Various (Editor: Pulver, Joseph) - The Madness Of Dr. Caligari
Enthusiasm from editor Pulver notwithstanding, this is a proverbial grab-bag. Hits and misses. Ripe storytelling and wordy clunkers. Indeed, the failures for me stem from writers, who, in this instance, cannot tell a proper story.
Ross is too old for the college Film Studies course, but as a movie hound, a perceived expert, he anticipates an easy A. “The Words Between” finds his understanding of an Expressionist classic, his ability to coherently write an essay about the film, and his own self-awareness, beginning to fracture.
As with military indoctrination, the master seeks to break down the recruit - or patient - in order to reforge a superior specimen. In this “Conversion”, however, the process excels, resulting in malevolence.
She tells the tale to Tubby. A tale of adolescence, working a part-time job for the neighborhood babysitter. “Somnambule”, in this case not the sleepwalker, but closer to a chrysalis. The numbed soul, emotions and thoughts bent inwards, cocooned, then morphing out of the harmless.
“Et Spiritus Sanctus” showcases the royal daughter, surviving heiress, surrounded by lies, deceivers, manipulators, then coming into her own.
Unlike many collections, the second half of this is very strong (although one attempt was a cross between Kafka and 1984, one imagines the editor was being kind by including it).
Two Hollywood based yarns, a twisted ballet, and grim obsession set amidst the crumbling days of the Third Reich.
Far as I know, this is still available (2025) from the publisher. Even signed copies!
