The Unstrung Harp

Rating:
Summary: No cliches - just bizarre, uppity humor
Review: "Mr Earbrass belongs to the straying, rather than the sedentary, type of author. He is never to be found at his desk unless actually writing down a sentence. Before this happens he broods over it indefinately while picking up and putting down again small, loose objects...He frequently hums more in his mind than anywhere else, themes from the Poddington 'Te Deum'."

Gorey is strange. Not weird strange. Just strange. His glib verbosity is a fantastic challenge. He takes the absurd and the stark into a play-acting of 1920s (I choose this era only because it is a feeling I get from his drawings) melodrama with a twist. I suppose his writing wouldn't have the same impact without his illustrations. His unblinking faces and penguin bodies are black comedy parodies of our over-rated catalogue of mannerisms and expressions. I laugh when I realize how serious Gorey is about taking his characters down a seriously mad path.

In the 'Unstrung Harp', Mr Earbrass' boredom and inability to write are a bizarre focus. Gorey finds so much humor and psychology in our seemingly empty, drifting moments. Makes me realize that boredom really is a thing in itself to appreciate. Mr. Earbrass, after all, gets more from his "straying" than his actually writing, enjoying the "about to happen" rather than the "happening".

Start your collection. His books are tricky to come by, but even more difficult to part with.

Rating:
Summary: the dark world of a writer
Review: "In the blue horror of dawn the vines in the carpet appear likely to begin twining up his ankles." Although I haven't attempted to publish my books, as a writer I can understand some of Mr. Earbrass's tribulations while he experiences the realm of his own novel. Although it is a humorous story, for the most part I find "The Unstrung Harp" moving, passionate, and honest. Earbrass is a heroic solipsist descending into his own mind to survive, at the same time offering up what he finds there for public scrutiny. I wish I could read his famous Hipdeep Trilogy. (And don't forget that Gorey's illustrations are beautiful.)

Rating:
Summary: How to Write a Novel
Review: A brilliant tale of how best to go about writing the all-American novel. Or British. Whatever. I carry this book close to my heart, as do all serious authors.

Rating:
Summary: Fantods and epergnes
Review: Fantods and epergnes do exist - at least they're in the dictionary. One is under glass in this book. It's impossible to review this wonderful book without quoting from it. Roughly speaking it's a short book about a strange-looking man writing a novel but that doesn't tell you much about it. We know he's strange-looking because of the illustrations. These are indescribable.
Come to think of it I might as well give up attempting to describe or review.
You can still get this book legally at Amazon.com so hurry up. For some reason Goreys often go out of print and then you have to resort to begging, which would be bad for your self-esteem, or stealing, which could get you you in more trouble. The unthinkable thing would be not to own this book.

Rating:
Summary: It's back! A classic of life's little frustrations.
Review: I grew up with this book, but tragically lost it a few years ago. Now it is finally available again. The story of Mr. Earbrass struggling with every phase of writing a book is a classic of wry humor with non-sequiturs at every turn. The illustrations (drawn actual size) are even more of an attraction than the story. Be sure to look for the distant hot-air balloon in one illustration, and what happens to the fantod under glass. What's a fantod? Read the book to see one! I also recommend this book for developing childrens' sense of humor, although I found the long-headed people and oblique references to English place names a bit difficult to understand when I was six.

Rating:
Summary: A Long Headed Auther Writes A Novel
Review: This book has more to offer than it did in 1953, when it was first published. Most of the trouble that Mr. Earbrass goes through while he's writing a novel could be solved if he had a computer. It would be neater and easier, but, ofcourse, they didn't have that many computers in 1953, not to mention Edwardian times! This book is priceless.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book, bothersome edition
Review: This book is surely among Edward Gorey's finest. However, I was extremely disappointed to discover that the text of the story, originally hand-lettered by Mr. Gorey, has been set in an utterly non-descript typeface. A poor choice, hopefully on the part of editors. The story itself is marvelous; still and all, some of the charm is diminished when "Collapsed Pudding" is written on a computer and transferred to a page, rather than written out in the author's inimitable style.

Rating:
Summary: Gorey's First Book and Masterpiece
Review: This is a reissue of Gorey's first book, which has much more text and a more conventional and linear storyline than many others that followed. However, don't be put off. All the Gorey trademarks are here in full bloom: the illustrations are ravishing in their detail, the text is very funny and absurd, and the story about the agonies of creativity is wonderfully comic in its depictions of the writer's life. This is my favorite Gorey book, bar none.