The Remembered Visit

by Edward Gorey

On a long trip abroad, young Drusilla is introduced to high art and gourmet meals. She gamely tries to appreciate the museums, rich food, and architectural wonders that delight her parents, only to find herself drifting along in a puzzling world. But then Miss Skrim-Pshaw takes her for tea with Mr. Crague, a sockless, elderly man with a notable past, and their brief encounter is what will haunt Drusilla years later. Her casual promise to the old man has led to sudden recollection, then sad regret.

Genres: Fiction, Art, Graphic Novels, Picture Books, Comics, Humor, Classics

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Born in Chicago, Gorey came from a colourful family; his parents, Helen Dunham Garvey and Edward Lee Gorey, divorced in 1936 when he was 11, then remarried in 1952 when he was 27. One of his step-mothers was Corinna Mura, a cabaret singer who had a brief role in the classic film Casablanca. His father was briefly a journalist. Gorey's maternal great-grandmother, Helen St. John Garvey, was a popular 19th century greeting card writer/artist, from whom he claimed to have inherited his talents. He attended a variety of local grade schools and then the Francis W. Parker School. He spent 1944–1946 in the Army at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, and then attended Harvard University from 1946 to 1950, where he studied French and roomed with future poet Frank O'Hara.

Although he would frequently state that his formal art training was "negligible", Gorey studied art for one semester at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 1943, eventually becoming a professional illustrator. From 1953 to 1960, he lived in New York City and worked for the Art Department of Doubleday Anchor, illustrating book covers and in some cases adding illustrations to the text. He has illustrated works as diverse as Dracula by Bram Stoker, The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. In later years he illustrated many children's books by John Bellairs, as well as books in several series begun by Bellairs and continued by other authors after his death.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/28/18: I took this along on my trip to the desert. Every few months I have to read Gorey, I find. To keep in touch with my inner macabre.

10/14/18:

I've read this a few times. It's more mournful than funny. The subtitle reads, "A Story Taken From Life," which doesn't necessarily mean anything, of course, but I imagine it was based on his own or a niece's actual experience of being forced to travel in Europe with them, forced to see what they want you to see.

In this 1993 re-release of a 1965 classic, a girl, Drusilla, 11, travels abroad with her parents. As a kid might do, she doesn't seem to notice paintings or "views" or the food she eats, as an adult traveler might do. At one point she seems interested in topiary in the garden of a sockless old man Mr. Crague (these are details a kid might observe, that a guy wears no socks, that a bush is shaped like a fox!), who shows her some fancy paper. She doesn't seem to be particularly interested in anything (ever), but she does promise him she'll send him some paper she is saved and finds interesting. She forgets about this commitment, Crague dies, and she, forever the dull child, has a moment of recognition that she is alone in the world, and is left sad and melancholy.

This is not the usual Gorey hilariously macabre, but closely astute about what ordinary children attend to and fail to attend to. Wistful and enigmatic and weird, beautifully drawn as usual.

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young girl meets an old man. He asks her to send him some beautiful paper. Years pass by and she is forgetful and only remember years later. The man has died and she is sad. It is a very odd story. I assume it is talking about the fleetingness of life. It does not last. Do it while you can.

This is a strange Gorey story indeed.

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years went by. Drusilla was still inclined to be forgetful.

One of the most touching books by Gorey. The illustrations are gorgeous, as it is always the case, but the character’s wistful eyes are more striking than usual, since this is not an ordinary cautionary tale - it’s a beautifully written tale about that which has been neglected and will never return.

Jan 8, 21

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 1965, this is a brief (being a Gorey book) but to-the-point and melancholic tale of memory and neglect. It's filled with vintage Gorey renderings that say much more than the slim narrative. You could get lost in the detailed imagery - which playfully remembers to include cats.

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A set of B+W images with just a single line of prose attached. We follow a young girl Drusilla who meets a man and promises to send him some insides of enveloped she had saved but she forgets to do it until years later after the man has passed away. A very strange story that shows what a child may observe.

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm led to believe that the old man was supposed to be a relative that the girl didn't know about, and her forgetfulness was extra heartbreaking because of that.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Gorey with no synopsis anywhere and no high quality cover photo! (apologies)

The remembered visit is a story of neglect, how we neglect ourselves and promises made to those around us.

Drusilla is taken on a trip abroad by her parents and coerced into activities she doesn't particularly enjoy such as dining on curious dishes that make her ill and and gazing a vast dark paintings in museums.

One day Drusilla's parents mysteriously fail to return from an outing without her and she is left in the care of a family friend Miss Skrim Pshaw.

She takes her on an outing to a neglected Inn with shabby topiary and Inn keeper with no socks. They share their love of fancy paper and promise to keep in touch. On her way home Drusilla begins to feel a hunger for life again.

As the days, weeks and years pass Drusilla realise that she has forgotten he promise and that her friend had passed away.

This was a rather sad outing for Gorey. A change from his dark humour reminds us that time and tide waits for no man.

I've just realised that this is the last story in the Amphigorey series! :( I will now have a dark quirky void in my life...

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a beautiful sadness to this tale. Amazing how Gorey can accomplish such great characterization is such a short amount of time. Some great witty lines as well.

[Emmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A melancholy sort of story. I thought that it was going to take a darker turn than it actually did (considering how many of Gorey's books turn out), but all the same, the act that it was just sort of lackluster and sad didn't make the story much better in my estimation. I guess the lesson here was that you should not put off doing something, as we never truly know how much time we have. I suppose there's an important lesson in that.

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unusually for Gorey, this is more wistful and nostalgic than it is playful and macabre, although it maintains the social criticism of a certain society--or here, a certain sort of life--that runs throughout his work. It's likable and gently introspective, but not as memorable as I expect from Gorey.

[Chels Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a beautiful story about a moment in time for a little child. I think as adults most of us can remember someone who was either so fantastic or just pivotal in our lives but it was fast and impactful.

And then we forget only to remember as an adult. And have a need to connect, but it’s really lost to time.

[Carter Tomassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a very fine recording with music of this story. It might be easier to find streaming although it is on CD. Jack Bruce reads the text while Michael Mantler, Rick Finn and others handle the music. Gorey would approve I believe.

[Kieran · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites. I enjoy the Pomegranate imprint I own of this.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot explain why, but this is one of my favorites.

[Beam Tennyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

เหมือนจะลึกซึ้ง แต่ก็เหมือนจะอิหยังวะ แต่ยังคงความ disturbing ตามสไตล์กอรี่

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short tale of boredom followed by regret. This one hit kind of close to home.

[Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

✭✭✭½

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, it was interesting, but super depressing and I had second-hand-guilt from the character. Not a great ending. Quite depressing. I did however enjoy the illustrations.

[Rabbit · Rating 5 out of 5]

The morbid whimsy is slightly different here, making this more mournful & thoughtful.

[Kwoomac · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the illustrations were particularly entertaining, the story was rather sad and lackluster. I had no investment with any of the characters.

[Marcie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wistful melancholy.

[Joshua Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty shit. Haha 99p chazza purchase. Im viewing it as ive donated to a good cause

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd read wonderfully illustrated.

[Wetdryvac · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wistful sort of tragesty.

[Rick Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading Edward Gorey 2023. The Remembered Visit, Gorey's 17th book, is a wistful imagining of paths crossed, forgotten and then remembered just as it's too late to revisit.

Favorite quote:
"On a sheet of newspaper at the bottom of a drawer she read that Mr Crague had died the autumn after she had been abroad."

[scintillapink · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favourite. The girl being left behind, the promise she made and her inability to keep it. Her regret strucka chord close home to me.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd and not exactly interesting.

[Quitealice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Melancholy period piece.

[Amy (Other Amy) · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Reread in Amphigorey; rating separately.)

[M.S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 stars.