A Glow of Candles

This is a collection of short stories by Charles L. Grant, a dark fantasy writer. The cover art is eyecatching, having a waxwork mime bowing on a stage, and slowly melting while a woman's hand is parting a curtain in the background. Now comes a little bit of commentary on several of the stories for starters, and then at last my impressions about the book in general.

The contents are:
A Crowd of Shadows
Hear Me Now My Sweet Abbey Rose
Temperature Days on Hawthorne Street
Come Dance With Me on My Pony's Grave
The Three of Tens
The Dark of Legends, The Light of Lies
Caesar, Now Be Still
White Wolf Calling
The Rest Is Silence
When All the Children Call My Name
Secrets of the Heart
A Glow of Candles, A Unicorn's Eye


The first thing about these stories that I noticed was, they weren't scary at all. This was unlooked-for, since the back cover clearly hinted at there being scariness within. Does this mean the author failed? I don't know. Most of the tales would ultimately end up being entertaining, particularly the ones exhibiting a Twilight Zone-like quality to the plot.

The scariest stories - or most closely approaching scary - for me were Crowd of Shadows, Temperature Days, and Legends/Lies. The cheesiest tale I found had to be Glow of Candles, although that's not at all to say it wasn't a good story. In fact it was the most iconic of the bunch, being set in a futuristic world of the author's that is just vaguely anti-utopian and is thus so seemingly probable as to set a mood of subdued dread that builds throughout the piece.

Temperature Days was the most gory of the stories and I found myself enjoying that aspect of it. It wasn't gory except by suggestion, but that's the kind of writing that really freaks me out. The mysterious figure of the Milkman is a powerful symbol of the unknown, something that provides a darkly contrasting backdrop to the tentative uncertainty to which most everyday humans are subject.

The Three of Tens to me seemed like it had potential to be a lot longer and more moody. I don't know why Grant decided to stuff that story into a mere 12 pages, but the characters weren't all that sympathetic to me anyway. Another story was a complete knock-off of an episode of TZ, where an omnipotent kid torments some adults. It's a fascinating enough subject to warrant a revisiting, I suppose. But the end seemed to me a tad too muddled to be satisfying.

This author seems fixated on some misadventure he'd had during his teaching career, involving Julius Caesar (the play) and his department's administration. At least two of the stories were inspired by that incident, and I seem to recall it being mentioned elsewhere. The Rest Is Silence is a fictionalized recount of what must have been the events Grant experienced. As it is "based on a true story", the reader becomes that much closer involved in the events portrayed, which quickly turn fantastical. A pretty unique monster is created in the place of an angry man, that was the counterpart of the author himself. But instead of just retiring from teaching, the character goes all-out and pulls some strange stunt. And also kills the guy that was holding him down.

More than half the stories ended up featuring mysterious deaths that are revealed to be the work of supernatural forces. I suppose that is what characterises this "dark fantasy" genre, or at least supplies much of the darkness. The rest comes from ruminations on the dubious nature of mankind. As I see it, that is a tendency of authors who are uninterested in exploring the nobility of the race.

I think the best quote comes from the end pages of the other Caesar story, Now Be Still: "We've withdrawn into a shell not of sophistication born of learning, but of fear born of knowing." This is an example of a fictional narration that is in fact meant to apply to the real world. Grant seems to be talking about people's attitudes of independence which merely serve to isolate them from each other. (Leadership is a lonesome task, etc.) Dependence on the other hand is still some type of a relationship, and binds people together. In the western world, chasing an ambition of your own is associated in a variety of ways with freedom. But while freedom is a harmless and downright worthy thing to pursue, unrestrained ambition seems to me a form of gratification which in effect extends free will into something that assumes powers and insights which simply don't exist.

My own opinions on this subject have wavered chaotically almost, as I have learned over the years the staggering dimensions of human greed and selfishness. And I keep coming back to fear as the cause behind everything. The fear that through carelessness, if not ambition if not malice, those others around us mean to rub us out. Yet how much do you really care about those people? How readily would you entrust to them your special values? Or take to heart even a little the values which they would sacrifice good sleep and more for? It's not being too dependent on our fellow man that we should be wary of, but rather not needing him at all, until you are the only thing left and your whole existence then boils down to little more than a mar on a rational universe.

So these stories probably won't make you gasp out loud or see visions in the dark but they're good food for thought, and entertaining as fantasy goes.

A Bio through Speeches

The Eloquent President: A Portrayal of Lincoln through his Words by Ronald White isn't a comprehensive biography of Lincoln, but rather analyses of various speeches Lincoln's made during or before his presidency. While pretty accessible to people without an English or Communications background, it is more a rhetorical analysis than a standard biography. On the other hand, there's plenty of biographical detail for someone who wants snapshots at various figures or events of Lincoln's time, including Lincoln himself. For instance, White spends pretty significant time on emphasizing the partisan role of newspaper editors then (they didn't worry about media bias at that time because they didn't seem to see bias as a bad thing ;)).

However, in the end, the main emphasis is on analysis of Lincoln's speeches- his process in writing them, their relations to one another, their word structure. Two things that White did well in helping people appreciate the speeches are: 1) he'd stack up phrases one after another, sometimes with slight indents, to help people see how each phrase builds on the other and also to enhance their poetic quality; 2) he'd compare earlier and later speeches' line by line to help people see the progression of ideas from one speech to another.

White also picks a good selection of different speeches by Lincoln, all related. One of the primary themes is the progression of Lincoln's ideas on slavery. Another theme, if I understand it correctly, is Lincoln's move from rationalism to a deeper appreciation of divine will. The two intersect; Lincoln early in his presidency tries to avoid the topic of slavery, but toward the end of his presidency, sees the Civil War itself almost as divine punishment for America's sin of slavery. Hence, the selection of speeches doesn't just include Lincoln's major (and some minor) public addresses, but also Lincoln's private "Meditation on the Divine Will."

Like that private musing, many of the selections were not actual speeches given by Lincoln but addresses written by Lincoln to be read by someone else (for instance, a letter at a rally, or his addresses in Congress- at that time, presidents didn't give State of the Union speeches in person). However, White helps us appreciate how Lincoln, being attentive to speaking to an audience, wrote with a live audience in mind. Thus, even Lincoln's addresses are like speeches, especially in how he writes for the ear, rather than just writing for quiet reading.

Other than being an interesting study of Lincoln on its own, the book is also pretty good at helping a novice learn how to speak or write well. It's not written as a manual, so it's not something that can be picked up directly. But if someone had a mind to it, he could use the book as a reference while reading Lincoln's addresses, and in that way, develop a good speech and writing style.

One thing about Lincoln that makes his eloquence relevant to today's is that Lincoln liked plain speech, so his metaphors and his words were usually accessible to a lay audience. That's especially applicable in today's mass society, since today, people prefer plain to florid speech.