Scan barcode
A review by sistermagpie
The Return by Walter de la Mare, S.T. Joshi
3.0
As embarrassing as it is to admit, I spent a lot of this book wondering if I was missing something. The plot is simple: a man recovering from influenza falls asleep in a churchyard next to a grave and seems to wake up having turned into the man from the grave. The reason I felt I was missing something is that it takes place in such a middle-class English setting that it's sometimes hard to tell if it's happened or not. In fact, this is the point--Lawford, the main character, and the people around him doubt his story, but not so much because he doesn't actually look like this other person now. More because it's just out of their nature to react to such a thing by saying "Holy shit, how are you a different person now?!"
So ultimately it's much more of a meditation on life. Family and friends seem to blame the victim for the transformation, such as it is, assuming that the ghost of a rake would never have tried such a thing on a man of stronger character. The hero seems to agree with them, looking back on his life and really not seeing much of a loss. There's really no question, for instance, that his wife is going to stick with him through this embarrassing incident! But still, there were times where my wondering whether the transformation was real, or just a psychological condition that was so strong it infected everyone around him, I felt kept me from really following some of the things that book was interested in discussing. Because I wasn't wondering it in a meta-way, but actually wondering if the novel had made it clear and I hadn't caught it!
So ultimately it's much more of a meditation on life. Family and friends seem to blame the victim for the transformation, such as it is, assuming that the ghost of a rake would never have tried such a thing on a man of stronger character. The hero seems to agree with them, looking back on his life and really not seeing much of a loss. There's really no question, for instance, that his wife is going to stick with him through this embarrassing incident! But still, there were times where my wondering whether the transformation was real, or just a psychological condition that was so strong it infected everyone around him, I felt kept me from really following some of the things that book was interested in discussing. Because I wasn't wondering it in a meta-way, but actually wondering if the novel had made it clear and I hadn't caught it!