THE BEAST YOU ARE by Paul Tremblay (William Morrow, July 2023) Hardcover, 352 pages. ISBN #9780063069961.
Tremblay's second collection of short stories is a mixed bag. I found a third of these stories to be less than satisfactory. However, the three stories that earned a four-star rating are so strong that I would not hesitate to endorse this book.
My favorite story is "The Last Conversation", followed closely by "I Know You're There". Both deal with grief and are very powerful. The final story, an original to this collection, "The Beast You Are" is an epic fantasy with animal characters that kept me turning pages.
Anyone who has read Tremblay before is aware that he is a master at ambiguity, and this collection bears this out. However, some of the stories are so vague that you wonder what the point was. Others feel like scenes extracted from a longer work. Still, I appreciate his willingness to experiment and challenge readers - - and that's why I'll keep checking out his work.
If you're new to Tremblay, I would recommend GROWING THINGS AND OTHER STORIES over this collection. Overall rating for this collection: THREE STARS.
If you'd care to read more specifics on each of these stories, I've included my notes during reading . . .
NOTES
ICE COLD LEMONADE 25 CENTS/HAUNTED HOUSE TOUR: 1 PER PERSON A man recalls how during his youth he received a haunted house tour by a classmate who lived there. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
MEAN TIME A two-page story of an odd man who used sidewalk chalk to mark his travels so he could re-trace his steps and not get lost. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
I KNOW YOU'RE THERE A ghost story about grief, and the first story to have an impact on me. Thoughtful, empathetic, and thought-provoking. Tremblay's knack for ambiguity is present in this one. Per Tremblay: "Grief is the ghost of who we were and who we loved." FOUR STARS.
THE POSTAL ZONE: THE POSSESSION EDITION A reference to his A HEADFUL OF GHOSTS novel, via questions and answers in the letter column of Fangoria magazine. TWO AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
RED EYES Kind of an alternate ending to A HEADFUL OF GHOSTS, although Tremblay states in the Notes that was not his intent. Not a believable or satisfactory ending, by the way. You may agree if you've read that novel. Tremblay's stated reason for writing this short, short story doesn't really come across to me. THREE STARS.
I'm five stories into this collection, and I'm not really feeling the excitement I usually feel when reading Tremblay. So far, GROWING THINGS is a superior collection to this. But, it's still early. Keep watching this space.
THE BLOG AT THE END OF THE WORLD Now this is more like it. An enjoyable read, although this seems more like a scene or excerpt from a longer novel. Like a bonafide story with conflict/action/resolution, this lacks a resolution. Extra points for creativity and presentation, as well as being ahead of the times in 2008 when Tremblay wrote this. It deals with a pandemic of spontaneous aneurysms that creates a panic (people wear masks, etc). In the notes Tremblay states that the story was "more about online existence and the proliferation of misinformation." The story is told through blog entries and replies, with arguments between readers. It's presented the same way you would review a blog, with the most current entries up front. Scroll down to read what was written last week, last month, etc. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS. (Would have been higher with an actual resolution.)
THEM: A PITCH This three-pager is the narrator pitching a script for a one-shot comic book to the publisher. It's an apocalyptic story inspired by the giant ants from the 1950's THEM film. I liked the pitch, and the story idea and description was cool. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
HOUSE OF WINDOWS Another inventive idea that could have been explored further - although this one has a resolution (that some may not like). A house with only windows (no doors) pops up overnight. The public reacts as expected (rubber neckers) as it seems to get larger and encroach on more space. THREE AND THREE-QUARTER STARS.
THE LAST CONVERSATION At 45 pages, this is the second-longest story in the collection - - and it's a gem. This one got to me. It's a story of recovery and rehabilitation in pandemic times. A former lab partner and life partner guides her husband through learning how to walk, complete physical chores, and recover memory. Told in short chapters, alternating tense between second-person and third-person narration. I figured out the circumstances before the ending, but it did nothing to diminish the impact of this story. I'm not a fan of second-person narration, but Trembaly made the right call here. Worth reading again. FOUR STARS.
MOSTLY SIZE A three-pager. While waiting for a kaiju monster to crush his home and stomp on the bed which he is hiding under - a 10-year old boy writes a poem. In Tremblay's defense, this was written in a four-hour write-and-edit challenge as a benefit for a UK charity. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
THE LARGE MAN A wild blend of supernatural noir and Orwellian fiction. The setting is a dystopian country that seems a mix of old Victorian times and more futuristic tech-savvy resources. A government data-cruncher is asked to solve a series of murders of prominent administrative family members. There are creepy sequences and a twist ending. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
My favorite story is "The Last Conversation", followed closely by "I Know You're There". Both deal with grief and are very powerful. The final story, an original to this collection, "The Beast You Are" is an epic fantasy with animal characters that kept me turning pages.
Anyone who has read Tremblay before is aware that he is a master at ambiguity, and this collection bears this out. However, some of the stories are so vague that you wonder what the point was. Others feel like scenes extracted from a longer work. Still, I appreciate his willingness to experiment and challenge readers - - and that's why I'll keep checking out his work.
If you're new to Tremblay, I would recommend GROWING THINGS AND OTHER STORIES over this collection. Overall rating for this collection: THREE STARS.
If you'd care to read more specifics on each of these stories, I've included my notes during reading . . .
NOTES
ICE COLD LEMONADE 25 CENTS/HAUNTED HOUSE TOUR: 1 PER PERSON A man recalls how during his youth he received a haunted house tour by a classmate who lived there. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
MEAN TIME A two-page story of an odd man who used sidewalk chalk to mark his travels so he could re-trace his steps and not get lost. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
I KNOW YOU'RE THERE A ghost story about grief, and the first story to have an impact on me. Thoughtful, empathetic, and thought-provoking. Tremblay's knack for ambiguity is present in this one. Per Tremblay: "Grief is the ghost of who we were and who we loved." FOUR STARS.
THE POSTAL ZONE: THE POSSESSION EDITION A reference to his A HEADFUL OF GHOSTS novel, via questions and answers in the letter column of Fangoria magazine. TWO AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
RED EYES Kind of an alternate ending to A HEADFUL OF GHOSTS, although Tremblay states in the Notes that was not his intent. Not a believable or satisfactory ending, by the way. You may agree if you've read that novel. Tremblay's stated reason for writing this short, short story doesn't really come across to me. THREE STARS.
I'm five stories into this collection, and I'm not really feeling the excitement I usually feel when reading Tremblay. So far, GROWING THINGS is a superior collection to this. But, it's still early. Keep watching this space.
THE BLOG AT THE END OF THE WORLD Now this is more like it. An enjoyable read, although this seems more like a scene or excerpt from a longer novel. Like a bonafide story with conflict/action/resolution, this lacks a resolution. Extra points for creativity and presentation, as well as being ahead of the times in 2008 when Tremblay wrote this. It deals with a pandemic of spontaneous aneurysms that creates a panic (people wear masks, etc). In the notes Tremblay states that the story was "more about online existence and the proliferation of misinformation." The story is told through blog entries and replies, with arguments between readers. It's presented the same way you would review a blog, with the most current entries up front. Scroll down to read what was written last week, last month, etc. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS. (Would have been higher with an actual resolution.)
THEM: A PITCH This three-pager is the narrator pitching a script for a one-shot comic book to the publisher. It's an apocalyptic story inspired by the giant ants from the 1950's THEM film. I liked the pitch, and the story idea and description was cool. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
HOUSE OF WINDOWS Another inventive idea that could have been explored further - although this one has a resolution (that some may not like). A house with only windows (no doors) pops up overnight. The public reacts as expected (rubber neckers) as it seems to get larger and encroach on more space. THREE AND THREE-QUARTER STARS.
THE LAST CONVERSATION At 45 pages, this is the second-longest story in the collection - - and it's a gem. This one got to me. It's a story of recovery and rehabilitation in pandemic times. A former lab partner and life partner guides her husband through learning how to walk, complete physical chores, and recover memory. Told in short chapters, alternating tense between second-person and third-person narration. I figured out the circumstances before the ending, but it did nothing to diminish the impact of this story. I'm not a fan of second-person narration, but Trembaly made the right call here. Worth reading again. FOUR STARS.
MOSTLY SIZE A three-pager. While waiting for a kaiju monster to crush his home and stomp on the bed which he is hiding under - a 10-year old boy writes a poem. In Tremblay's defense, this was written in a four-hour write-and-edit challenge as a benefit for a UK charity. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
THE LARGE MAN A wild blend of supernatural noir and Orwellian fiction. The setting is a dystopian country that seems a mix of old Victorian times and more futuristic tech-savvy resources. A government data-cruncher is asked to solve a series of murders of prominent administrative family members. There are creepy sequences and a twist ending. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
THE DEAD THING Mom is dead. Dad's always drunk. A young girl in middle school has to fend for herself and her younger brother, who is mentally challenged. He brings home some thing in a box that smells bad and he won't show it to her. Twist ending, with ambiguity. Does Tremblay really reveal what's in there? Narrated by the girl in stream of consciousness, rambling sentences. This just didn't work for me. I found it annoying and couldn't wait to finish it (out of obligation). Thankfully, only 16 pages. If it was any longer, it would be a DNF. TWO STARS.
HOWARD STURGIS AND THE LETTERS AND THE VAN AND WHAT HE FOUND WHEN HE WENT BACK TO HIS HOUSE Howard Sturgis is a retired loner, who teaches math part-time to help support himself. The letters are from Circe Corp thanking him for sending them a parcel with a "substance", from which they developed some ground-breaking auto technology. He has no memory of doing so, and doesn't answer the letters until he gets one that asks for marketing advice. His reply is followed up by an invitation to make a presentation and receive an award. He fears he is being pranked and write a letter declining the invite, but the Circe Corp is persistent.
Another story that failed to interest me. Tremblay is taking vague outcomes to the next level and I'm losing patience. It's ok to lead the reader down a path and leave it to them to decide the final outcome; but at least suggest some choices. Dumb title, dumb story. TWO STARS.
THE PARTY Another incomplete story, feels like the beginning of something longer that Tremblay never got back to. This was written for a tribute anthology to Shirley Jackson, and it has that Jackson vibe. The characters and situations are what saved it for me, and made it enjoyable instead of annoying. There's only a sliver of a horror/sinister element that could have been developed further. It's about a party, just like the title puts it. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
THE BEAST YOU ARE Finally, the cream of the crop. Tremblay wrote this long (161) page story told in verse just for this collection, and it's fascinating. An anthropomorphic animal novella that recalls epic fantasy. At times, I completely forgot that the characters were animals . That's how closely their behavior and actions mirrored humans. Tremblay manages to mix in quite a bit of social commentary throughout related to politics, the environment, family relationships, fanatical cult movements, big business, etc. Three young animals (a turtle, dog, and cat) are chosen by lottery to be sacrificed to a monstrous creature that visits the town every 30 years. While only one of the three is chosen to be taken away and eaten by the monster, the two survivors are forever marred by the experience, become friends, and follow completely different paths. To tell more would spoil it. Of course, Trembaly leaves the ending open enough for readers to draw their own conclusions. FOUR STARS.
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