Father Panic's Opera Macabre

Rating:
Summary: Culture shock
Review: Neil, a writer of bland historical fiction set in the Italian Renaissance, gets lost on holiday in Italy. Asking for help at a secluded mansion house, he meets a beautiful young woman and her strange, degenerate, Croat-origined family, including the eponymous Father Anton Panic. A passionate and delightful affair with the girl ensues, but when one day they play with the wax masks from the family's travelling-performer past, Neil discovers that his mask won't come off. There follows a long, hallucinatory, genuinely shocking stretch of writing, as Neil witnesses endless atrocities carried out by uniformed stormtroopers. Perhaps the most horrific thing about it is the utter lack of preparation, of anticipatory clues, in the narrative that's gone before; the reader is as overwhelmed with shock and revulsion as Neil himself. There is, in fact, no solution offered in the story itself; the historical context is only explained in Tessier's brief notes at the end. For Neil, for the story, the violence and horror remain incomprehensible, utterly unfathomable. The writer of saccharine historical romance is caught up in true events which took place barely outside his lifetime, yet about which he knows nothing whatever. This brief novel is challenging, haunting and horrifying, forcing us to confront yet more of the demons from Europe's unforgivable twentieth century.

Rating:
Summary: First, do no harm
Review: This was my first experience with reading Thomas Tessier, who came to my attention through a conversation I had with a noted bibliographer of horror literature as "a great living author of the macabre."

So I criticize with caution. First, I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of the signed limited edition (this was a nice bonus!) which I read with care, in a single sitting.

The story is aptly described by the editorial review so I will not touch upon the plot. I will say, however, that the brevity of the novel prohibits much, if any, character development.

If there is true horror here, it lies in the subtext of the "barbaric Croatian Ustashas" who evidently wreaked mayhem of the most heinous sort-mayhem I was unaware ever occured.

Unfortunately, knowledge of the Ustashas come to us quite late in the novel and ultimately, in the form of an afterthought. This subtext made me interested in learning more history but, unfortunately, did not add any great moral or even horrific weight to a more or less traditional "ghost story."

However, I am not a novelist; just another annoying consumer of other people's creativity, so I hope that Mr. Tessier will forgive me. The prose is crisp, clear, and powerful and although the novel didn't strike me as special, this writer is obviously heads above others in the genre (and you know who they are!)

For those who like elegant little stories, this novel will not satisfy your appetite.

For those who like a very quick, twisted, violent journey into another realm, even if the effect is short lived, then by all means read the book.

Rating:
Summary: First, do no harm
Review: This was my first experience with reading Thomas Tessier, who came to my attention through a conversation I had with a noted bibliographer of horror literature as "a great living author of the macabre."

So I criticize with caution. First, I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of the signed limited edition (this was a nice bonus!) which I read with care, in a single sitting.

The story is aptly described by the editorial review so I will not touch upon the plot. I will say, however, that the brevity of the novel prohibits much, if any, character development.

If there is true horror here, it lies in the subtext of the "barbaric Croatian Ustashas" who evidently wreaked mayhem of the most heinous sort-mayhem I was unaware ever occured.

Unfortunately, knowledge of the Ustashas come to us quite late in the novel and ultimately, in the form of an afterthought. This subtext made me interested in learning more history but, unfortunately, did not add any great moral or even horrific weight to a more or less traditional "ghost story."

However, I am not a novelist; just another annoying consumer of other people's creativity, so I hope that Mr. Tessier will forgive me. The prose is crisp, clear, and powerful and although the novel didn't strike me as special, this writer is obviously heads above others in the genre (and you know who they are!)

For those who like elegant little stories, this novel will not satisfy your appetite.

For those who like a very quick, twisted, violent journey into another realm, even if the effect is short lived, then by all means read the book.