I love the idea of freak show rides. The rides with the rollercoaster type cars that travel along a predetermined path of tracks carrying its cargo on a short but mysterious journey through the strange and weird. Participants giggle nervously, a mixture of trepidation and excitement, fear of the unknown and an eagerness to see it all.
Of course at the beginning, it’s a fairly mild affair after all you’re just getting warmed up. Then each subsequent exhibit becomes more eye opening. And shocking. A FeeJee Mermaid here. Over there is a “pair” of Siamese Twins. Followed up by a two headed goat, and then oh yes some shrunken heads. Of course, just as soon as you arrive at one exhibit you are hurried on to the next so that you never have adequate time to soak up all the details. “Want to see it again Mr.? You can always pay to take the ride again…”
Abarat, by Clive Barker is the literary equivalent of a freak show ride.
In the beginning the read is fairly mild, almost mundane, as you follow Candy Quackenbush through her daily life. Then things start to get progressively more interesting, as she first encounters John Mischief (a thief of some renown, but not in our world), whom comes complete with a pair of antlers, on which each prong is topped off by an independently thinking (and often speaking), head. All of which are also named John.
Mr. Mischief (and company), as one would gather from his name, despite being a seemingly polite gentleman, draws Ms. Quackenbush into the beginning of an adventure that forms the rest of our freak show ride through Abarat. Then the subsequent exhibits become more eye opening. Water-walking Card Players here. Over there is Lord of Midnight with nightmare worms squirming around his face. Followed up by a squid called Squiller that serves as high powered binoculars when you wear him on your head, and then oh yes a wizard that obtains all his power from that pile of hats on his head that he claimed from his fellow wizards after helping them meet an untimely end. Of course, just as soon as you’re getting comfortable with one character you are hurried onto the next before you have adequate time to soak up all the details. Unfortunately there’s not a lot that that return rides will grant you.
There is no real meaty story line evident in Abarat. Oh sure Ms. Quackenbush appears to have lived some sort of previous life in the world of Abarat, though when she returns no one appears to recognized her except for three witches. There’s a mysterious key and your fairly archetypal bad guy brooding in the background (the already mentioned Lord of Midnight). You reach the final page being pretty much none the wiser about what is really going on, as you were when you thumbed over the first page. What you are left with is a hanging “And?”
However, Clive Barker has done an outstanding job of creating a journey that keeps you turning page after page. Perhaps it is the onslaught of new oddities; each one briefly looked at before you’re hurried onto the next. You’ll find yourself thinking “just one more page” often.
Of course it should be mentioned that Abarat, is not a stand alone work. The follow-up, Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War, hopefully reins everything in and makes a nice meal out of all the ingredients that are assembled here. Worth you time, but perhaps only if your time includes allowances to read the follow-up as well.
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Comments
Interesting. Are all the character’s oddities related to their head in some way? Or was it just coincidence that those were the ones you mentioned?
Abarat is a very interesting novel. I think you would get a kick out of it and should add it to your to read list. Not all of the characters in Abarat have oddities relating to their heads, though I can see how you would get that impression from the examples that I used in the article.