{"id":12278,"date":"2022-07-07T03:10:01","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T03:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sfintranslation.com\/?p=12278"},"modified":"2022-07-07T03:10:01","modified_gmt":"2022-07-07T03:10:01","slug":"malpertuis-by-jean-ray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sfintranslation.com\/?p=12278","title":{"rendered":"Malpertuis by Jean Ray"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel Haeusser reviews short works of SFT that appear both online and in print. He is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Canisius College, where he teaches microbiology and leads student research projects with bacteria and bacteriophage. He\u2019s also an associate blogger with the American Society for Microbiology\u2019s popular\u00a0Small Things Considered<\/a><\/span>. Daniel reads broadly\u00a0in English and\u00a0French, and\u00a0his\u00a0book reviews can be found at\u00a0Reading1000Lives<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or Skiffy & Fanty<\/a><\/span>. You can also connect with him on\u00a0<\/a>Goodreads<\/a><\/span>\u00a0or\u00a0Twitter<\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/i>t<\/span><\/span>ranslated by Iain White, Edited by Scott Nicolay<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Wakefield Press \u2013 September 2021<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

978-1-939663-70-2\u2013 Paperback \u2013 256 pages<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Regular followers of SF in Translation may recall <\/span><\/span>my review<\/span><\/span><\/a> of the first two comprehensive releases of Jean Ray\u2019s short fiction by the phenomenal Wakefield Press: <\/span><\/span>Whiskey Tales<\/i><\/span><\/span> and <\/span><\/span>Cruise of Shadows<\/i><\/span><\/span>. These were soon followed by two further volumes in 2020: <\/span><\/span>The Grand Nocturnal<\/i><\/span><\/span> and <\/span><\/span>Circles of Dread<\/i><\/span><\/span>, which I still have to get and read myself. All translated and annotated by the talented and dedicated Scott Nicolay, the first two volumes that I have had a chance to read introduced me to the atmospheric, haunting prose of this quintessential author of the weird, the so-called Belgian Poe, Jean Ray.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the introductions for those previous collections, and the notes for some stories within, Nicolay would make praiseful reference to Ray\u2019s <\/span><\/span>chef-d\u2019\u0153uvre<\/i><\/span><\/span>, the 1943 novel <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span>. These brief descriptions convinced me I\u2019d have to read it. The combination of classic Gothic Horror with the Weird subgenre, in a unique form of the haunted house novel, sounded perfectly tuned to my interests. Even with a foundation of mythological familiarity that was largely lost on me, <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span> succeeded wildly in entertaining and impressing. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The narrative core of the novel comes from the diary of Jean-Jacques Grandsire, a na\u00efve young man who recounts his hauntingly bizarre experiences within the dilapidated old mansion called Malpertuis in the secluded streets of Ghent. His recorded story begins in that home at the deathbed of his wealthy Uncle Cassave. Gathering alongside Jean-Jacques to await the demise of Cassave are a motley collection of deviously wary relatives and acquaintances, many among them exceeding the eccentricities of the elder Cassave. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

At the opposite end of the personality spectrum to Jean-Jacques is his sister Nancy, a fiery and cunning spirit who won\u2019t abide the antics of the others. There is Philarethe, an obsessive taxidermist who is cousin to Cassave. The Dideloos are uncle and aunt to Jean-Jacques and Nancy. The lascivious eyes of Charles Dideloo linger upon near all, relation or not, excepting his hypochondriac wife Sylvie. With the Dideloos is their foster daughter, Euryale, a young girl with stunning red hair and deep green eyes. Disliked by most are the Cormelon sisters: Eleonore, Rosalie, and Alice, perhaps come to Cassave\u2019s dying side in pure opportunistic momentum. Finally, there is Dr. Sambucque, Cassave\u2019s friend, servant, and physician.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Upon the death of Uncle Cassave, a man named Eisengott arrives to witness the reading of Cassave\u2019s will. The entirety of Cassave\u2019s fortune is left to his collection of relatives, upon the stipulation that they live together within the walls and labyrinthine corridors of Malpertuis for the years to come. However, many those may be. Moving out of the house will result in forfeiture of the fortune. The remaining survivor(s) will be left with the entirety of the inheritance. And if the final two survivors happen to be man and woman, they will need to be married. The normally restrained Euryale flirtatiously whispers to Jean-Jacques a prediction that it shall be them. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With these relatives in the house are others, servants of Malperitus, and formerly of Cassave: domestics Mr. and Mrs. Griboin who have a golem-like hulk of a man who helps them clean, known only as Tchiek. Also haunting the corridors of the house is the mad Lampernisse, the former manager of a paint store that sits adjacent (connected) to Malpertuis. Lampernisse creeps out of the dark corners of the mansion, shrieking of light and colors that vanish from his grasp, and a presence that goes among rooms and corridors snuffing out candles. With Lampernisse\u2019s mind lost, management of the paint shop has fallen to a handsome young man named Mathias Krook. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One can see already there is a complexity to <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span> in its cast of characters and their mysterious quirks. The pages of Jean-Jacques\u2019 diary continue in linear narrative from the death of Cassave and reading of the will to a passage of time that increases instances of oddity, clandestine affairs, creeping dread, and outright horror. This culminates with a Christmas dinner where the proverbial shit hits the fan, with an explosion of horror and inexplicable mysteries that seem to break down the walls of reality and perception.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The complexity and riddles only increase, into what blurbs for the novel typically describe as a \u2018puzzle box\u2019 of a narrative structure for Ray\u2019s novel. <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span> does not begin with Jean-Jacques\u2019 diary. Instead, in a manner familiar to fiction from that era of time (and decades prior) the main story is framed by separate narratives, nested. Even Ray\u2019s short stories often took this form. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For instance, a group of sailors gather in a dockside bar, and one begins to tell a tale about a discovery from the depths of the sea, a captain\u2019s log that has survived the briny waters. The sailor then relates the story those pages contain. This may tell the tale of a man who discovers a book in a monastery that is cursed. And the pages of that cursed tome relate a tale of\u2026 And so on and so forth, a recursive nesting doll.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span>, Jean Ray does similar, but then also turns the \u2018doll\u2019 into a recursive puzzle box, a structure where details are gradually revealed among events that seem to make no rational sense \u2013 at first. It\u2019s an exquisitely crafted novel, that readers can then enjoy reading again for fresh discoveries and insights. Ray begins the novel with a story from an unnamed, present-day narrator. One interpretation could be that this character is Ray\u2019s image himself, for roguish similarities abound. This narrator explains that he has just robbed the Convent of the White Penitents. Among the spoils of this crime are manuscripts including Jean-Jacques Grandsire\u2019s diary, the related writings of one Doucedame the Elder, and notes related to these by Father Euchere, Dom of the convent that the unnamed thief has robbed.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Following that introduction, the unnamed thief inserts a first text by Doucedame the Elder, relating exploits on the sea that will hold a familiar sound for any familiar with Jean Ray\u2019s short fiction. Indeed, this part of the novel could exist as a short story unto itself. The story relates a monumental discovery on a Greek Island, and another kind of theft that will only become clear later. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jean-Jacque\u2019s diary, the bulk of the novel, then finally begins \u2013 as discussed above. With this we discover some links with the previous text by Doucedame the Elder. His offspring, Doucedame the Younger, served as a mentor for Jean-Jacques, and that man may still be visiting Malpertuis after Cassave\u2019s death. Additionally, with Doucedame the Elder on the voyage that sets events of the novel into motion is Anselme Grandsire, grandfather of Jean-Jacques and Nancy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The basic premise of <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span>, the purpose behind the voyage, who Cassave is and why he has set up this situation upon his death, the true nature of all these odd characters\u2026 These mysteries only become clear as the novel enters into its final pages, after the conclusion of Jean-Jacques\u2019 diary, with further words from Doucedame the Elder and the conclusions reached by Father Euchere when taking it all in. The novel then concludes with a book-ended return to the present-day narrative of the unnamed thief, who travels back to the doors of ancient Malpertuis itself to discover what remains.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Careful and astute readers could possibly figure out the basic premise and mysteries of <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span> before all is revealed at its conclusion. One could also just look up information online, or watch the film adaptation of the novel with Orson Welles. But, where\u2019s the fun in that? I admit to looking up details, however, after completing the novel. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Full appreciation of the premise of <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span> and its cast of characters demands a good deal of familiarity with Greek mythology. I don\u2019t have that. In fact, I tend to dislike mythology because of its enormous complexity, contradictions, and seemingly endless names, pseudonyms, and personifications. It\u2019s always seemed to me to be a giant entangled mess, the literary or oral tradition equivalent of Immunology. What is wonderful about <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span> is that Ray takes that mess of complexity and puts it into a nice well-organized structure, a symbolic haunted house and novel of nested narratives. His perhaps makes the mythology make a bit more sense to me, for all its insanity and weirdness. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Even without the familiarity with Greek myth\/characters, I found <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span> a fantastically engaging and well-paced read that barely shows its age. It\u2019s a post-modern novel that not only \u2018reinvents\u2019 Gothic, haunted house traditions, but also brings elements of quantum realities and multiverses into play in interesting ways, building on cutting edge science around the time of its composition.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

[As an aside, the name Malpertuis is also a reference that was new to me. It comes from the name of the labyrinthine castle of sly Reynard the fox, a character from old French (or nearby) tradition. Notes on this by White also revealed to me that <\/span><\/span>renard(e)<\/i><\/span><\/span>, the French word for fox comes from this character \u2013 not the reverse as I assumed. Apparently the oral\/literary tradition overtook the original term for \u2018fox\u2019 in the French language. See the wonders that literature in translation can reveal?!]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This version of <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span> from Wakefield Press uses an existing, respected translation by Iain White, along with his introduction and notes. However, that translation has been updated (edited) here by Scott Nicolay, who translated the short fiction by Ray in the earlier releases. Nicolay also offers a useful afterward here to wrap all up. His translation of Ray\u2019s only other novel, <\/span><\/span>The City of Unspeakable Fear<\/i><\/span><\/span>, is forthcoming from Wakefield Press, so Ray fans can rejoice at getting still more. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The pandemic delayed release of <\/span><\/span>Malpertuis<\/i><\/span><\/span>. But that and other global calamities (and their after-effects on global supply chains) have also disrupted Wakefield and other small presses. I was pleased to see that after a long unexpected publishing hiatus that they have their first title due for release: <\/span><\/span>The Central Laboratory<\/i><\/span><\/span>, verse poetry by Max Jacob, translated by Alexander Dickow. It has both the translation and original French text facing, a concept I applaud. Poetry is not my thing, but if it\u2019s yours, I\u2019d encourage you to check it out, as well as their <\/span><\/span>larger catalog of translation<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>, particularly The School of the Strange, their series of Belgian and French weird fantasy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daniel Haeusser reviews short works of SFT that appear both online and in print. He is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Canisius College, where he teaches microbiology and leads student research projects with bacteria and bacteriophage. He\u2019s also an associate blogger with the American Society for Microbiology\u2019s popular\u00a0Small Things Considered. Daniel reads<\/p>\n

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