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The Second Mask
The death of Sir Archibald Hacker in 1901 was attended with every circumstance of honour and lavishing of encomium which the exercise of his prodigious talent over a period of forty years deserved. The loss to the nation was marked by a wash of black ink in the newspapers, speeches in Parliament, and an expensive monograph got up for the occasion by the great man’s associates. The Queen herself, tottering on the brink of the grave, added a black ribbon to the weeds she had worn since the death of her husband; while from across the Channel, the French watched with a mixture of pique and respect, insinuating, as they bowed their heads, that these observances were really inspired by a wish to outdo the sumptuous obsequies of Victor Hugo and Voltaire. Yet even the French could not sneer as cuttingly as was their wont, for they had long recognised a strain of cruel wit in Hacker’s art, which, coupled with the fact that he had studied in Paris in his youth, inclined them to regard him as one of their own.” (The Second Mask).
68 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2023
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 25, 2023
Marvick, Louis - The Second Mask
This is a wicked book.
The sort of book Lord Henry would present to young Dorian to further his education, to deepen his corruption.
And this is a tale of corruption: of values, of morals, of pledges.
Corruption, betrayal, deception, with a knowing eye toward self-deception.
Circa 1890, Sir Archibald Hacker is the acknowledged preeminent artist of his time. Whether paintings or sculpture, his compositions all but breathe life.
Just before his death, however, he entrusts a commission, a task, to a young lawyer. A man who already knew Hacker cloaked darker activities behind a genteel façade.
What remains is a sketchbook of unspeakable studies. Of recognizable depravity, which, like so many lurid obscenities, is potently addictive.
Louis Marvick has crafted a decadent journey, quite in keeping with the rotting aftermath of London’s fin de siècle.
Marvick has succeeded where others preen and posture emptily, boasting of their modern decadence, yet incapable of rivaling the celebrity frauds of our era, of matching the venalities that spill from political figures, let alone equaling the twittering car wrecks that everyone slows down to wallow in.
Marvick’s The Second Mask is an elegant atrocity, skillfully written, a crystal mirror against clouds of falsehoods.
Those who would seek the truth, would soon blind their own eyes.
This is a wicked book.
The sort of book Lord Henry would present to young Dorian to further his education, to deepen his corruption.
And this is a tale of corruption: of values, of morals, of pledges.
Corruption, betrayal, deception, with a knowing eye toward self-deception.
Circa 1890, Sir Archibald Hacker is the acknowledged preeminent artist of his time. Whether paintings or sculpture, his compositions all but breathe life.
Just before his death, however, he entrusts a commission, a task, to a young lawyer. A man who already knew Hacker cloaked darker activities behind a genteel façade.
What remains is a sketchbook of unspeakable studies. Of recognizable depravity, which, like so many lurid obscenities, is potently addictive.
Louis Marvick has crafted a decadent journey, quite in keeping with the rotting aftermath of London’s fin de siècle.
Marvick has succeeded where others preen and posture emptily, boasting of their modern decadence, yet incapable of rivaling the celebrity frauds of our era, of matching the venalities that spill from political figures, let alone equaling the twittering car wrecks that everyone slows down to wallow in.
Marvick’s The Second Mask is an elegant atrocity, skillfully written, a crystal mirror against clouds of falsehoods.
Those who would seek the truth, would soon blind their own eyes.
October 14, 2023
Another outstanding novella from Louis Marvick. We even get a brief cameo of a character from Marvick’s first short novel, Star Ushak. And similar to the Star (one of my favorite novels) we see similar themes of art imitating life and life imitating art… although it does go a bit further posing the question, what if the artistic expression surpasses the truthfulness of reality?
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews