Historical dramas are often little more than an excuse for a television company (or film studio) to throw a few actors into period costume with a recognisable storyline and hope for a big hit. Sometimes it works but at other times it is little more than a watered down version of an old classic, that will often plummet the book itself into the bestseller lists. You might say it is just another way of keeping the classics alive, making sure there's a stream of new readers ready and willing to dive into these old texts now so colourfully painted across the screen. Some come away from the books finding they are better than the films (when are they not), others shelve the books and leave them to gather dusk. After all, why read them when you know the story already.
The horror genre itself is littered with similar examples, especially adaptations of Dracula and Frankenstein. Though there is another thread that runs through both literature and film that is a little more interesting, that of a strange kind of fictional revisionist history. Sometimes it fits closely in which actual history, though more often than not it stretches it to the extremes. Both definately have their place. These works act as far better windows to the past as filtered through todays sensibilites than any adaptation, but obviously serve a very different purpose. There are several types of books that cover this area on the recommended reading list here at Sweet Despise, and I thought that I would take this opportunity to compare and contrast, and hopefully gain some feedback as to other titles in this area I may have missed. I can see two distinct branches, one of which has become a genre all to itself, with quite a long history.
First though I'll look at a book I only recently finished, a novel called The List of Seven by Mark Frost (an author most famous for his association with David Lynch and Twin Peaks). This book places Arthur Conan Doyle[1] in a rather fascinating predicament, as a young doctor facing a rather unpleasant group of adversaries, though fortunately not alone. This is a perfect example of the first of the two branches I will examine, that of a real person from history being placed in fictional situations. These situations are placed in such a way as to try and fit within the real life of a person, but without ever claiming to be a fictional account of their real life. Those kinds of fictionalised biography, such as Margaret Atwood's recent Alias Grace are something different altogether. Mark Frost's book works brilliantly, as an exciting novel that doesn't rely on the fact that the main character is Arthur Conan Doyle. The biggest pitfall of this kind of literature is the use of the famous characters as a gimmick, whereas this concentrates more on building an atmospheric story set in Victorian England. As it builds towards the climax you can see the suggestion the author is making, paralleling the work with several of Doyle's own stories to make some interesting connections. One of the main reasons it works is its plausability, despite the occasional supernatural elements the story itself is one that feels grounded in realism and manages to combine elements of several genres.
It reminded me much of another little talked about work, Poe Must Die by Marc Olden. A book I came across quite by accident (much like Mark Frost's) and found to be an equally entralling work. This one of course, is obviously about Edgar Allen Poe (who hopefully needs no introduction to reader's of this page!), and is a surprisingly similar novel. In Olden's novel Poe is in an alcoholic decline and is drawn into a battle with a black magician. It again fits the events into the story almost seamlessly into that of Poe's actual life (though I'm sure someone well versed in the biographies of either of the men fictionalised could pick big holes in the plots) sufficiently well enough to suspend the sense of disbelief. This book however delves far a little deeper into the underbelly of Poe's society, showing some of the problems though modern eyes, problems a little more visible now but ones which have always existed. Both works underline the fact that the glossy postcard past that people look back on with longing for the innocence of yore are merely that, blurry postcard images that don't really show what goes on beneath the gloss. Both fully immerse you in the societies they describe and are far more successful than costume dramas at bringing the past alive.
The second branch is that which has become known as alternate history, where actual events in the past are changed to give a slightly different version of our history. Whereas the two above events try and place fictional events into real lives, alternate history create an alternate version of actual history. So for example, with many based on different versions of single events. Though in this case the works I consider will be a subset of alternate history. A work of this kind that I enjoyed, that has since spawned an equally entertaining sequel is Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. Set in a similar era to Mark Frost's novel this is a single novel that intertwines a number of fictional characters as if they were a part of a very different history to that which we know now. Inspector Lestrade, a character from Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novel is investigating a series of brutal murders in East London, by a character know as Jack the Ripper. The difference being that the victorian society this takes place in is ruled by a vampire aristocracy, where Queen Victoria has married a certain Prince Vlad from Romania. The protitutes murdered by Jack the Ripper are vampire women and he is more than just a vicious killer. This book sounds like nothing more than a patched together collection of gimmicks, though fortunately it is far more, a sometimes playful homage to some of the great works of literature and film of the past. Neither does it ever fail to be consistent in its plotting, all the elements fit together beautifully and make a wonderfully whole story.
This is no comedy however, rather a serious novel with plenty of dark elements that adds a little light with its continual references to other works. You'd need to be very well read to spot every single one however. It is a distillation of actual history, Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, Dracula and many other stories. Kim Newman's encyclopedic knowledge stood him in good stead, and the sequel The Bloody Red Baron is a different yet still very well constructed work. This time based in the time of the First World War, showing some of the tragedy and devestation at first hand. A third novel, Dracula, Cha, Cha, Cha set in sixties Italy is due soon. Incidentally, anyone interested in these two novels should make sure they track down his short story In the Night When the Full Moon is Bright, another work that smells of alchemical genius.
Another alternate history, though with far more science fictional elements is Brian Aldiss' Frankenstein Unbound in which a time traveller goes back and meets Mary Shelley, and her unique circle of friends, as well as a rather unusual scientist known as Victory Frankenstein. Again this is a work of alchemy, mixing fact and fiction together into a unique mixture, while throwing in a little extra. This is a little lighter than the other works, with bristling prose, though brimming with its own sense of originality.
There are several other novels on the recommended reading list that I could probably slot into here, but I shall leave it at that. Suffice to say that before you stick on yet another adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, or Mary Shelley's Dracula, or even Jane Austen's Emma, consider spending that hour and a half exploring one of these more unusual literary avenues.
As for my other reading this month, there has been a little less than usual but I am currently reading though a novel called The Well by Jack Cady. It is a rather unusual horror novel that is slowly improving as it progresses, about a man returning to his family haunt after many years, though as it turns out it is one of the most unusual houses you are ever likely to see. For each room is filled with traps, designed to kill or main, traps that only members of the family can truly find their way around. It is quite an interesting psychological novel, but at three quarters of the way through I am unsure as to how much I like it. It certainly grabs you as you approach the closure and manages to run with the idea, but the elements don't quite congeal into a whole. As for short stories, I am reading some volumes of older dark literature, by authors like Saki, Conrad Aiken, Michael Arlen Sax Rohmer, and others. There are some very interesting works and I am considering expanding the recommended reading list at some point to include specific pointers to some short fiction, as many of the greats of the past, as well as today, have worked in the short form.
Anyway, that's enough rambling for one month, as ever any comments or suggestions can happily be passed my way at the email address at the bottom of the page.
[1] For those of you unfamiliar with his work, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is the creator of Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger amongst others. His work is definately recommended for those interested in dark literature, despite what you may think the Sherlock Holmes stories are nothing if not dark... [Back]
(C) Ian Davey 1996-2002, (sweetdespise@eclipse.co.uk)