It was nice to read about the different inventions.
Dr. Black in Rome:
- Dr. Black is in Rome and has given a lecture. He sits in the restaurant with professor Galassio and other persons.
- The conversation between the persons gathered at the table is an interesting and intellectual conversation. The persons talk fascinatingly about food, culture, horticulture and science.
- The scene between Clelia and Dr. Black is excellent (I'll write more about this scene later).
- This story also offers readers interesting information about Rome in one section of the story.
- An excellent and well written story.
Dr. Black at Red Demon Temple:
- In this story, Dr. Black is in Japan and visits the Red Demon Temple and talks with a demon.
- The chess game featured in this story is interesting.
- This is a well written and intriguing story.
The introduction by Jeff VanderMeer gives the reader a brief introduction to who and what Dr. Black is and isn't. It's a well written introduction.
Everybody who reads this collection will notice that there are fragment groups between the novellas. These fragments are interesting, because they're very good. They offer nice counterbalance for the novellas.
The author provides plenty of information to his readers in this collection. There's interesting information at the end of the collection (the Variety section contains plenty of unique information) and the footnotes are interesting and informative.
Although the adventures of Dr. Black are amazing and interesting, the most interesting aspect of this collection is Dr. Black himself, because he's something different. I've read many stories and novels about scientists and learned men, but none of the characters in them can be compared to Dr. Black.
Dr. Black is quite a character, because he's a scientist and an adventurer. He's a polymath, phytographist, nephologist etc, and he has a vast array of eccentricities. He's a learned and intelligent man, but he's also a bit of a fool - this is an interesting combination, because it gets him into extraordinary situations and creates intriguing conversations. Dr. Black is a complex character that keeps on fascinating the readers long after the final page has been read.
When I read Dr. Black and the Guerrillia a couple of years ago, I was intrigued by Dr. Black and liked him as a character. After reading all the stories in this collection I like him even more, because these stories revealed more things about him, his thoughts and his life.
What I like most about this collection is the author's unending inventiveness and creativity. I also love the author's beautiful prose very much, because he writes amazing and descriptive prose. The prose contains evocative and lush descriptions about persons and surroundings. For example, in Dr. Black in Monte Carlo the author easily creates a believable vision of the casino with his nuanced descriptions.
Because Brendan Connell is at times experimental, he dares to use different kind of storytelling methods and narrative modes. A good example of his storytelling abilities is the way he writes stream-of-consciousness kind of prose. He's one of the few modern authors who succeed in writing this kind of prose, because it fits well into his stories and enhances the atmosphere of the stories (what's amazing is that the author makes this kind of storytelling seem totally natural).
The references to nature and plants are interesting and intelligent. The author writes fluently about these things and uses Latin names when needed (for example, the author mentions salamanders etc in these stories). I've always been interested in plants etc, so it was interesting to read about them being mentioned in the stories. I'm sure that all other nature lovers will feel the same way about these descriptions and mentions.
There's plenty of sharp, stinging and humorous prose in this collection. I admire the author's ability to infuse his stories with delightfully inventive and twisted humour. If you love sharp and twisted humour as much as I do, I can guarantee that you'll love the author's sense of humour.
The humour in this collection often rises from Dr. Black's way of observing his fellow people, places and happenings. Because Dr. Black differs from his fellow people in terms of education, experience and life style, he tends to observe things in his own unique and learned way that's simultaneously expressive and thought-provoking.
Dr. Black's sharp observations about people and locales are stingingly accurate and often amusing. For example, in A Season with Dr. Black, Dr. Black thinks quite sharply about a man's skull and links it with human evolution. This scene demonstrates Dr. Black's eccentricity - it reveals how he thinks about other persons and how he may belittle them. Dr. Black's comment about ritual suicide in Dr. Black at Red Demon Temple is also amusing.
I admire Brendan Connell's ability to build scenes in which style, gracefulness and absurdism are in perfect balance. For example, in Dr. Black and the Village of Stones all these elements are in balance and the story is entertaining. He's one of the few authors who are capable of writing this kind of scenes in a beautiful way. I think I could say that he makes absurdism and surrealism look fashionable and unique, because he never slips into easy mainstreamish storytelling, avoids repeating himself and stays true to his own vision.
One of the best things about the stories in this collection is that they contain plenty of surprises for readers. If you've read Brendan Connell's stories, you may be familiar with his ability to suddenly add a quirky and absurd element to the storyline. This collection perfectly showcases the author's ability to write deliciously about grotesque things and decadent happenings that other authors tend to shy away from.
In Dr. Black and the Village of Stones the author demonstrates that he's capable of writing a story that contains mysterious elements that are slowly revealed to the reader. When Dr. Black and the young student go to investigate strange happenings, they try to find out what causes the phenomenon, and they gradually find out what causes it.
The courtship ritual in Dr. Black and the Village of Stones is interesting, because the villagers are very down-to-earth and backward. The villagers also have other strange customs that feel odd and strange things happen there.
I already mentioned above that the scene between Clelia and Dr. Black was excellent in Dr. Black in Rome. This scene has been written and constructed well, because the author handles such matters as love, lust, desire and lovers in an intriguing way. The descriptions are wonderfully nuanced and poignant. The ending of this scene is brilliant.
It's possible that there may be readers who wonder if there are adventure elements in this collection. I can tell these readers that adventure elements can be found in this collection. Dr. Black and the Guerrilla and Dr. Black at Red Demon Temple are close to classic adventure stories, but there's nothing ordinary in them. They're much more than normal adventure stories because of their surreal and fantastical contents.
The food descriptions in Dr. Black in Rome deserve to be mentioned separately, because they're amazing (I don't recall reading anything like them before). I liked the way the author wove the story around food and menus.
I could write a lot more about this collection and its contents, because there are so many things and elements that could be analyzed and explored, but I think it's time to write the final words of this review.
If you're looking for beautifully written stories that differ from other stories, you've found what you're looking for, because The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black contains unique and original stories. This comparison may sound a bit strange, but this collection is almost like a delicious gourmet supper served with a selection of fine wines that seduces the reader with its different flavours and sensually teases the readers' taste buds.
The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black is a highly enjoyable and beautifully written collection. It's literary escapism at its best.
An excellent collection - highly recommended!