The Greater Festival of Masks

Nemonymous

Nemonymous

Grimscribe
THE GREATER FESTIVAL OF MASKS

"Reliquiae of the hatless, the faceless, the impetuously groomed."

That quote seems significant in the light of what I trust I have identified in some of the earlier stories - and the story's title as well as the story itself from the 1980s, seem to be dark prophecy of Facebook and other Internet grooming, trolling and flaming.
"...the avalanche of false faces."
A "pranksterism" akin to the earlier hybrid authorial mage in a jester's hat and spectacles.
However, on another level, it is an apotheosis of the earlier vision in this book of the roofs, corners and dead-ends of the Ligottian town, with some truly wonderful descriptions, as well as the need for Noss (us?) to buy a mask for the festival, in a very intriguing shop where Noss somehow morphs into the shopkeeper himself as commissioned to do so by the original shopkeeper - or Moderator? One mask fits perfectly so that we are likely to forget that we are wearing it. Another mask that doesn't fit at all, would be most uncomfortable to wear, but one we soon find fitting well. If the face fits wear it. A new maxim for our times. A superb tale that is not onLy subject to The Intentional Fallacy but also is a theme and variations upon it.

"But here, on this night, the only sound is the soft creaking of new faces breaking through old flesh."

(An extract from my on-going review of the Penguin Classics collection.)
 
I first read this story late at night, half asleep already, and found it quite baffling. Didn't make much sense to me and I couldn't figure out what had been going on... if you were to twist my arm, right then I would've said I didn't like it. But it inspired some intriguing nightmares in which people came and deformed my face into whatever visage they wanted me to wear. I've re-read the story several times since then and it's grown on me a lot. Much like faces, first impressions can be misguiding.
 
I think that Tom's works pretty much require multiple readings. We all know and it's been widely discussed that they lend themselves to such treatment, but for me, many if not all of his short pieces got better and more intriguing upon re-reading. It's one of the things that sets his work apart from most other writers. Tom's prose can be so cryptic that there are no easy answers sometimes. It's also what makes it so beautiful...
 
Nemonymous said:
THE GREATER FESTIVAL OF MASKS

"Reliquiae of the hatless, the faceless, the impetuously groomed."

That quote seems significant in the light of what I trust I have identified in some of the earlier stories - and the story's title as well as the story itself from the 1980s, seem to be dark prophecy of Facebook and other Internet grooming, trolling and flaming.
"...the avalanche of false faces."
A "pranksterism" akin to the earlier hybrid authorial mage in a jester's hat and spectacles.
However, on another level, it is an apotheosis of the earlier vision in this book of the roofs, corners and dead-ends of the Ligottian town, with some truly wonderful descriptions, as well as the need for Noss (us?) to buy a mask for the festival, in a very intriguing shop where Noss somehow morphs into the shopkeeper himself as commissioned to do so by the original shopkeeper - or Moderator? One mask fits perfectly so that we are likely to forget that we are wearing it. Another mask that doesn't fit at all, would be most uncomfortable to wear, but one we soon find fitting well. If the face fits wear it. A new maxim for our times. A superb tale that is not onLy subject to The Intentional Fallacy but also is a theme and variations upon it.

"But here, on this night, the only sound is the soft creaking of new faces breaking through old flesh."

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

Rationale: http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php?p=123007#post123007
 
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