Robert Aickman Readers discussion

I re-read this story today and my first thoughts were that it is a very bleak story but there is another possible interpretation; that Elmo and Viktor are in fact two aspects of the same person.

We are told by Elmo's old school master Spalt that there is a duality in all men and that life is about destroying one of those aspects, the idyllic dreamer, so that ther other, more practical side, may go on to take on the responsibilities of adult life.

The prince is born into a very austere life and he was quite different from his brothers who accepted their grave futures more readily. Peraps Viktor's maiming and the ending of their friendship was Elmore beginning to "grow up", and suppress that other side of him. But he fell into a state of melancholy after his relationship broke up and this eventually led to him sacrificing the practical side of his being so that his idyllic and dreaming side of him might flourish.

Taken this way, the story can now be seen as having a more upbeat conclusion.

the main thing that stood out for me was how this story dripped with irony. i was reminded of E.F. Benson's barbed dissections of useless people, although Aickman is definitely more subtle. Prince Elmo is a waste of space; that much is made clear and i in turn was rather unsympathetic to his doom in No Man's Water.

i enjoyed this story quite a bit, although overall it did feel minor. i particularly admired the ease in which Aickman moved back and forth through time.

i was also a little startled by the nonchalant depiction of Victor occasionally dressing as a woman for his boat outings with Elmo!

There is a lot of irony about the live's the privileged live and their ultimate emptiness. They are ultimately doomed in their search for meaning while effectively cutting themselves off from the world. However, they certainly find a meaning of sorts even if it is an empty and terrifying one.

well said.

Elmo and Viktor are in fact two aspects of the same person

i did not consider this when rereading the story. but it makes perfect sense.

An odd one; not my favourite Aickman, although the bit where he gets his fingers bitten off by something unseen is pretty compelling.

I'd not thought of the idea they are two sides of the same person before; I'll have to reread it.