The Torturer's Apprentice: A Brilliant Debut Collection of Masterful Stories Pushing Literary Boundaries

by John Biguenet

This brilliant debut collection of stories by O. Henry Award winner John Biguenet is as notable for the rigor of its intellect as for the sweep of its imagination. Whether recounting the predicament of an atheistic stigmatic in "The Vulgar Soul" or a medieval torturer who must employ his terrible skills upon his own apprentice in the title tale, these stories decline to settle for ready sentiments or easy assurances.

Rather than add to the massive canon of the victimized, for example, "My Slave" takes the perspective of the victimizer. In "The Open Curtain," a man achieves intimacy with his family only when he recognizes -- watching them dine as he sits in his car at the curb -- that he lives in a household of strangers. Menaced by a gang of skinheads in a Jewish cemetery, an American tourist in Germany placates the Neo-Nazis with a formula he continues to repeat even after he is safely back home in "I Am Not a Jew." And as for love, it makes demands in such stories as "Do Me" that shake our very notions of what it means to love.

If these stories engage the world in sometimes shocking ways, they are virtuoso engagements, eloquent in their prose, surprising in their plotting, sly in their humor. Biguenet shifts among voices and narrative strategies and imposes neither a single style nor a repeated structure as he depicts the ecological catastrophe of "A Plague of Toads," the problem posed by a ghost in the nursery in "Fatherhood," and the ghastly discovery a grieving widower defends as "another kind of memory" in "Rose."

Such mastery of craft may come as a surprise in a first-time author, but even more impressive is the object of his art. For whether it seeks to prick or to tickle, each story in The Torturer's Apprentice addresses its subject with an authority unusual in contemporary literature as it entices the reader beyond the boundaries of the expected and the accepted.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Short Story Collection, Literary Fiction, Southern

177 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't much like short stories, but I started to read the first one and was hooked. I can't say that I enjoyed every one but some stand out in my mind, the title story, the Torturer's Apprentice and Vulgar Soul are two. And Never Come Up, an unusual story about story-telling was one of the best. I am Not a Jew is not about religion but a simply told tale of how so much of life is a straight choice, an either/or and that you should careful when you choose because even if the choice implies no action, you may be definined by it forever, and not in a good way.

[ArturoBelano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amerikan öykücülüğünün derya denizinde atlanmış, Türkiyeli okurun dikkatini çekmemiş bir yazar ve kitabı. Tadında kullandığı mistizm yer yer Kipling'i çağrıştırsa da kalemini ve hikayelerini sevdim ben. Özellikle Ham Ruh, Baba Olmak ve Ben Yahudi Değilim öyküleri öne çıkıyor bence. Öykü severlere tavsiye ederim

[Esma T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kitabın adı ilgimi çekince konusuna bile bakmadan okumaya başladım ve öykü türünde olduğunu fark ettim, baştan bilsem okumazdım muhtemelen. Birbirinden bağımsız, bir çok öyküden yer alıyor kitapta ve hiçbirini beğediğimi söyleyemem. Yazar güzel başlıyor, öykünün bittiği nokta ise tatmin edici olmuyor, öykülerin belirgin ve iyi bir ana fikri (en azından ben bulamadım) olmayınca okuması zevk vermedi. Yine de öyküleri okumak fena değildi, değişik olan öyküler vardı, keşke mesajları da olsaydı.

[GoldGato · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of short stories focuses upon the bizarre and the fantastic, with some horror thrown in for good measure. With most short stories, the ending is important, either silencing the outcome with a finality the reader accepts or making the reader yearn for more. While some of the stories in this book hit the mark, others just kind of sat there, not sure where to go or when to end.

My favorite was the last story, NEVER COME UP, which was ghostly and enthralling. Ducks and whiskey haunted my dreams that night. The first story, about a modern stigmatic, was okay but just left me hanging there, not sure where to go.

All in all, a decent read, and I appreciate the author's focus on the otherworldly land that is the flood basin of New Orleans and the Delta.

Book Season = Autumn (wait for the shadows)

[Aslı · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bu kitapta neşeli bir öykü var mı diye düşünüyorum da yok sanırım. Öyküler hep durağan,depresifti sanki. Karakterler hep bir şeyleri bir olayı kendi iç dünyalarında tartıyorlar gibiydi. Kendileri ile hesaplaşmamı desem yoksa olayların karakterlerdeki psikolojik etkilerini mi okuduk desem.Belki bu okuduğum öyküdeki tekniğin bir adı vardır da ben bilemiyor da olabilirim.

[Will Byrnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remarkable collection of short stories centering on the making of moral choices. Strange and interesting situations reminiscent of Kafka, varied in place and time, using diverse voices. The Vulgar Soul tells of a non-religious man who experiences stigmata. How he handles this is the crux. In My Slave, the protagonist buys a slave with no real experience and comes to see what it is to have one. In I Am Not a Jew, he looks at how one deals with racism in a revealing manner. In another story a man lunches regularly with his daughter. The twist is that she believes him to be merely a family friend. The pain of not telling. A Plague of Toads is set in a Latin American nation rotten with corruption. The ancients seek revenge. Fatherhood tells of a young woman who after losing her child sees it living and growing as a phantom that takes on more and more reality. Her husband is drawn into the fantasy, too far. The Work of Art tells of an obsessed young man who sells all for love, but is it the love of a woman or his desire for a thing? O Henry-like irony plays a role in Gregory’s Fate. Gregory can change shapes, which talent draws his love object to him, but only until they wed, which leaves him powerless. In The Open Curtain a man sees things through a window, at his own home. Do Me is a strange S/M story in which disgust turns to acceptance. The Torturer’s Apprentice tells of a torturer who must do his work on his own apprentice. Dark stuff. And Never Came up is a survival tale of a crew afloat after their vessel goes down. The entire book engaged me and made me want to not only read the thing again, but take to putting words to paper myself.

[Kenneth]

"The Vulgar Soul," the opening story of this collection, was a requirement during orientation at Loyola. I think they mailed us a printout or something like that, which we were to familiarize ourself with before going in to take placement tests and get acquainted with the faculty. I remember working through a weekend rush at the deli, busing tables, and getting frustrated when someone would get up and interrupt my reading.

What stands out most about this story is a species of epiphany used toward the end. In the first it's the kind that the reader is to experience more than the characters. In the second it's the kind that still makes me cringe at the thought.

A vulgar soul is a piece of medieval theology, meaning specifically an instance of a Protestant stigmatic. The story deals with a modern secular suffering the stigmata and how this brings him into contact with somewhat eccentric groups and his impact upon them.

The other stories are easily on par with this "The Work of Art" and "Do Me" might even surpass it in some areas, notably in the erotic dimension. It's a good collection all around, but the first story alone is enough reason to read it.

[belisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

ne ilginç ne hoş öykülerdi, kesinlikle daha fazla kitabı çevrilmeli...

[Fraser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes daunting, sometimes haunting. Biguenet seems a less macabre (and perhaps equally imaginative) Stephen King with a far greater set of literary tools in his prose toolbox. Themes running through this collection of stories include the control the subconscious exerts over our minds and bodies, desires that exist beyond the reach of his characters, and dissatisfaction with their own lives.

The few times that a story did resolve itself in a satisfactory way, I felt happy for the characters involved, but a bit cheated myself; the best of these works finished with an unsettling pall. Favorites were The Vulgar Soul, A Plague of Toads and The Open Curtain.

Must read more Biguenet.

[Spencer Fancutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb collection of short stories. Resistant to easy resolutions or quick interpretation, some of these, at times delicious, at times downright creepy, tales will definitely have me revisiting them in the future. Masterful prose.

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice debut collection of short stories by this New Orleans author. Some very disturbing, all good or better

[Wampus Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

The variety of settings in the stories keep them fresh. Some seem calculated (the word contrived has such a negative connotation) to be noted for cleverness or provocation, but there are several great reads in here. Biguenet’s prose is exact but lively. Dark but not cynical.

One unusual thing that I note here, mainly for me to remember this happened, is the last page or three are missing in my paperback. And it cuts off abruptly one of the better stories in this collection. Now to try to figure out how to get the rest of the story to read.

UPDATE: I contacted the publisher to alert them of the error. They mailed a replacement copy, which has the same pages missing. So not only do I feel the victim of a cruel hoax in the political news, I now feel the same way in the simple act of purchasing a book.

[Brett Starr · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a big fan of short stories, I'm constantly looking for new books and "The Torturer's Apprentice" kept showing up wherever I looked. The book has a near perfect 4 1/2 out of 5 stars rating, so I decided to take the plunge.

This is John Biguenet's first short story collection and he has since published a novel Oyster: A Novel, which I have not read.

This collection has 14 short stories, my favorites were -

"The Vulgar Soul" a man named Tom Hogue begins to bleed for no apparent reason. He gradually realizes that his wounds are remarkably like stigmata, and he becomes an object of inspiration for religious seekers, though he himself remains unmoved by his condition

"I Am Not a Jew," a cautionary tale, explores a man's unwilling self-examination after an encounter with Nazi skinheads in a Jewish cemetery

"A Plague of Toads" a man has proof that a town once existed as the capital of a country (unnamed), only to be overrun by a plague of toads and their toxic slime, the capital was then moved to another city, will anyone believe him

"Gregory's Fate" Gregory can transfrom into other things, animals, but each time he does, it takes longer & longer to return to his "original" form

"A Battlefield in Moonlight" the only survivor of a bloody battle wakes up among piles of dead men

"Do Me" a man can't belive it when his girlfriend wants him to hit her when making love, he later is the one saying "again"

"And Never Come Up" a father and son battle a near unstoppable force in a marsh near the Gulf when fishing, after thier boat runs out of gas

For fans of short stories, you'll find alot of enjoyment here.

Highly recommended!

Enjoy~

[Helen Barnes · Rating 1 out of 5]

If this was a novel I would have stopped reading it quite soon, but I kept expecting something from each story and was disappointed. There was no power to 'affect me to the core' as reviewed, the endings of each left me wanting, they didn't move, impress or leave me thinking as I was expecting.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't even know why the author decided to publish this.....thing. I can't even bring myself to call this a "book" because it isn't. It's just a collection of 13 uninspired, boring, badly-written and incomplete stories. The stories are so bad and boring that even the author got bored by them and decided not to finish them. This is why all the stories in this "book" stop in the middle and none of the stories come anywhere near interesting. If all of John Biguenet's books are like this, maybe he should pick another line of career since writing obviously isn't working out for him.

[Mrsnmz · Rating 3 out of 5]

İlk hikayelerde "acaba ne olacak" derken alışınca tüm hikayelerin sonunda ne olacağını (ya da olmayacağını) sezdirdi. Bu durumu yazarın hikayelerini tekdüze ve tahmin edilebilir bir çerçevede kurgulamasına bağlıyorum. Ayrıca bana göre hikayelerin ritmini düşürecek bir sürü yerel detay yüzünden hikayeler ihtiyacı olmayan bir doluluğa sahip. Yerel kimseler için ilgi çekici detaylar olabilecekse de, beni maalesef etkilemedi.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many collections of anything, this is uneven, but there are four (out of fourteen) really great stories. "The Vulgar Soul" is the best; "I Am Not a Jew," "Lunch with My Daughter," and "Gregory's Fate" are also very good. The others aren't bad; they just didn't stick with me. They might with someone else, however. The guy can obviously write. The stories reminded me of work by Kafka and Paul Auster.

[Scoats · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written stories with shades of Kafka. The writing is concise yet full. An easy read but deep and fulfilling. Great stuff. Not sure why others would skip over any of the stories as none of them all too long. Some are only a couple of pages.

I put off reading this one because of the gory title, I shouldn't have. The title story is actually near the end and not really all that gory.

[Cameron Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I am not a Jew" should be required reading in all schools, everywhere. Other stories were not as consequential as that story, but there are some pretty interesting ideas here and overall I'm glad that I read it!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Just creepy and dark enough for me to enjoy!

[Steve K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a different kind of book with multiple short stories. Most of them were pretty good, but a series of short stories is more difficult to get engrossed in vs. a traditional novel or book.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This weird collection of short stories was a strange read.

[Clay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever stories, skillfully written.

[Lindy Moody · Rating 1 out of 5]

These are “stories” that just end. The author doesn’t fully realize what he is trying to say. What could’ve been interesting and great turned out to be incomplete thoughts

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Plague of Toads
And Never Come Up

[Jeffrey Greening · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love short stories

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved one or two of them

[Taylor]

The author has a very strong purpose in this book, just like many other books. This book was made up of a bunch of small stories, and with each of the stories the author had a purpose to state. Although the stories tend to be dark and feature protagonists who are ill at ease in their surroundings, it's surprising how many of them leave room for positive at the end. I think the main purpose would be to learn how to cope with what is happening and to stay positive.
I believe the theme in this book is to stay positive. In a lot of the stories, like the killings or haunting's the main character would have to stay positive and learn how to cope with the situation they were in.
This story was very descriptive. The author did a good job of making you feel like you were witnessing the story first hand. For example, in the story “Never Come Up” it was very ghostly and thrill-seeking; as you read it you could almost feel as if the ghost were there. There was also a story about a father and daughter and at first you thought it was going to be happy but as it went along you felt how it was creepy and freaky.
I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Some of the stories were very interesting and fun to read, but others just left you hanging. I feel like some of the stories needed a little bigger climax to them. I really liked how in some of them you really felt like you were witnessing it first-hand. My biggest dislike would be the endings on some of them. The only thing I would change would be the endings; I would make them all a little more detailed and have the resolution shock the reader. I haven’t ever read a book similar to this, but I liked it.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Torturer's Apprentice was the title du jour on a message board I was reading, so I picked up a copy for myself to see what everyone was talking about. It's a collection of exceedingly well-written short stories, and although the title suggests the macabre, I think a better adjective might be "grotesque," with all associated Flannery O'Connor connotations. Stories include an unreligious man who develops stigmata and has to cope with throngs of believers who want to see his wounds; a man who decides to buy a slave without really thinking through the mundanities of owning another person; a woman who begs her lover to beat her; a boy who can change his body into any shape he wishes, but finds it increasingly difficult to return to his normal shape; and an American man in Germany who finds himself confronted by a group of neo-Nazis while in a Jewish cemetary. To name just a few.

Although the stories tend to be dark and feature protagonists who are ill at ease in their surroundings, it's surprising how many of them leave room for positivity at the end. Like the Leonard Cohen song that says "There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in," the protagonists often (although not always) get a glimpse of something beautiful in spite of their surroundings. Other times, though, the stories just end in a twist of bleak irony, more O. Henry than O'Connor. Definitely recommended.

[Capiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a vintage book store around the corner from my house that I kept meaning to go visit but never did. Last weekend, I declared it finally time. The place is packed to the rafters, allegedly in order but not really, and...has at least six resident cats. Naturally, I'm in love.

So I found this little gem tucked away in a corner, completely by accident. The cover was interesting, and though I'm generally skeptical of short stories, the price was right so I checked it out.

I didn't figure out until I got it home that it's a signed copy. Bonus! The stories are good, have a great rhythm to them, interesting, vivid, haunting imagery. A quick, atmospheric read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would be interested in seeing a full length piece from this guy; short stories, if they're done well, always leave me unsatisfied.