Notebook of the Night

[Nemonymous]

Part Three
NOTEBOOK OF THE NIGHT

The master's eyes shining with secrets
Salvation by doom
New faces in the city
Autumnal
One may be dreaming
Death without end
The unfamiliar
The career of nightmares
The physic
The demon man
The puppet masters
The spectral estate
Primordial loathing
The nameless horror
Invocation to the void
The mocking mystery
The interminable equation
The eternal mirage
The order of illusion

This section seems to be what it says it is.
It comprises nineteen individually titled short pieces of prose that serve as a coda to the dark symphony of foregoing stories. Their titles shown above make their own poem, and the following quotes I have chosen are worth highlighting as casting an oblique light on the foregoing book and on my review of the Penguin Classics collection and CATHR.

"And where a true window appears there is likely to be an arm hanging out of it, a stuffed and dangling arm with a hand whose fingers are too many or two few."

"We drift groggily out of the shadows: comfortably rooted in oblivion, we do not particularly enjoy being pulled up into the burning air for the amusement of some unknown mischief maker, some cosmic prankster, master of the trick."

"'Is this how it is?' he asked hopefully. 'Late afternoon in a perpetual autumn.'"

": the narrow entranceway of a certain street or the shadowed spires of a certain structure appeared as mildly menacing as the prophetic edges of his vision, pleasantly threatening."

"But some of them had already begun that kind of dancing which is so dreadful to watch: none of them was larger than a dinner plate and their multiple radiating legs (with pincers by now) made them look like unholy pinwheels spinning in the moonlight. Very dreadful. And the doctor was right, they still had much of their brains left.
Too much..."

"...something else is present in the room, something which has been secreted out of sight and waits to rise up in the shape of a revelation, to rise up like a cry in one's own throat."

"But the reptile's voice continues to mock me, night after night. It will laugh and rave throughout all the humid nights of history. Until that perfect lid of darkness falls over this world once more."

"...something about the shape of the shapes,..."

"Then will the wreckage be resurrected in new shapes, the scenery pulled up on another stage, lively faces painted upon dead players, their twisted limbs restrung with wires."

"But to bother even with the dream of such a place was useless, especially when he could conceive a plan more to his purpose. This entailed nothing less than the invention of a cult, [...] the fetishes of his new creed. These consisted of anything he could find which a divine aura of disuse, of unfulfilment, hopelessness, disintegration, of grotesque imbecility and senselessness. Dolls with broken faces he put on display in corners and upon crumbling pedestals. [...] Whatever may appear, sooner or later, will appear in greatness. Thus, gradually, the pathetic, lusterless world he had made, and labored to make low, had rebelliously elevated itself beyond its surface decrepitude and assumed a kind of grandeur in his eyes."

*
That "new creed", that "invention of a cult"...
"Its surface DECREPITUDE" - "a kind of grandeur" of Ligotti's DUE CREED of the PIT.

An assumed grandeur in 1994 materialising as CATHR in 2010.

All my reviews of Ligotti works linked from HERE.

But my work is not yet done...

	CATHR The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

[Michael]

The Notebook of the Night is one of my favorite Ligotti pieces, taken as a whole. To me this is one significant difference between Ligotti and Lovecraft and one significant similarity between Poe and Ligotti. Ligotti, in my opinion, is a skilled poet whether in prose poetry (The Notebook of the Night) or more traditional poetry (I Have A Special Plan For This World). My personal favorite piece by Ligotti is the poem I Have A Special Plan For This World. Death Poems is a little hit or miss but not on the level of Lovecraft (I really only like Fungi From Yuggoth; the other pieces seem to struggle to stay afloat). I very much wish he would do more pieces like Notebook of the Night. Thanks for posting this.

[Nemonymous]

Quote Originally Posted by Nemonymous

Part Three NOTEBOOK OF THE NIGHT The master's eyes shining with secrets Salvation by doom New faces in the city Autumnal One may be dreaming Death without end The unfamiliar The career of nightmares The physic The demon man The puppet masters The spectral estate Primordial loathing The nameless horror Invocation to the void The mocking mystery The interminable equation The eternal mirage The order of illusion This section seems to be what it says it is. It comprises nineteen individually titled short pieces of prose that serve as a coda to the dark symphony of foregoing stories. Their titles shown above make their own poem, and the following quotes I have chosen are worth highlighting as casting an oblique light on the foregoing book and on my review of the Penguin Classics collection and CATHR. "And where a true window appears there is likely to be an arm hanging out of it, a stuffed and dangling arm with a hand whose fingers are too many or two few." "We drift groggily out of the shadows: comfortably rooted in oblivion, we do not particularly enjoy being pulled up into the burning air for the amusement of some unknown mischief maker, some cosmic prankster, master of the trick." "'Is this how it is?' he asked hopefully. 'Late afternoon in a perpetual autumn.'" ": the narrow entranceway of a certain street or the shadowed spires of a certain structure appeared as mildly menacing as the prophetic edges of his vision, pleasantly threatening." "But some of them had already begun that kind of dancing which is so dreadful to watch: none of them was larger than a dinner plate and their multiple radiating legs (with pincers by now) made them look like unholy pinwheels spinning in the moonlight. Very dreadful. And the doctor was right, they still had much of their brains left. Too much..." "...something else is present in the room, something which has been secreted out of sight and waits to rise up in the shape of a revelation, to rise up like a cry in one's own throat." "But the reptile's voice continues to mock me, night after night. It will laugh and rave throughout all the humid nights of history. Until that perfect lid of darkness falls over this world once more." "...something about the shape of the shapes,..." "Then will the wreckage be resurrected in new shapes, the scenery pulled up on another stage, lively faces painted upon dead players, their twisted limbs restrung with wires." "But to bother even with the dream of such a place was useless, especially when he could conceive a plan more to his purpose. This entailed nothing less than the invention of a cult, [...] the fetishes of his new creed. These consisted of anything he could find which a divine aura of disuse, of unfulfilment, hopelessness, disintegration, of grotesque imbecility and senselessness. Dolls with broken faces he put on display in corners and upon crumbling pedestals. [...] Whatever may appear, sooner or later, will appear in greatness. Thus, gradually, the pathetic, lusterless world he had made, and labored to make low, had rebelliously elevated itself beyond its surface decrepitude and assumed a kind of grandeur in his eyes." * That "new creed", that "invention of a cult"... "Its surface DECREPITUDE" - "a kind of grandeur" of Ligotti's DUE CREED of the PIT. An assumed grandeur in 1994 materialising as CATHR in 2010. All my reviews of Ligotti works linked from HERE. But my work is not yet done...

Rationale: http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.ph...007#post123007

	CATHR The Conspiracy Against the Human Race