Dehiscence

The Last Thinkers #4

by D.P. Watt

I am not given to the task of writing. I have read too much — and always of the most horrific of deeds — to find in the written word much solace from, or reason for, the ultimate madness of the world. Rather, my life has been a quest for things, and their magical and bountiful properties; qualities that, if one is attentive enough, reveal themselves through years of subtle relationships and quiet correspondences. In short, objects are, to me, the truth of this existence, and its only proper means of record — or indeed, value. For within a cherished antique or long discarded toy, one finds a pulse of love and loathing, of betrayal and trust.

It seems they speak always — in their wooden, stony, eternal ways — of a kind of fellowship of mankind, and of its brutality — of truth, of life! Whereas literature, pale deceitful shadow,is a dead world, populated by the unborn, its cities built by the distorted bricks of aberrant imagination and mortared by the indolence of poetry. It is an onanist’s daydream — what can be, will be — for me — before my very eyes! Pah, keep your little fantasies, they feed only the minds of the depraved, or heap more dust upon the shelves of the academics!

Herein you will find some seeds, of Agrostemma Coronaria, Calla Æthiopica, Lilium Pomponium, and Campanula Carpatica. They may flourish. You will find some people; Hieronymus L., Stefan H., Agnieszka T., and Dr Anvar Z. They may wither. You will find some things; a peepshow box, a Russian doll, a suitcase, a speculum. They can never die!

60 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2012

About the author

D.P. Watt is a writer living between Scotland and England in an otherworldly, misty borderland. His collection of stories, An Emporium of Automata was reprinted by Eibonvale Press in 2013, and his second collection, The Phantasmagorical Imperative and Other Fabrications, is now available in paperback. A third collection, Almost Insentient, Almost Divine, appeared with Undertow Publications in 2016 and was nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. He won the Ghost Story Award 2015 for his story ‘Shallabalah’ published in The Ghosts and Scholars Newsletter, no 26.You can find him at The Interlude House: www.theinterludehouse.co.uk

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful to touch and beautifully written sequence of stories within a story. A shop keeper tells us of the objects which are dear to him - a flower press, a peepshow, a suitcase, a speculum and a Russian doll, and we hear a tale attached to each, often macabre and tragic.

The kind of writing which the large publishing houses overlook. Seriously, the small presses are increasingly the only places to find soul-nourishing prose.

[Des Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no hesitation to say that – based on my reading of it – this book is something truly special.

The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.