**** Unusual but pleasant
What
I like about Matheson is that every time in his books he manages to bring out
something original that transcends genres, but at the same time each of them
has in common with others a series of elements linked to the style, to the
characteristics of the protagonists and to the total unpredictability of the
stories, which eschew any cliché.
“Other
Kingdoms” is a fable that mixes elements of fantasy, romance and history, and
that does not develop or end as you would expect.
Among
the elements that made me appreciate this novel is the colloquial and often
ironic tone with which the young protagonist narrator addresses the reader.
Between the two, there is a sort of complicity fuelled by the curiosity to read
which other absurdity the former will invent on the next page.
In
addition to this is the historical reconstruction, although limited by the
point of view of the protagonist, who manages to take us to the trenches of the
First World War and then to a village in England.
And
then there are fantasy elements (in this case fairies and witches) that are
mixed with reality.
Everything
is put together with a narrative in the form of a report, which I had already
seen in “Somewhere in Time”. Compared to the latter “Other Kingdoms” is less
successful in the scope of the suspension of disbelief. Not even for a moment I
forgot that I was reading an invented story, despite the fact that the
protagonist repeated that it was all true. Indeed, precisely for this reason.
But then I think it was what the author wanted, because he, already in old age,
wrote this story in honour of his wife Ruth Ann (from whom the fairy creature
Ruthana takes her name), as he says in the dedication. And as such, it must be
considered.
I
appreciate even more this author precisely because of this decision to write a
book that he felt his own, rather than something that would have pleased the
public. I only regret that now I will have one less book by him to read.
Other Kingdoms on Amazon.
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