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Arsole Fantüme, Gentleman Immoralist
The legendary czar of darkest nightmare, Arsole Fantüme, Gentleman Immoralist, commits a string of grotesque murders in France, in 1901.
292 pages, Paperback
First published July 30, 2009
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July 18, 2012
I finished this book a long time ago and just didn't get round to writing a review, but I can definitely say, now that I finally come to review it, that it has certainly stayed with me.
This is self publishing doing it right.
I came across this book quite by accident on Amazon and was immediately intrigued by the title. Reading the blurb, I became even more fascinated. Written in the early 1900s and only just translated? Banned in polite society? The fiend who murders by enema?
It genuinely took me quite a while and looking into this publication online to realise that this is in fact (I'm pretty sure - can't be 100% even now ;-) the work of Ricky Sprague and the story of its origin is another tongue in cheek and marvellously fun fabrication around this mysterious work! (A shame, because I desperately want to read the sequels!)
This is lurid, hilarious, apalling exploitica, parodying a French Penny Dreadful type tale (of which I can't pretend to have read any to be honest, but I imagine that's what it's pastiching!) and I enjoyed every word of it. Certainly it's (purposefully) silly and cartoonish and not without its faults (the main criticism I have of it is there are quite a few typos) but it's so refreshing to see someone writing something imaginative, original and outside the norm these days. In places it is genuinely gripping as well and I certainly couldn't put it down. I'm also a bit taken with Dr Termite and Perdita. I would love to see a sequel to this - perhaps with Germaine becoming a stronger character, although I can't complain too much of weak female characters in this instance because in the end, absolutely everyone will become a victim of Arsole Fantume.
Edited to add: and the fact that he also appears to have written a parody of the abomination that is that E L James woman's book also earns him brownie points from me!
This is self publishing doing it right.
I came across this book quite by accident on Amazon and was immediately intrigued by the title. Reading the blurb, I became even more fascinated. Written in the early 1900s and only just translated? Banned in polite society? The fiend who murders by enema?
It genuinely took me quite a while and looking into this publication online to realise that this is in fact (I'm pretty sure - can't be 100% even now ;-) the work of Ricky Sprague and the story of its origin is another tongue in cheek and marvellously fun fabrication around this mysterious work! (A shame, because I desperately want to read the sequels!)
This is lurid, hilarious, apalling exploitica, parodying a French Penny Dreadful type tale (of which I can't pretend to have read any to be honest, but I imagine that's what it's pastiching!) and I enjoyed every word of it. Certainly it's (purposefully) silly and cartoonish and not without its faults (the main criticism I have of it is there are quite a few typos) but it's so refreshing to see someone writing something imaginative, original and outside the norm these days. In places it is genuinely gripping as well and I certainly couldn't put it down. I'm also a bit taken with Dr Termite and Perdita. I would love to see a sequel to this - perhaps with Germaine becoming a stronger character, although I can't complain too much of weak female characters in this instance because in the end, absolutely everyone will become a victim of Arsole Fantume.
Edited to add: and the fact that he also appears to have written a parody of the abomination that is that E L James woman's book also earns him brownie points from me!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review