The Spectacles in the Drawer

[Nemonymous]

THE SPECTACLES IN THE DRAWER

"'The Lost Grimoire of the Abbot of Tine,' he giggled. 'Transcribed in the language of--'"

I giggle, too, as I realise that the earlier possible typo was no such thing but the correction of an earlier typo.
There are many angles of this book so far coming together in this work, where my imagining that I am an 'Eyes Wide Shut' intruder in the previous story now makes me feel that I fulfil the role of Plomb, being gulled by the sardonic narrator - who is an instrument of the freehold author? - leading to the "fabulous hoax" of the earlier 'Masquerade TrageDIE' story, one that features presumably the same pair of spectacles as this current work. The word 'sardonic' is in fact often used in this book, reminding me of possibly the most famous use of that word, i.e. to describe the Hound's baying in that creature's eponymous story by Lovecraft. Perhaps compare the spectacles here to the amulet there.
This is an enthralling work by Ligotti turning my attitude to this whole book into knots. Plomb is groomed into believing each endlessly revealed Chinese box or Russian Doll 'secret' as it emerges but without a true revelatory climax of discovering the ultimate secret of the universe. However, is Plomb being played with who in turn is playing with that player? A cat and mouse game. The narrator's recurrent nightmare making me think, after all, that I am the narrator not the eventually authorial Plomb? How DOES one plumb a Jackson Pollock painting, let alone a Joan Miro one?


----------------------
I have today discovered, on the new-fangled Internet, the following definitions of the word 'plomb', perhaps prefiguring, inter alia, the 'toilet' theme in the later 'Teatro Grottesco' collection that I reviewed HERE a few years ago:-

<< 1. (n.) Polite term for human excrement in a toilet that has failed to flush for one of a variety of reasons...(see i-iv below);

2. Used to endearingly identify one's offspring;

3. Popular word to convey moment of impact and subsequent existence of (ideally) well-shaped (circular in cross-section) and solid 'plomb' in a toilet;

4. Conveys the two most popular instances that 'flash' into the non-Creator's mind upon detecting a plomb, (i) A BOMB!!... (ii) the precise moment it 'plo'pped (in the water from within Creator);

4. 'Lead' (metal) in French;

5. (Orig.) fusion of 'plop' and 'bomb'; coined in early seventies.

Reasons for non-flush and therefore plomb:

i. the Creator is still admiring its profile;
ii. the Creator forgot to flush it, simply;
iii. the Creator is still admiring its aquadynamics;
iv. Creator failed to account for extended reading or repose and hitherto subsequent resilience of plomb;
iv. the Creator has planted a deliberate 'plomb' for a non-Creator to stop in tracks and admire. >>

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

[Nemonymous]

Quote Originally Posted by Nemonymous

THE SPECTACLES IN THE DRAWER "'The Lost Grimoire of the Abbot of Tine,' he giggled. 'Transcribed in the language of--'" I giggle, too, as I realise that the earlier possible typo was no such thing but the correction of an earlier typo. There are many angles of this book so far coming together in this work, where my imagining that I am an 'Eyes Wide Shut' intruder in the previous story now makes me feel that I fulfil the role of Plomb, being gulled by the sardonic narrator - who is an instrument of the freehold author? - leading to the "fabulous hoax" of the earlier 'Masquerade TrageDIE' story, one that features presumably the same pair of spectacles as this current work. The word 'sardonic' is in fact often used in this book, reminding me of possibly the most famous use of that word, i.e. to describe the Hound's baying in that creature's eponymous story by Lovecraft. Perhaps compare the spectacles here to the amulet there. This is an enthralling work by Ligotti turning my attitude to this whole book into knots. Plomb is groomed into believing each endlessly revealed Chinese box or Russian Doll 'secret' as it emerges but without a true revelatory climax of discovering the ultimate secret of the universe. However, is Plomb being played with who in turn is playing with that player? A cat and mouse game. The narrator's recurrent nightmare making me think, after all, that I am the narrator not the eventually authorial Plomb? How DOES one plumb a Jackson Pollock painting, let alone a Joan Miro one? ---------------------- I have today discovered, on the new-fangled Internet, the following definitions of the word 'plomb', perhaps prefiguring, inter alia, the 'toilet' theme in the later 'Teatro Grottesco' collection that I reviewed HERE a few years ago:- << 1. (n.) Polite term for human excrement in a toilet that has failed to flush for one of a variety of reasons...(see i-iv below); 2. Used to endearingly identify one's offspring; 3. Popular word to convey moment of impact and subsequent existence of (ideally) well-shaped (circular in cross-section) and solid 'plomb' in a toilet; 4. Conveys the two most popular instances that 'flash' into the non-Creator's mind upon detecting a plomb, (i) A BOMB!!... (ii) the precise moment it 'plo'pped (in the water from within Creator); 4. 'Lead' (metal) in French; 5. (Orig.) fusion of 'plop' and 'bomb'; coined in early seventies. Reasons for non-flush and therefore plomb: i. the Creator is still admiring its profile; ii. the Creator forgot to flush it, simply; iii. the Creator is still admiring its aquadynamics; iv. Creator failed to account for extended reading or repose and hitherto subsequent resilience of plomb; iv. the Creator has planted a deliberate 'plomb' for a non-Creator to stop in tracks and admire. >> ------------------ (An extract from my on-going review of the Penguin Classics collection.)

Rationale: Le NŒUD de Ligotti - THE NIGHTMARE NETWORK