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Mr. Arcularis
Comedy Full Length / The action begins in an operating room, where Mr. Arcularis undergoes major heart surgery. To hasten his recuperation he embarks on a prolonged sea voyage—but many of his fellow passengers are strangely similar to the doctors and nurses from the hospital. There is some confusion when Mr. Arcularis' name is not found among those of the Purser's list, but he settles in to enjoy his trip. But two disclosures disturb him. The other travelers tell him of his sleepwalking and the Steward reveals that there is a coffin on board. When it is discovered someone has tried to force open the coffin an inquiry is held, and the culprit proves to be Mr. Arcularis. The knowledge of his action unleashes a flood of painful memories; his childhood, his mother's infidelity, the discovery of her drowned body. Struggling to sort out the meaning of his existence Mr. Arcularis cries out for light…and we are back in the operating room where the play began. This time, however, the mood is intent and somber as the patient's pulse slowly fades, and he slips into death. (10 men, 5 15 total)
Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
3 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Conrad Aiken
308 books83 followersKnown American writer Conrad Potter Aiken won a Pulitzer Prize of 1930 for
Selected Poems
.
Most of work of this short story critic and novelist reflects his intense interest in psychoanalysis and the development of identity. As editor of Selected Poems of Emily Elizabeth Dickinson in 1924, he largely responsibly established her posthumous literary reputation. From the 1920s, Aiken divided his life between England and the United States and played a significant role in introducing American poets to the British audience.
He fathered gifted writers Joan Aiken and Jane Aiken Hodge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_...
Most of work of this short story critic and novelist reflects his intense interest in psychoanalysis and the development of identity. As editor of Selected Poems of Emily Elizabeth Dickinson in 1924, he largely responsibly established her posthumous literary reputation. From the 1920s, Aiken divided his life between England and the United States and played a significant role in introducing American poets to the British audience.
He fathered gifted writers Joan Aiken and Jane Aiken Hodge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_...
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 4, 2025
What a beautifully haunting paean to the multiplying perils and promises of old age!
Yes, and it haunted me for fifty-three long years of my life - until the recent day when I ordered Aiken's masterful collection of short stories - the only way to once again immerse myself in its strangely surreal storyline.
You see, it all started in 1968...
I was sitting at the back of my high school senior year English class, and chomping at the bit for the day I could finally take on the world. Ah, Youth! - as Conrad's Marlowe mutters.
Until the moment when the brutal mystery of Aiken's tale - the day's assigned reading - grabbed me by the lapels, shook me and yelled, "Pay attention. THIS is what great writing is all about!
'It's about the End - and not the beginning - of your long and difficult life.'
So I read.
And the baroque tracery of the story's mystical plot revealed "a lane to the Land of the Dead" in my antsy teenager brain. Wow. I was floored and flummoxed.
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered.
And if you look hard enough, perhaps you can find a handy pdf version knocking around the web for your OWN bewitchment, rather than shelling out the full price for Aiken's STILL-best-selling tales.
***
You know, if you've experienced trauma at any time in your life, it's best not to run from the memories. Don't let them fester and breed tiny monsters in your mind. Put them to work. The creative way of exorcism is best.
Conrad Allen was a victim of ultimate trauma. And writing was his exorcism.
When he was little, right at the turn of the twentieth century, his Dad - a respected physician - killed his mom and then turned the gun on himself.
The responsibility of reporting the two deaths devolved upon this shattered kid.
Imagine...
***
He later earned the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for writing the books that eased his healing. For heal he did!
And he and T.S. Eliot were best buds dating from their Harvard days - Aiken being, I believe, the last of his friends to visit before Eliot's death.
His masterpiece, Mr. Arcularis, is a story to die for.
It's so perfect in its execution it has become for me one of the jewels in the crown of my desultorily remembered education.
For it let me experience the moment of an old man's exit - from within his mind - vicariously:
For the elderly and frail heart patient, Mr. Arcularis, it will be a time of exploration, a time of reaching new frontiers, all alone -
As Ulysses was prophesied by the seer to undertake in his old age -
Finally reaching a land no man has returned to fully tell about, beyond cold Arcturus - the Land of the Final Frontier....
DEATH.
Yes, and it haunted me for fifty-three long years of my life - until the recent day when I ordered Aiken's masterful collection of short stories - the only way to once again immerse myself in its strangely surreal storyline.
You see, it all started in 1968...
I was sitting at the back of my high school senior year English class, and chomping at the bit for the day I could finally take on the world. Ah, Youth! - as Conrad's Marlowe mutters.
Until the moment when the brutal mystery of Aiken's tale - the day's assigned reading - grabbed me by the lapels, shook me and yelled, "Pay attention. THIS is what great writing is all about!
'It's about the End - and not the beginning - of your long and difficult life.'
So I read.
And the baroque tracery of the story's mystical plot revealed "a lane to the Land of the Dead" in my antsy teenager brain. Wow. I was floored and flummoxed.
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered.
And if you look hard enough, perhaps you can find a handy pdf version knocking around the web for your OWN bewitchment, rather than shelling out the full price for Aiken's STILL-best-selling tales.
***
You know, if you've experienced trauma at any time in your life, it's best not to run from the memories. Don't let them fester and breed tiny monsters in your mind. Put them to work. The creative way of exorcism is best.
Conrad Allen was a victim of ultimate trauma. And writing was his exorcism.
When he was little, right at the turn of the twentieth century, his Dad - a respected physician - killed his mom and then turned the gun on himself.
The responsibility of reporting the two deaths devolved upon this shattered kid.
Imagine...
***
He later earned the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for writing the books that eased his healing. For heal he did!
And he and T.S. Eliot were best buds dating from their Harvard days - Aiken being, I believe, the last of his friends to visit before Eliot's death.
His masterpiece, Mr. Arcularis, is a story to die for.
It's so perfect in its execution it has become for me one of the jewels in the crown of my desultorily remembered education.
For it let me experience the moment of an old man's exit - from within his mind - vicariously:
For the elderly and frail heart patient, Mr. Arcularis, it will be a time of exploration, a time of reaching new frontiers, all alone -
As Ulysses was prophesied by the seer to undertake in his old age -
Finally reaching a land no man has returned to fully tell about, beyond cold Arcturus - the Land of the Final Frontier....
DEATH.
September 21, 2017
This story was amazing. I think it might have helped inspire the film "Jacob's Ladder".
December 31, 2015
Very Occurrence-At-Owl-Creek-Bridge
March 4, 2021
This was another story I listened to a reading of on the Classic Ghost Stories Podcast, and what an unexpected gem it was. Never heard of the story or the author before - that's one of the things I love most about this podcast, the unknown treasures that await - but I will certainly look out for more from Mr Aiken.
The story opens with the titular character undergoing heart surgery. He convalesces by taking a trip to England across the sea, and shortly after he embarks we (along with Mr Arcularis) discover there is a body also being transported to England on this ship along with the many other passengers. From this moment things take a strange turn as Mr Arcularis begins to sleep walk each night, going further and further into the bowels of the ship each time. What is he being drawn to? And why?
I won't spoil the ending but it was one of those moments where when it was revealed I must have had a look of utter glee on my face. And while it might have been obvious to some, I did not at all see it coming.
The story opens with the titular character undergoing heart surgery. He convalesces by taking a trip to England across the sea, and shortly after he embarks we (along with Mr Arcularis) discover there is a body also being transported to England on this ship along with the many other passengers. From this moment things take a strange turn as Mr Arcularis begins to sleep walk each night, going further and further into the bowels of the ship each time. What is he being drawn to? And why?
I won't spoil the ending but it was one of those moments where when it was revealed I must have had a look of utter glee on my face. And while it might have been obvious to some, I did not at all see it coming.
December 28, 2018
Mr Arcularis makes the journey to the other side meanwhile travelling to the moon, falling and love and seeing amazing dreams on a boat
March 29, 2025
“Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.” – Ernestine Ulmer
কনরাড আইকেনের Mr. Arcularis গল্পটি পড়তে পড়তে জীবনের অনিশ্চয়তার এই মধুর অথচ তিক্ত সত্যটি বারবার মনে পড়ে। এক প্রকার অস্তিত্ববাদী সুর ধরা দেয় গল্পের পাতায়, যেখানে প্রধান চরিত্র তার পরিচিত পৃথিবী থেকে দূরে সরে গিয়ে এক অদ্ভুত, স্বপ্নময় ভ্রমণের অংশ হয়।
“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
গল্পটি মূলত এক রহস্যময় ও মনস্তাত্ত্বিক দ্বন্দ্বের প্রতিচ্ছবি। শুরুর দিকে মিস্টার আর্কুলারিসের চরিত্রটি যেন এক সাদামাটা, জীবন নিয়ে হতাশাগ্রস্ত ব্যক্তি। কিন্তু জাহাজযাত্রার সঙ্গে সঙ্গে পাঠকের মনে প্রশ্ন জাগে—এটি কি বাস্তব, না কি নিছকই এক মনোজাগতিক বিভ্রম? আইকেনের সূক্ষ্ম বিবরণ ও বর্ণনাভঙ্গি চরিত্রের মানসিক অবস্থাকে এমনভাবে চিত্রিত করে যে, পাঠকও একধরনের অলীক জগতে প্রবেশ করে।
“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” – George Bernard Shaw
গল্পের আবহে একটি নিরবচ্ছিন্ন শূন্যতা রয়েছে, যা ধীরে ধীরে আতঙ্কের রূপ নেয়। ঠিক যেন এক বঞ্চিত ক্ষুধার অনুভূতি, যা ধীরে ধীরে গাঢ় হয়। বাস্তবতা ও অবচেতন মনে লুকিয়ে থাকা ভয় গল্পের শেষে মিলেমিশে যায়, যেন এক অতৃপ্ত ক্ষুধার আকুলতা। গল্পের ক্লাইম্যাক্স পাঠককে হতবাক করে দেয়, যেন এক দীর্ঘ অনাহারের পর একটি পরিপূর্ণ ভোজের আকাঙ্ক্ষা অসম্পূর্ণ রয়ে গেল।
“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” – Thomas Keller
আইকেনের গল্প বলার ধরনকে এক রন্ধনশিল্পীর কৌশলের সঙ্গে তুলনা করা যেতে পারে। গল্পটি একটি সাধারণ সেটআপ দিয়ে শুরু হলেও, তিনি ধাপে ধাপে উত্তেজনা বাড়িয়ে তোলেন, ঠিক যেমন একজন শেফ আস্তে আস্তে উপাদান যোগ করেন, যাতে চূড়ান্ত স্বাদটি বিস্ময়কর হয়ে ওঠে। Mr. Arcularis নিছকই একটি গল্প নয়, বরং একধরনের অনুভূতি, এক অনিশ্চিত স্বাদের রন্ধনপ্রণালী, যার আসল স্বাদ পাঠ শেষে পাঠক উপলব্ধি করেন।
কনরাড আইকেনের Mr. Arcularis গল্পটি পড়তে পড়তে জীবনের অনিশ্চয়তার এই মধুর অথচ তিক্ত সত্যটি বারবার মনে পড়ে। এক প্রকার অস্তিত্ববাদী সুর ধরা দেয় গল্পের পাতায়, যেখানে প্রধান চরিত্র তার পরিচিত পৃথিবী থেকে দূরে সরে গিয়ে এক অদ্ভুত, স্বপ্নময় ভ্রমণের অংশ হয়।
“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
গল্পটি মূলত এক রহস্যময় ও মনস্তাত্ত্বিক দ্বন্দ্বের প্রতিচ্ছবি। শুরুর দিকে মিস্টার আর্কুলারিসের চরিত্রটি যেন এক সাদামাটা, জীবন নিয়ে হতাশাগ্রস্ত ব্যক্তি। কিন্তু জাহাজযাত্রার সঙ্গে সঙ্গে পাঠকের মনে প্রশ্ন জাগে—এটি কি বাস্তব, না কি নিছকই এক মনোজাগতিক বিভ্রম? আইকেনের সূক্ষ্ম বিবরণ ও বর্ণনাভঙ্গি চরিত্রের মানসিক অবস্থাকে এমনভাবে চিত্রিত করে যে, পাঠকও একধরনের অলীক জগতে প্রবেশ করে।
“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” – George Bernard Shaw
গল্পের আবহে একটি নিরবচ্ছিন্ন শূন্যতা রয়েছে, যা ধীরে ধীরে আতঙ্কের রূপ নেয়। ঠিক যেন এক বঞ্চিত ক্ষুধার অনুভূতি, যা ধীরে ধীরে গাঢ় হয়। বাস্তবতা ও অবচেতন মনে লুকিয়ে থাকা ভয় গল্পের শেষে মিলেমিশে যায়, যেন এক অতৃপ্ত ক্ষুধার আকুলতা। গল্পের ক্লাইম্যাক্স পাঠককে হতবাক করে দেয়, যেন এক দীর্ঘ অনাহারের পর একটি পরিপূর্ণ ভোজের আকাঙ্ক্ষা অসম্পূর্ণ রয়ে গেল।
“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” – Thomas Keller
আইকেনের গল্প বলার ধরনকে এক রন্ধনশিল্পীর কৌশলের সঙ্গে তুলনা করা যেতে পারে। গল্পটি একটি সাধারণ সেটআপ দিয়ে শুরু হলেও, তিনি ধাপে ধাপে উত্তেজনা বাড়িয়ে তোলেন, ঠিক যেমন একজন শেফ আস্তে আস্তে উপাদান যোগ করেন, যাতে চূড়ান্ত স্বাদটি বিস্ময়কর হয়ে ওঠে। Mr. Arcularis নিছকই একটি গল্প নয়, বরং একধরনের অনুভূতি, এক অনিশ্চিত স্বাদের রন্ধনপ্রণালী, যার আসল স্বাদ পাঠ শেষে পাঠক উপলব্ধি করেন।
January 3, 2024
Surrealism, dreams, symbolism, trips to the stars, and sleep walking. This tale is of an old man who has recently been hospitalized and decides to go on an extended sea cruise; or is it. It is all rather trippy. It can be found on the Classic Ghost Stories podcast narrated by Tony Walker.
August 5, 2019
A classic plot ...
June 19, 2021
A short story that is perfect in every way. There are many books about illness and recovery, about fantasy vs. reality, about dreams and visions. But none are as good as this beauty.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews