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The Man Out of the Nose
The Man from the Nose” is a short story from the civilian section of Ambrose Bierce’s In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. Like the other tales from this collection, “The Man from the Nose” features a protagonist who is in the prime of his life, when a sudden event shatters his hopes and dreams. As with the rest of the Bierce's stories, the questions and characters presented in “The Man from the Nose” will remain on your mind long after you have stopped listening.
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About the author
Ambrose Bierce
2,449 books1,313 followersdied perhaps 1914
Caustic wit and a strong sense of horror mark works, including In the Midst of Life (1891-1892) and The Devil's Dictionary (1906), of American writer Ambrose Gwinett Bierce.
People today best know this editorialist, journalist, and fabulist for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his lexicon.
The informative sardonic view of human nature alongside his vehemence as a critic with his motto, "nothing matters," earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce."
People knew Bierce despite his reputation as a searing critic, however, to encourage younger poet George Sterling and fiction author W.C. Morrow.
Bierce employed a distinctive style especially in his stories. This style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, the theme of war, and impossible events.
Bierce disappeared in December 1913 at the age of 71 years. People think that he traveled to Mexico to gain a firsthand perspective on ongoing revolution of that country.
Theories abound on a mystery, ultimate fate of Bierce. He in one of his final letters stated: "Good-bye. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico--ah, that is euthanasia!"
Caustic wit and a strong sense of horror mark works, including In the Midst of Life (1891-1892) and The Devil's Dictionary (1906), of American writer Ambrose Gwinett Bierce.
People today best know this editorialist, journalist, and fabulist for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his lexicon.
The informative sardonic view of human nature alongside his vehemence as a critic with his motto, "nothing matters," earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce."
People knew Bierce despite his reputation as a searing critic, however, to encourage younger poet George Sterling and fiction author W.C. Morrow.
Bierce employed a distinctive style especially in his stories. This style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, the theme of war, and impossible events.
Bierce disappeared in December 1913 at the age of 71 years. People think that he traveled to Mexico to gain a firsthand perspective on ongoing revolution of that country.
Theories abound on a mystery, ultimate fate of Bierce. He in one of his final letters stated: "Good-bye. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico--ah, that is euthanasia!"
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 22, 2017
This story was odd and a bit disjuncted. It seemed like it was unfinished.
October 27, 2022
Note: First published as John Hardshaw: The Story of a Man Who May Be Seen Coming out of the Nose in the San Francisco Examiner, July 10, 1887.
I find it interesting the way that the author describes the house that Hardshaw lives in as that resembling that of a face with the door being the nose.
"One of the humble habitations of the lowest terrace is noticeable for its rude resemblance to the human face, or rather to such a simulacrum of it as a boy might cut out of a hollowed pumpkin, meaning no offense to his race. The eyes are two circular windows, the nose is a door, the mouth an aperture caused by removal of a board below. There are no doorsteps. As a face, this house is too large; as a dwelling, too small. The blank, unmeaning stare of its lidless and browless eyes is uncanny.
This depiction reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe's story of The Fall of the House of Usher where the narrator describes the house of the Ushers as resembling the image of a face or a skull with eye-like windows, and hair of fungus. Both houses shelter an inhabitant who suffers from madness.
Bierce's fate for Dr. Hardshaw can be explained by his own experiences with infidelity. "Bierce left his wife after discovering a collection of suggestive letters penned by an admirer. They would divorce in 1904, after they had buried both of their sons: Day committed suicide in 1889 after an amorous gesture was rejected, and Leigh was an alcoholic who died of pneumonia." https://www.theawl.com/2013/07/the-my...
I find it interesting the way that the author describes the house that Hardshaw lives in as that resembling that of a face with the door being the nose.
"One of the humble habitations of the lowest terrace is noticeable for its rude resemblance to the human face, or rather to such a simulacrum of it as a boy might cut out of a hollowed pumpkin, meaning no offense to his race. The eyes are two circular windows, the nose is a door, the mouth an aperture caused by removal of a board below. There are no doorsteps. As a face, this house is too large; as a dwelling, too small. The blank, unmeaning stare of its lidless and browless eyes is uncanny.
This depiction reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe's story of The Fall of the House of Usher where the narrator describes the house of the Ushers as resembling the image of a face or a skull with eye-like windows, and hair of fungus. Both houses shelter an inhabitant who suffers from madness.
Bierce's fate for Dr. Hardshaw can be explained by his own experiences with infidelity. "Bierce left his wife after discovering a collection of suggestive letters penned by an admirer. They would divorce in 1904, after they had buried both of their sons: Day committed suicide in 1889 after an amorous gesture was rejected, and Leigh was an alcoholic who died of pneumonia." https://www.theawl.com/2013/07/the-my...
May 23, 2018
Roots!!!
This is one of the most beautiful love stories from horror genre in my opinion. Here we also find all Bierce irony and sarcasm. It is talk about love under the arid, hallucinated, insane and naked poetry of horror.
This story is the opposite of any kind of modern "supernatural literature" for teenagers where werewolves and vampires are sad, passionate or suffering crisis of conscience as Twilight.
If you would like to read something about passion and romance in horror literature, "The Man Out of the Nose" is one of the awesome choices.
As "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" the author unveils the essence of the plot slowly.
This is one of the most beautiful love stories from horror genre in my opinion. Here we also find all Bierce irony and sarcasm. It is talk about love under the arid, hallucinated, insane and naked poetry of horror.
This story is the opposite of any kind of modern "supernatural literature" for teenagers where werewolves and vampires are sad, passionate or suffering crisis of conscience as Twilight.
If you would like to read something about passion and romance in horror literature, "The Man Out of the Nose" is one of the awesome choices.
As "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" the author unveils the essence of the plot slowly.
May 22, 2020
Subtle irony
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews