Bastards of the Absolute

by Adam S. Cantwell, George Berguño (Introduction), Eduard Wiiralt (Illustrator)

Thomas Ligotti writes:
'The stories in Adam Cantwell’s Bastards of the Absolute are richly imagined mysteries. They could be fairly equated with the works of Kafka or Borges if their prose were not so luxuriant and surprising at every turn. Contemplating the mood and storylines of these arresting pieces, a quote from Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym comes to mind: “My visions were of shipwreck and famine; death or captivity among barbarian hordes; of a lifetime dragged out in sorrow and tears, upon some gray and desolate rock, in an ocean unapproachable and unknown.” The fate of each protagonist in Cantwell’s collection delineates or fulfills Pym’s fantasy—one that is both lavish in its exoticism and unbounded in its desolation. Although these beings are entrapped in worlds that to all appearances turn upon axes of torment, they are as likely to be resigned as resistant to their cruel destinies. While readers may not chortle in experiencing these awful fantasias, they will be captivated by them.'

The book contains eleven pieces — a mix of novellas and short stories, revised and reworked especially for this book — along with nine previously unpublished drawings by Charles Schneider and an introduction by George Berguño.

The full table of contents is as follows:

Introduction — George Berguño
The Face in the Wall
The Filature
Offal
The Notched Sword
Beyond Two Rivers: A Symphonic Poem
Only For The Crossed-Out
The Curse of Desert and Flesh
Moonpaths of the Departed
The Kuutar Concerto
Symphony of Sirens
Orphans on Granite Tides

The book is a lithographically printed, 256 page sewn hardback with printed endpapers (by Eduard Wiiralt), limited to 250 copies. ISBN 978-0-957160675.

Genres: Short Stories, Weird Fiction

254 pages, Hardcover

First published April 20, 2015

Reviews

[Timothy Jarvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A potent collection of darkling ecstasies and transmutations. The novella 'Orphans on Granite Tides' is one of the most compelling and weird evocations of mystic lore I've read.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these stories slowly, and their dense, poetic prose both requires and deserves it. I appreciate the variety in these stories, but there are some common themes running through them. Several of the stories are about 20th century composers undergoing weird and otherworldly adventures. Another theme is horrific moments occuring in utter darkness, with a narrator shambling about, unable to see or getting mere glimpses. This is a very effective, albeit not a new device, used in three of the stories.

A couple stories veer into decadent territory, tainted through with a sense of cruelty and misery. There's hints of Borges, Lovecraft, Kafka and Aickman.

Cantwell's stories are very layered, and hint at deeper philosophical meanings, most of which are kept open to interpretation. There's many flashes of brilliance, and plenty of sublime prose that left me in awe -- but some stretches that I felt could use some culling too. Also, I like stories that leave one with questions, but I felt that some stories here would have benefited from a bit more tangibility, and could yet still retain their overall nebulousness. Still, this book is one of those cases where the things I didn't enjoy were outweighed, especially by the long story at the end "Orphans on Granite Tides" which is really something special. I can only compare its immersiveness to reading Michael Cisco.

The Face in the Wall
This is an impressive start, a sort of prose poem to futility and cruelty. I thought of Kafka at moments, but feel it's a very rough comparison. A man who has committed some unnamed crime is encased in one of the walls of the city, with only his face exposed. He watches the passage of time, and seems to have tapped into some energy of the city itself and outlives everyone.

The Filature
This is one of the best in the book, originally written for a Hans Heinz Ewers tribute anthology. There's several surprising twists, with a deep sense of homesickness and decadence, and dare I say it, perhaps a bit of pulpy Yellow Peril flavor as well. A German man living at a Chinese silk factory and incorporating modern methods there falls for one of the beautiful women workers and causes both of them to come under the wrath of the strict owner.

Offal
This one was a little too nebulous even for my tastes, but I still enjoyed much of it. This is a story scattered within a prose poem, with a modern setting, about hoarding, the deeper, philosophical meaning and reasons for it. There's a sinister story, hinted at under the piles and hoards of deeply layered prose...

The Notched Sword
This story reflects on the works of Bruno Schulz and Witold Gombrowicz. The themes of conflicting identity are taken to an absurd extreme here, after a man is split in half in the midst of WW2, one takes the side of the Nazi's the other the resistance. This makes for a fascinating story, creatively conceived.

Beyond Two Rivers: A Symphonic Poem
Weird fiction that incorporates Sibelius and my favorite composer Shostakovich? I'm in. This is a great, disorientating story, told by a man groping in the dark and confused, visiting a foreign country full of veiled menace. Perhaps it's just me, but Aickman came to mind here -- there's some eerily, unexplained touches that reminded me of his work. A conductor visiting a Middle Eastern country to conduct a concert finds himself unable to see, and listening to the unskilled orchestra grind on without him as he gropes through the dark to escape.

Only for the Crossed-Out
This story undoubtedly brings Kafka to mind, but later in the story Borges seems an even bigger influence. A really good mixture of paranoia and hallucination. A book censor in the Soviet Union finds himself trapped in a cellar with the books he has been censoring, and makes a very strange discovery.

The Curse of the Desert and Flesh
This is a macabre prose poem, like something out of Maldoror. It's very effective, I believe Cantwell is making a point about the horror of life itself, in its multitudinous suffering forms. An observer describes a man on a horse, galloping through a desert, undergoing endless, horrific bodily transformations.

Moonpaths of the Departed
I love any cosmic/weird tale set in a cave, and this one has moments of the sublime, awe-inspiring, skin-crawly and eerie. This is the most Lovecraftian story in the collection, and I enjoyed the early build up a bit more than the pay off, but it still has a pretty original theme and interesting setting. A modernist composer visits an eccentric Baron and his wife who want him to compose a piece of music based on some primitive cave drawings which they believe depict first attempts at recorded music.

The Kuutar Concerto
This is a tale of a self-doubting, haunted composer, the great Jean Sibelius. I like the wintry atmosphere and imagery used in this story, but I felt that the kernel or raison d'etre at the center of it wasn't as potent or interesting as in the other stories. It's a milder tale, but for fans of Sibelius it makes for an interesting read, and asks the question, which is more majestic mere gods or nature itself? After conducting a disastrous performance, Jean Sibelius wanders into the poorer district of town to drink. There he meets some strange characters who stir his nostalgia for old, youthful inspirations he had long forgotten.

Symphony of Sirens
This is another story that takes place in the Soviet Union, and has a composer at its center. This might be my least favorite story of the bunch. It's primarily a rather befuddling look at art in Europe versus the Soviet Union, told through a strange vision. After a mysterious incident on an airplane that is transporting a political prisoner, the prisoner is interviewed about a strange vision he had during the flight.

Orphans on Granite Tides
This is by far the most ambitious piece in the book, indeed, this is practically a 20,000 word prose poem. It's very layered, deep and difficult reading but is also the most rewarding piece in the book. I think it's helpful to look up the various names mentioned in this story for some interesting history and illumination of the story too. Giving a brief idea of the plot feels like a joke for something so multifarious, overflowing with ideas and wild imagery...but here goes. The fragmentary memoirs of a Native American Indian mystic traveling across Europe are collected. They reveal several experiences which make him reconfigure his beliefs and understand reality, and the burden that comes with that.

[Karl]

The book came with a signed postcard from the author.

[Des Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about and by mad genius. A Weird Literature classic.

The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.

[El Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any attempt at summarising this book would be a disservice to it. It pains me to think that Cantwells writing will only be read by a select few, given the limited amount of prints in existence. It’s not often that the search for an entirely fleshed out piece of work that satiates every request for mental fulfilment is granted to a person and I am grateful to be one of them.