The Frolic

[Nemonymous]

Eventually to complete my recent reviews of stories on this SONGS OF A DEAD DREAMER section on TLO, i.e. the stories having now been reread in the Penguin Classics collection:

THE FROLIC

"An amiable genie seemed to be on standby."

Opportune that, yesterday, too, I finished reading Salman Rushdie's new 2015 novel (my review of it HERE) which is about putting the genie or jinn back in the bottle, and I assumed this was the genie of today, the IS State, the Internet trolling and rivalries, and other modern day madnesses and strangenesses, the Fantastical embedded in the Quotidian - but when layered with this 1980s premonitory classic story by Ligotti, one knows it is the genie of what some do with or think about our children, a worsening plague that has become more and more obvious since those ignorant 1980s, arguably worse than any other plague, giving birth to anti-natalism as a renewal of an older pessimist philosophy in order to protect our children not only from birth itself but from those waiting for them on this side of birth?
On a more superficial level, this is a truly frightening story of a beautifully conveyed gloomy town whose main 'industry' is a prison. A psychologist, home in the evening from working at that prison, is debating about what he considers to be a wrong decision in taking that job. He tells his wife about a prisoner, with no name except John Doe, one who is imprisoned for multi child-murdering, who seems to develop an inferred uncanny link with that psychologist's little daughter (after earlier talk between the psychologist and the prisoner during the working day), the daughter supposedly safe in her bedroom with her new Bambi toy, the window open...
That genie of a link between the Fantastic and the Quotidian, the Impossible and the Possible, the Lower and Upper Worlds, as Rushdie now puts it, is tied in with that prisoner's "...attempt on his part to recast the traumatic memories of his childhood into a realm that cross-breeds a mean-street reality with a fantasy world of his imagination, a phantasmagoric mingling of heaven and hell. This is where he does his 'frolicking'..."
A momentous work. It will haunt you.

As an aside, "When told me about..." on page 12, is this a typo? I hope it is the first and last typo in this Penguin Classics book.

(An extract from my on-going review of the Penguin Classics collection.)

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[MadsPLP]

Upon re-reading this story, never a favourite of mine, but quite effective, two things struck me which made me like it more.

First of all the sarcasm in the description of the town. It feels like da deliberately sarcastic parody of "realistic" horror fiction so much in vogue at the time of the collection coming out. It's like Ligotti doesn't even try to hide his sneering at the trope of building a "realistic" world in order to introduce the horror.

It has alway struck me as an odd choice for an opening story since it is so different from other Ligotti stories. I perceived it might be for commercial reasons, since it's easily one of the more accessible and conventional stories by Ligotti. Upon rereading, it feels much like an introduction to the rest of the book.

The oft-quoted message from John Doe, "We leave this behind in your capable hands, for in the black-foaming gutters and back alleys of paradise, in the dank windowless gloom of some galactic cellar, in the hollow pearly whorls found in sewerlike seas, in starless cities of insanity, and in their slums . . . my awe-struck little deer and I have gone frolicking" [quoted from an online source - not the Penguin Classics edition as it's at home, and I'm procrastinating at work], seems like an introduction to the rest of the book. The rest of the book seems to take place in the black-foaming gutters, in the dank windowless gloom - "The Frolic" is the starting point for that frolicking trip that constitutes the rest of the book.

[Druidic]

This is my favorite Ligotti story. John Doe as an avatar of Nyarlathotep was just darkly brilliant.

[Revenant]

I often wonder if Ligotti wrote the work as a way of easing himself into the world that was eventually to become known to the rest of us as the Liggotian Universe.

[ToALonelyPeace]

One of my favorite story. I could see John Doe in my mind (though I've never met someone like him before) and hear his childish voice.

"Mean, mean, mean. You're a meany, that's what you are."

[Nemonymous]

Quote Originally Posted by Nemonymous

Eventually to complete my recent reviews of stories on this SONGS OF A DEAD DREAMER section on TLO, i.e. the stories having now been reread in the Penguin Classics collection: THE FROLIC "An amiable genie seemed to be on standby." Opportune that, yesterday, too, I finished reading Salman Rushdie's new 2015 novel (my review of it HERE) which is about putting the genie or jinn back in the bottle, and I assumed this was the genie of today, the IS State, the Internet trolling and rivalries, and other modern day madnesses and strangenesses, the Fantastical embedded in the Quotidian - but when layered with this 1980s premonitory classic story by Ligotti, one knows it is the genie of what some do with or think about our children, a worsening plague that has become more and more obvious since those ignorant 1980s, arguably worse than any other plague, giving birth to anti-natalism as a renewal of an older pessimist philosophy in order to protect our children not only from birth itself but from those waiting for them on this side of birth? On a more superficial level, this is a truly frightening story of a beautifully conveyed gloomy town whose main 'industry' is a prison. A psychologist, home in the evening from working at that prison, is debating about what he considers to be a wrong decision in taking that job. He tells his wife about a prisoner, with no name except John Doe, one who is imprisoned for multi child-murdering, who seems to develop an inferred uncanny link with that psychologist's little daughter (after earlier talk between the psychologist and the prisoner during the working day), the daughter supposedly safe in her bedroom with her new Bambi toy, the window open... That genie of a link between the Fantastic and the Quotidian, the Impossible and the Possible, the Lower and Upper Worlds, as Rushdie now puts it, is tied in with that prisoner's "...attempt on his part to recast the traumatic memories of his childhood into a realm that cross-breeds a mean-street reality with a fantasy world of his imagination, a phantasmagoric mingling of heaven and hell. This is where he does his 'frolicking'..." A momentous work. It will haunt you. As an aside, "When told me about..." on page 12, is this a typo? I hope it is the first and last typo in this Penguin Classics book. (An extract from my on-going review of the Penguin Classics collection.)

PS: My rationale for these reposts: http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.ph...007#post123007

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[Michael]

Very random question for the Network. I could just be making this up but I thought I remembered that Thomas Ligotti has said he doesn't care much for "The Frolic". Specifically, it's not that he absolutely hates this story but that this is usually the first Thomas Ligotti story folks read (this applies to me) primarily because of Songs, Nightmare Factory, and now the Penguin Edition. I think his point was that this type of story structure he can do but if one thought that "Oh, most of Ligotti's stuff is like the Frolic" then they would be inaccurate.

Does this ring a bell for anyone? And if so, do you know where he said it? I thought it was an interview but can't find it? And it's totally possible that I'm just misremembering a conversation I had and he never said this at all.

Again, random.

[gveranon]

Quote Originally Posted by Michael

Very random question for the Network. I could just be making this up but I thought I remembered that Thomas Ligotti has said he doesn't care much for "The Frolic"... I think his point was that this type of story structure he can do but if one thought that "Oh, most of Ligotti's stuff is like the Frolic" then they would be inaccurate. Does this ring a bell for anyone? And if so, do you know where he said it? I thought it was an interview but can't find it? And it's totally possible that I'm just misremembering a conversation I had and he never said this at all.

If you have a copy of The Frolic film on DVD, check the accompanying booklet. The booklet contains either an interview or a short essay in which Ligotti says something like what you remember. I'm trapped at work right now but will check my copy when I get a chance.

[Michael]

Quote Originally Posted by gveranon

Quote Originally Posted by Michael Very random question for the Network. I could just be making this up but I thought I remembered that Thomas Ligotti has said he doesn't care much for "The Frolic"... I think his point was that this type of story structure he can do but if one thought that "Oh, most of Ligotti's stuff is like the Frolic" then they would be inaccurate. Does this ring a bell for anyone? And if so, do you know where he said it? I thought it was an interview but can't find it? And it's totally possible that I'm just misremembering a conversation I had and he never said this at all. If you have a copy of The Frolic film on DVD, check the accompanying booklet. The booklet contains either an interview or a short essay in which Ligotti says something like what you remember. I'm trapped at work right now but will check my copy when I get a chance.

THAT'S IT!!!!
Thanks a TON gveranon!!!!

[ToALonelyPeace]

The interview for The Frolic: Deviltry on DVD is here. I don't see he said anything about it being his least favorite work. On the other hand, I know Ligotti said his favorite piece was "The Shadow at the Bottom of the World" here.