Misanthrope? Misogynist? Satirist? Supernaturalist?
Tonight, on Dreadful Thoughts, we're not only getting out the club magnifying glass to squint at the werewolf myth (through the prism of "Gabriel Ernest"), but also asking (in strong, but non-judgmental, terms) what Hector Hugh Munro (a.k.a Saki) was ultimately all about.1
Pop the kids under the stairs, lock your aged relations in the attic, crack open a bottle of whatever you're having yourself, and let's boogie.
Begin.
Footnotes
- Not that such a reductive question can actually be answered of course. [back]
Evenin’ folks. Stuffed after a large - unsuitably vegetarian - dinner and drinking orange. Someone run out and buy me some wine, quick.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:04 pmaha, I just got the joke –> “unsuitably vegetarian”
Where’s the sidebar image from ?
good evening
October 13th, 2008 at 9:08 pm(though obviously it’s afternoon tea time here in nyc)
Can’t remember. I was scouring the net for images of lithe, feral young men and there it was. Er…context is important when evaluating the previous sentence…
October 13th, 2008 at 9:11 pmSo…”Gabriel Ernest”. What did you make of it? Not exactly the most horror-filled tale we’ve tackled but one that manages the rare feat of combining child-murder and laughs.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:19 pmHmmm. Saki doesn’t appear to be putting bums on seats.
I’ll chat to myself for a while and then crawl off to bed.
Something I really enjoy about Saki’s short story writing is the concision. In the first few (very short) paragraphs of “Gabriel-Ernest”, for example, the scene is set (woods), the main character is introduced (Van Cheele), and a mystery is hinted at (wild beast).
No padding, just the essentials.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:45 pmhey, the homoerotic (as you’ve already alluded to) jumps off the page
btw I know very little about werewolves (+ Saki), except what I’ve seen in Hollywood films
but I’ve always linked the wolf to adult male virility and power
(I had never before thought of it as a metaphor for puberty — when boy oddly turns into man)
Was Saki’s werewolf a literary innovation in the genre (similar to Polidori’s aristocratic vampire)?
October 13th, 2008 at 9:48 pmApparently, Saki may well have been gay - and it’s easy to interpret the figure of Gabriel-Ernest in sexual/erotic terms…though I’m not sure how productive such a reading actually is. I’m always a bit wary of psychoanalysing the author.
I don’t think so, but I’m not sure. It seems to be a spin on the old wild child (raised by beasts) character. The virility vs. primness (to put it very simply) opposition is used by Saki in other stories. Notably “Sredni Vashtar” which we covered here before.
October 13th, 2008 at 10:00 pmThe antipathy to the Edwardian upper class evident in plenty of Saki stories is on full show here. It’s pretty savage! Not the kind of gentle, affectionate satire you might get in the writings of some of his contemporaries.
I mean, essentially our sympathies are on the side of a character who kills and eats children! The Sunday School/”primly ordered house” atmosphere is treated with such barely disguised loathing that we can’t but warm to our wolfy friend.
October 13th, 2008 at 10:10 pmyes, I’m responding to myself lol
actually, saki doesn’t make the werewolf seem very ODD at all
(unlike in films, where I recall the werewolf groaning in pain as he transforms to wolf), this werewolf changes from boy to wolf as silently and gracefully as twilight changes to darkness
the boy seems very much at peace with his situation — as if his man/wolf hybrid nature reflects an inner harmony of his soul
(he is like a “wild pagan faun”, according to Cunningham’s description)
and yet he does kill and eat child flesh (though Saki describes the events very indirectly — just referring to the screams)
October 13th, 2008 at 10:10 pmwell, being Irish, you probably are more sensitive to the social class aspects in Brit novels,
October 13th, 2008 at 10:13 pmI hadn’t much focused on that side of the story
A very good point. There’s no sense here that being a werewolf is an affliction or a curse. It’s not (as you pointed out) a painful or tortured transformation. It’s seamless and natural. Werewolf as (hungry) nature spirit and not werewolf as conflicted monster. The wildly joyous faun character was pretty popular back in Saki’s day, and often fetishised.
Cinematic representations have definitely emphasised the “I can’t control this terrible yearning!” angle (with notions of wildness, and the “exotic”, tending to be demonised).
October 13th, 2008 at 10:29 pmAlso, there’s a significant difference between a being who alternates between (bipedal) human and (quadruped) wolf, and one who’s a mangled (bipedal) hybrid of the two.
The latter kind of hybridity is often portrayed as monstrous. An impure corruption. Like The Fly!
October 13th, 2008 at 10:39 pmWell, ’tis nearly 11.00 pm here and no sign of any other “members”. Time to close the bar, sweep the floor, and go to bed I reckon. The thrill seems to be gone.
Night.
October 13th, 2008 at 10:52 pmsee ya
October 13th, 2008 at 10:59 pmthere’s still light here (I’m looking out the window at the sky over the Hudson River), time to make dinner
THankS mucho, fustar, you’re a great host
Enjoy the dinner, enjoy the Hudson, and thanks for stopping by and chatting. I think my Dreadful Thoughts hosting days are over (all good things etc) but glad you enjoyed the short stay.
Back to the day job - intermittently writing about toys, comics and crisps.
October 13th, 2008 at 11:02 pmOh shit! I could weep! I did it again… in my defense, I’ve had a fevered child clinging to my every move and not sleeping for the last four days, but still… so sorry!
Still, this clearly didn’t have the draw I thought it would - maybe there’s just not much to say? Feck it, there’s lots to say!
This concept of a sympathetic child murderer is good. GE has a serial killer-y way of laughing in hte narrator’s face about the pleasure he took in eating the miller’s child.
Is it more like a twisted human delight, or realistically the blood lust a wolf might take in hunting down and crunching down something tender and tasty? Or is the unpleasantness a product of our overdeveloped brain and capacity for nasty combined with a wolf’s ferocity? I have no doubt that wolves have a sense of humour.
A lot of it has to do with Saki’s interest in shocking and poking at the veneer of respectability the kind of society he wrote about, er, had, I suppose.
I might go do some retro active advertising, and see if we can resuscitate this during the week. After I kneel on some rice, of course.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:02 amShite- sorry wasn’t there but some personal issues of late and just no time when I am at home. Still a great idea so maybe just an open thread that we can come back to…yeah I know thats what a blog does in the first place but you are doing stories that I wouldn’t have come across otherwise. Sorry again fústar.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:25 amWhat the hell is wrong with my brain? I totally forgot about this… sincere apologies.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:16 amJo, Tim , Sinead.
We’re all (I think) of an age when genuine commitments call and forgetfulness kicks in so I understand the difficulties in having this be “live”. I always get apologetic messages on Tuesday mornings!
Tim’s idea of an open, ongoing thread is probably the most realistically workable option, but then (as he said) that’s just what a regular blog post is anyway.
Right now I don’t really feel like continuing with it. Not because I don’t think it’s a good idea, and not because it’s anyone’s fault, but just because I don’t want this to turn into an obligation or duty for anyone.
I might pass the buck and see if someone else fancies hosting it. Don’t know. For numerous (perfectly valid and understandable) reasons it just ain’t happening - after a very promising start.
Will chat a bit more about Jo’s bits and bobs when I finish work.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:23 am[…] Dreadful Thoughts, I like the idea! Head on over, go on. Take a look. If nothing else, it’s a great […]
October 14th, 2008 at 11:53 amIndeed you won’t! I didn’t think it was that sort of a club!
Everyone I mailed Fustar suggesting a face to face meeting, for this, to celebrate the Halloween month… it might be especially nice if we are going to call it a day for now? Would anyone be interested, even make it to my place in Bray? I’m not confident of the babysitting to venture out myself at the moment, though I could be more sure closer the time.
Whatcha think?
October 14th, 2008 at 12:41 pmGuys, don’t be so hard on yourselves; book groups like everything have ebbs and flows.
Now, switching subjects …
This morning I was on the site of a French blogger who talked about the USA film TEETH (which I have not seen)
She linked to this article on VAGINA DENTATA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagina_dentata
I was surprised to see just a few references in literature + film at the end of the article.
Comments, anyone ?
October 14th, 2008 at 5:39 pmHave Brit fantasy writers explored this theme ?
It seems to have a bit more to it than simple taste. Gabriel-Ernest seems very aware that child murder (and consumption!) is about as shocking and taboo as it gets, There’s no sense that the hunger of his wolf aspect is driving him to it. He seems in control, fully aware of his actions, and very much enjoying the thought of Van Cheele’s (i.e Edwardian society’s) revulsion.
GE’s violence comes across as playful, mischievous subversiveness - directed at (in Saki’s eyes?) a legitimate target. The ironic climax, where a memorial is placed in the church to commemorate GE’s (supposed) noble bravery, is one that laughs (and spits) right in the face of pompous upper-class notions of chivalry and honor,
October 14th, 2008 at 9:17 pmYou won’t know for sure…until it’s too late…
The offer to host a face-to-face Halloween meet up is most kind and generous. My brother’s actually getting married on Halloween itself (fancy dress party of course) so I’m pretty tied up just before and after the day itself. If there’s a will to have a crack at it though, I’m very much on.
I’d be (reasonably) happy to do a Halloween Special DT too of course, but only if there’s a collective will. Otherwise it’s probably time to let it slide and move on.
October 14th, 2008 at 9:29 pmTrue…but for a club discussion you need bums on seats and participation. Otherwise it’s just me posting my posts. That’s fine and dandy for the normal content (I do it manly to please myself), but this stands or falls on the level of outside interest.
Not being grumpy or self-pitying, that’s just the way it is!
October 14th, 2008 at 9:36 pmI actually did remember, but spent the whole of monday trying to negotiate Irish bureaucracy and by evening had succumbed to gibbering insanity/drunkenness. How often do you do this?
October 17th, 2008 at 12:17 amSounds nasty. You have my sympathies. We do this once a fortnight as a rule. Generally on a Monday at 9 pm. Used to start at 8 but there were babas to be washed and put to bed (etc).
There’s plenty of good will and interest（or so my email inbox suggests) but ’tis hard to gather people round their keyboards at a set time. I may keep plugging away with it though - I’ve been given a shot of inspiration in the last few days (details to follow).
October 17th, 2008 at 10:55 pm