Posted by
Daniel Crandall on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 7:53:09 PM
There I was standing a Barnes & Noble, browsing the Science Fiction &
Fantasy section, wondering if there was anything worth my hard earned dollars. From
off to my left a guy asks me how to get the interstate. Before my brain kicks
into gear and I can give a witty New Englander type, “Ya cahn’t get theh from
heah.” answer, the directions spill from my mouth. He thanks me, then, after a
few moments he asks me where my SF&F tastes lie.
It’s not
often someone asks me what authors I enjoy reading. And it’s not often that I give this question much more than a
passing thought. I pause for a few moments and tell the gentleman that I tend
toward the likes of Neil Gaiman, Tim Powers and James Blaylock among many
others. I explain that my tastes these days run toward Dark Fantasy, which probably
arise from my interest in the Horror genre.
All this is
in way of introduction to what I’m currently reading, which is Caitlan R.
Kiernan’s novel, Threshold, a compelling blend of Southern
Gothic and H.P. Lovecraft.
Kiernan has
a fascinating way with language. There is a bit of Hemingway in her work, combined
with an ability to mash words for color together that moves her
description from a bland palate to something new and intriguing. Kiernan’s
skill with the written word draws readers into her story’s setting and sets her head
and shoulders above others working in the horror genre.
As much as
I’ve enjoyed Threshold, I couldn’t help but get irritated when I hit the
following passage. It comes as one of our characters drives from Alabama
to Florida.
He’s on a two lane highway on his way to an unincorporated part of Okaloosa County
in the Florida
panhandle.
“There’s country music blaring from
the radio, nothing but country and
gospel stations this far south, and so he’s going with the lesser of two evils, a twangy stream of Garth Brooks and Trisha
Yearwood, but at least it’s something to keep him company.” (emphasis added)
Country music is the “lesser" and Gospel is, by definition, the "greater" of two evils? Is this the
character’s viewpoint or the writer’s? Does it matter? Do Kiernan’s fans think
she doesn’t harbor this perspective
toward things Southern and Christian? I’d be surprised if they didn’t,
especially given her ‘let’s
kill Republican meteorologists because of hot weather’ attempt at humor on her blog:
“When I went to bed at about 2:25
am, the thermostat was still hovering stubbornly in the high 80s. This sort of
heat can drive you to murder your beloved. Or cut off another toe. Or
alphabetize all your CDs in reverse order, Z-A. … They say this is the last day of the
heatwave. But they were wrong yesterday, and I say meteorologists are going to
have to bleed and suffer and die, in vast numbers, to appease Helios. We'll take the meteorologists who don't plan
to vote Obama first.” (emphasis
added)
Hmmm....
Was no other way to write the novel’s
passage, quoted above, that would not have involved insulting probably more than
75% of the American population? Maybe not. Did this convey the sense that this
character despised the part of America
he grew up in (Birmingham, AL) and those he grew up with? Absolutely. So
on that score Ms. Kiernan succeeded in her chosen profession. However, the
passage left me with a bad taste in my mouth, wondering whether or not Ms.
Kiernan liked growing up on Athens,
GA, and how much she respects folks
like me as her reader.
And finally, I hope that guy found
his way to the interstate. I usually have a pretty good sense of direction; I’m just
not always the best on giving directions.