J. Sheridan Le Fanu SPALATRO: TWO ITALIAN TALES
Jim Rockhill
60 pp. Wraparound jacket illustration and two interior illustrations by
Douglas Walters. Frontispiece portrait of the author.
"Spalatro" is a decidedly odd tale, a miniature Gothic novel in fifty pages
of small print, complete with frame translator, recording monk and a long
episodic narrative given by a man who spurns confession, but offers to
explain why he has done those deeds for which he has been sentenced to
death.
The narrative proper falls into four distinct episodes. The first is taken
up by the titular character's childhood - distant father, loving mother,
scornful step-father and all. The most interesting and relevant portion of
this opening concerns the youth's monkish, though profane tutor, who flees
following after an attempted rape of the step-sister. This is not the last
we will see of him.
There follows a well-developed episode set around one of those murderous
wayside inns so beloved of popular nineteenth century literature. Le Fanu
describes the murder of one of the guests with relish. It is not quite up to
the famous trepanation scene in THE HOUSE BY THE CHURCH-YARD, but a worthy
precursor. From the monk's narrative of Spalatro's criminal fame and
capture as well as the childhood reminiscences and this gruesome episode,
all constituting the first of the tale's two published installments, one
would expect this to be an entirely picaresque tale, but this is not to be.
The supernatural appears with incresing force throughout the second
installment.
Having escaped the inn, Spalatro finds himself at Carnival in Rome, where he
indulges himself in rather generalized debauchery. We are to take Spalatro
at his word when he tells us, "recklessly I courted danger: wildly I
plunged into the unfathomable gulf of sin, and madly did time fly by." p.
25. Nonetheless, a fascinating episode now takes place when Spalatro finds
himself lured away from the crowd by a harlequin claiming to rescue him from
peril. The identity of this malevolent, mesmeric harlequin and his power
over Spalatro change the tenor of the tale drastically. We are now conscious
of powers at work intent upon shaping Spalatro's destiny, powers that
Spalatro himself, the monk recording his tale and, in spite of his attempts
at the end to provide a rational explanation a' la Hesselius, the translator
and editor of the tale cannot fully explain. Spalatro's liking for the monk,
but contempt for his religion begins to make sense. This is characteristic
of Le Fanu's more familiar work such as "Green Tea," "Mr. Justice
Harbottle," "Schalken the Painter," "Ultor de Lacy," etc. in that the
ostensibly moral, Christian frame-work of the tale is consistently
undermined by a failure on the part of Christianity's symbols or spokesmen
to save anyone from anything. Spalatro knows he is damned, has always been
damned and that nothing the monk or anyone else can do will save him.
Also characteristic of Le Fanu is the occasional odd sentence, which
portrays the ominous and simultaneously makes gentle mockery of that
ominousness:
"The street was dark and narrow - the houses on either side tall, sombre,
and antique, and withal carrying upon them a character of decay and neglect
which added gloom and sadness to a scene already sufficiently uncheery." p.
30.
Do we not detect a wry smile in those last five words? This tone is followed
up a few paragraphs later by lines that seems to echo that tone:
"More shocked than I can describe at what I heard and saw, I stood silently
by, scarcely knowing what course to take. I soon, however, grew weary of my
foolish situation, and, beg(an) to regard the whole thing as rather comic
than imposing." p. 31.
The next episode is marvelous, with its old man turned mage, its parody of
the eucharist, its figures appearing from beyond a curtain of mist, its
unwilling femme fatale and the three mysterious portraits. If the first
portrait is the mage and the second his dead-alive daughter, brought to life
by chalices of blood, just whose portrait is that beside theirs? Is it the
harlequin, seen by everyone else as not a man, but a slinking otter, felt on
the bedside at night following dreams or whose face appears beneath
Spalatro's bed of a morning? Is it the face of the Devil, to whom Spalatro
may be in thrall should he eat, drink or make pledge of his love within the
old man's house? Or does it portray Spalatro himself, whose destiny it has
been to stand with all the other lost souls in that place?
For all the richness of its episodes, the tale is fascinating but ultimately
frustrating, because little attempt has been made to successfully integrate
all of its elements. They never quite add up to a coherent whole. Though
there are links between the descriptions of Spalatro's childhood and the
events of Part II, the episode at the inn has little if anything to do with
the rest of the story. Considering that this is a famous robber speaking,
one who is offering an uncontrite apologia for his life, we are given a
vague estimate of the number of men he has slain at the beginning and end of
the tale and a few vague descriptions of the world of sensuality and vice he
has plunged himself into, which are about as convincing as Lovecraft's
descriptions of decadent behavior in "The Hound". Not that one expects
graphic descriptions of vice and mayhem, but Le Fanu offers little
transition from the inquisitive hedonist who kills only out of self-defense
and the "gigantic ruffian" credited with killing "more than two hundred men
in various broils and actions with his own hand" beyond the statement that
his experiences in the house of the old man have made him "a blind,
desparate instrument of hell". Although individual scenes are excellent,
the creation of brooding intensity and slowly mounting doom are absent, as
if Le Fanu were content to allow the remoteness of the setting to do that
work for him. This then is a good rather than a great tale, the seams of
which creak somewhat under the pressure placed upon them.
"Borrhomeo the Astrologer" is nowhere near as ambitious, occupying a mere
twelve pages including one full-page illustration. Set in Milan during the
plague of 1630, it relates the attempts of said astrologer to acquire the
grand Arcanum, capable of conferring long life and turning base metals into
gold. The young man, the hideous dog, the hunchback and the great assembly
he meets all bring him closer to that goal. The wafer of skin with which he
seals the bargain by creating a mask for the bargainer is an interesting
conceit as is the obligatory trick whereby Borrhomeo suffers by gaining
exactly what he sought. The tale, if slight, is effective and well-crafted.
Miles Stribling's Introduction is informative, especially as it relates to
the publication of Le Fanu's works in periodicals, but leans very heavily
on W.J. McCormack's SHERIDAN LE FANU AND VICTORIAN IRELAND, convincing me of
the need to finally acquire and read a copy of that book myself. His linkage
of names and motifs in "Spalatro" to other woks by Le Fanu is ingenious. He
also sees a greater linkage between Parts I and II of the novella through
such images as blood and decapitation than I do.
Douglas Walters illustrations, appositely dramatic and atmospheric, are
among his best work.
Todd T.
needed some information to decide about investing over $30 for about 70 pp.
A broader question for the group: I have read four Le Fanu volumes:
CARMILLA
GREEN TEA & OTHER GHOST STORIES (Dover)
BEST GHOST STORIES OF JSF (Dover)
THE PURCELL PAPERS (Arkham House)
Based on the contents of these, are there other worthy weird stories by him
that I have missed out on? I know it's too much to ask someone to comb
through tables of contents, but if there's an obvious gap I should fill, I'd
like to know. Thanks much.
- Todd T.
"Jim Rockhill" <jimro...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:tg2ms5j...@corp.supernews.com...
Jim Rockhill
merely a selection from THE BEST GHOST STORIES OF J.S.LeF. I would
recommend you pick up Dover's GHOST STORIES AND MYSTERIES. It contains the
following, mostly folklorish, supernatural tales -
"Laura Silver Bell" - another of those tales featuring the grotesque "black"
woman who appears in "Carmilla," "The Haunted Baronet" and perhaps other
tales that do not come immediately to mind.
"Wicked Captain Walshawe of Walling"
"Ghost Stories of Chapelizod"
"The Child That Went With the Fairies"
"Stories of Lough Guir"
"The Vision of Tom Chuff"
"The Drunkard's Dream"
"Dickon the Devil"
"The Ghost and the Bone-Setter"
. . . and the following mysteries -
"The Room in the Dragon Volant" - the one non-supernatural tale collected by
Le Fanu in IN A GLASS DARKLY. It has been overshadowed by "Green Tea," "Mr.
Justice Harbottle" and "Carmilla," but is a very good adventure tale with
some of the same brooding atmosphere as the ghostly tales and UNCLE SILAS.
"A Chapter in the History of the Tyrone Family"
"The Murdered Cousin" - this could almost be considered a preliminary draft
for UNCLE SILAS.
"The Evil Guest"
"The Mysterious Lodger"
As you can see, there is a lot of overlap with Arkham House's THE PURCELL
PAPERS, but I believe this is a better collection. Of the supernatural
tales not shared between the two collections, "Laura Silver Bell" is
excellent and chilling. "Wicked Captain Walshawe" is a takes its
supernatural phenomena much less seriously, but is a very entertaining tale
nonetheless.
Hope this helps.
Jim
Todd T. wrote in message ...
Todd T.
I go to sniff out a copy.
-Todd T.
"Jim Rockhill" <jimro...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:tg5q8dl...@corp.supernews.com...
Jim Rockhill
It should be fairly easy either to find or order, since Dover still lists it
"in print" at their site on Yahoo for $10.95
http://store.yahoo.com/doverpublications/0486207153.html
Jim
Todd T. wrote in message ...
>Terrific, Jim, thanks! I believe I've only read one of those stories. Off
>I go to sniff out a copy.
>-Todd T.
>
Todd T.
once more.
- Todd T.
"Jim Rockhill" <jimro...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:tg66prn...@corp.supernews.com...
Jim Rockhill
when I came across it by accident. I had tried to find them on-line more
than a year ago without any luck.
Todd T. wrote in message
<_XEM6.1298$fp1....@e420r-atl1.usenetserver.com>...
Douglas A. Anderson
> You are welcome again, though I did not know the site existed until today,
> when I came across it by accident. I had tried to find them on-line more
> than a year ago without any luck.
>
> Todd T. wrote in message
> >once more.
> >- Todd T.
Actually, their site comes up via doverpublications.com too.
Doug A.
Jim Rockhill
logos and ads. Thanks, Doug.
Douglas A. Anderson wrote in message ...